Arrangements

A Celebration of Life Service will be held on Tuesday April 15, 2014 at 2:00pm at New Beginnings Church, 4317 Fallston Road, Shelby NC 28150, with Dr. Johnny Ware officiating. Burial will follow at Cleveland Memorial Park. The family will receive friends two hours before the service from 12:00pm until 2:00pm, and after the burial the family will be at Billy’s home in Shelby for visitors. 1521 Sulphur Springs Road.

Memorials can be made to the Billy Standridge Memorial Scholarship Fund, Automotive Recyclers Association, 9113 Church Street, Manassas, VA 20110. 

Cecil M. Burton Funeral Home

Jayski's Talladega Experience

Perseverance and Surprise - A Tribute to Billy Standridge.

JD Motorsports

Saying Bye

We are heartbroken this morning to let everyone know that dad's battle with cancer ended this morning at 1:30 AM.  There is no doubt my dad was a fighter and he fought to the very end. We want to thank everyone for your thoughts and prayers over the last six weeks. Your calls, messages, cards, hugs and just the smallest things have meant a lot to dad and our family.  

Our dad was a great man, well known by many. He would do anything to help anyone and had one of the biggest hearts I know. We are going to miss him dearly and his memory will live in our hearts and minds forever till we meet him again. We are rejoicing knowing that he has been healed and reunited in Heaven with Maw Maw Jo.

The family will be receiving visitors today after 6:00, for those of you who live in or around Shelby you may visit family at 1521 Sulphur Springs Rd 
in Shelby and for those of you who live in or around Lake Wylie you may visit family at 721 Anchors Bend Cove in Lake Wylie. 

Difficult Days

Just checking in with every one. The last few days have been hard for dad, we are just trying to keep him comfortable. It's hard to believe that we just found this mass just 6 weeks ago.

We would like to say a big thanks to Johnny Davis for honoring our dad this weekend at Darlington, what an awesome way to support him during this battle. He is very proud! Wish you guys the best of luck and a safe race to victory lane!  This story is also featured in the Shelby Star if you would like to check it out you can click on the link below.
http://m.shelbystar.com/sports/racing/racing-teams-to-pay-tribute-to-standridge-at-darlington-1.302797/

Becky and I would also ask that instead of visiting to please send a card or a message to us. We want his family to be able to spend time with him and dad just doesn't feel up to a lot of company. Please keep dad and our family in your prayers.

For family that would like to visit please call Becky 256-710-1518, I am also available at 704-692-0550 if you can't reach Becky. Thank you all so much, please continue to pray for dad!

Address: 721 Anchors Bend Cove, Lake Wylie or Clover SC 29710

Update Tuesday April 8th

Hi everyone, this will be a quick update, the last few days have been busy for us all. Over the last couple of days dad has been really tired, he has decided that he doesn't think he will be able to make the trip to Hickory to drive the pace car this Saturday.

Becky and I would also ask that instead of visiting to please send a card or a message to him, or to our family. We have email, Facebook, you can use this site and I will provide his home address below. We want his family to be able to spend time with him and dad just doesn't feel up to a lot of company right now. We certainly appreciate everyone's concern, everyone's prayers and all of your messages. By no means are we giving up on him, we just want to keep him as comfortable as we can.

For family that would like to visit please call Becky 256-710-1518, I am also available at 704-692-0550 if you can't reach Becky. Thank you all so much, please continue to pray for dad!

Address: 721 Anchors Bend Cove, Lake Wylie or Clover SC 29710

Saturday April 5th Weekend Update

Hi everyone, I am away today spending some time with my girls. I was just sitting here thinking about my dad. I am so thankful for the time I have been able to spend with him, and when I am not with him, I worry about him and miss him so much.

Dad and  Emma, napping.

I was looking through and replying to some messages, if I am not with dad when I get them, then I send them to him and Becky by text. I love to read them to him and talk about whoever it was that sent the message, he knows a lot of people that I have never met and the love and support from everyone is wonderful! I may not reply to every message but we see them all and appreciate them. 

