Sorry it has been awhile since my last post...here is what has been going on with Charlie.

Last Thursday Charlie and Kim and Charlie's mom went down to the University of Pennsylvania for another opinion regarding treatment options. They met with a very well noted pulmonary oncologist specialist, Dr. Cory Langer. He seemed to be very confident in the recommendations he prescribed for Charlie. He in fact is now working with the Abington doc on Charlie’s care. Charlie did start back on a new chemo drug last Friday.

Unfortunately, last Saturday evening Charlie's pain got so bad that Kim had to call 911 and got him down to Abington Hospital. Initially, base on x-ray results, they diagnosed Charlie with pneumonia. But upon further test they felt that it was not pneumonia but something that mimicked the appearance of pneumonia on x-rays.

On Sunday Charlie was sent for an MRI to check the disease progression. What was revealed was that his thoracic vertebra at levels T4-T5 (approximately directly between his shoulder blades) part of the bone is collapsing thus putting him at risk for a cord compression injury. If this should happen Charlie, will loose the ability to walk. So the decision was made yesterday that he will have to have surgery on that area in order to preserve the spinal cord.

The laminectomy surgery is tentatively, but most likely, be done tomorrow sometime around 2pm. Then his post op hospital stay will be approximately 5 days...then he will have to go to rehab. At this point not sure if rehab will be done on an inpatient or outpatient basis. Fortunately they will be able to continue with Charlie’s chemo this Friday as scheduled

Today my parents, kids and I will be traveling down to see Charlie and my parents are staying at Kim’s so they can be at the hospital early to support Kim. I will head back down in the early afternoon to see Charlie before surgery.

Please continue your prayers for Charlie...these complications can be so frustrating and disheartening for him. Pray that he keep his will to go on fighting...and for Kim the stamina needed for her to endure.

On Friday the Currans headed down to PA to celebrate Michael's 6th Birthday with Aunt Kim and Uncle Charlie. (This was at Uncle Charlie's request!)

We spent the afternoon at Charlie's parent's pool watching the kids swim and enjoying long chats with both Charlie's parents and his brother Pete. Charlie even put on the old swim trunks and ventured into the water to hang with Michael and Grace!

That evening we went back to Kim and Charlie's to indulge in some well deserved pizzas. Then we sang Happy Birthday to Michael and watched him blow out the 6 candles which were standing in a yummy ice cream cake from Carvels!

Charlie headed to bed by 8pm...I think the whole day: as good as it was, turned out to be a bit tiring for him.

Charlie finished his last round of radiation about a week ago, so now he is just trying to regain some strength so he can enjoy some of his daily activities with more ease. As far as resuming chemo...nothing has been really said by the docs about if, when, or what drug will be used. Charlie is trying to be positive but is this so very hard when he has been weak for so long.

Please continue your prayers for Charlie...I know God hears them.

Pray for more good days like this past Friday!

"The Oak Tree"







A mighty wind blew both night and day,
It stole the oak trees leaves away.
Then it snapped its boughs and pulled off its bark,
Until the oak was tired and stark.
But still this oak tree maintained its ground,
While the other trees fell all around.
Then the weary wind gave up and spoke,
“How is it that you are still standing oak?”

The oak tree replied, “I know that you
Can break every branch of mine in two.
You can shake my limbs and make me sway,
And carry every one of my leafs away.
But I have roots stretched into the earth,
Growing strong each day since my birth.
You will never touch them, for you see,
They are the deepest part of me.
Until now I was not sure,
Just how much I could endure.
But I have found, with thanks to you

I am much stronger than I ever knew.”

Spoke with Kim this am...Charlie is getting a little in the way of pain relief from his treatments, although it is very hard for him to make it down the steps, so much of his time is spent in his room. Kim plans on putting a small refrigerater in his room so he can get his Ensure and other food independently. I am going to dig out the old baby monitor and give it to Kim so they can communicate without having to yell when Kim is downstairs.

