Sushi anyone...

Today's visit with Dr. Timmerman went very well. He told Barry that his hair would begin to fall out very quickly over the next couple of weeks. The way he shared this news was BRILLIANT! Dr. Timmerman told us about another patient of his that is quite the jokester... he told us that when this mans hair fell out, he lost it in large patches around his head. He explained that the guy walked into a SuperCuts and asked to speak to the manager because he wasn't very happy with his last haircut. Barry literally fell back in his chair laughing at the thought. Thanks Dr. Timmerman for making Barry laugh...

Each day as we drive toward the hospital for Barry's appointment, we discuss what he is hungry for that day. Today was Sushi! I was thrilled...Brant, not so much. I love to see my boys smile!

Thank you First Baptist Church Men's Prayer Breakfast group....

Day 2, Week 3 of Treatments

Hello All. I'm feeling very good today and we've beeen reallly busy too. Brant went with us today, then we went and ate Shushi(I've been really craving it for a while now).

Brant has a practice football game tonight at 7:00pm, that I can't wait for. I will be really pullling for him since he hasn't snapped a football since last fall. I'm sure he'll be fine.

I Love you all

Don't stop believing

I'm so sorry, I almoost forgot. My amazing sister(Christy Moore wa there to see me as usual. I always love seeing her and getting her positive support. Dr. Timmerman was just great as usual, he is a very caring doctor and genuinally cares for total wellness for me and his patients. I always feel better after our visits. Thank you Dr. T

Your comments please....

Hello everyone! I fixed the issue with leaving comments... feel free to post your comments. They should show up now. I had switched a setting in error. Barry loves hearing from everyone.

HOCC, sorry we missed you...

I feel terrible that we missed church this morning. Barry actually felt like going. I was sleeping and he chose not to wake me up. He thought I could use the rest. What a thoughtful husband! To all of our HOCC friends, we missed you. We will try our best to be there next weekend. Barry's Mom and Dad will be in town and want to go with us. Barry has shared so many wonderful things about the church with all of our family.

Barry had a good weekend! He felt pretty good (aside from being tired). I think the new combination of meds is working (yeah).

Beautiful Sunday Morning

I've been feeling a lot better the last couple of days and spent a great evening with my family last night. I'm looking forward to a blessed worship at Highland Oaks Church of Christ this morning also.
Then, if I can talk Kari into the gym, another good workout.

Oops, I almost forgot. Dennis and Jill(I love you both) came by yesterday to see me, it was awesome to see ya'll. You too Alec.

Love, Ya'll

Don't Stop Believing

I Love you Mom! God is working

Singing in the rain...(actually jumping)...

TGIF! Doctor visits COMPLETE for the week! Barry is so excited to get this week behind us and to have a great weekend. We arrived home and enjoyed the company of Chelsea, Lexi and Brant. Barry had a really good day. He felt really good this afternoon. When he decided to take a nap in the afternoon, the kids and I sat down to play a game of WaHoo. Right as the game began, it began pouring rain outside. Without a second thought, they jumped up and sprinted out to the trampoline to jump in the rain. (Sorry about the video being sideways, I took it with my iphone and can figure out how to flip it.) Barry's Father's day gift finally arrived. He is thrilled! It kept him entertained all afternoon.

Nothin' could be finer...

After a restful nights sleep, Barry woke up ready to eat! He felt pretty good this morning. We left for his radiation appointment at about 10:15 this morning. Brant joined us today for our trip to UTSW. He keeps us both entertained. Today's comic relief was Brant's interpretation of the commercial with the talking pothole. "Oh no, did I do that!" (Hopefully some of you know the one I am talking about and find that humerous... if not, I feel really stupid right now.)


After his appointment we waited a while for labs, then we ventured to Mama's Daughters Diner nearby. Christy (Barry's sister)raved about the "home-style" southern cooking. She was right! We really enjoyed our meal and even brought a piece of pecan pie home for Barry to enjoy this evening.




The day went by so well, then 4:30pm came. All of the sudden, Barry felt a wave of nausea hit and has had a really difficult evening. The meds didn't help right away, but he was finally able to go to sleep. I hope he is able to sleep through the evening. It is so hard to see him so uncomfortable. I am glad to see him resting. Thank you all for your thoughts, cards, gifts and prayers.