Recently dad and I were talking about his racing days. I really wanted to get more information about those days but I will have to rely on others to help me fill-in the time line, (hint-hint Buck Johnson, Lamar Walker, Phil Fowler, Mike Calinoff, Pete Pistone, Calvin Humphries, Hop and so many others that I have not named). Dad did mention to me however, that I should contact Jayski, he had a site and might be able to help.

After reading a link that Jayski had provided me, I couldn't help but think back to the racing days. All I did then was worry about my daddy being in a bad wreck and getting hurt. I never would have thought that something like this could happen unexpectedly and so suddenly. I know that none of us are promised tomorrow, it's just so sad and breaks my heart to see my dad have the problems that he has had and the medical complications are so bizarre. But then I remember that I am not not the only one to lose a parent and wonder if I am being selfish for feeling this way, but it's so hard to accept the hand he has been dealt.

Getting back to racing, I do wish that I would have embraced the racing life a little more. My sisters (Deedra and Jody) which I have not mentioned much but are always close to my heart, spent a lot of our days at the race track. It was very different as a children/teens, especially being girls, spending our weekends at the racetrack. If it was still during the school year we usually spent the weekend with Maw-Maw Jo, Aunt Judy or our Great-Aunt Mae. I think Mae probably had it the worst, by the time she was in-charge of us we were older much meaner teenage girls. For so many years though, mom and dad used to sneak us into the race track, we would hide under blankets or whatever we could find in the back of the car at the time, rules were, you had to be over 16 to be allowed in the pit area. Once in the pit area we would have to hide out in the race truck all day. As a parent I can understand why the brought us, it was hard to be away from your family so many weekends and not to mention that three girls could wear out their welcome other places.

Some of the things I remember most about those race days is all of the adventures getting to the race tracks because something always broke down. No worries though, lots of on-board mechanics to fix them, thanks to dad, Little Bill, Rusty Lawson just depending on who was along for the ride.(I am mixing several years and race divisions of memories). Then when we got to the track there was always a problem, dad would either wreck the car during practice or something mechanical would go wrong, or an adjustment needed to be made and they would stay up all night working on the car to get it ready for race day. Dad mostly depended on volunteers for 'pit crew' and he funded a lot of his racing with the help of, very few but much appreciated, local sponsorship. The very one time that dad absolutely 'blew the field away' because of his relentless hard work and persistence, NASCAR tried to accuse him of cheating! (So many things have to come together to make the perfect race car). That was the year I turned my back on the sport forever. I felt that because dad didn't have a big corporate sponsor that they (NASCAR) didn't like it when the 'underdog' could race right along with the big guys. It seemed like racing had become all about money. Dad stuck with it for a few years after that, I went my separate way as an independent teenager and spent my free time playing in a country music band. But that was the great thing about my parents, they supported me no matter what I chose to do.

I am sure Deedra and Jody and so many others could share their experiences during the many years spent racing with dad. There are so many years and so many tracks that I can remember going to such as Daytona, Talladega, Richmond, Bristol, and Charlotte over the course of many years (can't forget about Hickory Motor Speedway) and lots of great memories and the many ups and downs being in a race family.

After dad retired from racing he continued with his full-time business in the salvage industries and has three salvage yards and other business interests that he had maintained full-time up until this tumor was discovered. We would have never thought that a simple prostate surgery could have triggered the massive problems that he now faces, the terrible affliction of cancer.

As I pray for Dad, Becky, Ethan, Matt, Alex, Deedra and Jody and our families and extended families, as well as his dad Gerald, and his brother Bobby and their respective families, dads cousins, aunts and many living relatives, I also pray for so many others that have been close to my dad and have known him over the years, this has been a difficult time for everyone. I know that he loves and appreciates each and everyone of you! He is a good man, with a great big heart, he is my daddy.

Please be sure to read the link I reference from Jayski, it's; Jasyki's Tallegda Experience.

