Hello everyone...sorry something is going on with the blog and some posts are not posting. I am truly sorry for that. For those that do not know, we had a minor setback this week. The story goes like this, Friday Bo felt like he had the "gurgling" in his chest again, which previously has been a sign of a collapsed lung. So he went to the hospital with Bill and had a Chest X-ray, and needless to say they wanted to admit him right then and there and put another tube in. Remember he just had that out on Monday night and was home Tuesday. So he talked with his doctor from Duke and they recommended him to come up for his appointment on Monday and they would look at the scans and determine what method they thought best. ((They did say to do this only if he felt good enough, he felt fine) in hopes that what the Charlotte doctors were seeing was the part of his lung that never fully inflated.)
Bo and I went to Duke on Monday, to have him admitted back into the hospital for a collapsed lung. It collapsed to where it was before. This time only air and hopes that it would come up faster since is was down for a shorter amount of time. The tube went in Monday around noon and Bo took it like a trooper now with 2 holes in his side. This afternoon they did the procedure with the talc powder that works like glue and will glue that will keep that part of his lung attached to the lung cavity. (this is a typical procedure for someone that keeps having a collapsed lung) Unfortunately this is painful for a couple of weeks. The doctors say the pain is good, we know that it is attaching, but poor Bo.
So That is where we stand right now. At first we were extremely disappointed to be back in the hospital, but Bo is doing better handling it. It helps that we have some of the same great nurses we had before. Plus we keep meeting more and more great people. School as also started so some wonderful friends that go to UNC and State have been stopping in to help pass the time.
I will try to do better on posting Bo's updates, it is complicated when I stay with him at the hospital, but we will keep you posted. For those asking, Bo is located at Duke Hospital, 2301 Erwin Road, Durham, NC 27710 9th floor.
Love to All
Christi and Addi

The Johnson clan is a little busy today so they enlisted the Big Sister's help to update everyone with Bo's latest news......

Late Friday night, Bo decided that he wanted to have an X-ray of his lung because he felt like it might have collapsed again. So, he went to Presbyterian Hospital at Exit 23 that night to have the X-ray done. After the doctors at Presbyterian Hospital consulted with Bo's primary physician at Duke, they decided that although there was some evidence that the lung had partially collapsed, Bo should hold off on doing anything until he went to Duke on Monday (a pre-scheduled visit for Avastin).

This morning, after meeting with Dr.Crawford, it was determined that Bo's lung had collapsed again. The same weakened spot in his lung had not strengthen as they had hoped. He has been admitted in the hospital and around lunchtime, a tube was inserted into the lung lining to aid in re-inflating the lung. Later this afternoon, the doctors are meeting with Bo to schedule a procedure in which they will insert a special type of glue that will help to strengthen the lung lining to help prevent a collaspe in the future. It is my understanding from Christi that this a typical procedure for a second collaspe of the lung, and the main side effect of this procedure is that the glue decreases the elasticity of the lung.

Bo will remain in the hospital until the lung re-inflates. While there is not a good way of predicting how long this will take, but Bo is saying that he is coming home Thursday no matter what. Of course, his release date is up to his doctors. (Nice try, Bo!) We will try to keep the blog updated with the most recent updates as we receive them. All prayers and well wishes are appreciated!

Tracia

Hello Everyone, Christi still...sorry hopefully soon we can Bo to do some typing. But I have really great news, Bo is home! We are so excited! He is moving a little slow and very tentative with his breathing, but at home. I cannot tell you how happy I am to have the two people I love most in the world under one roof. We are going to have to try and get Mr. Johnson to slow down so no more visits to Duke. Although we did meet some really wonderful people that make living and fighting more important than ever.
Bo left the hospital with his lung healed up, but after lying in bed for 7 days and only getting up to use the restroom, he is a little tired and winded with everything he does. I think a couple of days chasing Miss Addi around might help.
I just wanted to let everyone know that things are on the mend. I think the collapsed lung was a wake up call to all of us that the fight is still going strong. Bo is a little mentally tired right now and mad at cancer, but I know he will get through this. If anyone has any great words of encouragement and inspiration, please send them his way.
Love
Christi and Addi

Hello everyone, Christi again. Hopefully tomorrow we can get Bo back online. Unfortunately he is still in the hospital and will probably be there through half of next week. Bo's lung is expanding back fairly well, there is just a little part that cannot seem to heal up. But there really is no time frame for this and no matter what, nothing would fit Bo's time frame. (he is ready to go now, but knows he should do want is best for his body) The doctor's decided to leave the tube in over the weekend to give his body more time to self heal. Dr. Crawford is going to speak with the thoracic surgeons on Monday for the best course of action. We really have three options, keep waiting (ugh), perform a procedure that will essentially, in crude terms, glue his lung to the lining, or pray his body heals itself. Either option they are looking to make sure this will not happen many more times. Bo is in good spirits, still a lot of pain so he using a lot of their pain medicine. So if you call be aware of the slurred speech due to the medicine. But his is starting to go stir crazy so please shoot him and email or phone call to help pass the time. They will hopefully know something Monday, perform whatever they are going to due by Tuesday so he can be home net Thursday or Friday. Those are hopefully the latest dates out there. Everything is so much up in the air depending on what his body does.
I do have to say thank you to everyone that has sent their well wishes and helped out with Addi. A huge THANK YOU to Sarah and Sue (Joy and Barb) and all the nurses at Duke. They are incredible for their work and for the time they spend talking with Bo. As you all know him he likes to talk and has told them his life story and they have nicely shared most of theirs. We do not have one complaint about the staff at Duke, Bo just isn't loving the food.
take care everyone and I will update more later and like I mentioned hopefully Bo will be online late tomorrow. (I got him a wireless Internet card)
Christi and Addi
Sorry for the typos I missed. A little tired here.

I just wanted to post a quick update. Bo is doing better. Unfortunately Bo has both air and fluid where his lung collapsed, not that that is any worse or better, just more complicated to remove. But it is starting to come out, of course not fast enough for Bo, but coming out. He is doing better with his pain medicine is able to rest more comfortably. So now we just wait for it to come out and if you ask me I am thinking they are trying to get all the hot air out of him which could be hopeless. Just kidding
I do have to say that whenever I talk to the nurses station, whomever it may be, they always seem to know him on a first name basis. I am not sure if that is good or bad, but he does seem to be a hit up there.
Anyway, Addi and I are off to spend the day with him. We will try and write more when we get back.
Thanks for all the well wishes and prayers. They are working!
Christi and Addi

Hello everyone, Christi here. Sorry this is the first chance I have had to post on our results from yesterday. Yesterday was interesting to say the least, we certainly had mixed feelings. Bo was anxious for a reason. We found out he has another collapsed lung, but this time more severe than last and he has been admitted into the hospital with a tube put into his side to help inflate his lung again. This is in the same area it was previously, so we are going to try and figure out if this will be reoccurring or what is causing this to happen. On the other side, from the inflated lung it appears that the cancer is stable still. So great news, but it is hard to tell because his lung other lung is partially collapsed. He is in good spirits, a little drugged up - actually a lot. But the nurses insist that having a tube in your side is extremely painful with all the nerve endings protecting those vital organs, so he isn't just enjoying life. They think he might have to stay throughout the weekend depending on how fast his body heals itself. The longer the lung with deflated, the longer it takes to inflate. I do have to say the doctors were shocked that Bo was walking around and golfing with his lung like this, but we all know he is a stud. I will certainly pass his well wishes along and please keep praying for a full and quick recovery.
Take care and I will post more later
Christi and Addi

