More bad news...

Brandon was transfered to St. Louis hospital today. The cancer has spread to his intestines. They aren't able to operate to remove the liquid in his lungs (which is now in both lungs) or to start the chemo because he is too weak. They also want to remove part of his intestines to remove part of the cancer. They have put him on a feeding tube and have pumped all food out of his stomach. He will continue to be fed via the feeding tube but the food will be pumped back out once his body has absorbed the nutrients. They will repeat this process until he is strong enough to undergo anestesia. I am hoping for better news in the coming days. Thank you for all of your prayers.

Brandon

I know it has been a while and I promise to start writing about my trip again soon. I wanted to write tonight to ask for prayers again for Brandon. He has been in and out of the hospital due to intestinal problems for the past couple of weeks. Three days ago, he found out that he has cancer and it is spreading pretty rapidly. From what I understand, this cancer was not present two weeks ago. It is on the lining of his stomach and his lungs. The cancer has eaten a hole in his lungs and his lungs are filling with liquid. The doctors are going to drain the liquid and they will start him on chemotherapy tomorrow. The good news is that his new liver is doing great, however, he is sick and tired of being sick. He has been through a lot in his 29 short years. Hopefullly he can remain strong and beat the cancer so that he has at least another 29 years. Please send some prayers and thoughts his way. Our family is appreciative.

More on London

Have I mentioned that we loved London? Our second day in London involved touring the London Tower, Picadilly Circus, the Princess Diana Memorial, a walk past the flower garden and the Albert Memorial.

I really enjoyed the London Tower. We took a guided tour through the castle which was partly in ruins. The castle dates back to... well... a long time ago. I can't remember that much detail! We went through the display of jewels which wasn't all that great. The "jewels" were crowns from previous Kings and Queens and gold platters. None of that was very interesting to me. We did go through the torture chamber which I thought was very interesting. Does that make me wacko?

Piccadilly Circus is similar to our Times Square. It is the place to be. I wasn't very impressed with it. There were a few places to shop which everyone engaged in but me. I was too busy taking pictures and trying to figure out what some Chinese guy was saying to me.

I was excited to see the Princess Diana memorial but after I saw it, I was pretty disappointed. The memorial was so bad that I only took one picture and it isn't even worth posting. There was no statue. There was no information. There was no birth date or death date posted. Now I really believe that there was quite a bit of animosity between the royalty and Princess Diana. If you ever go to London, you can skip this memorial. We also strolled passed Kensington Palace and got some shots. At both locations we talked with an "interesting" man who claimed to be the most famous Princess Diana fan in the world. He kept telling us to google him. We think he is obsessed with her.

The flower walk wasn't filled with very many flowers but I did get one shot that I liked (see below). That walk also took us past the Albert Memorial. This was a nice photo opportunity for me. However, I don't know much about him, so I wasn't inspired. I will say his memorial was a million times better than Princess Diana's.

Famous London Phone Booth

London Tower - part of the castle that isn't in ruins

This is where individuals were beheaded at the London Tower. YIKES!

This photo shows the Scavengers Daughters - a torture device where the body is basically squished until the individual suffocated!

This is a pretty bridge right before we got to Princess Diana's Memorial.

This is just a pretty flower from the flower walk. It might have been the only flower blooming!!!

English Charm, Irish Spirit

May 21st - June 3rd

14 days

England

Ireland

My wonderful husband

Two great friends, Julie and Grant

Beautiful weather

English Charm

Irish Spirit

What else could I ask for? Nothing! We had a great trip! Sorry I didn't update my blog with our travels and photos but I didn't bring my computer. We were trying to pack as light as possible. I will be updating photos and details about each day over the next few weeks. (Way too much for one entry).

May 20th - May 22nd
We spend the evening at my in-laws so that Terry could take us to the airport the following day. We left Rhyme and Tempest at home with Marvin who had agreed to watch them for the next two weeks. THANKS A MILLION MARVIN! We arrived at the airport on Thursday almost 4 hours early! Terry had to get to work. Chad and I entertained ourselves with our great people watching skills. We had quite a few laughs as we waited for Julie and Grant to arrive.

We spent 4 hours at the airport, 2 hours on a flight to Philadelphia, 7 hours on a flight to Ireland, 4 hours waiting for a ferry to England, 2 hours on a ferry, 4 hours on a train to London, and about 30 minutes on two separate cab rides to get to the right Bed & Breakfast. BOY, were we tired! Once we made it to the B&B in London, I fell in love with it. Our host was just wonderful. Lady Winnington is what she went by. We were on the 4th floor and we had to carry our luggage up. That was quite a haul but well worth it. The rooms were adorable, not to mention the breakfast room. The breakfast room was a sun room off of the 2nd floor. Adorable. After a very healthy and fresh breakfast, we headed out to tour London on Saturday. We saw Buckingham Palace, London Bridge, Tower Bridge, Green Park, Big Ben, and the London Eye. We wanted to go up in the London Eye (famous Farris wheel) but the wait was over an hour long so we passed.

Buckingham Palace

Tower Bridge


The London Eye

Big Ben

I will post again tomorrow. I need to clean some things, finish our vacation laundry and edit about 800 photos! Have a great weekend.