Don't forget about this Saturday April 12th, we hope that dad can get behind the wheel on the race track at Hickory Motor Speedway, if he is able. Please keep checking the site for updates this week, we will let you know more details closer to this Saturday. 

There are so many of you that I would like to thank for all of the ways you have supported dad's family in Lake Wylie and our family in Shelby, you know who you are and we appreciate all you have done, no matter how big or small it was a big deal for us.

There were a lot of race comments posted today in various places on the site, I hope you enjoy reading them as much as we have and encourage you to write more.

Dad has had lots of visitors today and we expect more tomorrow (Sunday). After tomorrow we would ask that you please call or text before you come by. We have a busy week and his family needs some special time with him as well. 

Contact information: 

 Becky Standridge cell #256-710-1518

Dad's home address is: 721 Anchors Bend Cove, Clover, SC 29710

Back at Home

Hi everyone, I just wanted to do a quick update to let you know we made it back home yesterday after some interesting experiences at the Houston airport. Dad is settled back in at home and has been enjoying a steady stream of friends and family stopping by to visit. He is resting well and is pretty alert with all that's going on at the house right now.

Save the date for Saturday, April 12 at the Hickory Motor Speedway--we are planning to have Dad drive the pace car for the race that day, depending on how he's doing and what we can work out with the folks at the racetrack. Standby for more specific details this next week. 

Not what we were hoping for.

It absolutely breaks my heart to have to let everyone know this but we are out of options here at MD Anderson and will be coming home tomorrow. 

Despite the many problems he is having dad feels good today, he has been smiling, laughing and making jokes every once in a while. He has had Dialysis two times and it has helped to clear some of the toxins out of his body so he is more alert. There is nothing they can do to improve his kidney function, it seems that there is a blood clot causing the problem as well as the increase in size of his tumor. 

Our flight arrives in Charlotte around 1:30 tomorrow afternoon. Anyone that wants to visit just call or text me or Becky, sometime on Friday or the weekend should be fine, we don't know our schedules completely since hospice will be visiting as well.

Also if you have tried to leave a message here the easiest way to do so if you don't have a gmail account is to choose anonymous, just leave your name at the end of the messages, we have been reading them to him, trying to reply when we can. 

Other information: 
Becky Standridge cell #256-710-1518
Dad's home address is: 721 Anchors Bend Cove, Clover, SC 29710

Having a little bit of a better day.

Some prayers have been answered and we are grateful for some opportunities today. 

Billy & Becky, feeling a little better today!

To quickly summarize our situation here, they have decided to do dialysis to relieve some of the work his kidneys are having to do right now - in hopes, that the kidneys will pick back up and start working again on their own. I had been hopeful for this possibility because acute renal failure can be reversed depending on what the cause is. They don't really know what the cause of the renal failure is but his liver function has remained stable which is a very good thing. 

They will also do another round of dialysis tomorrow and then decide about Thursday. By Thursday we should know if things are going to get better, or stay the same. It is not likely they will continue to do dialysis after that unless they can find an exact cause that can be fixed. Right now it is in Gods hands and we continue to pray.

We continue to give dad your messages, he has just been really drowsy over the last couple of days.Thankfully he is feeling a little bit better after dialysis. He is such a strong man, he rarely complains, his attitude throughout all of this is just amazing.  We just want him to feel better.

This is Billy:  I just want to thank everyone for their prayers and support.  This has been a hard time but the support has lifted my spirits.    Thanks again.

Day 1 at MD Anderson

Where do I start, we have had a very eventful day that has yet to end. I think Houston would be a nice place to visit for any other reason but if you ever needed a specialty hospital, this would be the place to come. It is a beautiful city and the weather has been great but that's about as much good as we have had.

The day started out really well, we made it to our appointment, figured out where we were going. Within a couple of hours we were able to see the doctor. The news was not what we had hoped but not all bad. Apparently having the prostate cancer (although gone now) has now made him ineligible for any clinical trials, this was the same reason a liver transplant was not an option. The doctor did offer the possibility of another treatment that could help relive the pressure on a large major vein. Of course more testing and a team of specialist would be needed to make the final decision. This leaves us in limbo again. More test were scheduled for tomorrow and we were hopeful for an answer by Wednesday. 