Kim also said Charlie had a nice visit with his father yesterday. Charlie did get the chance to sit outside for a little during the visit, although he couldn't stay out too long because it became uncomfortable for him rather quickly. Charlie did say how good it felt to get outside.

So this will be another week of radiation, then, according to Dr. Potz, Charlie will get a 4 week break from treatments before restarting his chemo again.

I dropped Michael and Grace off at bible camp today and took a moment to go inside the church, say a prayer and light a candle for Charlie. I think tomorrow I will do the same...only this time I am going to light every unlit candle in the church!

Please keep Charlie and Kim in your prayers...I know God hears them. Today I ask that we all pray for one of His miracles to intervene.

Charlie has started radiation therapy this week and is also back on the steroids. Hopefully by the end of the week he will begin to get some relief.

Please keep saying prayers...we need all the prayer worriors out in full force!

I visited Kim and Charlie over the weekend. Charlie is really having a lot of back pain, most likely due to the lesions on his spine. He was not able to get out of bed to go downstairs. He is scheduled to start radiation therapy, once again, to the spine this Friday. Hopefully he will get some relief. His pain med had been switched to morphine by mouth but it's not really giving him the relief he needs to ambulate and be comfortable.

Kim did call Dr. Potz for the CAT scan results...much to her dismay...he reported that it was a mixed bag. Some tumors shrunk while other grew a little. Not the report they were hoping to hear.

Charlie is also suppose to get another MRI of the hip and spine I believe.

Please keep them in your prayers...Charlie and Kim are having a tough time right now as both are mentally and physically weary.

Some good news would be such an uplifting and welcome change!

Today Charlie went to see Dr. Potz, however the results of his CT from yesterday were not available yet. I think they were very disappointed to hear that they will have to wait 2 more weeks until they see the doc again and get a clearer picture of how Charlie is doing with his treatments.

This whole process is really beginning to wear on both Kim and Charlie. It is time for some good news.

Please keep praying for them...it is all seemingly harder now for them. Charlie is tired of feeling lousy and Kim is all worried out!

I will keep posting as long as you all keep praying!!!

Charlie is finally done with this round of chemo...but he still continues to be very tired. Kim said he is sleeping all kinds of hours and according to Charlie, as of late, he is having issues with food tasting very salty. Hopefully this will subside as he is done with chemo. He will be scheduled at the end of this month beginning of next for a CAT scan.This scan will let us know if the chemo worked and if he has achieved a remission.

Thank you for the continued prayers...each one is a blessing.

I will continue to keep you posted!!!

Love,
Barbara

Well it has been a couple weeks since my last entry and things have pretty much stayed the same. Charlie continues to be exhausted by this chemo round. The other day, for the first time, he had some nausea. He will be finishing up with the Navelbine drug this week  then will be scheduled for another CAT Scan in a week or so to check his progress. We are all so hoping that this chemo agent did the trick and that Charlie has a clean scan.

Thank you all for keeping him in your prayers. They are very powerful....the ultimate in wireless connections!!!

I spoke with Charlie on Saturday and Kim this morning. Charlie has been going for chemo one day a week for the past 3 weeks and he is really being hammered by this new drug. He is off this week but than back into the infusion room next week. Charlie admits to being very tired most of the time. He's not able to get out like he was before...most likely because his recuperation time between infusions is very short. This is how the drug works though...they don't want the cancer cells to catch a break, therefore Charlie can't catch one either.

Kim also said that he is sleeping a lot, mostly in the morning...sometimes not getting out of bed until noon or later. She also said that he is so tired that even going for a drive in the car is exhausting for him. This is a very tough time for Charlie...he needs to keep his spirits up. It's very easy to become depressed when you are tired and not feeling well for this period of time.

Luckily for Kim and Charlie, their neighbors have been just wonderful to them. Showing up with baskets of food, doing their yard work, sending cards and well wishes...they have been very blessed with all the support and help they have received from their neighbors.

So please continue to pray for both of them...Kim is hoping that Charlie's next scan will produce a clean report and that Charlie will be off all chemo agents and get back to feeling some sense of normalcy.