I just wanted to send a little request out. Bo and I are a little anxious this month about scans, no reason in particular, other than we are trying to figure out how to live with cancer. So when you are praying tonight, will you send a little extra to help calm our nerves. Bo's got high blood pressure anyway because of some medicines, so we need a little Zin from everyone.
Thanks and we will post as soon as possible the scan results.
Love
Christi and Addi

Hello Everyone, that is still out there...with today's blog I must make a warning. Too much information about Christi, via Addi's dressing up. Kids do the funniest things and needless to say Addi found herself a new hat. Unfortunately that isn't a beret on her head, but Mommy's (new) underwear. We have been talking about potty training and well I guess she wants to wear big girl panties. Hehehehe I am funny today.

Also I wanted to mention the dress is for Papa in Kansas. It reminded us of his denim shirts he wears to work in the winter time. I was funny as a kid also and teased him about what he would wear to work each morning and ask him "Denim".

Anyway, things here have been alright. Bo got the ol stomach bug that has been going around and so he was down and out for a couple days (Sunday until today) but he is feeling better. I thought Addi might have something, but I am beginning to think more and more it is hear 2 year molars coming in. She had one break through months ago, but I believe the others are one their way. I shouldn't complain because I had it easy with everything except molars so far.

Addi and I wanted to thank everyone for the wonderful event and time in Kansas. We had such a great time, raised a bunch of money, Addi got to ride a horse, and I got to hear how country I am sounding. I am currently enrolled in speech classes her thanks to the interview from Channel 6.

Nothing else new really to report other than I did some shopping (not in New York) and I bought some underwear. I warned you to much info.Take care everyone and for those not feeling well get better, Cyndi.

Love

Christi and Addi

Just wanted to update everyone. Addi and I are sick. We have been sick since Sunday. Addi is running a fever, and I was, but with other complications. Whenever I get sick I get scared a little. I had a friend named Daneen who got sick on a Thursday, found out she had lung cancer that weekend, and then died by the next weekend. This is why it scares me so much.

I also wanted to thank the people of Lawrence again. We had a great event there, and I know we did so well in raising money. Christi and I are thinking of away to make sure we show our appreciation. I hope this will be an annual event....

It has been awhile since I posted, and a lot has happened. I had a guys weekend in Pinehurst, an Addi's Cure event in Lawrence, and I have been to SEVERAL cities along the way.

First - The 5 B's Classic in Pinehurst. This is an annual event I have been to for the past 10 years. Several of my frat brothers got together at Brian Williams' dad beach place and it has grown into a major event. If you are the individual winner, not only do you get some $$b you get the pink jacket and the silver cup. I have never won this event, and I was really hoping to do well. You guessed it, bad the first day and really out of the tournament. The good news is I went 2-1 on the ryder cup part. Brian Williams did win this year, and I was happy for him. However, next year will have to be my year.

I got back yesterday from Lawrence and the Addi's Cure event. I went out to Lawrence on Saturday and played golf on Sunday with Chris Dodds, Curtis Morgan, Justin J, Phil Frost, and of course me. We played Lawrence Country Club, good track, needs 1 more year since they just redid the whole course. It was really in pretty good shape considering. On Monday night, we had an event at 23rd Street Brewery. It was packed and a lot of fun. There was a silent auction, etc. There were many volunteers, and I know I will miss some, but here is a good try: Jen and Bill Newton, Mel, Erin, Crystal, Bev, Red Dog, Mom (Terri Morgan), Randy and Catherine Glidewell and Cyndi, Ami and Caitlin. Each person was really important in getting this thing going. Crystal, Christi's sister, had the idea and boy did everyone pull it off. If I missed someone, please let me know so I can post them.

As far as my health, I am still doing fine. I am a little worried of course, my next scans are August 7th. Again, the goal is 5 years. That means I have to stick around until June 1, 2011. Thanks to everyone who keeps me on track.

There have been several new articles and interviews if you would like to watch them. Go to addiscure.org and look on the left hand side. There are some really good ones from Lawrence. The young lady at channel 6 did an outstanding job.

Please say an extra prayer for the Acker family this week as well. Little Gabby is doing great, she is having to be let down slowly off some very hard drugs she had to have when they fixed her heart. She got addicted to them, so it is a difficult process. Please take time to pray for them.

I will write more soon. I hope Christi will post some new pictures of Addi as well.

Hello Everyone (Christi) So I beat a week by one day. For those out there sorry about that. Things here have been a typical summer. Addi just finished up with her swim lessons this week. She loves the water, but was a little mad at the teacher. (The first day she fell off the steps and went under water. I do have to say she did well. She held her breath and tried to swim, but needless to day she was a little mad and untrusting of the teacher) But by the end they would play, swim and blow bubbles together.
This weekend is Bo's annual golf tournament with the boys in the Pinehurst location. (I was corrected that they are not playing Pinehurst, just in the area) So he will be off to that and enjoying some male bonding time. Scary thought. So Addi and I will be hanging with the other husband less wives, probably talking smack about how they left us with the kids and we need to pay them back with the trip to New York, shopping.
Anyway things here are good.
Bo did have a question about his diet. He is still maintaining eating healthy. Each morning he has a shake, smoothie and for dinner we eat a lot of fish and organic veggies. If you live in the Cornelius/Huntersville area there is a great company, Absolute Organics, that once a week delivers a box full of organic veggies and fruits. They change up each week, so it is nice to eat different foods. It is a little hard to maintain the diet when sauces are pretty much out of the question. We grill a lot of foods. I stay away from sauces that have high fructose corn syrup, which is about anything that tastes good. (I guess if you pour the sugar in anything because sweet and good) So that limits us some. I still believe staying away from sugars is important. So I am working on my natural spices, we have learned we are not huge rosemary fans :( There is limit to how much you can add.
Enough rambling about food, thank goodness Bo doesn't post what I cook anymore. I was feeling a lot of pressure.
Take care everyone and see you soon
Christi

I have a question, what medicines are you taking now and what are the side effects and how well do you think they are working??

Right now I am taking Tarceva and Avastin. Tarceva is a pill I take every day. Avastin is a drug I take every three weeks intravenously. Both are targeted therapy drugs, which means they go directly to the cancer and work on it there....

I know I have not posted for awhile, so I wanted to get back into the swing of things. I was really sick with a cold at the beginning of the week, but I am better now. I played 18 on Friday afternoon with Aviva, and then went to a tourn on Sat but I only played 9. Felt a little week, so I decided to just finish the 9 and go home. Sunday we all went out on the boat and had a great time. We will do the same on the 4th as well.

I am very excited about going to several places this fall. Christi and I are going to go to Greece and I also am going to go to Scotland to play golf. We are very lucky to travel like we do.

