Monday, August 12, 2013

Set a date

I cannot believe it has been one week since we left the hospital. To say we were excited to get home is an understatement. David and I were both emotionally exhausted from the unplanned hospital stay and missed the kids tons. Seeing them you couldn't help but forget about everything and just pick up right were we left off! Here are a few pictures from the welcoming home:)





We were welcomed home to a house full of flowers and green balloons. Thank you so much to friends from Church who wanted to brighten our home! It made our welcome that much more special. Our kids were well taken care of by my family while we were gone and actually wanted us gone a little longer so they could get spoiled just a little more. 

When we got home we decided to spend a relaxing afternoon just as family at a neighbors pool. Pretty much the only sane thing to do in the 100 degree weather in Texas. It was only an hour or two after we got settled that we received the phone call from KWTX Matt Howerton. He was interested in doing a news story on David and his journey with Brain Cancer. We agreed to it and they said see you in an hr! WHAT?!!! We rushed so fast to get ready as a family and organize the house and call a few of our Team Hurst friends over to be a part of the story. Matt Howerton did an excellent job covering what our journey is all about, hope, faith, love, God and All of you! We are thankful for him for taking the time to do this and we will keep the video and raw footage for our children to see and always know how brave their daddy is. 

Here is a clip..... click to view

David's news story

It has been good this week to get back to the normal life of things. David has felt very small side effects from the Avastin, ( chemo drug )  Fatigue is the only one that is noticeable. He has had no headaches! Praise the lord! Again, it is truly a miracle how well he responded to the steroids so fast in the hospital and has bounced back as fast as he did! Now, for the steroids, that is another story. We have noticed some small side effects from the steroids. First off, I still can not figure out why anyone would take these just for recreational use?David is miserable on them, as it makes him want to eat anything in site, excluding me and the children:), he can get extremely restless, stomach issues and then the insomnia. He also has developed a hoarse voice from them, which we think may be a bacterial infection that can be caused from steroids. He will see an ENT doc friend in the a.m. to hopefully get that all cleared up! Other then that, he is out enjoying time with friends, been walking a bunch and has a fishing trip scheduled the next few days! 

We met with the Waco Radiation Oncologist today, Dr. Mundy. Dr Mundy did our radiation two years ago. He has been out of town which was why there was a delay. I am very thankful to Dr. Mundy for many reasons. But, the first and most important is him taking the time last week to push his pride aside and realize that radiating someone with Brain Cancer twice might be out of his expertise. From day one of this journey we have experienced doctors who could not push their pride aside and have caused some barriers for us with insurance. Granted we only met with the radiation oncologist in Houston for a few minutes before David experienced his Cerebral Edema, he still was able to give us his expert opinion on radiation doses. So, now we have a plan. We will start radiation next Thursday on the 22nd in Waco with the doses that MD Anderson recommended. They would like to coordinate by having radiation start soon after our next chemo treatment which will be the 19th. We will do 12 days of radiation. Then wait 3 weeks and go back to MD Anderson for an MRI to see if all of this treatment has been working.  

Although I wish we could get an MRI every day, just to see if all of this is working, one of the doctors pointed something very important to me. As doctors, their jobs are not to treat MRI's. MRI's are not their patients, the person is their patient they reminded me. So, if David continues to improve like he is and not have headaches or show any signs of of concern, then we will continue with treatment as planned and pray that the tumor is shrinking. 

I am hoping specific prayer will be helpful to many of you as there are a few. Again, we are so thankful for you to just spend a few minutes praying. You might be surprised how prayer will change your lives like it has changed ours.

Prayer for radiation - Not really ideal to have your brain radiated twice, but doctors feel it will be OK.
Prayer for David's heart rate- when we left the hospital it was low. David asked if he could head up to Colorado, doctors strongly suggested to not go so high in altitude with such a low heart rate, David's response, well how high can I go???? Of course:) Pray his heart rate continues to rise and get better. This would mean the tumor is shrinking potentially. We are already noticing small changes. 
Prayer for side effects of Avastin and tumor- Pray that we will continue to be sheltered from the deadly side effects from the chemo drug and the tumor. Pray that we will wake up each day and live it, really live it and not live it in fear of what can happen. 

Praises- Pray that these doctors just feel our gratitude and love through your prayers. Pray that they are blessed like they have blessed our family. 
Praise God for these doctors by name..
Dr. Mundy- Radiation oncologist in Waco. I can't imagine his job and know he wants the best for our family. 

Dr. Chakmakjian - amazing Waco oncologist and friend. He has walked with us day one and worked hand and hand with our MD Anderson doctors. He is always a phone call away, assuring me and helping me when it comes to answering any question I have on David's medical care.

Dr. Penas- Prada - Nero oncologist, for her wisdom and research. I cannot imagine having this job or be any physician that works with Cancer. It breaks my heart to think we are just one of their many patients and at this time their is still no cure for Brain Cancer

Gladys- She was the nurse practitioner that did David's Nero exam in Houston and detected David's symptoms right away. She went with us down to the ER and visited us while in ICU. She encouraged me, she gave me a shoulder to cry on and sympathized with our situation. Something you don't see from every one in the medical field. She was truly a little gift from God that day. 

Soo- Nurse practitioner Soo for the Nero Department who was with us while at hospital. She was the most informative person I have ever met and walked with me step by step on David's medicines and medical care when we left hospital. She was the one that said someone was watching over us.  She also worked with our whole Nero team at MD Anderson being the communication between them all on our case. 

We are so thankful to all of you and your overwhelming support on our facebook page, TEAM HURST. Like it if you haven't already to get daily updates. Also, many of you have been requesting bracelets and t-shirts. The requests have become so large that we are trying to figure out a better way to get them to everyone faster. Please send pictures of your support in green. 

" But He said to me, My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. " 2 Corinthians 12:9


Bexley Boys Soccer Team in Ohio sporting Green in support of Team Hurst ( BEXLEY,OHIO)

All the WAY TO LONDON! 

                                                                     LONDON
                                                                       LONDON
PRETTY COOL AND AWESOME
COLORADO
Kearney, Nebraska
 Friends gathered together in Taho to pray for David and his continue fight and strength. This picture shows all that God intended family to be...........
You want to pray for us but PRAY FOR JOHN LOOKER! Talk about amazing! This man heard our story! He is in OHIO and has CANCER THROUGH OUT HIS WHOLE body , including 2 tumors in his brain! And he wanted to show support for us! How? He wore David's bracelets during his 180 miles BIKE RIDE! YES! That's right! Cancer through his whole body and it could not take away his PASSION! Look up John Looker on facebook and pray hard for this amazing man who shows that GOD CAN DO THE IMPOSSIBLE! OUR GOD IS FAITHFUL!

A neighbor surprised David tonight picking him up in this fun ride! Enjoying life! 

OUR GOD IS FAITHFUL,



The Hurst Family