Day 8...

His appetite is back! Barry has been asking for my shrimp pasta salad, but has not had not felt much like eating anything the last couple of days. Today was the day. In fact, he enjoyed it for lunch and dinner. It was good to see him eating. I was concerned when he was weighed yesterday and had lost 5.5 pounds.

It seems like the addition of the new antinausea meds are helping. Fingers crossed and keep the prayers coming.

Radiation day 7...

Dallas North Tollway South, Exit Wycliff, Right on Maple, Left on Inwood, Right on Forest Park and left into the circle drive at UT Southwestern, greeted by the nicest valet attendants in Dallas. This is our morning ritual Monday - Friday. The lovely ladies in the reception area know us by name and greet Barry with a big smile and a "Hello Mr. Williamson, you're all set". Then it is down the elevator one floor to wait for the friendly nurses to come and get Barry for radiation. As we wait, we are blessed to see Barry's sister Christy each day. (Barry says thank you for the new clothes, Christy!) His old ones are falling off of him these days.

We met with Dr. Timmerman today, Barry's Radiation Oncologist and he said that we may have to change up a couple of meds based on the lab results, but he said that the fatigue and nausea should not get any worse than what he is feeling at this point. He has felt good most of the day. We will repeat the labs on Thursday and hopefully the results will be much better. Keep praying and most of all, don't stop BELIEVING!

Special thanks today to the Britten Family for the wonderful meal and to my special friend Debbie for your email.

I hate it when these things won't scan...

As we were driving to the hospital for Dad's radiation appointment, Mom mentioned to Dad that she thought he should have a scan since he was having headaches the last two days. All I could think of was that commercial where the guy has a bar code on his forehead and the lady at the checking counter was trying to scan his head over and over. She says " I hate it when these things won't scan". It made my Dad laugh. Dad explained that when they take him back to the Radiation room, they strap him down and apply this mask over his face so they can give treatment to the exact same spot every time. He said it also looks like a "fencing" mask. I wonder if he will get to bring it home when he is finished with treatment. I can't wait til GLIB is gone for good. As my favorite band, Journey would say, Don't stop BELIEVIN'.

Surrounded by Angels...

Today was an amazing day for Barry! Most importantly, he felt much better today than he has over the last few days. He started week two of treatment today and we will see Dr. Timmerman tomorrow. He is already resting peacefully, so hopefully he will have a restful evening.

Now for the Angels in our life... where do I begin. Thank you to my "Sisters" & Jason. I can not tell you what it meant to Barry and I when we received your generous gift. I am blessed to be part of such a caring organization as Southwest Host Services and to be part of the "Sisterhood". I promise to make this up to all of you some day. For now, all I can do is tell you all how much Barry and I appreciate every one of you. Thank you Lisa & Jason, Linda, Carryn, Patti, Connie, Denise, Lori and Julie!



George and Lynn, it was so nice of you to visit our home this afternoon and pray with us. Thank you for for all you have done for our family. We appreciate you and the entire Highland Oaks Church of Christ Family. Special thanks to Gail Deputy for our meal this evening. It was WONDERFUL! I can not thank you enough for your generosity.

Christy, as always, thank you for taking time from your patients and your staff to come down and see us. It brightens Barry's day to see you smiling face each morning. We love you so much! Hopefully we can have a our special night out very soon.

Happy Father's Day!...

I was hoping to have a picture of Barry and all four kids on here, but it just didn't work out that way. Maybe next weekend. It was a great weekend together. We were all together on Saturday evening and watched movies. Barry felt ok most of the time. He would have waves of feeling ill, luckily, they do go away after a while. The Zofran prescribed by the doctor seems to help.

Rachel and Chelsea brought Barry a big basket of the best looking fruits and veggies from the Dallas Farmer's Market. He LOVED the chilled watermelon. Unfortunately, the gift that was ordered online for Barry for Father's Day from the children, will not arrive for another two weeks... bummer. It was just great having everyone here. He was surrounded by love. Joey and Brant worked up a sweat in the Texas summer heat today working on the yard. Lexi and I worked up a sweat in the kitchen, cooking. (Ok, Lexi walked through the kitchen a couple of times during the process... ha ha ha).

We received a couple of phone calls from our friends at church. (Thanks George and Glenn, you brightened Barry's day). We also both talked to our Dad's and wished them a happy day.