I wish everyone could spend some quality time with Addi. She is becoming quite the young woman. She slept last night in her big girl bed, and she is so excited. She is taking swimming lessons and she loves boating. I went ahead and got Panther tickets this year so she is going to be my little Panther fan...... She is really awesome. Christi will put so new pictures up soon.

Doesn't anyone have any questions????? Send them to me.

I have made it back from the worst cold I have ever had! It has been a process, that is for sure. Christi and I had a lot of fun at the beach with our friends and family. I got a cold the last night, and I have just felt better today. I did go to Duke on Monday for treatment, but other than that, I have been in bed.

More later!

Hello Everyone! (Christi here) Sorry we have been gone for so long...we are out there just living life! The beach was great. Addi isn't a huge fan of sand (she got wiped out by a wave one of the times we were in Hawaii) but she loved the seashells. We have extra if anyone needs some. She also loved having her family and friends close by. She woke up (after hollaring for Daddy) saying Peyton, Patterson, Lena, Phil and then proceeded to say the rest of the family...even Uncle Mikey. We had a nice relaxing weekend, Bo did catch a cold at the end, so we are trying to get him to rest (Which is like try to get Addi to sit down, impossible)

I do have to mention JULY 23rd...please mark your calendars if you are going to be in the L.A. area (Lawrence Area) at that time. My family and friends are putting on an Addi's Cure event at 23rd Street Brewery in Lawerence...at 3512 Clinton Parkway...please come. The restaurant is giving a percentage of all dinner tickets back to Addi's Cure. We are working on a other items, hopefully, but more importantly I would love to see everyone in Kansas. (if anyone wants to help or knows a company that would love to help sponsor, just email me at info@addiscure.org)

Talk with everyone soon!

Christi and Addi

It has been awhile since the last post, so I wanted to make sure I let everyone know I am doing great. Christi and Addi have been at the beach this week, so I am home alone. I have worked a lot and gone out on the lake on the boat. I think the dogs and I miss Addi and Christi a lot.

Brian William, one of my closest friends, just decided to come to work with us. I am very excited.....

Today I want to dedicate the blog to Kaitlyn and Madelyn Lloyd. These young ladies are very special and have done a very nice thing. They live in Chapel Hill and are the nieces of Phil and Lena. They decided that they wanted to do something for Addi's Cure, so they started raising money. Remember, these girls are 11 and 5. They each got a jar and off they went. You can see the jars in the picture. They raised over $100.00 for Addi's Cure. I just thought they should be recognized for standing out. Thanks Girls! You get a boat ride soon!

I hope everyone is doing well. I also wanted to announce the birth of Mia Regan Bradley to my buddy Lee. He is really going to see what he has been kidding me about!

I also did get a copy of the news report on TV they did on lung cancer that had Christi, Addi, and me in it. We are putting it on the web now, so look soon. http://www.addiscure.org/ is the website....

Don't forget the MILLION dollar challenge: http://www.addiscure.org/

I hope everyone is well today. I wanted to tell you about the weekend I had here in Cornelius. Steve, a buddy of mine, came in Thursday morning for my member guest tournament at The Peninsula. We played an 18 hole practice round on Thursday afternoon, then went to a banquet. The real deal started Friday morning. We had nine hole matches against people in our flight which was called Pinehurst. There were eight flights. Steve was the A player at a 6 handicap, I was the B player at a 14 handicap. It was A vs. A., B vs. B., and then a team best ball net. Each was worth a point for the match, so if you won all three, you got three points. On Friday, we had three 9 hole matches, and we got 7 points. On Saturday, we had 2 nine hole matches and got 3.5 for a two day total of 10.5. We tied for first in our flight, but we did beat the other team 2 points to one point in our head to head match so we won the flight.

We made it to the "king of the hill" shootout for the overall winner. Out of forty-eight teams, there were 8 left for this shootout. Basically, we had two groups of four teams. Each started on a hole and no matter what, one team had to drop out after each hole. If everyone tied, you had to do a chip off. In this chip off, it was closest to the flag for the winner. However, the other team s could not watch each chip to make you go for the flag. I am sorry to report that Steve and I were out on hole one! What can I say, it was high humidity and 95 degrees both days, I guess we were tired! :)

All this was made possible by MY WONDERFUL, AMAZING wife who let me do all of this. She even fixed us breakfast each day.

Because we did go so far, I had to miss Jim Cooper's wedding. I was really mad, but I did not have a choice. Christi went, and she said it was fun. One thing that was good; Addi and I had all night to play together. We went to the park in her wagon, hit the swings, played with the dogs, and had a really good time. It was a lot of daddy and daughter time.

I also wanted to make sure I said something about Nicole McClure Milano. She wrote in the comments on my last post. I do remember her well. She was a very pretty young lady from back in my Hendersonville days. I am glad that I said something to help in a positive way. I always knew she would turn out great. No doubt in my mind. She was a little like me in the fact she had to find her way and she took her time as well.

I am now really wrestling with what to do for my cancer. I feel like I have three options:

1. stay the course with the treatment I am getting, knowing it could last for three months or maybe forever.

2. decide to really push for the double lung transplant. This has no really good data on it for effectiveness, and it would be great if my body just accepted the lungs. Cancer could come back, but I would be starting fresh.

3. Push for Duke to take out a big chunk of tissue from my lungs and allow a brilliant Dr. Potti to try to make a match from my genetic makeup to the medicines I would be taking.

I feel that I need to do something very strong. The bottom line is that I am dieing slowly and the doctors do not have a cure. I am sure I would like the research done on me to heal me, but if not, I also want to make sure that others can be helped from the data I give. It is very tough.

LAST BUT NOT LEAST - Steve's son Marshall is going to Vanderbilt this fall as a freshman. He really wanted to get a good start on experience in business, so he decided that he needed to get some sales experience. He is selling Cutco knives. They are SUPER knives. If you need some, PLEASE email me and I will get you in touch. Throw the kid a bone......

Hello to all. I am sitting at Duke waiting to get my dose of avastin. I just met with the doctors and they reviewed my scans with me. Everything remains stable, and I will have more scans in 9 weeks. Until then, I will continue to get avastin treatments at Duke every 3 weeks. It was really good news.

I also talked to them about a double lung transplant. I decided at this time to stick with what has me stable but to revisit if something changes. I think another option at that time will be genomics, which is basically Duke getting a better sample of the cancer (surgery) and really looking at my specific tumor and build a treatment plan on my tumor. Dr. Potti here at Duke is really a leading guy for this type of research. Google him! He is a super nice guy as well. The lung transplant continues to be on my mind....