We finally made it back to our hotel and decided to order some food, going out to eat is just not an option and neither is fast food. We had our order called in to restaurant #1 and Becky and I were on our way but never made it there due to a traffic gridlock caused by a wreck that had closed the interstate. Then we found and navigated to restaurant #2 only to have to cancel that order because we needed to bring dad back to the hospital. 

After reviewing his lab work the doctor decided that he needed to be admitted for observation to find out why is lab work is off. So after a busy and frustrating day we are back to where we started, waiting on test, waiting on information, needing comfort and relief from very many symptoms that I don't mention in my post.

Please continue to pray.

Safe in Texas

I wanted to give everyone a quick update, we arrived in Texas earlier today. We are hopeful for a great week and great possibilities for treatment. I don't think we will have any news until Tuesday or Wednesday but I will keep you updated. 

Dad on Airplane

Texas - HERE WE COME!

Hi everyone, we are so excited, finally some prayers have been answered and we got some good news today! The paper work needed from the Dr's office and the insurance company was completed today and dad has an appointment for MD Anderson THIS Monday. It just so happens that the delay in getting the Soafenib is in our favor because it may have made him ineligible for possible clinical trails. (If this does not make a lot of sense - please read the previous post.)

Also for anyone that may want to visit dad this weekend (he is at home) we wanted to let you know that anytime after 4:00 on Saturday afternoon would be best. Becky asked that you please call one of us or send a message (her number is 265-710-1518). We will have a busy weekend getting ready to leave town and will fly out sometime on Sunday, we still have yet to book our flight.  

This has no doubt been a difficult week but dad is feeling better everyday and even more so after getting the blood transfusion today. Keep those prayers coming our way!

More information about treatment plans

Hello everyone, I wanted to give another update about dad and what our treatment plans are. It has been a busy week thus far and will continue to be that way for the next week and half. The last week has been really difficult for us as we try to process all of this information and deal with the insurance company. Some of this information is repetitive from the last post but these things have been repeated to us so it's worth repeating. 

We continue to learn that there are a lot of factors to consider when treating cancer. The type of cancer it is, size, if it has spread, and how well your liver and kidneys are working seem to be the most important things for us right now. As of yet we have been unable to get a detailed explanation of dad's cancer. To be honest I think the doctors are a little perplexed themselves, but I have decided that those details are not as important because we know it is a liver cancer and the treatment options are the same depending on all of those factors I just mentioned. 

I would have to write a book to even begin to explain all of the details that we have been given but I can fill you in on what our treatment plans are. We are still waiting to start a specific oral chemo, we were excited last week that there was one thing they thought could slow down the progression of the cancer but we are still waiting on the medication because of the insurance paperwork. All of that has been done now so we hope to get it by FedEx tomorrow or Friday. 

Next we are waiting to get things in order to go and get a second opinion from MD Anderson. They are considered the best choice for the possibility of a clinical trial and Levine is helping us get in. Again, once the insurance paperwork is completed we will get an appointment with MD Anderson made. We are hopeful that they can see him very soon. 

We met with the liver surgeon's NP yesterday for surgical follow-up and we asked every possible question imaginable just like we have done with any doctor we see. We want to make sure we explore every possibility for treatment and there are actually a lot of treatment options out there but, in dad's case it keeps coming back to 'what is the risk versus the benefit'. The liver is such an important organ and needs to be working it's best so he doesn't get toxic. All surgical options are too risky for bleeding.

Today dad met with his oncologist again and had more lab work done. The doctor is concerned for the kidneys and has referred us to a specialist. We are waiting on that appointment to be made. He is still anemic and will be getting another blood transfusion tomorrow. Overall, dad says he feels better everyday and his fluid retention is decreasing everyday so we don't understand why the labs are off some, as I have said this is all very complicated. 

