Cody's B-day

Cody turned 14 on March 5th but because it was a cold spring, he wasn't able to have the party he wanted at that time. He wanted to go to Boondocks so we had to wait for warmer weather, so a couple of weekends ago, he invited his cousins, Eric and Kody for a sleep over. They stayed up all night playing video games and had a blast.



The following morning it was difficult for them to get up but they were excited to go to the park and have a ton of fun!!





Then came cake decorating and eating time. Just as a side note... In the picture where they are getting ready to light the candles, there are the two boys, Cody and Kody. Kody is on the right and he is only a few months older than my Cody. Kody is 14 and at 6' 3", towers over their other cousin, Eric, who is 16.

Fire Ride 2009

Yesterday Evan & I, along with some of our good friends went on the Fire Ride that consisted of approximately 250 motorcycles. We started out at the Bountiful Fire Station with a nutritious breakfast of donuts.

The noise of all of the bikes together, was incredible!!

We were escorted by a police bike as we left the Bountiful fire station and went to the airport. At the airport we watched as they lit the practice plane on fire and put it out.

Of course they couldn't resist spraying the bikers (fellow fire fighters). We had some very soggy bikers, but we were lucky and stayed clear of the water.

This is our group....

Julie, Evan, Guy, Angela, Dennis, Kim, Amy and.... hey what happen to Tyler???

We stopped for lunch at the Willard Bay area Fire Station.... yummm and boy did my butt need a rest.. OUCH!! :o) Those of you that have ridden on the back of a bike for an hour at a time will understand. Major TB!!!

Hi Angela and Guy!!!

Oh, so here's Tyler and Amy.... :o)

Dennis and Kim bought a new bike just for this ride. :o)

We had the time of our lifes!!!!! I can't wait to do it again next year!!

Happy Anniversary Sweetheart

21 years ago today, I married the love of my life. I feel so blessed to be able to celebrate a life of joy and laughter with you. Together we have weathered many storms, raised two beautiful children and you can still make me laugh. Life with you, sweetheart, has been filled with lots of laughter, tons of fun, and plenty of surprises. I truly am the luckiest girl in the world because I have you. Thank you for the love and support you unselfishly give to me daily. Thank you for 21 years of you.

I love you so very much!!!

Saying goodbye

Yesterday and today are both difficult days, we had to let our daughter and son-in-law spread their wings and fly. They left this morning for Colorado Springs where they will live for the next 4 months. We said goodbye to them last night and I cried my eyes out as they left our home. It's only 4 months, I can survive this too.

Personally I think they look too happy about leaving us... What do you think? :o)

JayDee wanted her hair dyed before she left, and I must say, I did a fantastic job. teehehehe Don't you just love the gold streaks?

Easter Eggs

Today JayDee and I colored our Easter eggs but instead of using the dye from the box we decided to do it the old fashioned way. We filled a pan with water and coffee grounds then took onion peels, and crunched them up a little bit and put them into the coffee water to soften. Next we took a raw egg and covered it with the wet onion peels, added a sprinkle more of coffee to the outside of the onion covered egg, wrapped it in newspaper then tied with string. Then we boiled them in the remaining coffee water. This is a tradition in my family that came from my ancestors in Switzerland and the results are always fascinating.

Heart Surgery

Well it is done and Evan is doing great!! We arrived at the hosipital at 10:00am and they took him away for his surgery at 11:45. I stayed at the hospital and waited for him, I didn't have to wait for very long because they rolled him back to his room for recovery around 1:00. He was pretty sleepy but as soon as he was awake enough he was asking for a Rumbi's rice bowl. So off I went to go get him a chicken rice bowl and when I got back, Evan asked me if I was even there when he was brought back. And he said he was awake. LOL!!! After recovery they moved him to his room for the night. His room window overlooks Costco (his favorite place to go every Saturday) so he should feel right at home.

Dr. Sorensen said that Evan's heart looks great and that everything went very smoothly. He will stay at the hospital tonight and in the morning he will have another EKG to make sure everything is still where its supposed to be. After the EKG he will get to go home around 9:00.

Right now he is up walking around the room as the nurse monitors him to make sure he doesn't feel light headed and he is doing his little dance. It is great to see that he has not let this get him down. He has no restriction except that he can't do any bench presses, play football or do anything that would cause him to take a hit to his chest. I don't think we have to worry about Evan taking up any new sport activities. Teehehehe

Life is good!!

WooHoo!!!

Today has been a great day filled with great news and laughter.

Evan had his CT scan today and the results were fantastic..... ALL THE LARGER TUMORS ARE DEAD!!! Yippy, yaahooo

There are only a few small tumors left but there is a chance that they received enough radiation that they will remain dormant. We get to go 3 months without any radiation treatments or doctors visits. Evan will have another CT scan sometime in July so until then we are going to enjoy a great spring and summer. I feel like a huge weight has been lifted from off of my shoulders and I could almost fly.

