Keys Game

Sunday was a beautiful day. Chris really enjoys going to the Frederick Keys baseball games. She advertises her credit union with them and has a great relationship with the VP there. She said that today would be a good day to go and we made it happen. 2pm game on a beautiful sunny day. We had great seats, and the boys had fun too. It was the 1st game this season. We'll be going a lot more once school and lacrosse are over. For those who don't know the Keys are the single-A farm team for the Baltimore Orioles.

Alex game

Friday, I drove up to watch Alex's game. Her team squeezed in another quick game before the end of the season against a pretty tough opponent. Although they played hard and were winning at halftime 9-6 they ended up losing 14-12 in overtime!!! Another heartbreaker. It didn't matter too much though as it was non-conference.

Saturday their team finished the season up at Wilkes college and won 18-6. Alex played a lot and did really well. They now have their conference tournament that begins on Tuesday. Chris and I are hoping to go up and see them play that day. If they win they keep playing. Lose and their season is done.

Since I went alone Chris and the boys spent the evening together. They had nice evening and went shopping for some clothes! They're all good at that.

Alex is completely done with school. I brought home some things on Friday night that she won't need. She moves to another dorm on Monday where the entire team will stay together during the last week of games.

Great Weekend!

Well the sun finally shined down on our family last Thursday and continued to do so through the weekend! The weather was just perfect.

Saturday was lacrosse day for the boys. Both won their games. Alex's team went to Drew University in NJ for another tough conference matchup. They lost in overtime by a 14-13 score! The same score their other loss was. They have 2 losses all season by 1 goal each! She got some good playing time and the loss was really tough to swallow. She has final exams this week. One each day Monday through Thursday. She has Friday off and everyone leaves Lycoming on Saturday. Everyone but her team. Her team has an away game on Saturday. The final game of the season. It is against Wilkes (of Wilkes/Barre in PA) After the game they have to move out of their rooms to another dorm and their MAC conference tournament starts on Tuesday. If they keep winning then they play Tuesday, Thursday and Championship on Saturday. Lose and they are done. Win the championship and they stay another week or so for the NCAA Division III tournament! Very exciting for her! Notice something funny in the pictures? Yeah that's right RED hair! College life!

Chris is great. Thanks to everyone who sent wishes of congratulations to us. We can't tell you what they mean to us. She will be going to see her oncologist in a few weeks and discuss where and what to do next. For now she's enjoying the wonderful weather and relaxing!

Last Night's Email

For those who have not read their email or are not on the list, this went out last night...

Dear Friends,

As you know Chris underwent a chemoembolization about 3 weeks ago. It was a very tough procedure and took her a couple of weeks to get back on her feet. Today she went back to Johns Hopkins for a follow-up MRI of her liver to see how things went. The images show almost a very large reduction of tumor size in the lobe that they did the procedure! The Doctor was very, very pleased with the results. The liver has holes left in it that are filled with fluid at this point. Her left liver lobe only shows 2 small spots of activity and the Dr. said that they pose no immediate harm!

This is finally some news that we've been waiting to hear. Our lives have been a roller coaster for the past 2 1/2 years and right now we're back on top! So what does this all mean? It means for the time being, Chris can enjoy everything that she deserves to enjoy! She will return in another month for another MRI and who knows what we may find out then. We live our lives in tight little moments and right now we're enjoying this moment to the fullest!

I could not attend this appointment. The first Dr. appointment I've missed in almost 3 years. I was flying back from Portland and called her from my 1 hour layover. As soon as she told me the tears started flowing and they were tears of joy. A little embarrassing in an airport full of people but I didn't care. Thank you to everyone for all the prayers, dinners, cards, flowers, and all the little things too like rides for the boys. I really cannot tell you how grateful we are to each and every one of you.

Charlie

http://chris-dewitt-updates.blogspot.com/

Busy Week while I'm gone...

Well it is Thursday morning and I am sitting at the Portland, Oregon airport. They happen to have free wireless in the airport so with 2 hours to spend I thought I would catch up on some blog!

I flew out here on Tuesday for a meeting on Wednesday. It's a long way to go but sometimes you just have to meet clients face to face. I got in really late on Tuesday. Wednesday I drove around a little bit and tried to see Mount Hood. Huge mountain. The weather wasn't too cooperative as it was rainy and overcast. Typical for this area. I did see Multnomah Falls. Just breathtaking! I took the picture at the left while I was standing there and even went across the little bridge which was built in 1914 out of concrete!!!