Please continue to pray for comfort and healing for dad. He appreciates your visits, cards and messages. I will post again when I have more news. Please pray that any news will be good news. 

I wanted to share another scripture;  

"Surely he hath borne our griefs (literal Hebrew = “sicknesses”),

and carried our sorrows (pains):

yet we did esteem him stricken smitten of God, and afflicted.

But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities

the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed."

Isaiah 53:4-5

Be sure to check out the new pages.

The Plan

We finally have a treatment plan! I really wanted to post this yesterday but duty calls for me to be a dance mom this weekend, so I am updating in-between our busy schedule.

As we have learned over the last couple of weeks, there are a lot of factors to consider when treating cancer. From the type of cancer it is, if it has spread, and how well your liver and kidneys are working (just to name a few). Dad has a complicated case and finding the right treatment has been challenging. One of the nurses from Thursdays visit even made the comment that he was one of the most complicated cases that they had ever had. I say all of this to tell you that our treatment options depend on numerous things that can change day to day and week to week. Without going into a lot of details I will explain as much of this as I can.

First things first though, I would like to say that after spending some time with dad on Thursday and Friday it seems that he is finally starting to feel better. He is taking a little less pain medicine so he can move around more and and more and any activity is good for his health right now. His spirits are also well, he is absolutely determined to beat this so we are supporting him and are willing to do all we can for him. We know there are a lot of people praying for him and we ask that you keep that up, we never know what God as planned for us but we know it is with-in his power to heal.

Due to the type of liver cancer that dad has, he is unable to take certain types of chemo. We did find out on Friday that he is able to take an oral chemotherapy that we hope his cancer will respond to. Depending on how this chemo works will determine what our future options are. This means we just have to wait to see how things go. They are going to FedEx this to him directly from the pharmaceutical company, as of now he still hasn't received it but hopefully he will on Monday.

Meanwhile we are working on a few other problems that we can do something about, it just takes time and some patience. It is our goal to keep him as healthy as possible because a lots of things are dependent on his health. For example; he was having a hard time eating last week because of some medication he was taking, we were able to get the medication changed and now he can eat more. Another example is the edema that he has had, we don't want to put any undue stress on his heart, liver and kidneys so we needed to adjust some medication, work on getting him active, and hopefully massage therapy will be beneficial. It seems that one problem can cause another and we want to prevent that as much as we can.  

I promise I will keep updating, I also have several new pages in the works so be on the look out for those. I am trying to make this site informative as well as a place to share things about my dad that you may not know or a memory that may hold a special place in your heart. As I have said before everyone has been so supportive and we all need your prayers, well wishes, and to be able to laugh and cry with joy and love in our hearts for this special man. 

I wanted to share this picture that I have been waiting on, this is my dad (Billy) with some old friends as well as some new ones! We cherish each and every friendship ever made over the years!

Old friends and new ones! Thank you all for your love, support & visits!

Many of you have asked me for his address and I wanted to let you know what it was. 721 Anchors Bend Cove, Clover SC 29710.

Tonight's Scripture, I selected from many sent to us from the our friend and Reverend, John Ware. 

"...and he...healed all that were sick, That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias (Isaiah) the prophet, saying, Himself took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses."

Matthew 8:16-17

Update March 20th, still waiting...

Hello everyone! I know you have been waiting on an update. Dad still didn't get to start chemo today, we are so disappointed. We are still waiting on the pathology results. The doctor stated that pathology was really taking their time with getting him the final results. He does think we could find out tomorrow but it could be Monday.

We did have a long visit with the Dr. today. Dad really has a couple of issues that are troublesome for him. One of those is the amount of swelling he has in his legs and the other is keeping the blood work within normal ranges. We are thinking the two are related and talked about different things that could be done for comfort and/or relief until we can start some type of treatment. 

Please continue to pray, I am working on some news pages for the blog, one of those is a collections of prayers, you should be able to view it soon. Sorry this post is short, I wish I had more news. 