I am very proud of everyone that has been sticking by me. It is hard on me, but hard on all of you as well. I will keep it up so you have to as well....

http://www.addiscure.org/


I would like to dedicate the blog today to Uncle Terry from Kansas. He has done tireless research and has really given me lifts. He has also inspired me to ask everyone on this blog to raise $1,000,000 for Addi's Cure. He said I have to ASK FOR IT. Well I am doing this now. Below is a way that some people might help, if not for you, ask 10 firends for a small donation and then send it in. Make sure they know about the website. I always read all of the comments on the blog and try to answer them in my post. I appreciate all of the feedback and well wishes Here is one of the comments:

Bo -A friend of yours, Sharen King, told me your story. I am also a non-smoker and a survivor (so far) of BAC. As I learned about my illness and went through the process of trying to learn how to deal with it emotionally, functionally, and to make life as normal as possible again, I found little in the way of support organizations. Everyone assumed if you had lung cancer, it was your own fault - just stop smoking. And everyone also assumed it to be an automatic death sentence. I would love to help in anything you're doing to help support those with new diagnoses. I am also troubled by the fact that research into lung cancer suffers from the same preconceived ideas.Bo, I'm looking for ways to turn my experience with lung cancer into something to support others, so they don't have to deal with it at all, or at least in a more supportive manner. Let me know what I can do.Marge Combe

I would love to chat with you Marge. Get Sharen to give you my email address and phone number, and call me. I think you have your hands full as well as I do, however, I would love for you to help promote Addi's Cure in your area. This is a way anyone can help. Any money raised would be awesome, and of course awareness is a big key too. I also am almost always asked if I smoked..... The first thing we did was to have a dinner. We went to a local restaurant, and they agreed to have a special menu for us as well as a special price. We then sold tickets that were over the cost of the dinner by $25.00. Each participant got a letter from Addi's Cure giving them tax deductible credit for the $25.00 over the goods and services. It was a lot of fun, a night to hang out with friends for a good cause. I think we have almost 200. I would love to have several "little" Addi's Cure branches all around helping the cause. Remember - 100% of the money is for cancer research, no admin fees or anything.

I also had a question about the TV coverage. I will let everyone know on the blog when this will be on. It was done by a news channel that does content for all affiliations of NBC, so it could be on in 50 different areas or more. It depends on who picks it up, but the lady hosting it is really popular, so I hope that there are lots of people that get to see it. I am also trying to get a link on the website as well.

Please pray for Suzi, Caine, McKenna, Marge, and everyone else in this world hurting from cancer or something else.

I had a surprise today. A news channel came in from Raleigh to do a story on Addi's Cure and lung cancer. It was NBC and they will send it out to all of their affiliates. I hope we can put it on the website soon. I hope everyone has a great holiday weekend.

June 1 will be one year for me, which is a great accomplishment. I am really grateful for all the support from everyone.

Hello to all and sorry for being gone so long...(I act like you care - Christi here) Turks and Caicos was wonderful, busy but wonderful. Bo did an incredible job working (more like working it) and well Addi might have found heaven here on earth. Not only was there a pool and beach, but their daycare program was Sesame Street. Elmo was everywhere...seriously I am not kidding everywhere. She loved them from a distance, but hugging was off limits. Our daughter has personal space issues. She was quite entertaining when they are dancing on stage. She danced for a solid 20 minutes. (so much dancing a woman came up to me and said she should go to LSU, it is a great party school. Whatever, GO KU!)

On another note, I would like to ask everyone to pray for a family friend. He name is Vickie Pettijohn. This past week she was diagnosed with bile duct cancer. This is a tough one to fight, but with everyone's help, I think she will fight. She has a husband, two children and wonderful parents all trying to help her fight. I will forever pray for her and her family.

Switching gears again, can you tell I have been on vacation, I am all over the place (mentally and emotionally) We are all excited to be home for a while. This weekend is huge for us and we are celebrating. Not only is it Memorial Day Weekend a long weekend, but Bo has his 1 Year Anniversary. Do you all think a cake and a card would be too much? Anyway, it is crazy to look back, forward we will go. Thank you everyone for thinking of him and helping us through this tough year.

Love you all

Christi and Addi

Just a quick hello from Bo. I had treatment on Monday at Duke. The last week was really crazy. I was in PHX for a meeting, and then had to fly to Kansas for a funeral for Christi's grandmother. It was tough, Grandma Sparks was very sweet. Christi had a tough time as well.

Got back on Monday and learned that Christi's sister, Cyrstal, had bad news. Her father in law died of lung cancer. He learned of it several weeks ago, but it was really late in the game. This made me really sad for them of course, but also scared a little. I realize I am really luck that I am still here. Please say a prayer for Clinton and Grandma Sparks.

Tuesday Christi, Addi, and I had to leave for Turks and Caicos. This is my company's annual trip. We have 140 people down here for the rest of the week. It should be a lot of fun.

Please do not forget to support Addi's Cure in 2007. Everyone did so well in 2006. We have several events coming up, I am excited. We need to keep the momentum. If you want to help, tell your friends about Addi's Cure and see if they would want to help.

I really feel honored that you all read this. I hope I can write it for a long time to come....

Hello to all...(Christi) I just wanted to thank everyone that has called and sent emails. For those that do not know, my Wonderful Grandmother passed away on Monday. She was and forever will be the most amazing woman I have and will ever know. She had this amazing ability to make you feel like you were the most important person to her. She laughed at everything you said, even if you weren't that funny. (She is on Bo's list of people that think he is funny, he's not) She could tell you the best stories about her life growing up and the adversities she faced during the Depression and during her life growing up as a farmer. But most importantly every time she held your hand you always got a squeeze. I will miss her so much, but I know she loved me and I love her more than anything.

We will talk to you soon.

Christi

Hello to all! Well Addi and I (Christi) had our first visit to Tweetsie Railroad in Boone/

Blowing Rock, NC this weekend. We went up there with Papa and Grams Cain and Cousin Joe and Aunt Andrea and Uncle Daniel. I do have to say my daughter is fearless. She rode everything that she could, of course with her Daddy beside her. Anything that resembled a horse had to be touched if not sat on. She even had a good time riding the train. The weather wasn't really cooperating with us (it rained most of the time), but it was nothing compared to what the family in Kansas has been dealing with. Please everyone keep in your prayers those people dealing with the tornado devastation. My family in on the eastern side of Kansas, so they have had some strong storms, but nothing has come across their path.

All and All a good weekend here just playing with Dad and Addi. She is becoming a comedian. Anytime anyone laughs she thinks she did it and copies them. She is also very fond of her necklaces Daddy bought her. She wears 6 of them at one time! What a mess...

Take care

Christi and Addi

Hope everyone is doing great. I had to go to Arizona for a meeting last week, and I stayed on Friday and Saturday to play golf. My buddy Steve asked me to play in the member guest at Whisper Rock in Phoenix. I can not even tell you how awesome it was. The weekend is called the Horseshoe. We did pretty well, winning our first match, but then losing our second. The final day we finished two shots out of the money.... We had a caddy named Caveman and I put a picture up of Steve, me, and Caveman. Caveman tried to help me on short wedges, and I did not make him proud. I also put up a picture of me just hanging out, and Steve making a birdie putt. It was a lot of fun eve and I are playing in my clubs member guest in June.

It was a great weekend. I was really happy to get back to see Addi and Christi. They were supposed to come with me, but decided not to at the last minute. They had a fun weekend too. Addi was very happy to see her daddy.

Hello everyone (Christi here- I will make sure to specify every time so there is no confusion, by the way good one anonymous about the heels) Things here are pretty good. I have had a few people call and check about Bo's Duke visit on Monday. Pretty much the same. They checked his vitals talked with him and he did Avastin. Every 9 weeks is when we have scans and find out how the medicine is working. So mark your calendars for June 5th, that will be the next big one. (And for those detailed readers, we did switch the scans from every 6 weeks to 9, hopefully this will help Bo to stay away from the radiation some, typical protocol is every 12)

Bo is busy in meetings all day today and was yesterday so Addi and I are fending for ourselves, we don't even have Dad to call and harass us. Just kidding.

