News

It is hard to believe it is April! There are so many things going on right now. My 8th grade choir won first place at a competition in Atlanta March 29th, and the High School groups won their competition this past weekend in ATL. It has be a great time for the choral students in the Tift County School System. Please be praying for our schools. There are a lot of internal problems that only Jesus can solve, so please pray for us. Also, we ask that you keep praying for our house to sell. We have had several people look at it with no bites. Our new house is coming along nicely. Take a look on the new house page for pictures. I update that page nearly every day. CRCT testing is going on at my school this week. We have one more week after that and it will be spring break (what's the use this late in the year!). Well thanks for checking in and let us hear from each of you soon!!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!! Chris decided it was my turn to fill everyone in since he did it during basketball season. I know basketball has been over a while, but as you can see we are still keeping busy. We are in the process of building a new house and trying to sell our current one. So if you know anyone interested, please send them our way!! We've got an advertisement on www.forsalebyowner.com if you'd like to check it out. We are listing # 21465528. Feel free to tell us what you think. Check out OUR NEWS to see the progress of our new house. We've just broken ground today. Check back frequently for updates.

School is ticking along, also. We are just praying we can make it until Spring Break which, in Tift County, is not until the week of April 21!! Yes, I know. I think we are the last school system to have spring break in the entire country. But, once it gets here - the countdown really begins. During that week, we will return to Gainesville for Chris's 3rd round of scans since his surgery. He's doing just fine. Every now and then he overdoes it and pays the price for a couple of days. But, nothing's gonna slow him down!!

We are also excited about MARCH MADNESS ! Actually, Chris is more into it than I am. I have had my fill of basketball for the year. But, it gives us good excuses to hang out with friends and yell at the TV. Our picks for the men are, of course, the Tarheels and UConn for the women. No one has an answer for Tyler Hansbrough or Maya Moore. THEY'RE UNSTOPPABLE BABY!!

We'd love to hear from you soon. Now that basketball is over we hope to get to see you all more. Feel free to come visit us anytime - our house is clean now!!

No news is good news. Kristi is busy coaching, and I am busy driving around trying to make it to the games. The girls are 13-2. We had a great game last night against Colquitt County, and hope to keep on a roll and take out Valdosta tonight. Come see a game at the "Palace"!

WOW! Is it already 2008? Getting the whole date thing right always throws me off for a while. Well Happy New Year everyone! How 'bout dem dawgs!!! Old Neil Corso on ESPN had to eat his words.... Hawai'i just was nothing compared to our dawgs! I went to the doctors down in Gainesville yesterday for my six month check up. It is hard to believe that it has been six months since all of this started. Some days is seems like yesterday, and other days it seems like forever ago. I am glad to say everything looks good. My foot looks great. It looks so good that Dr. Zlotecki, the radiation doctor, took pictures to show his colleagues at a seminar in Spain in March. I told him I would be more that happy to go with him and show them in person :0) My CT scan was negative in the lungs and Dr. Gibbs is very happy too. I love Dr. Gibbs. He and I joke around a lot. It is nice to have a doctor with a human side. I cannot wait for February! All you DSS guys better be in Kiawah for our reunion. 15 years since we went there on our freshman spring break.....15 years since the big snow in North Georgia...."where did ya get dem hats....hilk hilk". Any ways, hope everyone is doing well. Shoot us an email and let us know how you are doing. God Bless.

As we prepare to celebrate the birth of our Savior, let us be thankful for all the gifts and blessings that have been given to us this year. May God bless your family now and in the year to come!!

Is it December already? I cannot believe how fast time flies!! Kristi has begun the basketball adventure. We are telling ourselves that this is the last year.....we'll see... We will have some pictures up soon from Thanksgiving....hopefully before Christmas!! Oh, and my foot is great, other than hurting if I stand too long. I have some trouble climbing stairs, but we'll lick that one soon! Check back soon and see if anything is new!! Also, our chrisandkristi.us mail is down. Email us at coach_robinson@bellsouth.net for kristi, and tiftchorusman@bellsouth.net for me!

Radiation is done and I am healing well from my bout with MRSA in my foot. Keep us in your prayers!

Almost done with treatments. I have maybe another week and a half to go. My foot is swelling more this weekend than it has, but it is still not too bad. I hope all is well with everyone who drops by.

Well I have had two weeks of treatments. There is not much to it really. It is like getting an X-ray a couple times a day. I have a treatment each morning around 715am and another around 130pm. The days can be slow and quite boring. My foot has handled the treatments well. Some days my foot is more sore than others. Nothing major to report. My mom will be going with me next week so Kristi can get back to work. Hope all is well with you!

We're headed to Gainesville for treatments. I am a little nervous, but I know everything will be ok. I just hope my kids do not destroy my class or get discouraged while I am gone. Keep us in your prayers!!

Below is an email we sent yesterday. Today I called Dr. Zlotecki's office and have set up my dates. I will go next Thursday the 23rd for a simulation run, and then my treatments start on the 30th for up to six weeks. Keep us in your prayers.

Today's visit was great. We arrived early and took a leisurely tour of the Hope Lodge . It will make a nice home away from home. The people were extremely helpful and the accommodations seemed roomy and comfortable. Click the link above for more info and a virtual tour!!

Dr. Gibbs was pleased with the incision and with the fact that I have been walking without my crutches. They removed the remaining stitches and cleared me for radiation. We will be calling Dr. Zlotecki tomorrow to make an appointment for next week (hopefully). At that appointment, they will scan my foot and create a profile/map of exactly where the radiation will be directed. That profile should take about a week to complete. So, it’s looking like the radiation will begin the last week in August or first week of September.

We are now praying that the next phase moves smoothly and I will not miss any more days than absolutely necessary. Also, that the best person is chosen to substitute for me while I am gone – one that will actually TEACH my students and not just baby-sit. Lastly, we are praying that the side effects of the treatment will be minimal. Thank you so much for all of your support and continued prayers.

Sincerely,

Chris

I had my consultation with the radiation oncology specialist and a follow-up with Dr. Gibbs today (plus a mini-session of physical therapy). Here’s the breakdown:

Dr. Gibbs is happy with the incision and the healing. He took me out of the splint and is allowing partial weightbearing (up to 50% bodyweight) on crutches. I am thrilled with this!! I have exercises to get back and keep the range of motion in his ankle. They took out 8-9 stitches, leaving 6-7 in the very thin-skinned section. We will return in 2 weeks to evaluate the progress one more time before the next stage in this journey.
The next stage being radiation therapy. The timeline depends on when Dr. Gibbs says the incision is ready, but I will be undergoing 6 weeks worth of radiation therapy at Shands’ Cancer Center with Dr. Zlotecki (https://www.shands.org/find/doctor/physicianDetail.asp?ID=003301). I will receive 2 rounds of treatment per day Mon-Fri and can come home on the weekends. Significant side effects may include sunburned skin and possible joint stiffness. We are kinda thinking it will be at the end of August (again, depending on the status of the incision). The radiation will be limited solely in the foot (pun intended!!). This aggressive treatment (amputation + radiation) has an 85-90% success rate at preventing recurrence.

So, that’s it in a nutshell. I am finding it hard to swallow the idea of missing my students for 6 weeks. But I knows there is no other choice. I will be able to start school with them and we hope to have a “useful” person subbing for him. Following radiation, I will undergo scans every 3-4 months. Being cancer free after 2 years is considered good, 5 years out is considered great (all but cured). So that’s our goal.

Thank you so much for your prayers and support. (Also, feel free to forward this on to others who will be concerned. Thanks!!)

Chris