Wednesday, Alex had another home game at Lycoming. Chrissy really wanted to see her play so she and Michael packed up the car and drove up there! She was really glad she did and so was Alex. They won again and Alex got some good playing time. Chris was really tired and didn't get home until after 10pm but made it home safely.

Today, Chrissy has an MRI appointment followed by a meeting with the Dr. that performed the chemoembolization 3 weeks ago. It really pains me that I cannot be there for the appointment. I believe that it is the first Dr. appointment I've missed with her in 3 years... Her Mom and Dad took her to Johns Hopkins and is going to be with her all day so I know that she's not by herself. She said she could do it on her own but I insisted that someone be with her. We are really praying that the Dr. sheds some promising news on our life at todays appointment. We don't know what the next steps are and that is always the hardest part of this ordeal. I'll post tomorrow and bring you up to date.

This weekend is supposed to be sunny and near 70. We are looking forward to just getting outside! The cold weather is really starting to wear on us all.

Rainy Sunday

Well today is Sunday and it is a very rainy one at that. Plans for the day are ______. Nothing! Sit around and do nothing. Haven't had one of those days in awhile.

Yesterday was lacrosse day. Tyler played in Frederick, Michael in Hagerstown, and Alex played at home. Of course Tyler forgot his cleats, Michael forgot his jersey and Alex.... well she did well on her own! Let's just say from now on every piece of equipment/clothing will be laid out on the garage floor and inventoried by ME before we go!!!

Tyler and Michael both won their games. They play with the spireslacrosse club here in Frederick. I'm on the Board and involved with the club as well. It is an excellent club and provides lacrosse for over 150 kids this year.

Alex's team rolled over a lesser opponent on Saturday. She did great and play more than 3/4 of the entire game. Results are here. She has only 1 week of classes left, then 1 week of finals. It is hard to believe that her freshman year is almost over... oh wait a minute I just looked at the savings account balance, it's over!!!!!

Friday, some very good friends of ours that live in Rochester, NY stopped in Frederick on their way home from NC. We went out to dinner with them for a few hours. It was really great seeing them again. We stay in touch via e-mails but nothings better than a friendly hug once in awhile. They have been through quite a lot in recent years as their 11-year old son, Ryan, recently passed away from leukemia. We talk a lot about things and it is nice to have someone that knows exactly what is going on in our family. Information on Ryan is here. Thanks for stopping in Rich, Jill and Shannon. You are in our thoughts every day!


This is a busy week for us, I have to fly to Oregon on Tuesday and home on Thursday. Chris has an MRI and Dr. appointment on Thursday. She wants to go to Alex's next lacrosse game on Wednesday so she may be driving up there on that day. She knows how to get there but I think we'll try and find someone to go with her.

Have a great week!

1st Loss

Yesterday Alex's lacrosse team played Elizabethtown and unfortunately was defeated. They had just moved up 1 more notch in the coach's poll to number 16 in the country when they found themselves up against a very aggressive team. They lost by one goal, 14-13. The winning goal happened with only 22 seconds left in the game! You can read E-town's review here or Lycoming's review here.

Chris and I were able to go up an watch the game. She was feeling pretty well but still fighting off the fever. She slept most of the way up and back but that was okay. It was really good to get out and see Alex's team again.

We did speak with the Doctor on Monday about Chris's fever. As long as it stays in the 100-101 range that is okay and not cause for concern. In fact, it could be considered a good thing as it is probably her body trying to rid itself of the cancer cells that were killed during the procedure 2 weeks ago. There's a bunch of them and they gotta go somewhere! She will see the Dr. next week.

After Easter

Well Easter was nice. Alex and John (boyfriend) were here. They could use a course in navigation though on Friday. Seems as if finding downtown Baltimore wasn't as easy as they thought. They even had my GPS with them and could not find it.... They eventually did though.

Friday the boys and I went to the Hood College Men's Lacrosse game in Frederick. They got to be ball boys and enjoyed that. Chrissy went to work for the afternoon and did pretty well. She continues to fight off this darn low-grade fever. She takes ibuprofen and it goes away but it is starting to be a pain for her.