Nothing new to report here, Bo and I did celebrate our 3 year anniversary on Tuesday so that was a nice day for us. It is sometimes weird to think that having the 3 year mark come by is huge celebration in a couples life. But last May really put everything into perspective. We are not really big on celebrating these things, but I am forever grateful to everyone praying out there because I can't imagine my life without Bo and thankfully I don't have to. So for another year I get to forever harass my husband for punching our reader in the eye the night before the wedding and giving him a black eye. Gotta love a man that will do that!

Also I thought I would put a couple of new pics of Addi's new hair, Watch out boys!

PS I do have to say that it is a blessing to have nothing new to report, for this minute while I am typing I feel like life is ordinary. I am not quite sure if this is a good thing or bad, but just nice.

Christi and Addi

Watch out Hollywood!

Do you think the paparazzi will know who is this star?

I am on my way to Duke for treatment tomorrow. This weekend was a lot of fun. My club had it's Member-Member this weekend, and I played in it with Phil. We had a blast and won our flight, and finished tied for 4th overall. Phil really played well.

This is going to be a great week at work.

Check out Addi's Cure, there have been several articles on Addi's Cure. Also please view this one from App State.... www.alumni.appstate.edu/blog

I thought this picture was to cute not to forward on...How in the world does my daughter walk in heels better than I do?

Thanks Lena!

Hope all is well today. I was really busy yesterday, and Christi picked up the slack. I am back into the swing of things here at FIG. I had a great time this weekend with my little girl and wife. We spent a lot of time just hanging out.

I am very excited about the warm weather coming, leaving, and now back again. Addi loves to go outside, and last night Christi went to a meeting for Addi's Cure, and me and the pumpkin went to the park and played. Addi loves to swing and go down slides. We had a lot of fun.

I feel like I always leave people out that give to Addi's Cure, so here is the list for 2007:


Old Mutual
Shawn Lee (in behalf of Bill and Jo Cain)
David Nyberg
Donald Urban
Katie Williams
David Weidinger
Jason Klingel
David Vornwald
Stephanie Temple
Jay Robinson
Steve and Tara Neperud
Debra Parks
Jim and Dottie Anderson
Ann Arbor Annuity Exchange
James Lober
Bob and Rebecca Axelrod
Samantha Schleder
Mary & Doug Delaney
TJ & Verna Whalen
Lucian & Jo-Ann Guthrie
Terry Morgan
James & Molly Einstein
Jim and Lib Johnson
Adam Gates, M.D. & Blake Campbell Ravin
Laurie and Timothy Arant
Wayne and Jennifer Ceely
Amerus Annuity Group (Aviva)
Mark and Lisa Heitz
Kestler Financial Group
Juan Butler
Kathryn Brenny
Terri Mayhew
Yvonne Bess
Brian Peterson
Sabrina Smith
Mike Rodgers
Ruth Hahn
Kevin Sullivan
Jim Surrane
Philip & Rachel Goodgame
Elizabeth Wilhelm
Krystal Miller
Devon Millard
Eric & Carolyn Thomes
Mary Ann Bryan
Bruce & Janet Mullan
Kevin & Carolyn Atkins
Isaiah and Nikki Smith
Mike & Caroline Mullan
Charles & Julie Scheper
Bentz & Associates, P.A.
Jerry & Jackie Shoaf
Mitch Barnett
Jeremy Webb
Elizabeth Brooks

I also wanted to say that this list is not up to date. I know that Cody and his wife gave recently as did my MSM Class. Addi's Cure website is usually more up to date than I am, so check there often. Thanks!

Hello Everyone - Christi here. Well we survived the week with Dad out of town, barely. Unfortunately we were suppose to good to some good friends of ours for a baby shower and golf for Bo, but Addi must have been so excited to see Dad that she threw up. Now that is love...we stayed home to make sure she didn't have the stomach bug going around, but it appears it was a one time thing. So we got a weekend with Dad with nothing to do...it was great. We are so proud of him and his accomplishments. We did miss seeing Grand-Daddy and Great Papa, but hopefully we will get up there real soon, they will be so surprised with how big their Little Addi is getting.
We hope that everyone is feeling alright and hopefully we can see you all soon.
Christi and Addi

Just a quick post today, I am done. I just presented my final paper to my class. Unless something happens, I now have a Masters of Science in Management, with an emphasis on leadership. Sorry to gloat, but it was hard and I am just glad it is over.

I will be excited to get back as well. I am interested in seeing Addi's reaction when I get back!

On the last post, I asked people to leave a comment. As of this morning, 47 people had left something. I wanted to say thank you. I really appreciate it and it helps me look forward to posting things.

I am in PA now finishing up my masters. For the morning, we have been talking about ethics. It has really been interesting. At the end of the week, i have to present my final project, which is Addi's Cure. Everyone has been asking me questions about it, it has really been cool.

One of the comments asked me about if I am still eating right and living a healthy lifestyle. The answer is sort of. I am still doing my best on eating right. Christi has really tried hard to provide great food. Traveling has not been easy. Exercising has been tough to since I am so busy. This question made me decide to really press on with eating and exercising, thanks!

I will keep you up to date this week.....

I would like anyone that reads this to post a comment this time! I would like to set a record!


Went to Duke today for scans and really got great news. The cancer is stable again, and it might have even reduced some. Dr. Crawford said he sees a little reduction, but the Avastin really has not had time to work. I go back for a scan in 9 weeks now instead of every 6 weeks. I am really looking forward to seeing what happens next. Maybe Avastin is the drug for a long time? It would be nice. I still take it intravenously (sp?) every three weeks.





Addi has been so funny lately. She is so grown up and runs everywhere. She is really awesome. I am finishing up my masters on April 13th, so I am happy that I will be able to spend even more time with Addi and Christi. I added a picture of her in her wagon. All she wants to do is run down the backyard and jump into Lake Norman! She really wants to get on the boat!





Wanted to say thanks to my cousin in CA for keeping in touch! Email me sometime!

Hello Everyone! Hope all is well.

This week was really busy, and next week is as well. Mark H., Jordan C., and Justin J. can in the office last week. We do business with a company named Aviva, and they came in just to hang out. They presented a BIG check to Addi's Cure. What was even nicer, is that Mark H. (President) gave a donation from his personal account. Very nice.

I played golf on Friday and today. 88 and 86. I have really been playing better lately. Won money both times, which is always important.

Going to Duke on Monday afternoon and have scans on Tuesday. Big day. We will see if the Avastin is working. I hope so...

Christi and Addi are doing well. Addi feels a lot better and made her Daddy realize he had a bad day the other day, but she will not let it happen again for awhile.... See you soon, and keep going to www.addiscure.org. There is a new article there, and I think there might be a tv spot soon. Some very nice people are also working on an event call Touch A Truck.... Working on it.