Weekend update. March 16th

Hi everyone, I just wanted to give a quick update. I think dad has been feeling better the last couple of days. He is able to move around more without as much help so that's good news. He just needed some time to recover from last weeks surgery. He is still needing a lot of pain medication and still needing a good amount of rest but it's good to see him feeling better when he is awake.

I just wanted to say thank you to everyone that has helped out with Alex and brought over food while Becky as been gone, we really appreciate it. We also really appreciate your prayers, well wishes, cards and just making us smile or laugh. It's amazing how much love and support he has been shown over the last couple of weeks. Please continue to keep him in your prayers he still has some hurdles this week. Some of the medication he is taking makes it difficult to eat, and drink fluids. It's important for him not to be dehydrated on Thursday so they can start his chemo. 

I hope everyone has a good week! I have a busy week ahead but I will definitely give another update sometime Thursday. 

Update Thursday March 13th

Hello everyone, I wanted to check-in and tell you how our last few days have been. I am sure many of you are wondering how our doctor visit went today so I will fill you in on that as well.

On Tuesday dad had his port put in and a laparoscopic procedure done. He has definitely been feeling the effects of being poked and prodded for the last month. It was just 4 weeks ago today that he had his prostate removed. Now he has about 3 areas that cause him pain. He is feeling better today than yesterday so hopefully by this time next week he will be ready to start his chemo.

Speaking of chemo, we did see his lead oncologist today. We were hopeful for more information, but we just didn't get much. I will tell you what I know for sure; We have 2 areas of concern, the most important is the tumor in the liver. The second area is the lymph node in the chest. Preliminary pathology tells us that these cancers are different but they could be related, or maybe not. The doctor's exact words were 'it's complicated' Although we really want to know as much information as we can, it doesn't really change the overall plan. Pathology is needed so the doctors will know exactly what kind of chemo to give him.

First things first, we need to treat the liver tumor with chemo and we need it to respond. So please pray that this tumor responds to chemo. If it does, then it will greatly increase the possibility of removing the tumor surgically. It is also our hope that the lymph node will respond to chemo as well.

We were initially told that the liver tumor was a type of cancer called sarcoma, there are at least 50 different types of sarcomas and with-in those types are sub-types. We have been given some more details about that, but he said that there is a chance that final pathology will tell us something different. I do know that this is a rare type of cancer, it is even more unusual to have this 1 single lymph node that just doesn't fit into the puzzle. I say all of this to tell you 3 things; (1) I don't want to post anything that I don't know for sure about, (2) I have asked every single question I can possibly ask and then some twice. (3) Although information is limited we are still very confident that the doctors have done the many necessary test that need to be done in order to give dad the best treatment available, and we remain hopeful that we will win this battle. We all know it won't be easy and that we have a long road ahead of us, but like anything else in life dad has done, he is ready to face it head-on.

Please continue to pray, there are daily needs for comfort and healing. Please pray that his liver and kidney functions will remain strong so that his body can receive the chemo. Please pray that the chemo will work. 

I will continue to post daily or every other day but he will not start treatments until next Thursday. We were hopeful to start sooner than that but his body does need time to heal from the recent surgeries. 

Dad is working from home, I am forcing him to drink
stuff he doesn't like, but he's trying and still smiling!

Some good news...

Short update; Dad is in recovery and they have completed his surgery. The doctor thought it was very beneficial to do the laparoscopic procedure. The tumor, is large but contained to the liver, this is certainly good news! He also did more biopsies so that we can get better information about the cancer. They still don't know if he is a candidate for surgery or not and I will briefly explain why.

Over the last week one of the things we have learned is that dad has a very rare type of cancer. Without getting into a lot of details, basically they don't know enough about the cancer to be able to determine if it will spread or how it will respond to treatment. So they are not telling us much.

We will meet with the lead oncologist Thursday and we hope to know more then. We have been told that dads case has been discussed extensively here within the experts at this hospital. The doctor today also assured us that they are taking a team approach in planning his care. 

