A Bump in the Road

Life definitely throws some curve balls. I had hopes for 2011 being such a great year but it's definitely starting off far from that. On Tuesday, January 11, we were told that my dad has cancer. Cancer. That one word that has become so common these days and evokes so much heartache and fear when you hear it. I had always prayed that none of my loved ones would suffer from it. And now one of the people that I'm closest to and love the most has it. Dad has Multiple Myeloma which is an aggressive form of leukemia. The doctor told him that it was his guess that he's had it for about 6 months and it is now in 60% of his bone marrow.

A couple of months ago, dad broke his rib by coughing, which sparked him going to see his doctor. Him breaking his rib was a blessing in disguise because my dad never goes to the doctor. Little did we know that the break had to do with the cancer. After running several tests, his doctor referred him to an Oncologist. The oncologist extracted bone marrow, in addition to doing more blood work. One week later, they gave us the results. Since this type of leukemia is so aggressive, he is beginning treatment immediately. Starting next week, he will go through 4 - 6 months of chemotherapy and then will receive a stem cell transplant at UAB. The transplant will allow him to grow new healthy cells in his bone marrow. This cancer is incurable but there's a good chance he could live 10+ years in remission. My mom and dad are both being very optimistic and dad keeps saying it's just a bump in the road, and he'll be fine. However, I know we've got a long, hard road ahead of us.

Please keep my dad in your prayers. Not only will the chemo be hard on his body but this is all going to be an adjustment for him. My dad is very active, works full-time, plays lots of golf every weekend (and some during the week) and works out in the yard all the time. This kind of cancer causes weakness in the bones, as well as alot of back pain and carpal tunnel in the hands so he won't be able to do majority of the things he enjoys. It's become somewhat of a Saturday morning ritual for Dad, Jamie, and my brother-in-law, Derrick, to play golf together at Cypress Lakes, however he won't be able to do that for along time. For several years, Dad and Jamie have had their name on the list for Masters practice round tickets and found out in September that they would get to go this year. The 2 of them, along with Derrick, were so excited about their upcoming trip but now Dad won't be able to go. The chemo will deplete his immune system as well as make him very weak.

The thing that is the toughest for me to swallow is just how close my dad and Noah are. Dad is by far Noah's favorite person; his face lights up whenever he sees Dad and he can't get enough of him. They are truly best buddies. And Noah has my dad wrapped around his finger. It's going to be hard for dad not to pick up Noah and hold him and play like they normally do, especially since Noah doesn't understand WHY dad can't do these things anymore. It's definitely going to be an adjustment.

However, we are a tight-knit family and we are clinging to our faith. We know prayer is a powerful tool and that this is all apart of God's plan. We are going to remain optimistic and stay positive for Dad. My dad's a stubborn man (who do you think I get my stubborness from) and he won't let cancer take him down. He's got 2 grandsons he's got to hang around here for. So we have a change of plans... 2011 is going to be the year where the Powell family fights back and kicks cancer's butt.

And to end on a happy note, I'm including a few pictures of my boys from this past week's snow "blizzard." Well technically, it wasn't a blizzard, but 10" of snow in Alabama constitutes a blizzard in my book.