A Gathering of Friends...This Weekend

In February, when we believed that Brad was about to start rounds of very difficult chemo, I mentioned to a couple of friends that I wanted to host a gathering of friends and family to have a prayer & praise night to lift up Brad's spirits in the midst of his challenging physical trials. Brad loves to sing so much, I originally thought that we would gather and spend lots of time singing his favorite praise songs so that I could record it & he could later listen to the cd during his treatments.

Although Brad's treatment plan now looks different, we still thought it would be very uplifting and encourgaging to gather, pray & sing as a group. So, numerous friends have spent many hours planning a weekend gathering in honor of Brad....we appreciate it so much.

We would love to have all of our friends & family join us this weekend at our home congregation. The main gathering will be at 5pm on Saturday, April 5th at Southeast Church of Christ in Friendswood. If you would also like to join us for the dinner that Saturday evening at 5pm, please RSVP to Jenny Winter at 832-434-1839.

Below is the link to the evite with more information.
http://www.evite.com/pages/invite/viewInvite.jsp?inviteId=YOXAFNCVRWOOSCPBFGXY&li=iq&src=email&trk=aei6

Broken Leg Update

Here is the latest. After meting with Dr. Marco and taking another x-ray of my leg, it is not healing the way he would like. It is lined up correctly but just not "attaching" back to the bone well. Here are our two main options. Also, my fibula bone, down close to the ankle, was shown to be broken as well.

The first option is to cast my leg from the hip to the toes. This cast would likely be left in place for 3 months or so. The other down side is likely a significant loss in range of motion that would most likely never be gotten back. Plus, there is a chance that the bone still would not heal properly and I would then have to take the surgical route.

Option two is to surgically repair my ankle and place a metal plate that attaches to the bones and holds everything together. The downside to this option is surgery always poses a possibility for infection. One upside is ....the likely recovery period for this option is only 6 weeks in a brace.

We are trying to decide which choice is better for us at this time. Please pray for peace and comfort as we decide what to do.

More Easter Pics

We took quite a few pictures this last week in spring outfits. I realized the other day that I hadn't taken the kids picture together in quite a while. Kaelyn looks so long & skinny in the last couple of pics....she's getting so big. Today she took some steps while holding on to only one hand....that's big progress for her. She hasn't shown a lot of interest in walking just yet.

Easter Cuties

Zeke & his good buddy Luke

Cousin Callie & Zeke just before the big hunt at church.

Ouch!

Brad is taking over the blog for this latest post. I don't have any pics or anything but you will understand why after I finish my story. Last night, I went to the Rockets game (against Boston on a 22 game winning streak). It was raining outside as a cold front was moving in. Jenny dropped me off and I walked in the front door. They have mats right inside the door and I stopped to dry the bottom of my cane off. The next step I took at the Toyota Center was a bad one. My cane slipped out from under me and I tried to catch myself with my bad right knee. It buckled outward and as I fell, it caught and then I fell to the ground.


The EMT's took me to a first aid station, then into an ambulance to St. Joseph's ER a few blocks from the Toyota center. After spending close to two hours waiting to be seen, my wife had one of her greatest ideas ever. We got in the suburban (painfully) and went to Foundations Surgical Hospital where I have had my three previous knee surgeries. They front desk called Dr. Marco to ask his advice and then they called the on-call x-ray tech to come in. We rolled into the hospital, immediately saw a doctor who gave me a shot for pain. We then got an x-ray which showed a fractured tibia. I got another shot for pain and was in the process of being discharged when Dr. Marco came in (out of bed...at 11 pm) to look at my x-rays and figure out a plan.
Side note: What doctor do you know that is not on-call that will come and visit you at 11 at night after a busy day! He is an incredible doctor and a great, caring person.


Dr. Marco thinks that the bone will heal on its own (a huge relief that God kept me out of surgery)! I have to stay off the leg for a while and pray that it heals on its own. I will also have to wear a brace instead of a cast. But all that is nothing when we think about what "could have been" and we gladly accept this outcome to avoid another surgery!


Thanks again for all the nice notes and prayers that we have been flooded with.

Birthday Celebration

Several friends from church got together for a surprise 30th birthday party. We celebrated at a beautiful tea room in League City. It was such a fun evening....even the moms were able to join in on the fun!

Thank you for the party ladies....I loved it!

Third Project

Today Dan (Gene), Papa (Bill) & Papa C (Dad) came over to work on a handful of home projects. The kitchen ceiling was painted, the baseboards were nailed in, walls were retouched, closet doors were re-hung, and (most importantly) the back porch was repainted with a texture paint (our back porch is absolutely trecherous when it gets wet & I think we were all fearful that Brad might slip and break his other leg if we didn't hurry up and get it fixed).


And, Allie, Gena & Lisa watched all the kids while the projects were in full swing. That was a HUGE help too.

Thanks for all the help today everyone!

Oh...and at the end of the afternoon the boys decided they needed to take a dip in the pool (burr!). Nothing like a little early spring...70 degree dip in the pool. Zeke thought it looked like fun but once he got in....he seemed to prefer watching from the side.