Dad will get to go home today. Keep praying for more good news Thursday. Also keep Becky, Ethan and Matt in your prayers as they travel to Alabama.  

Sad news today....

We are very sad that Becky's mom Ann Adkison passed away last night. Please remember Becky and her family during this difficult time.  I had only met her mom a few times but she was a very sweet lady and she always had a sweet smile.  I know not everyone has Facebook so I wanted to share the message that Becky posted this morning.

"Last night I not only lost my best friend but my mom. My mom was such a giving and unselfish person. My mom had such wonderful faith.

I now have two angels looking over Billy through his journey.

I miss you so much mom but you are now with daddy again and I know you are once again happy." ~Becky Standridge

Ann and Ray Adkison, 50th Wedding Anniversary

Arrangements have been made, services will be Thursday March 13th at the Annunciation of the Lord Catholic Church in Decatur Alabama. The family will receive friends at 9:30 and services will start at 11:00. Ridout's Brown-Service Funeral Home will be handling the arrangements. 

I thought this prayer would be good today, submitted by Jennifer Tate:

The deepest level of 

worship is praising God

in spite of the pain,

thanking God during the 

trials, trusting Him when

we're tempted to lose 

Hope and loving Him

when He seems so 

distant and far away.

At my lowest, God is my

hope. At my darkest, God

is my light. At my weakest, 

God is my strength. At my 

saddest, God is my 

comforter. ~Spiritual Inspiration 

Glad to be home.

Greetings everyone, I hope you have enjoyed the weekend weather as much as we have! I wanted to give everyone an update about our weekend. As you know Dad went home late Friday evening, so most of Saturday was spent getting settled. As I was helping Becky load the car Friday afternoon I told her it looked more like we were checking out of a hotel rather than the hospital since we had so much stuff! 

My family as well as Deedra's decided to visit today. For those that may not know, Dad lives in Lake Wylie so it's about an hours drive for us to get there. He seems to be feeling so much better and it was great to see him active again. Becky put us all to work outside for a while and dad would check on us, supervise, and give a few orders.

Gracie, Deedra, Melana, Jason, Izabel, Eliza, Ethan, Becky, Billy, Taylor, Stacey, Travis
Can't Forget our K-9 friends Rousey, Bessie and Charlie
We missed having Jody and the twins with us today.
Funny how Matt and Alex seem to disappear when the cameras come out.

As I reflect on this last week, the ups and the downs that Becky and I went through as well as the rest of the family, I can't recall one single moment when dad was anything but positive. He reminds me so much of his mom (Maw-Maw Jo). Aside from the pain, he was always ready for whatever testing, therapy or surgery the doctors did or discussed with him as possible options. I guess being really, really, brave is one of those qualities he still has from being a race car driver. It's still shocking that he could have all of this happening when he seemed to be in perfect health just a couple of weeks ago. Please don't take your good health for granted! If your having a bad day just stop for a minute and think about all the blessings you have in your life!

Our big days this week will be Tuesday and Thursday. Tuesday he will have a port put in and a laparoscopic procedure done with a liver surgeon and Thursday we will meet with his primary oncologist. We hope that all testing results will be in by then. Meanwhile all of us have lots of work to catch up on. I promise to post as soon as I can but it may not be until the following days so I am signing out until then. 

For my ending message today I wanted to dedicate this last picture to Paw-Paw Gerald (Billy's dad). Gerald has been home recovering from some health issues of his own so he has not really been able to visit and I know he has been worried. Paw-Paw, dad is doing well, hopefully he can come visit soon so you can see for yourself, until then this picture is for you! We all hope you get well soon!

Becky, Gracie, Izabel, Billy, Taylor, Melana, Eliza

We appreciate everyone's continued prayers for dad and for our family. We also enjoy reading and appreciate your comments!

Dad is Home!

I will do another update later today or maybe tomorrow but I just wanted to let everyone know that dad is now at home and very glad to be there. He actually got home late yesterday evening.