A message from Mom...

This is from "Your Healing Is From Within You".


Praying for other people;

Mark 2:3, 5, 11

They came, bringing to him a paralytic carried by four men.....and when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, "My son, your sins are forgiven...I say to you, rise, take up your pallet and go home".

"Father, your servant has a meed and you have made a promise to raise him up. I now pray the prayer of faith on his behalf. I believe that he is now receiving the healing for his cancer. I accept healing for him and I thank you that because of my faith, healing is now flowing to him and will continue to flow until he is perfectly recovered, through Jesus Christ our Lord."

About the prayer of faith: Jesus says "whatever you ask in prayer....it applies to healing because it is the prayer of faith that will raise up the sick man. It applies to everything else, because that is how we are always to pray if our prayers are to be effective.

Prayer of Faith:

Our Loving Father; we come to you in the name of Jesus Christ our Lord for this your servant, BARRY, who has a need for healing. We thank you that you have made a promise in your word to raise him up so that his need is met. We now pray the prayer of faith so that your promise is made effective in full and blessed reality in his life. Father, we now accept your promise of healing for BARRY and with BARRY. We believe that BARRY receives this belssing so that we do not doubt in our heart. By faith we affirm that you are now raising BARRY up. For the blessings that we will see at once, we thank you by sight, and for those blessings that we do not see at once, we thank you by faith. But whether is be by sight or by faith, we praise your name through Christ. Amen!

Please join with me, praying this prayer for your brother every day! We have seen many miracles happen for Barry and for those we can thank Him by sight. For those yet to come, we will pray for by faith.

I love you all so much,

Mom

Week one..... check!

Barry made it through week one of treatment like a CHAMP! He continuously reminds me that he is a fighter and is not going to let this terrible disease get the best of him. I admire his strength and determination. The effects of the combined treatments are causing him to feel extreme fatigue which comes on very quickly. He will feel ok one minute and exhausted and a little disoriented the next. Thank you all for the continued cards, gifts and most of all, prayers. Holly and Jon, a special thanks to both of you for the disc containing pics of Chelsea's graduation. Barry and I LOVE the pictures. Jon, you have a gift!

A Prayer from David...

"To get something you never had, you have to do something you never did" When God takes something from your grasp. He's not punishing you, but merely opening your hands to receive something better. Concentrate on this sentence. "The will of God will never take you where the Grace of God will not protect you. God our Father, walk through my house and take away all my worries and illnesses and please watch over and heal my family in Jesus name, Amen.

Day 4... (the pic is to make Barry laugh)

As usual, Tillie got us to our appointment on time!

Barry is feeling a little run down today. He has spent most of the day resting. He hasn't had much of an appetite today, but I am making sure that he keeps something in his stomach. Keep praying!

Day 3....

Barry is doing very well with the Radiation. He slept much better last night than the night before. He wants to go to the gym so bad, but he is so tired. Day two of chemo was much better than the day before. We not have the anti-nausia medicine now and he took the drugs on an empty stomach last night. He was much more comfortable that way. He is an amazing man with a wonderful "We will defeat this" attitude.

Day two complete...

Day 2 is behind us. Barry is feeling a little tired today. I had to include this adorable picture of Trixie watching over Barry's shoulder as he looked at his ITouch. Too cute!

Radiating Day 1

What a man! Although Barry was a bit apprehensive, he was ready to go this morning and in his word "Get this ALL behind us". Last week we were joking trying to give "it" a name. "It" meaning the tumor/cancer. We settled on the name GLIB. We could not think of any human/animal or mineral named GLIB and it basicially stands for GlioBlastoma... our enemy. So from now on when you see the word GLIB used in a negative context, you will understand what we are talking about. We are looking forward to the day when we can have a memorial service for GLIB. Our memorial will not celebrate GLIB's existence, but the closeness that it has brought to our family, our spiritual rebirth and our new found friends brought to us by its very existence. Help us put GLIB to rest! A special thanks to Dr. Timmerman and his staff for taking time today to drop in to say hello. A special thanks to Liz for sharing the news of our generous church family and their willingness to help with our household and our family. We are truly blessed to have you all in our lives. Thank you George and Lynn for sharing information about your WellSpring ministry, we look forward to learning more about it. Thank you Christy for being with us today during our appointment, I cannot tell you what it means to us to have you there. Can't wait to see you tomorrow. Chelsea, Russell, and Joey, it was great to see you all. Rachel, we love you and appreciate your call. Mom and Dad, thank you for calling. Lisa, thank you so much for calling us this moring. It means the world to hear from you. Jerry, Dennis, Jill and Kellie, thank you so much for checking on us. We love you ALL so very much!

