We planned a trip to Galveston with Jason's parents about 1 1/2 months ago for last Tuesday through Thursday. This was before we knew when Landon would be having a muscle biopsy as well as before we even knew my brother had stage 4 brain cancer. We were originally given the date of when we would be in Galveston for his surgery, but the wonderful surgeon and his staff worked around our schedule and squeezed him in on the Thursday before our trip. We were skeptical with how Landon would be and if he would be well enough to walk and swim, but he did great! Didn't skip a beat! We just had to be careful not to get salt water on his incision, which a little bit did when he ran and splashed. But, all is good. The kids had a great time at the beach as both of them, especially Landon, have been asking for weeks and weeks when we would be going and in how many days. However, the trip was tough for me. As we were literally on the freeway on our way my dad called me telling me that my brother took a turn for the worse and that the doctors told them to get family to the hospital now. He was suppose to be released that day as his vomiting and esophagus was better but he crashed. And the doctors gave them the grim news that the glioblastoma is a stage 4 and terminal with no treatment possible. The cancer is very aggressive, covering his entire brain, and is multiplying quickly. Thankfully we were running behind and were just a few exits before the medical center so we exited and rushed to MD Anderson's ICU. He was not able to swallow, had issues with his sodium levels, and had pneumonia. He has struggling to breathe and was on oxygen in addition to a slew of machines and medications. Jason stayed in the waiting room with the kids while I went back. Andy looked very bad and the doctors didn't expect him to survive the day. We stayed as long as we could and had to head on to Galveston. We just told the kids that Uncle Andy was very sick and left it at that even though they are still asking all kinds of questions. I have to say the drive from the med center to our condo was the longest and most excruciating thing ever. I cried and cried behind my sunglasses as I didn't want the kids to see me or get upset too. Sleep that night was non-existent. I literally stared at the wall with my mind racing with all kinds of thoughts and prayed over and over the same prayer....please God give us more time. I tried my best to enjoy the trip but my mind was elsewhere and I kept my phone glued to me and checked in on things multiple times a day. His condition did improve and Jason and I went up late on Wednesday night from about 8-11pm after dinner for a visit where he was doing better, even cracking jokes and ganging up on Jason just like the good ole' times. It did my heart good to see that but the late drive back was still hard and full of tears and long talks with Jason. It's hard as your thought process is all over the place. Thank goodness Nana and Grandpa were with us as they helped with the kids, watched them when we went to the hospital, and were a great support system and listening ear. We tried our best to continue the fun for the kids as they had been looking forward to going to the beach for a long time. They had a blast walking/running on the beach, digging in the sand (well, really mud!), Emerson had a blast searching for seashells, pulling their wagons for walks, and swimming in the multiple pools and lazy river. Another hit was our patio on the 7th floor as we had a great and relaxing view. I sat out there several times alone just watching the clouds and waves and listening to the peaceful waves reflecting on things. The condos/resort and beach were pretty much empty as it was the end of summer and peak period so that was super nice. We had the pool and lazy river all to ourselves. The pools were really neat as they were all connected and flowed into each other as well as a splash pad/shallow area. The inside of our condo was really nice too and spacious with 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms....he couldn't of asked for a better place. We cooked breakfast and lunch in our condo and went out to eat for our dinners. On Tuesday it was Grandpa's birthday so we went out to Salt Grass Steakhouse and later gave him his presents. The next night we went to Fisherman's Wharf. On our last day we went to Murdoch's to shop for souvenir's, ate lunch at Chili's, rode the ferry, and went to look at the Carnival cruise ship that just came in. The ferry was a huge hit for the kids. They loved watching the waves, the ships, all the various crazy birds, and the dolphins that were out everywhere. I couldn't believe how many dolphins there were as well as how busy the water was with ships everywhere. On our last day we awoke to rain and gloominess but by 10am we were able to venture out on the beach for a walk. Emerson of course loved looking for shells, even though they were all little bitty (what happened to all of the shells we found as kids??), and she had no fear at all going into the water. She was a little bit too comfortable! Landon preferred to chase and run away from the waves. Another hit was the shower by the pool. Who knew it was that fun to push buttons for water to spray on your body and feet? Speaking of buttons, both kids have been fighting and arguing over who gets to push all of the buttons on the elevators at the condo and at all of the hospitals over the past week. I mean huge fights and whining....all over a button. Crazy kids! For the kids it was a great trip to Galveston, but for me it was rough. However, I tried my best to remain strong and not let it ruin things. Once we left Galveston the kids went home with Nana and Grandpa while Jason and I went back to the med center for another visit where Andy was doing better. They were in the process of working on getting him out of ICU since his lungs were clear and into hospice. He went to hospice late on Friday and then he went home with my parents late on Monday as he didn't need to go to a nursing home yet. So far he's on no medications and isn't complaining of pain. He's just tired, weak, losing weight, and isn't his same self. It's all in God's hands now and we are cherishing every second. Just thankful that he's not in any pain and we've been given more time with this amazing person that we love so much. Don't feel like going into more details, but we'd appreciate any thoughts and prayers, especially prayers for peace, comfort, strength, and understanding and of course for Andy to not be in any pain.
