Merry Christmas

Scott got out of the hospital on Wednesday. He had three seizures - the last one was enough for Scott to call off the study and make a phone call to me to pick him up. We will not know the test results until after the holidays. We left for the mountains Friday morning and had a great time with our family and friends. We had planned an old fashion Christmas and it couldn't have been more perfect. We took each person's Christmas tradition and special Christmas memory and recreated each one . It was fun to see the different memories and traditions. Our plans were to return home on the 26th but, it was cold and raining and we were worried the rain would ice over and we wouldn't be able to get off the mountain. So we left Christmas day and spent the 26th resting up. Now it's back to work and we have a busy weekend ahead of us. Much love to everyone

Another Treatment Down

Scott finished his 3rd chemo treatment Friday night. This one was a little harder on him. Saturday he stayed in bed most of the day. Skylar and I had some shopping to do so she told Pappy we would bring back medicine to make him feel better. The innosence of a child. It broke both mine and Scott's heart. Scott seems to be feeling better today. I had done some research and ordered a product called Chemovive. It's an all natural product for patients taking chemo.
I still don't have my christmas tree up but, am hoping to this week. I still need to wrap gifts. Where are those elves when you need them?

Seizure Control

In following Dr. Nick's orders - Scott contacted Dr. Elsiad (seizure specialist) they will hospitalize Scott on December the 18th for a 72 hour study @ Florida Hospital in Orlando. He will be under 24 hr surveillance Dr. Elsiad will try to provoke a seizure with test and excercise. This shouldn't be to hard since recently anyting seems to bring them on. Scott has mixed emotions, he wants his seizures under control but, it is also very scary to go through one.
Scott's Chemo is ordered and he will start his 3rd dose on Monday the 4th.

Who Says Honesty Doesn't Pay or In My Case Cost

Scott had a follow up appointment with Dr. Nick today in Orlando. He wants him to see the seizure specialist. His number one priority is to get the seizures under control since they are more frequent and more violent. We were returning home and I was chatting on the phone to my mom while going through the toll booth - not paying attention to the toll money Scott was giving me. When the toll lady handed me back my change I pulled away handing it to Scott. Scott said she gave me to much back - $5.00 to much. I had to return it she could have been a single mom and just making ends meet. So I went down 3 or 4 miles to the next exit and got back on the ramp and headed 3 or 4 miles to the toll. I explained to the toll guy that I had just been through and the girl had given me to much change. He told me to give it to him and he would return it to him. I then explained that I have to go back East, so I just want to turn around, return the extra money and be on my way. He said OK it will be $1.25. I said are you serious, he explained if he let me through without paying then he will be short in his drawer. I paid the $1.25 , then he told me I had to go 3 miles to the next exit, get back on the ramp to head back East. When I got back to the toll booth to return the $5.00 it cost me another $1.25 to go back through. So I drove a total of 12+ miles, 30 minutes and it cost me an extra $2.50 in tolls to return $5.00.

Happy Thanksgiving

We spent our Thanksgiving in Apopka with my family. There was so much food. Skylar had fun playing with her cousins and loved Kylee's tire swing. It wasn't the plastic ones that you can buy today, it was a good old real tire swing. My mom has a horse ranch behind her house. After swinging, I pulled grass so the kids could feed the horse. The horse loved the green grass. But, Skylar was unsure about feeding him, she said he has big teeth. We headed back to the Coast around 3:00 and we were all exhausted. Our family is still growing. We are expecting another niece in March (Blake says our family is cursed with girls). I did forget to take a 4 generation picture, forgot to draw names for Christmas & forgot to open the cranberry sauce (no one noticed)But, I did not forget to think of all the things I'm "thankful" for and I did not forget clothes for the homeless. Last year we made hot lunches and went to various woods where we knew homeless people lived. They were really grateful that someone remembered them. This year we had Skylar and I didn't want to take her in the woods, so I asked Tina (my sister) to make sure the clothes and shoes got to the homeless. She is as passionate about the homeless as I am. People think I'm nuts, that they should get a job. I try to explain to them a lot of them work at the daily labor. But, also that they don't think the way we do. Maybe their down on their luck or a tragedy has changed their lives and there are some that just choose to live that way. Whatever has happened it is the way they live and I do think it's sad that there are so many homeless people on our streets.

Another Treatment Down

Scott has finished his second chemo treatment. He took Saturday as a needed day of rest. On Sunday Scott said he felt better. The hunting trip to Tennessee was called off so he and Aaron will be Duck hunting in the swamps of West Palm this weekend. Again, for those of you who don't like to see animals hunted. They are safe with Scott hunting them : )

Treatment #2

Scott begins his 2nd treatment of Chemo today and will take it through Friday. He and Aaron are planning to go on a hunting trip next Thursday to Tennesse. Hopefully, he will feel OK.