Today I am home sick. Addi is sick as well. I think we both have the same thing. Christi took Addi to the doctor and she has bronchitis. I have really had a lot of time to think today, and I personally think this is bad. When you are laying in bed without anything to occupy your mind, you think about a lot of what ifs. While I am still very positive, I am worried about my family. It has not even been a year since I was told I was going to die soon, and I have already passed that point. I can not explain the feeling I have thinking that I may not be around to see Addi and Christi.

I think that everyone has a bad day once in awhile, and maybe this is mine. I do not feel defeated, just feel tired of having to think about it.

Christi is really been one of the best things that has happened to me. She has really been great about all of this. Most people really see me as the victim, but she is as well. I think she is really proud of me, but I am a lot more proud of the way she has handled this. Imagine if someone told you your significant other was going to die? Christi has built a life here in NC, but that life has me in all phases. I hope that when people pray for me, they also pray for Christi.

Hello to all! Well we made it back from Kansas and are finally settling into the home life again. Addi had such a wonderful time at my parents house with all the animals, it was sad to make her leave. She also got to play with Cousins Wyatt and Ryan, that was almost as cool as sitting on Grandpa's horse! For those that have been asking, thank you, my Dad is doing really well. He isn't slowing down much (I have the same problem with Bo. When will these two men cut me some slack and just take care of themselves and stop stressing me out!)

Sad that KU lost and then UNC, it looks like Bo and I made it through another March Madness without a Championship dividing us. I am not sure whether to be thankful for that or sad.

We had another Addi's Cure event at Gymboree this time, more geared towards kids. They have been incredibly supportive to Addi and myself. They hosted an open house and all bubbles that they sell in March they are giving a donation back to Addi's Cure. So if you have time, stop by the Gymboree Play Center and buy some bubbles! They also have a nice display about Addi's Cure. Nothing really new here, Bo is still working to much, Addi is going strong, getting more teeth and I am trying to balance the two of them. What was I thinking...just kidding I love them both dearly.

Take care

Christi

Don't forget to visit www.addiscure.org

Hope everyone is doing well. I came back from Kansas today, but was a little sad leaving Christi and Addi with her family. Addi was having a great time playing with her cousins Wyatt, Ryan, Ami, and Catlin. Christi was really happy to see her family as well. We got in on Friday night in time to watch the Kansas game and then basically went to bed. Saturday we messed around and watch Carolina play. We also had a party for Christi's mom, her birthday is today. It was a lot of fun. Sunday we wrnt to a big family gathering, I got to met Aunt Josie - who is 96 years old and the oldest redident of her town. She made me a stocking cap which was very nice. She is a spit fire. There were a lot of nice ladies there and all ask how I was doing. I told them great. Then we went back to watch KU.

Christi's Mom came to get me at 5:15 am this morning to take me to the airport. This is on her birthday. I think she is awesome.

Christi will update you as well on what she is doing this week in Kansas.... See u soon.

Hello to all and SO SORRY we have not posted in a while, Christi here. Needless to say it took a little time to recover from traveling to Hawaii, then the time change, Bo had a huge ACC Golf Tournament Weekend and this week has just been a blur. I know excuses are lame, but that is what I have. Addi loved and I mean loved Hawaii. She has decided she isn't a huge fan of sand (it might be because last time we were there she got wiped out by a wave) but she has taught herself to dunk her head and fall into the pool backwards. She truly has no fear even in water. We visted the pool every day and they even had a snokel pool, so we swam with some sting rays. Addi just chased Nemo in that pool. The company we were with were absoultly fabulous. They made it feel so much like family and showed us a great amount of suppot in encouragement. We promised we would be there next Year!

As I also mentioned, Bo planned a golf tournment with 12 of his old and new buddies Saturday and Sunday. (Yeah we did fly in from Hawaii on Thurs. leaving there Wed.) to have dinner with everyone on Friday. I cheated and just ordered pizza, but we grilled out on Saturday. It was great fun and we even got to become better acquainted with some new friends. Bo ended up winning the tournament (I know sounds fishy doesn't it) but if anyone has played golf with Bo, he is way serious and I doubt there was any cheating. I am sure whenever you all stop in he will show you his winning leaderboard. (Yes there was a leaderboard) I do love this man.

We are getting ready to visit the family in Kansas, I am so excited! It will be nice to celebrate my Mom's birthday, we won't say her age, but also my great aunt Josie, she is turning 96! She is amazing and has a great spunk about her. Gotta love those Katzers!

Anyway here are a few pics from the trip and I promise to do better!

Love you all

Christi and Addi

PS I just realized Bo posted today as well, so keep reading. (He is kidding about my family loving him more, at least he better be!)

Hope all is well. I wanted to make sure that everyone had an update. I am so sorry that I have not written in awhile, but it has been very busy. First let me list all of the donations Addi's Cure has gotten in 2007 so far:


Old Mutual
Shawn Lee (in behalf of Bill and Jo Cain)
David Nyberg
Donald Urban
Katie Williams
David Weidinger
Jason Klingel
David Vornwald
Stephanie Temple
Jay Robinson
Steve and Tara Neperud
Debra Parks
Jim and Dottie Anderson
Ann Arbor Annuity Exchange
James Lober
Bob and Rebecca Axelrod
Samantha Schleder
Mary & Doug Delaney
TJ & Verna Whalen
Lucian & Jo-Ann Guthrie
Terry Morgan
James & Molly Einstein
Kestler Financial Group
Juan Butler
Kathryn Brenny
Terri Mayhew
Yvonne Bess
Brian Peterson
Sabrina Smith
Mike Rodgers
Ruth Hahn
Kevin Sullivan
Jim Surrane
Philip & Rachel Goodgame
Elizabeth Wilhelm
Krystal Miller
Devon Millard
Eric & Carolyn Thomes
Mary Ann Bryan
Bruce & Janet Mullan
Kevin & Carolyn Atkins
Isaiah and Nikki Smith
Mike & Caroline Mullan
Chuck and Julie Scheper
Mitch Barnett

I am so bless to have such good people in my life.

Ok, where do I begin. First let me say that I feel great and I still have no real effects from this. Can I run the Boston marathon? No, but I could not do this any way. I did go to the doctor and explained on an earlier blog that there was some growth. I started taking a drug called Avastin, and Monday of this week was my second treatment. The next time I go I hope they will see some reduction in my tumors.

I am going to go to Kansas soon to see the in-laws. I really think it bothers Christi that they like me more even than her! :) It is really fun in Kansas, and they make fun of the way I talk. Why, I do not know. Other great news, I had a golf tourn here in Charlotte for the ACC Tourn and actually came in first out of 12. It was a lot of fun, and I am looking forward to The 5B's Classic in Pinehurst this summer. I have been doing this trip 11 year (most were golf less) and I have never been close to winning. Feeling really good this year.

Please look at addiscure.org soon. There has been some changes. See you soon.

Just a quick update. We are in HI and having a blast. Addi loves the water and it getting very tan. We will be back soon, I will write more than....

My Aunt Louise died in the last couple of days. She died of cancer. Please say an extra prayer for her. She was super sweet.

Hope everyone is well.

Sometimes kids do the funniest things...







