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We got back from New Orleans about 7:30 last night. Everything checked out ok with the heart dr. He told Wes what he was experiencing wasn't life threatening, and the only way they would give him medicine was if it started occurring everyday or every week. He gave him a monitor to use for 30 days. He only uses it when he has an episode. They also did an eckocardiogram, but we haven't heard back from them. We guess everything is ok.

We didnÕt do much while we were down there. Everything isnÕt back to normal down there. We wanted to take Emma Grace to the Aquarium, but it isnÕt open on Monday. We ate at Acme Oyster House on Sunday, which was very good. We went shopping at Lakeside Mall after WesÕ appt. on Monday. We stopped at the outlet mall in Gonzales on the way home yesterday. We didnÕt buy much.

Emma Grace update…. We got her a pair of Stride Rite walking shoes. I am not sure if she likes them. She still isnÕt too sure of walking. She will occasionally say and show that she is one. We are still working on it. Wes counts with her to five, and she will say and show one and five. She hits herself in the head and says ouch. Abby taught her that this weekend. She also said AbbyÕs name this weekend. She will show u how a bird flies by waving her hands up and down.

Guess that is all for now… Gotta go fix supper…

Sorry for the wait! Long overdue photos await you in the Photo Gallery!

Well, we have made it to New Orleans…. Well, actually we are in Metairie. We are staying at the Courtyard. We made it here around 4, and traffic was TERRIBLE. We visited with Auntie Kim and her VERY FAT cats. She had just come in from enjoying her jet ski. We came on to the hotel while she took a bath, and then she will come to take us to eat. Wes' appt is at 11:20 in the morning. We will post what we find out as soon as possible. Well, Auntie Kim is here and Wes is starving. Later…..

Well, we got good news and bad news. Good news — All of Wes' scans were
clear. Everything that had been showing up on the PET scan was gone. Bad
news — The dr wanted him to see a cardiologist to check out his heart.
Dr. Fayad said it isn't uncommon for people that have masses near their
heart to have trouble later on. Add in chemo and radiation and that
increases the chances of trouble. He was going to get a dr down there to
see him, but he wanted to know how far we were from Houma and I told him
about the same as Houston. He knew a good cardiologist in Houma. He said
that may be we could find one in Monroe. Wes has seen Dr. Burkett b/f, so
we conntacted him. He couldn't “fit” Wes in until July 20. Dr. Fayad said
it probably would be ok, but it needed to be checked out. Kim found a dr
in New Orleans that specializes in this type problem, and he could see Wes
on Monday. We were suppose to leave Sunday going to Denver. Dr. Fayad
said it was probably a good idea not to go b/c you never know when one of
the spells could be bad enough to make Wes pass out. He said the longer
you wait the more damage it can do to the heart, so instead of going to
Denver on Sunday, we will be going to New Orleans. We don't know how long
we will be there. We figure a few days. They will probably give Wes a
halter monitor for 24 to 48 hours. Wes seems to be doing ok. He said
they can do so much with the heart these days that he would rather it be
something with the heart than to deal with cancer again. I would prefer
neither, but this is what has been handed to us and we will make it
through it.