A day of rest...

Although we feel a bit guilty for not attending church today, the extra rest proved to be just what Barry needed. Thanks Dennis and Jill for taking us to lunch today! We really enjoyed the conversation and great food. We love seeing you both.

It has been a wonderful afternoon of rest and relaxation. To our church family... please understand that we were there in spirit. We'll see you next week.

Man's best friend....

I had to share this sweet moment with our family. Duchess is truly a "daddy's girl". It is so funny, Barry mentioned that Duchess will scramble to get out of his way now when he is walking through the house and Trixie seems to walk in front of him to clear the way and make sure everything is ok. Although he loves them both... Duch is is favorite.
>

Great friends are the BEST medicine...

Barry and I had dinner wtih our dear friends Jennifer and Andy. We reminised about our trip in Hawaii and our jeep ride on the Road to Hana. What great memories! Was it worth it? Definitely!!! We are so fortuntate to have such wonderful people in our lives. They were both amazed at Barry's progress. We told them how important they were to us and how special it was to spend the evening with them prior to Barry's treatments. It was a great evening. We love you BOTH!

Celebrate good times....

Barry and I received the great news that he is in the AVASTIN trial!!! We are SO excited. He will beging taking Avastin three weeks from Monday.

Aloha...

What a great day, I saw my Chelsea (and Russel) last night. We saw their pix from Hawaii and they were beautiful. I'm so glad to have you guys back, it really lifts my spirits and that will help us beat this thing. WE ARE GOING TO WIN

DON'T STOP BELIEVING

90% chance....

We are so excited to share with our family and friends that Barry is being considered for a clincal study for the chemotherapy drug - AVASTIN. This is great news considering the breakthroughs that have made with this drug in different cancers in the body. We completed all of the prelimenary testing, labs and paperwork today and should have an answer on Friday of this week. Barry was told that he has a 90% chance of being accepted! This is great news! Everyone, keep praying!

/don't stop believing

Dr. Drake is the best

I went to see /dr. Timothy Drake today for consultatiion, it went very good. He is such a caring doctor. Yeah, he said I could start having a little coffee again.
Believe in B Don't Stop Believing.

Each Day is Better than yhe day before, Look I'm still typing.

I still love my morning coffe(decafe, still)I feel great this morning, had a good nights rest and I'm ready to face this thing head on with my faith in GOD, Family, Friends and shear determination to win. I am not a quiter and never will either. Everyone please keep the prayers and well wishes coming our way and we will win. Thankyou all.

I=Believe in B

Can't wait for reunion/cruise when this is al behind us.

Shopping...

kari and I finally made it to WalMart yesterday and got me some new gym clothes that don't fall off of me. And I didn't even frustrate her, it was a good outing qne then I had a good nights rest. I'm feeling refreshed this morning and I believe the whole family is going to the gym;I'm looking forward to it. LRD knows I need it. Haave a great day and Love to all. DON'T STOP BELIEVING. BELIEVE IN B.

Thanks Joey...

Thank you Joey for repairing my weed eater, you rock man. And thanks for all your help during this little struggle. I am looking forward to a spiritual, fun relaxing day. Oh, don't forget my exercise too. LOVE you ll and can't wait for our Beat the GLIB Party where we all get together. maybe at our villa on PK Lake.

Thank you Texas Instruments family...

would like to thank all my Texas Instruments Family and Friends for their prayers and support eduring this little bump in lfe's journey. I love you all. Remember- Beilieve in B.