This is just a cute one from Valentine's Day

Hello all. sorry for the delay in me writing. I hope everyone is doing well and keeping healthy. We had a great weekend here at the Johnson Household. Friday we had dinner at Phil and Lena's with 11 adults (minus Justin) and 9 kids. Needless to say it was fun, but a little crazy. On Saturday, I went to play golf (Phil, Rob, and Brian were in my foursome) and Addi and Christi met Lena and Kelly in the park, along with all the kids. I came home and chatted with Christi and Tracia while Addi was asleep for her afternoon nap. Then we all went to dinner and had a grat time at Birkdale Village. Sunday is a lazy day, although I am flying to OH later this afternoon for business.

We have a busy week ahead. I will not be back until Monday night, and I have a class. We leave on Thursday morning for HI, and will be getting back on the 8th. On the 9th, I am hosting an ACC Tournament Challenge for some of the boys. It last all weekend. We will be busy, biut having a lot of fun.

I wanted to give an update on Addi's Cure Dinner. It really was a huge success. Addi's Cure cleared after expenses a little over $12,000 for the evening. We did have one really big donation, but even if we excluded that, we still would have been over $7,000. Our goal was $5,000. I think it was a lot of fun, and we should do things like that more often, not just for charity. Robin, Lena, Rachel, Anna, Lauren, Candace, and Amy really did a great job with this dinner. I will have to be honest, I did not do anything, it was Christi and all the girls that did such a great job. There were over 180 people there, so it was a huge sucess in creating awareness and raising money. Here is a money update:

2006, we rasied $75,236.06. We gave a check for $37,500 to Duke, and $37,736.06 went into the Addi's Cure growth account. The interest from this money will be swept at the end of the year and will be given to Duke as well.
2007, so far this year we have rasied $21,405.57. At the end of the year, we will give half of this to Duke and the rest will go into the Addi's Cure account.

I also thought it may be wise to discuss our goals for Addi's Cure again. We would like to have $1,000,000 in the Addi's Cure account earning interest for cancer research. I know this is a lofty goal, but i think we can do it over time. If we get to this point, we will have also given $1,000,000 as well. (Half and Half formula.) Imagine, a small charity like us would have given almost half of what the US goverment gave in 2005 total. (2.1 million) That is a shame, but more the reason why we have to give. Everyone has done such a great job.

Masters update - I will finish in April. My final paper will be on Addi's Cure. I will keep you posted.

Last but not least, I wanted to give an update on my condition. As Christi posted earlier, I did have some growth. Dr. Crawford did say my tumors are still lower than when I first enrolled at Duke, but he wanted to try find the right formula for me, and maybe Tarceva alone was not going to cut it. We added Avastin. I take it every three weeks at Duke, just like chemo. In fact it is a form of chemo. It took 90 minutes the first time, but I took it very well. The next time they will give me the dose in 60 minutes. I feel the same and still have not felt bad. I am excited about this oppurtunity to see what this drug can do.

Hello to all, this is Christi. Bo and I want to apologize for not writing sooner, we have had a bunch of things happen in the last week. As we mentioned before we saw the doctor last Tuesday and when he eyeballed the scans everything appeared to be stable. When they went back and measured everything, it appears there has been some growth. The doctors called us on Friday with this information and requested we come up on Tuesday to talk about it a little more in depth and check out our options. Needless to say there was a little panic on Friday, but we truly believe still that we can fight this. Bo's cancer, since it isn't one large mass but more like rice scattered throughout his lungs, is harder to measure. That isn't saying his cancer isn't growing that is saying there is a possibility that this could be something else. Not quite sure what I would want it to be, but knowing as with any cancer nothing is set in stone. If his cancer can find a way to grow, then we just have to find another way to make it stop. We are trying another drug called Avastin. It has always been an option for us, we have just been waiting until the right time to try it. Bo is in WI right now, but he will talk more about this. I know this is huge to just put out there all the sudden, but do understand that we all are all right. We are going to keep fighting. Bo is still feeling good, he has never felt bad, they keep telling us all this stuff is happening, we think they might be crazy. Just kidding, not funny I know. But sometimes everyting is just a little to real.
On another note, we had our first Addi's Cure fundraiser Monday night. IT WAS SUCH A SUCCESS! Thank you everyone for coming and supporting us, we are honored to know and meet such wonderful and generous people. (I don't want to steal Bo's thunder, so he will write about this also)
Everyone take care, please know that we all Bo, Addi and myself are doing alright. But if you want to do something, please keep praying.
Love you all
Christi

I just wanted to post quickly, for it is early, that everything with the doctor went well yesterday. Everything is still stable and the Tarceva is working! I am still coughing a little, but they truly believe that the cough in my chest is from a cold with this winter weather. Christi thinks I need to wear a coat more often, which I probably do. We met with Bridget from the department that raises funds for Duke, and they have published us in their quarterly letter. I will see if Christi can find the link to it to post on the website. They also have asked me to speak at a conference in May about my story and Addi's Cure. I will present to some very important and influential people with Dr. Crawford.
On a sadder note Christi, Brian, Jennifer, Kristen and I went to the UNC Game against Virginia Tech last night, and UNC lost in overtime. Thanks to a great man, Scott, who got us tickets in the box seats. The game was fun, but the outcome was not. I still think they have a good chance of winning it all this year.
Also Happy Valentine's Day to my two girls. I love you both!

Just a quick update on Addi's Cure donations:

Jim Lober
Jim Anderson
Ann Arbor
Steve Neperud
Sissy Parks
Bob Axelrod

I will have a total soon, but we are doing really well for the start of 2007. Thanks to everyone!

I just came back from Flordia and the Allianz Championship. This is a senior tour event. I played golf twice, once at Boca Beach Club, and once in the pro am at Broken Sound Golf Club. It was a lot of fun. Phil went with me as well. I played in the pro am with Craig Stadler, and he was really nice. We had a blast. We did come in the top 10, but we did not win. I am glad to get back and see Addi and Christi.

Hello everyone, Christi and Addi here just hanging out missing Dad. There really isn't much to report here. Addi is obsessed with her cowgirl hat, she insists on wearing it sideways. (Which is quite funny to see) And I am working on gettting Addi's Cure dinner sold out! We are getting closer, but don't be surprised if I come knocking on everyone's door. Just so everyone knows we do have to collect the money up front because it is a dinner and we need a better count on food. Thank you so much for everyone planning on attending it should be a great time with good food and music.
See you all there
Christi

Latest Donations to Addi's Cure:


David Weidinger
Jason Klingel
David Vornwald
Stephanie Temple
Kestler Financial Group
Juan Butler
Kathryn Brenny
Terri Mayhew
Yvonne Bess
Brian Peterson
Sabrina Smith
Mike Rodgers
Ruth Hahn

These are for 2007 so far. I also wanted to announce that Addi's Cure is having a dinner in Cornelius on Feb 19, 2007. If you are interested in coming, please email info@addiscure.org for detail. It is $50.00 per person, and the venue is Mia Famigia, a great restuarant. It should be a lot of fun and of course for a good cause!

Sad news: There was a little boy mention in the comments on this blog. Here is an update - I just wanted to update everyone on little Sam Keziah that I had listed on your site. He passed away Friday morning with his mother holding him tight. Please be in prayer for the whole Keziah family as they deal with their loss. Again, if you would like to leave a message for the family their web site is: www.caringbridge.org/visit

This is why we need to fight these things. It really effects little kids and it is not fair....