Now, what we did in Houston….. Tuesday – Wes had test all day. When he
finally finished and was able to eat, we ate at our regular eating place -
Saltgrass. Wednesday – We went shopping. Wes likes to go to the Wal-Mart
of computer stores, Fry's, so we took him there. Emma Grace, Grammy and I
went to Babies R Us and Kohl's. We got Emma Grace a few birthday
presents. I think we stayed in there over an hour. Grammy bought Emma
Grace some dresses at Kohl's, imagine that, Grammy buying Emma Grace
clothes. I bought a few things. I wasn't going to get them b/c we
had to stand in line FOREVER. They only had two people checking out and
the stupid people checking out in front of me didn't know whether they
wanted something or not. The first lady didn't have enough money. The
girl checked her out and then she realizes that she didn't have enough
money. Then, the next lady couldn't decide what she wanted to buy. She had
a buggy full, but decides to start putting stuff back, and then when the
girl rings it up, she says how can it be $79. I am like lady add your
stuff up b/f you get to the check out counter. The girl has to void
everything and re-ring it up, and it comes out to $79. So, it is my turn
to check out and who comes back – Ms. I don't have enough money. The girl
has to re-ring her back up, so I move to the next line where only one
person is, but when I head over there a lady walks up. Now, I am third in
line, and I want to scream. I told momma I don't want this stuff let's
go, and she says no. She said if you don't pay for it, then I will. I decided to
get back in line, and finally after standing in line for 30 minutes I get
checked out. I will probably end up taking the stuff back, since I can
probably find it cheaper. I was getting it to take to Denver. We finally
made our way back to get Wes. They didn't design shopping/roadways very
well down there, so it is a hassle to get where you want to go. There are
so many stores, but they are located all over the place. I suggested they
move all the stores together so we wouldn't have to drive so much and get all confused with their roadways. They didn't design their frontage roads and off/on ramps very well. After picking up Wes, we were all hungry. We pulled into Saltgrass(yes, again), but then decided to head to Galveston to Rainbow Cafe and to the beach. It had been raining there since Friday, but today was the first day it hadn't rained. When we went last time, we sat in front of the elephants, and Emma Grace wasn't too sure about them. This time was no different. We didn't sit in front of them, but over to the side. When the lightning, thunder, and all the animals start up, she went to freaking out. She grabbed Grammy and wouldn't let go. There were others kids in there older than Emma Grace and they were having a fit too. The second time it did it she was a little braver, but not really. She would peek around the corner looking at those elephants. Wes had an interesting experience at Rainforest. He went to the bathroom and when he was washing his hands a guy came in with his hand off his son's mouth and Wes saw something hit the floor. He realized the boy was throwing up. I don't think he was too much on up to eating, but he did. After eating, we put her in her bikini and took her to the beach. I rolled up my pant legs and got in the water with her. Grammy had on shorts so she could too. We didn't think we were going to Galveston b/c of all the rain, so Wes didn't bring his shorts. We took lots of pictures. It would have been a fun time, but this Mr. Show-off ran us from the spot we were. He was surfing on the beach as Grammy called it. He would throw his board down and chase it and jump on it and ride. He was no where around until we came and then he kept getting closer and closer. He threw water on Grammy, which pissed her off. He had been going away from us, just running behind us. The next thing we know he is headed straight for us. I grabbed Emma Grace up. He jumped off b/f he got to us. Now, this is a grown man probably in his 40's coming at a baby. I thought Grammy was going to lose it. We moved down a little further, and when we were going that way, he busted his BUTT. We clapped and yelled “way to go”, but too bad he didn't fall on his face. The other thing about it was there was a lady (maybe wife), a young boy, and an older man and woman with him. We went a few feet down the beach and looked up and here he comes. There was another guy and girl with their baby in the water. We were waiting for that guy to jump him if he came any closer. Emma Grace wasn't too sure about the waves at first, plus it had sea weed in it and that tickled her. She wasn't too happy at first, but got used to it after a while and didn't want to get out. May be Wes can get those pictures up soon. We made our way back to Michael's, Old Navy and Comp USA. Then we headed to the hotel where Wes, Grammy and Emma Grace got in the pool. I didn't take anything with me to wear. Emma Grace enjoy swimming with her dadad. We had to get her out b/c they had the a/c on in there and it was cold. We figured she would go straight to bed after the fun filled day, but no. She stayed awake until after midnight. Thursday morning, we took her to Target to get her pictures taken by Mr. Hector. They are SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO cute. She had her picture taken with a sunflower, birthday cake with the number 1 on it and Raggedy Ann. I cannot wait for them to come in. We should have them by July 10. After that, we ate lunch and then headed to the dr's appts. We left Houston at 5, oh joy, and plus there was a thunderstorm approaching. We took pictures of it. It looked very scary. It took us about an hour and a half to get out of Houston. We made a few bathroom stops and supper stop. We made it home at 2. Emma Grace slept all the way home after eating supper and was wide awake when we got home. She finally went to sleep around 3:30, and got up at 6. I took Wes to work this morning, and left Emma Grace with Grammy. He rode back to Delhi with Keith and Deland, and we just got back from picking him up. Emma Grace had a traumatic experience in Delhi. We went to a store looking for flowers, and the train came by. It was blowing it's horn, and scared her to death. Then as we were heading to the car, it had started to rain and a BIG flash of lightning came from across the street and a loud boom. Grammy and I took off running back in the store. I don't think Emma Grace was scared too much. I don't think she was over the train. Oh, well, we are back home, and Aunt Tammy and Abby are here. I will let you know what the dr in New Orleans tells us on Monday.

We made it to Houston around 6 yesterday evening. We were afraid we were going to have to float in, but it wasn't too bad. It started raining about an hour coming in, but other than that it wasn't bad. The traffic wasn't bad either. We were surprised there wasn't much traffic with it being a Monday and around rush hour. They have received so much rain that a lot of the hotel workers couldn't get to work, so our room wasn't ready when we got here. Wes got his blood work done at the hotel, we went to eat and to Target while they got our room ready. He is getting ready for his PET scan at 7, and then he will rest until this afternoon when he goes for his CT scan(he is looking so forward to it) and chest x-ray starting at 3.

Emma Grace news…. Her right front top tooth is now showing, so that makes her four teeth. She now will be able to REALLY bite you. She watched her DVD player coming to Houston yesterday. She is so funny. She loves music and loves to dance. We found out yesterday that she DOESN'T like grits. Bless her heart… We stopped at Cracker Barrel in Shreveport for lunch yesterday, and we decided to give her grits. She ate a little bit, but wasn't really sure about them. My mom gave her more and she went to gagging. I was afraid she was getting choked, b/c she didn't want to swallow them. She decided to yack them up along with other things. Poor Wes was like I am NOT hungry anymore. He did eat though, but just not the grits… Emma Grace didn't seem to mind… She just went on playing, waving and smiling at everybody, and finished up her jar of baby food. My mom got her a Raggedy Ann doll, and she loves it and gives it kisses. When it was time to checkout, she didn't want to give it to the lady to scan the tag. Guess that is all for now. Please pray that Wes gets GREAT results from his test.