Because today is April Fools day, I made a cake to share with my co-workers. It was a hit and we all enjoyed a great laugh and a delicious treat.

Yes this really is a cake and it was delicious!!

Thanks for your prayers!!!

Anticipation

Well, this is the week that we have anxiously anticipated. Wednesday morning we will find out the results of Evan's latest radiation treatment, and we are praying for the best of news. Then on Thursday Evan will have his heart surgery to have the PFO repaired. It will be so nice not to have to worry about him having another stroke.

We are looking forward to a summer filled with health and camping activities, we can't hardly wait to see all this snow blow away and the flowers appear. We didn't have much of a summer last year so this summer we have a lot of making up to do. We need to fit two summers into one. Going camping is beginning to consume my thoughts and I can't wait until I can be up in the mountains again, sitting around a campfire and listening to the water gurgling over the tops of rocks on it's journey down the stream. Ahhhh, summer..... Hurry please!!

Evan and the Bear

Friday night we decided to go to the Outdoor Expo so we could see the baby bears. They had 10 bear cubs around 4 weeks old and they were so adorable that we couldn't resist paying the $10 to get a picture. Once we had a good look at the picture, JayDee and I couldn't stop laughing. Take a look at Evan's face, then notice how he is taking part in holding the baby bear. We laughed so hard we were crying.

The Heart Procedure

Here is a link to an animated view of what they are going to do to my Heart.

http://www.sorensenmd.com/pfoVideo_WM.php

I am amazed at what they can do these days. This is all it will take to fix my Heart and then I will spend a night at the hospital just to make sure there are no complications and then home I go. We are hopeful that after this, I will be able to stay out of hospitals for a LONG time other than check ups that will show that I am fine.

This Cancer thing is getting to be a drag and taking a lot of my time. :)

PFO Repair

Just a quick note to keep you up to date. Evan has been scheduled to have the repair to his heart done on Thursday April 2nd. He will need to stay overnight in the hospital just for monitoring purposes but should be back home again on Friday if everything goes well.

We don't have a date yet for Evan's next CT scan but it should be around March 31st. After Evan has his scan we will meet with Dr. Watson to see the results of his last radiation treatment. Again, we will keep you posted.

A VERY Long Day

We arrived to the hospital on schedule at 10:30 for Evan to have his Echo Cardiogram and while we were there the Doctor wanted them to do an ultra sound of the arteries in Evan's neck. The ultra sound came out fine but the Echo Cardiogram showed that Evan has what is called PFO.

The following is taken from a web page to explain what PFO is....

In the womb, all babies have a PFO. This is because a baby does not use its own lungs to filter and oxygenate its blood. Instead, it receives oxygen-rich blood from its mother via the umbilical cord. This blood has been filtered and oxygenated by the mother’s lungs. The PFO allows this blood to be sent directly to the brain, which has a high requirement for oxygen-rich blood during development.
In most people, the two flap-like sections of septum which form the foramen ovale fuse together after birth to form a solid dividing wall between the right and left atria. However, in approximately 15-20%, the foramen doesn’t fuse together and remains open or “patent”. This opening makes it possible in certain circumstances for blood to cross from the right atrium to the left atrium—this is called a right-to-left shunt.





















This is the reason why Evan had a stroke last week. If a blood clot gets into his system, the normal heart will send it to the lungs, but with the defect, it will pass it through the PFO and straight to the brain. Apparently people with cancer have a higher risk of getting blood clots.

Evan has an appointment to go see the Cardiologist on Monday where they will set up an appointment to do the repair. The repair isn't really going to feel much different than the radiation treatments that he is currently going through because they will go in through the same artery in his leg. After receiving this news we were off to the 2nd floor to do the radiation treatment. We were scheduled to do the radiation at noon but there was an emergency and it delayed his treatment. So we waited, and we waited then we waited some more. Finally at 4:00 they came and took him away. If you know Evan very well, then you will know how much he hates to wait. The procedure didn't take very long and he was returned to me at 5:30 and we are now waiting until 7:00 when we will be allowed to go home.

We will let you know when the procedure for his heart is scheduled. Now we need to be patient while we wait another month to find out how successful today's treatment was.

My sweet visiting teachers offered to bring us dinner and at first I was thinking that it wasn't going to be that big a deal and we would be home in time for me to throw something together. How grateful I am that they were more in tune to my needs than I was and they will meet us at home with a warm yummy meal. What a blessing it is to have such wonderful neighbors, friends and family.

Thanks once again for all of your love and support.