Great News about Papa Smith!!

As many of you know, my beloved dad (aka..Papa Smith), has been battling kidney cancer (renal cell carcinoma) since August of 2004. He had two surgeries early on to remove his cancerous left kidney, as well as other areas of tumor growth. More recently, though (January 2007), his cancer recurred in his abdomen, and was deemed "inoperable." Since then he has been doing experimental chemotherapy's, first by IV therapy, and most recently by oral intake. The first IV chemo he tried had very few side effects, which was great, but proved to not be doing much to stop or inhibit tumor growth. It was then decided that he would try an oral chemo (pill formation) that he would take for 4 weeks, and then take 2 weeks off, and repeat. He has needed this 2 weeks off, as he has not felt well on this new chemo. He has struggled with fluid retention, nausea, mouth sores, & extreme fatigue. All of these things are rough on a die hard Harley-rider, or anyone for that matter. Not to mention how hard this has been on us, his loving family, to watch him go through this.

Moving on to the good news!! Last night I got a call from my mom (who has been a saint through this whole ordeal), telling us that my dad's latest CT scan showed no new tumor growth, and actually some of the tumors on his previous CT scans have shrunk in size, and other areas that were questionable have cleared up completely. I could've cried--we have been waiting for some good news for a while now, and FINALLY that is what we got!! All of this chemo and suffering is actually doing something, and even bigger than that--I like to believe that all of the prayers are working.

We love you so much, Papa Smith, and are beyond thrilled to hear the GREAT news.
We are looking forward to many more unforgettable years with you in our lives, as there a lot more memories to be made.

Above is my Mom and Dad on their 35th wedding Anniversary in June 2005,
and below (& way top) are photos from Mission Beach on our Smith family
vacation to San Diego in February 2007