Ahh...Florida Living

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We decided to take advantage of Florida living and take Skylar to Downtown Disney. 
We met up with my sister, Tina her girls and her boyfriend, Keith and his son.
 Tina never had been to Downtown Disney. Why would she - she is a Florida resident.
Seriously, she didn't even know it was there. To waste time waiting on everyone to get there we took Skylar to a shop there, and she picked out a princess cowboy hat with a tiara stuck to the front (cute).  I asked her if she was sure that was the hat she wanted and she said "Wee Hah." I think she meant yeehaw : )
 The kids had fun playing and discovering all the thins Downtown Disney has to offer. They had a huge Stitch,(The character from Lilo and Stitch) on the roof of the pirate store that spit water on the kids. They had fun in Lego Land. The highlight of Lego Land was
 to get them all on a dog and looking at the camera all at one time.  We took them to the 
Rain Forest Cafe for lunch. Even the adults were fascinated by the rain and animals.  
They had a store called Once Upon A Toy where they had tall clear cylinder's filled with 
Mr. Potatoe headpieces and his body was in bins. The kids created all different disney characters. The hardest part of the day was making sure we had all four kids and they were our four.
I posted the pictures on Photoshow Website
Ahh... Florida Living
For those still on modem or using a slower speed computer, I have also posted a slide show of the party here
Disney Village

Four Week Appointment

We saw Dr. Nick yesterday. It wasn't suppose to be an MRI appt. Scott was a little nervous about the seizures he's been having, so Dr. Nick agreed for Scott to have an MRI. MRI x-ray showed stability. Scott seems to be very concerned about his seizures. Dr. Nick atribute's his seizures to stress and anxiety. So he is going to treat him for the stress and anxiety - we need to get those two things under control so we can focus again on the tumor. Scott felt comfortable with that diagnois so there was a little stress off the top. His test results for his white blood count will be in today and we will know then to go with the round 2 chemo or to hold off for a couple days.
Growing up my mom taught me that things happen for a reason , there is a purpose for our time here on earth and God never gives you more than you can handle. In my heart - I know it's true but, during this difficult time it makes me question my faith and honestly "the man above" must think we can handle more than what we think we can. For those of you praying - pray that we are given the strength to get through want God has planned.

Beauty and the Beast

Skylar was a beautiful Princess for Halloween. A couple months ago I sat down with a costume book and let her pick anything she wanted and she picked Dora the Explorer. I went to dress her in her Dora costume and she said she didn't want to be that so when I asked her what she wanted to be she said a "Princess" lucky for her I had this dress on hand. So now we were waiting on her trick or treat buddy "The Beast" Turner (Michelle's Puppy) he was dressed as a vampire. While waiting for Tom to show up we decided to Trick or Treat our neighbors. Skylar thought it was magical to say "Trick or Treat" and get candy - this sent her off and running to the next house.
At one of the house's a witch told her "her dress so so pretty," and she replied "it's a costume." Some houses she would leave saying "oh gosh, that's so funny." At one point during our Trick or Treating I asked her who was the "Queen" and usually she'll say she's the queen but this time she said "You the Queen." "I said who is the princess." She replied "I the Princess." Then she looked over at her dad and said "What do you do?." It was priceless! Skylar had so much candy in her little pumpkin she would make a noise showing how heavy it was each time we handed it back to her for the next house. Turner, being the cute little puppy he is got as much attention as Skylar.
Beauty and the Beast
For those still on modem or using a slower speed computer, I have also posted a slide show of the party here
Beauty and the Beast

Happy Birthday Tom

Saturday was Tom's Birthday - so we decided to have alittle fun with him. Tom dressed as Leonardo The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle for his cousins birthday party - when he was twenty years old. For him, it was one of his most embarassing moments - that still haunts him to this day. He always finishes the story with - I would never get my hands on those pictures. Hmmmm sounds like a challenge to me. It turned out to be not that difficult. One phone call to his mother in New Jersey (Thanks Irene) and I had them within a week. I had a couple of months to decide how to make the most of these pictures. So I decided to make T-shirts, fliers and order ninja turtle mask. Tom's Birthday was on Saturday but Michelle (my partner in crime) and I decided it would be a shame for his work to miss out on the festivities so Michelle dressed in her T-shirt and turtle gear showed up at his work with ballons and the fliers. But, it didn't stop there. For lunch, I sent over a large pepperoni pizza for Leonardo (the ninja turtle's favorite).
Saturday his birthday we decided to go to Texas RoadHouse (is he crazy) guess so because he showed up and on time. We were there 45 min. prior and I had burned the Ninja Turtle Theme Song and had those famous fliers in the truck. Our waitress and her friend were all to happy to assist in our celebration. We were wearing our T-Shirts (yes Tom there was more than one) so we gave them our ninja turtle masks. Tom wasn't as amused as I was and threatened me several times. He said he didn't want them singing to him. I told him I told them not to sing but, what I didn't tell him was that I did tell them to come out playing the Ninja Turtle theme song and they ended it with a Have A Cowabunga Birthday Dude!! A birthday I don't think he'll forget.
Happy Birthday Tom