Emma Grace has another tooth – upper left front tooth. It has been trying to come out for some time. The one to the right is also trying to come out too. She is starting to walk more and more around her playpen and bed. She tries to stand up on EVERYTHING. We just know that she is going to flip right over on her head. She is doing so many different things, and does something new everyday. Grammy is finished with the ballpark until July 1st. I don't think she is going to Denver with us, but I think Aunt Tammy is. I don't know how Grammy is going to make it without Emma Grace for five days. She says Emma Grace is staying with her. NOT…. Well, we leave for Houston on Monday morning. Wes gave us a scare on Wednesday. I called him on his way home from work, and he told me his heart was beating funny. I was freaking out. We told him to stop in Tallulah, and my dad would come get him. He said he was fine and was feeling better. Even though it was 5:30, I immediately called Houston. The on-call dr called back and said for him to go the ER, and so we did. We headed for North Monroe. He was feeling a lot better by the time we got there, but they did an EKG, blood work and chest x-ray. Everything mostly checked out fine. The EKG showed a slight abnormal pattern, but Dr. Burkett, the cardiologist, said that he didn't think it would make his heart do what it was doing. They said for Wes to call Dr. Fayad Thursday to see what he wanted him to do. The nurse that discharged him said I remember ya'll. She said, “Ya'll were in room four right after they discovered his mass.” I said yep we were. I told Wes when we went in that I didn't recognize any of the people, but this lady remembered us.

Wes called Dr. Fayad's office and left a voice message with Ashley, the patient service coordinator. She never called back, so I suggested he email her. Right after he emailed her, she called saying Dr. Fayad was out of the country, but she had emailed him and it would be tomorrow before she knew anything. We got an email from her Friday morning saying that it would be Monday morning before she could talk to him. He may want Wes to see a cardiologist while we are down there next week, but we don't know. He hasn't had any more episodes or at least he hasn't told me about them if he has. He has been taking it very easy. He worked from home on Thursday and Friday.

Today has been a pretty productive day. I finished Emma Grace's birthday invitation this morning, and they are ready to be mailed. We will mail them Friday when we get back from Houston. I finished up Wes' father's day gifts. Still have some things to do. Grammy, Emma Grace and I went to Wal-Mart to get a few things we need for next week. We got pork loin dinner plates from the benefit they were having for Matthew Johnston. For those of you who don't know him, he just graduated from high school and was diagnosed with a type of lymphoma in January. He seems to be doing very well. The food was VERY good. Hope they raised a lot of money. Please keep him and his family in your prayers.

Well, I guess I better go. I have lots to do to get ready to leave for Houston, and then, we will be off to Denver. Please continue to keep Wes in your prayers and pray that we get great results next week. Later.

I have been trying to write for two weeks, and every time I get to doing it I get either distracted or Emma Grace wants to help. So here is a run down of what we have been up to….. Wes has been VERY busy with work. He is getting ready to go to a conference in Denver on the 25th. Emma Grace and I are going with him, which ought to be fun on the 18-hr journey. I refuse to fly. We are trying to convince Grammy to go with us, but she isn't so sure about the 18-hr drive. We told her we were stopping mid-way, so it wouldn't be a straight 18-hr drive. We also told her that she would get to see the country, but I don't think she is convinced yet. We will get Emma Grace to working on that. We still have two weeks. We have been helping Grammy at the ballpark. They finish up next week. Emma Grace loves going to the ballpark and seeing all the kids. We went to Abby's dance recital last Friday night. She did very well. Emma Grace danced more than some of the kids up on the stage. Everybody around us was watching her and laughing. Emma Grace has started walking around her bed and play pen. She still isn't sure about walking. She said apple and book the other day. At 12 a.m. the other night, she was grabbing Grammy's nose and saying honk, honk. She is a mess, but we LOVE her SO much. Grammy got her a little pool yesterday for her 11-month birthday. Hopefully, she will be able to get in it this weekend. We went and looked at three houses last weekend, and one on Tuesday. We think we know what we want, so Wes has been drawing up the plan. We go back to Houston on the 19th. Wes is scheduled for a PET scan, blood work, CT scan and chest x-ray on the 20th, and the Dr. on the 22nd. We scheduled pictures for Emma Grace with Mr. Hector at Super Target in Houston. He does an AWESOME job. I have been getting stuff ready for Emma Grace's birthday. We got most of the stuff in Houston in April, but now I just need to do the invitation. Hard to believe she will be a yr in a month. It is also hard to believe it has been a year since Wes got sick. He is feeling much better than this time last year. Thank goodness. I guess that is about it. I know I left something out, but I guess if I forgot about it it wasn't too important. Please pray that we get great news on the 22nd. I will post the results as soon as I can. Well, Wes is home from work. Guess it is off to the ballpark.

HAPPY 11 MONTH BIRTHDAY EMMA GRACE!!!! Mommy and Daddy love you.