5K TRAINING STILL GOING

Kari took me to the gym this morning after a healthy lean protein breakfast and I rode the bike for a 15 minute warmup, did the full upper body circuit strength training, rowing machine for 5 minutes. Then, finished up with a 5k on the eliptical (mostly at a brisk pace (even though I wanted to run as hard as I could. Of course my angel was right there by my side and wouldn't let me push to hard. Of course she worries about me. I felt really good but just a little weak but I attribute most of that to the quick lose of weight and not getting much exercise in the past month. I really think this is the best medicine for me and I think that my physical fitness has played a huge part in my progress and will continue to help me beat this soon. Everybody get up and move. I feel my coordination is still improving. Kari also took me shopping and I didn'tfeel any disorientation at all and it was a very busy store. So, I BELIEVE that my coordination is improving daily. LOVE TO ALL! BELIEVE IN B.I HOPE TTHIS MAKES SENSE TO ALL.
tHANKYOU KARI, MY LOVE.

In his own words...

I want to thank God for today and ask him to guide me and my courageous wife today and help me get the exercise and nourishment to help with this fight. GOD, also bless my family and my new Christian Family at Highland Oaks Church of Christ. Rachel and Chelsea I really miss you guys. GOD bless my family, Dr. Timmermon and staff. Thank you to my sister for all her knowledge and support. LOVE to ALL. BELIEVE IN B. BREAKFAST IS SMELLING GOOD AND CAN'T WAIT FOR OUR MORNING WORKOUT. HAVE A GREAT DAY ALL.
BELIEVE IN B.

Exercise is the best medicine...

Barry and I were back in the gym this morning! We knew we had a full day of doctor visits, but we needed to jump start the day with some physical fitness. We started with fifteen minutes on the stationery bikes followed by a 30 minute walk on the treatmill. Barry did GREAT! He was so happy to be back in the gym and I was thrilled to enjoy the experience with him. He is my inspiration to live a healthy lifestyle by incorporating exercise as a key component to everyday living. I truly BELIEVE that he would not be recovering this quickly had he not been in prime physical condition. I hope he inspires all of his blog readers to get up and get moving!

BELIEVE..

Hello and Love to all. This morning my angel of a wife took me to start my training for the upcoming 5k by taking me to the gym. I rode the bike for about 15 minutes and walked on the t-mill for about 20 minutes. unfortunately I couldn't push it like I would like to but it still felt good to do some exercise. My coordination seems to get a little better each day. I'm actually typing this myself, so thats a big improvement from 2 weeks ago(I couldn't even find the keys. I can't wait to get this all behind us and start moving forward again. Love you all and thanks for the uplifting encouragement.Rachel, I love the Kombucha tea, I had some this morning and plan on having more tonight. BELIEVE IN B.Chelsea, I miss you AND HOPE YOU are having a great time in Hawaii. Can't wait to see you.

A BLISS full day...

Barry and I enjoyed a wonderful lunch together at Rachel's favorite restaurant, BLISS. We loved the food and can't wait to experiment at home to try to recreate our dishes. I already have some ideas churning in my head! (Rachel, you will have to come help me!)

After lunch we went to Baylor Dallas for our 2nd opinion. It appears that the doctor we met with today is recommending the exact same treatment regime as Dr. Maher. When we left, we prayed about it together and came to the conclusion that we both feel that Dr. Maher will be the best for Barry.

A message from your brother, Jerry...

I have a feeling inside me of anxiousness. I sense that it is something good and will soon be revealed.


I had a great time visiting with y’all this past weekend. I cannot begin to put into words about how happy and excited I am that y’all have found Highland Oaks. I really have not stopped thinking about the people there. Thanks for letting us experience this with y’all. I know that y’all will soon be busy with treatments and it will be difficult to find time to do everything that people request of you, but if you can and you don’t feel like it is too personal, share with me some of the spiritual experiences that are about to happen in your lives. I love hearing how God works.

Jerry

Getting some fresh air...

Coffee from RaceTrac, check, drop Brant off at school, check... time for a little adventure. I decided to take Barry for a little drive through the countryside outside of Plano for a change of scenery. He is so tired of daytime television and the four walls of our bedroom, so we drove over to Cooper Lake outside of Sulphur Springs, TX. It is only an hour away from where we live and neither of us have ever been there. I think Barry thought I was crazy when I went through a "Road Closed" barrier, but we were only 10 minutes away from our destination and there was no remaining water on the road.







It was well worth the drive. Cooper Lake is beautiful! We only stayed there for about 45 minutes because Barry started getting tired. He really enjoyed the change of scenery and can't wait to come back here with Brant to enjoy some father/son fishing.