Saturday was a lacrosse tournament in Frederick for all the city boys teams. We went and watched some of those. It was really cold and blustery outside though. Chris stayed home to keep warm! While home Chris got a bunch of Easter eggs together and had an Easter egg hunt for the kids (yeah all of them) Saturday evening. They had a good time and so did Chris!

Sunday was an early morning as we all went to 9am mass to celebrate Easter. Around 1pm most of the family came over and we had lunch with everyone. Chris really enjoyed having everyone over even if some couldn't make it. At 2:30 though I had to pack up the car and drive Alex and John back up to Lycoming. She had lacrosse practice at 6pm so she needed to get back. They have a really tough game coming up on Tuesday vs. Elizabethtown. We are going to try and watch that if Chris is feeling up to it. I got home around 9:30 and was exhausted.

Happy Easter to everyone. And a special thanks to Andrew from COMSTAR for making dinner for us last week. A wonderful pasta with chicken. You would never think that an IT guy could cook too, but he can!!! :)

Good Friday

Well Chris continues to battle a low-grade fever. It spikes up to about 101 and then back down with some ibuprofen. She did well at work on Wed but yesterday stayed at home because of her fever. She is feeling okay except for this. Today she plans on going into the office for a little while while I take the boys to the Hood College Men's Lacrosse Game. They are going to be ball boys for the team during the game.

Yesterday I went up to Lycoming to pick up Alex for the weekend. In addition to her dirty laundry she also brought her boyfriend with her! :) His name is John. We had a nice dinner at home after we got back and sat around and spent time together after that. Good evening!

Today Alex and John are going to visit Baltimore's Inner Harbor. So I had to get them directions in hopes that they don't get lost and call me! I gave them my portable Garmin GPS to so hopefully they'll be back later!

Back to work day...

Well Chris just left to go back to work a few minutes ago. Yesterday she was feeling much better and even went out shopping for a little bit to get things for Easter. She has stopped taking her pain meds as that has finally subsided.

Lisa from COMSTAR stopped in last night and dropped some things off for Chris. Chris was glad to get see her for the time she was here. She's been cooped up for 10 days now and is itching to get back to the real world.

Hopkin's called yesterday to discuss her follow up MRI and when she will see the Dr. That date is April 19. Bad date. I made reservations to fly to Portland, OR for a meeting on the 17 - 19. Chris said it was okay and that she would be fine. I will find someone to take her and stay with her for the short trip to the hospital that day. Any volunteers?

They did tell Chris that the blood work done on Monday was showing all very good numbers for just about everything. That was good news. They can tell so much from a blood test now. The only thing that was a little low were her Red Blood Cells. But not low enough for concern.

Alex's team continues to do well. After last week's win they are now ranked 17th in the country in the DIII Coach's Poll. Find it here. Just incredible!

She and her boyfriend are coming home Thursday. Of course I have to go up and get them. She originally had a game but that has been canceled. I guess the other team was scared of them or something. She'll only be home until Sunday when I take them back up in the afternoon.

Oh yeah and the boys are now off school until next TUESDAY!!!! And it's raining outside today... Oh happy day. I'm sure they'll make it through the day!

Good Weekend

Well Chris made it through the weekend. She stayed home all weekend recovering slowly. Her appetite is back and the pain has started to subside which is great. She is up and about now and starting to get back to normal. I'm taking her to get some bloodwork done later this morning and then I'm running her down to her office to get some things so she can work from home. She's not quite ready to get back to normal.

Our good friend Cheryl came over yesterday and visited with Chris for awhile. I was outside planting some flowers for Chris that we had bought. Late Cheryl brought over some crab bisque! It was tremendous.

Thank you to everyone who has made a donation to the Avon Walk! I cannot tell you how much it helps. I have forwarded checks that I received over to Cheryl and she will send them in. She is well on her way to reaching her goal.

Alex's team won AGAIN yesterday! They beat the 18'th ranked team in the country. Lycoming is ranked 20th. Depending on which poll you read. Read about it here.

There are 167 Division III teams in the country, 40 DII and only 81 DI schools in the country. Many of the top ranked DIII schools compete with most of the DI and DII schools without a problem. In fact Lycoming scrimmages with some teams regularly.