TGIF

Thank God It's Friday. We seem to be winding down from a busy week - still recovering from the big weekend party. Scott seems to have had more energy as the week went on. Monday and Tuesday were lay around movie days for him. I am so glad we are fortunate enough where he doesn't have to worry about working while going through Chemo. I tease him about being his "Sugar Momma" but honestly it makes it easier on me knowing he's not struggling through a work day.
We are still planning our Friday routine. Pick Skylar up from the sitter's after work, she spends the night and we play on Saturday. By Friday Scott and I both seem to start having withdraw's so it's a good routine for us.

Skylar in Wonderland

Skylar turned 3 on Saturday. We had a huge Alice in Wonderland Party for her.  Michelle and I worked very hard to pull it off and kids had a blast.  Skylar dressed up as Alice and the other children were characters from the movie. They loved dress up and the character hats(some adults were even caught in character hats)  they  painted tea cups and could not wait for the pinata. Wesley was the lucky one- he pulled the correct ribbon and the hidden door opened up spilling confetti, candy and toys everywhere. They seem to also  love the tea party. But,when I yelled switch they all looked at me like I was crazy. When I explained to them what it meant the older ones told me it wasn't happening. After we had cut and served the cake Skylar thought it was funny to take a bite of the cake that was left. She had icing all over face then wanted to kiss people, after she kissed them she would point and laugh because they now had icing all over there face. I posted the pictures on Photoshow Website
Skylar in Wonderland
For those still on modem or using a slower speed computer, I have also posted a slide show of the party here
Skylar in Wonderland

One Down

Scott started his first chemo treatment on Monday and finished on Friday. He did well all week but by Friday was a bit fatigued. He was really tired on Saturday but didn't want to miss any part of Skylar's Birthday. We will see Dr. Nick November 2nd - he will check his white cell count and if it's good we will go with treatment two.
Sunday we took it easy slept in until 10:00 which is unusal for us. We developed Skylar's birthday pictures - YIKES!! we had 409 pictures. Then Scott wanted to see Grudge 2. He loves to see scary movies with Michelle, although Michelle never seems as thrilled as Scott. But, she goes along with it anyway to humor him. Good sport Michelle..Thank You to everyone that continue to keep Scott in your prayers.

9-1-1

Scott has been on a Dilatin check for 2 weeks because of the toxicity levels. He was advised by Dr. Nick to only take 300 mg of Dialatin before bed along with his Topomax and Neurontin which acts as buffers. Scott had a Dilatin level check on Monday, the levels were still high. So we were to stay with the same plan 300 mg before bed. In doing so this was causing small break through seizures.
Saturday we spent the day shopping with Skylar and had dinner plans with some friends we had not seen in almost a year. We met at a favorite local resturant, had dinner and said our good-byes when Tami noticed Scott was having some trouble. What I thought was a small break through seizure turned out to be more. I was trying to keep Scott calm and everyone around us from panicking. By the time Scott had come around Indian Harbour Beach parmedics had shown up and we decided to go ahead and transport Scott to be checked out. At the hospital Scott and I decided to have them just check his Dilatin level and we would know what to do until we followed up with Dr. Nick on Monday. His Dilatin level was 11.9 which is low and probably what caused the seizure.

Questionable MRI

Thursday, October 05, 2006

Questionable MRI

Scott and I returned to Dr. Nick for a 6 week reading of a new MRI scan. An area that seemed to be questionable at first has shown activity. Scott is to begin treatment on Monday with Temedor it is a 28 day cycle chemo for 12 - 18 months. If the cells do not react to the Temedor than we will go to plan B. We don't know what that is yet. Dr. Nick seems to think the cells will react well to the Temedor because it has reacted to everything else it has been hit with.

posted by Scott and Dalana Zech @

The Face Of Courage

Recently I created a my space account. It seems like the 'in thing' and a way to reconnect with those you loose contact with in this rat race we call 'Life'. When filling out the questionaire I came to a place where it asked about heros. I don't think of hero's. I do think of the admiration I have for people. Scott is the kindest person I know. He is more concerned how other lives will be affected rather than his own. When everyone else is falling apart - he is the one to say it's going to be OK. I have never met anyone that has touched and inspired people the way he has. I admire him for his positive outlook on life, for that sparkle that is always in his eye, for his determination to live his life to the fullest and for his courage to fight.