Super Bowl Sunday! It is here at last. Last night we had FIG's Celebration for the 2006 year end. It was a lot of fun and I think people really liked their bonus checks! We are really lucky to have such great employees.

Tonight we are having a Super Bowl get together and looking for the Colts to win. If you are a Bears fan, sorry.

Next week I am off the The Allianz Championship down in Boca. Looking forward to it. Going to get to play golf with Phil and Eric, and see a lot of people I know.

I am almost done with my masters. It has been a lot of work, but I have learned a lot. I will finish up mid April, so I am looking forward to that. My last project is actually on Addi's Cure, so it will be fun. See you soon!

We have snow!

Sorry for the delay in posting, they have changed the blogger website and it took me a while to figure things out. (This is Christi) We all made it back from Arizona. The trip was a good time, the weather was a little chilly for AZ, but not to cold for Bo and golf or Miss Addi in a heated pool. I do think our little girl might be a swimmer. She has no fear in water, she is already dunking her head. It looks like swimming lessons for me and her this summer.
We have had some exciting things happen when we were out of town. FIG won an award at the dinner we were at in AZ. It was such a big deal and a friend of ours presented it to us, so that was special. Eric said some wonderful things about FIG, Bill, Jo and Bo even a little about me that brought tears to my eyes. He truly is a special person and good with words. He made me so proud of Bo and his fight and desire to persevere is a tough situation. He spoke of FIG and Bo's passion for life. It was really special.
Another that is real special is one of the local papers wrote an article about Addi's Cure and the funds we are trying to raise. Here is the Linc to the article, Darlene did a wonderful job.

http://www.huntersvilleherald.com/articles/2007/01/26/news/local/local01.txt

Also I think we are finalizing the plans for our first Addi's Cure event. It will be a dinner here in Cornelius at one of the local restaurants. How exciting, I can't wait. Finally we can get donations and give something back, hopefully it will be a good time!

Everyone take care
Christi
PS we are all feeling good and excited for 2007

Let me first apologize for our lack of typing, it is nice to say things are a little slow right now. Actually that is really nice to say. Right now Christi, Addi and I are in Arizona for a conference. The weather is nice just a little cool. Perfect for golf. We will hopefully relax and rest. I did go to Duke this week and things are good. I just went to pick up some more Tarceva and figure out why I am still coughing. The consensus is I have a touch of Bronchitis, I am on an antibiotic now and it appears to be doing wonders for me. Just makes me a little drowsy. We will do better in keeping things up to date with what we are doing.

Also a little shout out to our neice Ryan, she turns 1 tomorrow. We love you guys and Happy Birthday.

We just had to show Addi's new coat! It was the hit of her Christmas gifts from her crazy Great Uncle Mike! We are not wearing it much, but we sure do like to pet it! (Don't worry it isn't real!)
PS That is her cousin Caitlin from Kansas

Hello Everyone! (Christi) Just a quick little note out there to let you all know that things are good here. I personally had a rough day yesterday, no rough physically or emotionally, let's just say a rough day with the dogs. Charlie got stuck and cut himself, but everyone is now okay. For more details just email me and I can fill you in on the rest. I just wanted to make sure that everyone knew and would help pray for two friends. I know not everyone reads the comments, so we wanted to make sure we always keep others in our thoughts and prayers. First is a sweet 4 year old little boy, that is fighting cancer, Sam Keziah . Below is the comments from Suella...

Bo,
It's been awhile since I have posted a comment, but I wanted to let you know that it is awesome to see the fruit of our prayers is working! I have a request to many of your strong prayer warriors. There is a little 4 year old boy in Levine's children hospital that has been diagnosed with Stage 4 Wilm's Disease. It started in his kidney and has now spread to his lungs. His parents took him for a dr visit due to congestion in his chest and this is the nightmare they have endured since the week of Christmas. He has a website: www.caringbridge.org/visit/samkeziah
where you can read their journal and post prayer comments in his guestbook. It's wonderful that Addi's Cure is providing funds to fight cancer! I am still praying for you and your family and I hope that many will start praying for Sam Keziah as well. As a parent- I can't imagine the heartache that is felt to see your child in pain and hooked to tubes.
Thanks for the opportunity to let others know!
Suella Russell

Next is for Ginny...she is an amazing lady that has overcome a lot in a short amount of time. Please pray for her continued success. Her friend wrote to us and shared Ginny's blog link...

Bo & Family... I'm one of your random readers from Chicago (came to you from another blog). I just wanted to let you know that a good friend of mine has been inspired by your journal of hope and energy and started her own.
http://www.vmezb.blogspot.com/

Thanks for letting people in to your story.. it reminds other folks that they aren't alone and if they share their story..someone will be there to listen. Sarah, Chicago IL

We know there is a lot of people out there fighting and overcoming remarkable odds. And Bo and I completely believe your constant prayers have helped us and will help others. Stay strong and positive, this is an unbelievable world we live in where people are overcoming unbelievable odds.

Love to All
Christi

Latest donations to Addi's Cure:

Shawn Lee (gift donation for Bill and Jo Cain)
Katie Williams (gift donation for Roy and Wanda Williams)
Donald Urban
David Nyberg
OM FInancial

I hope everyone is doing well. I am, and it has been a great week. Last night I stayed with Addi while Christi (Amy, Lena, Robin, Rachel, Candace, Anna, and Lauren) and friends had dinner and talked about some things to do for Addi's Cure. They came up with some good ideas, so be ready for some fun things going forward. Please do not forget to go to www.addiscure.org and submit recipes!

I have been feeling really good. I have been coughing some, but the doctors told me that they could see no difference in the cancer on jan 3rd. Other than that, i feel good.

Arin M. is coming to see me this weekend. I am excited to see him, he was my room mate in school.

Lance Armstrong has written a great article. Here is the link:

http://www.cnn.com/2007/HEALTH/01/10/armstrong.guestcommentary/index.html

See you soon!

Hello Everyone and Happy New Year! (Christi) It looks like we are starting 2007 on the right foot. Bo had a doctor's appointment yesterday, I apologize for the delay, exhaustion set in, but his lung has healed itself. We are still unsure of what caused his lung to partially collapse, but there was some comments made about Bo's hunting and the possible buckshot, but it looks as though his body is taken care of itself. Also to add to that good news, the cancer still appears to be stable! Huge, it looks like the "miracle drug" as Bo calls it, it is working. We will keep following the clinical trial protocol and visit the doctors every 3 weeks, but scans every 6 weeks.
We took Addi up there with us this last time and I think she helped cheer a few people up. She definitely took it upon herself to meet everyone there. We presented the check to Jeff Woods, he is with fundraising and Dr. Crawford. He was so excited! Thank you everyone! These funds are going to be used immediately to help lung cancer research! Now we just have to start planning great things for 2007, we have some partying to do!
Thank you again everyone I will never be able to tell you how much you love and support mean to me and my family!
Christi

Carolyn Andrews and Susan Blackwell


Dr. Crawford


Jeff Woods