Mercy River Event

A few posts ago, I mentioned a singing group called Mercy River and how much I love their music. Well, I was thrilled when I asked if they would come sing for an event that I was planning and they accepted.

We put together a special night and invited about 50 couples that we are close to and almost all of them came. It was a great event and we had desserts enough to feed an army that we had put out for everyone.

Mercy River sang several of their songs and filled us with their wonderful spirit and great love for the Savior.

After it was over, we visited with many of the guests and they all seemed to really enjoy it so I was happy about that.

This picture that I have included with this post is Julie and I with Mercy River.

Thanks Mercy River for spending this evening enriching our lives. You can find their website at mercyrivermusic.com

Even More Unscheduled ER Visit

Today (Wednesday) I was getting ready for work and all of a sudden my upper body started to go numb. The kind of feeling you get when you hit your funny bone and your arm goes numb. That was what I felt like, then I started feeling light headed so I decided I better lay down and fast.
After doing so, I sat there on the floor for a few minutes and then wondered if it was a stroke, so I took the test. I stated the Alphabet and found that I did it fine. So most likely not a stroke. Then I wondered if it was a heart attack. I did find it difficult to breath when it happened so I wasn't sure. I called Julie and she rushed home and took me right to the ER. They ran blood tests and hooked me up to the EKG machine. then they decided they wanted to run an MRI. all tests came out fine and finally they just flat out said they didn't know what it was.

After 7 hrs in the ER, they released me and figure it must have had something to do with my Cancer.

I'm feeling fine now and resting at home and plan on getting up tomorrow and going to work. Lets hope that this same thing doesn't happen again tomorrow.

Unscheduled OUCH !!

Monday afternoon I started getting a pain in my right shoulder and didn't think much of it but then it started getting worse so I called my Dr.

He was hoping it wasn't in my right shoulder but it was. He then was concerned that it was something coming from my Liver. He set up a Ultrasound for this morning. I went in and did that and they decided they wanted to xray my shoulder.

After several hours, he called me back and said that the xray looked normal and the Ultrasound didn't show anything unusual, So I have been given a steroid for the pain in my shoulder that is supposed to help. We will see how it goes.

For now, I am just hoping to get the pain down to a level that I can deal with and get back to work. Lots to do, not enough time to do it.

A new Year - A new Outlook

I am excited to tell all of you that I recently found the best medicine for Cancer. - Your Mind. I have found that positive attitude and comments are going to get me through this trial in my life.
Thrive to Survive -

So, having said that, I will not be changing anything. I have had this attitude since the beginning and it will continue to be the way I live.

Our First Broken Bone

Who would have thought that Cody would have been the first to break something. Of course he is a boy but the most I ever thought he would do would be to strain his video playing thumbs. JayDee was always our more adventurous child and I thought she would be the one to get stitches or wear a pink cast. She played just as hard as the little boys in our neighborhood, in fact, she had more male friends than she had female friends. The kids always just considered her one of the boys until she was in Jr High and then they became little lap puppies begging for her attention. Of course that's another story....

Anyway... Cody has a scout camp coming up this month and they are going to go snowboarding. Cody and his dad went out last month and found the perfect snowboard and goggles for the occasion. Friday I took him out to get him his snowboarding boots, he couldn't wait to get on a hill. Cody has never been on a snowboard before and so he wanted to give it some practice runs before the big scout adventure. Saturday morning came and he and his friend decided that it was the perfect day to try out the new snowboard. Do I really need to say more????

Cody went down the hill in our old neighborhood with two successful rides but on the third time down he fell. All I can say is that it's a good thing his dad stayed there to watch his boy because once Cody was down he didn't get up. After a short visit to the Insta-care, it was determined that Cody broke his left wrist with a compression fracture.

I must admit, I am a horrible mother. Here we are at the doctors, Cody is laying on the examination table with an ice pack on his wrist and the nurse is being so gentle and attentive to my injured son when the doctor comes in with the news that it is broken. Being the loving, caring mother that I am, I bust up laughing. See.... I'm a horrible mother!! I hurt for my son and I feel so bad that he got hurt but for some reason it still makes me laugh. I'm sure that if it had been a serious break I would have felt horrible for him but it wasn't bad enough for even a cast. He will have to wear a brace on his arm all day, every day for the next 4 weeks but he will be just fine.

Needless to say, Cody will not get to go with the boys on their scout snowboarding trip.

Happy New Year !!!

I just wanted to write today and say Happy New Year to all of you and to let you know, this year is going to be much better than last year. I am sure of it. I feel some good things are going to happen this year and I cant wait. Not sure what they are but I am sure it is going to be better than last year.

Julie and I already booked our first camping trip and cant wait for summer when we can get our trailer back out and up into the mountains. Just doing that gave us both much needed energy. The winter just seems to drag us down. We cant wait to get into the warm weather.

We also talked about and kind of planned on doing the "Redwood forest" drive this summer. We want to drive to Northern California and then drive the coast south to Anaheim and then go to Disneyland and then drive home stopping in Las Vegas to visit family then home.

That will be a good trip and we cant wait to get the warm weather here so we can get started. If any of you have any way of getting summer here sooner than it is supposed to, please let me know.

Too Cold for Me

I dont know where you are as you read this Blog but here in Utah it is way to cold for me. It has been getting as low as the single digits at night and I seem to freeze no matter what I do. maybe it is just because I dont have any insulation on me any more but I dont know.

Any way, I hope you are all looking forward to summer as much as I am. as for my health, I have been feeling pretty good lately, I did have a cold yesterday but was able to get right back to work today. so far it hasnt been to bad.

Night Before Christmas

So it is Christmas Eve tonight and we are sitting watching TV waiting for bedtime. Christmas is very different when you only have one child at home and he is 14. The excitement is just not the same. My guess is that we will be sleeping in. Not like years in the past when we were awake at 1:00am to open presents.

News from the CT Scan

Yesterday I went to the Doctor's for my CT scan. YIPPY !!! It was as good as I could have hoped for. He said the Liver looks clean and the Tumors in the Lymph Nodes are much smaller than they were before. He was pleased with the results and said that I am good to go for another 3 months.

3 Months of no doctor visits, no hospital stays, no medical crap. Just peace and living.

Here's hoping for a lot more than 3 months.

Also, I found this in the Fox news website today. very promising.

"The complete genetic codes of two human cancers have been mapped for the first time. The move could herald a medical revolution in which every tumor can be targeted with personalized therapy."

Next Step

Tomorrow, (Wednesday) I go in for another CT scan to see how well the radiation treatments worked that I did. They like to wait a while after the treatments so that they can get a better idea of how well they worked. That is why I am just now able to go in and have the tests.
As for how I feel, well I feel great to be honest. I haven't felt this good in a long time. I am starting to just live life normally and do everything that I want to do without having to deal with any side affects.

I am going to fight this and I plan on being around for a long, long time. !!!!

A Good Friend

A Good Friend shared this poem with me today.. I thought it was worth passing it along.

DO NOT GO GENTLE INTO THAT GOOD NIGHT

Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
Though wise men at their end know dark is right,
Because their words had forked no lightning they
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright
Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight,
And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way,
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight
Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
And you, my father, there on the sad height,
Curse, bless me now with your fierce tears, I pray.
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Joy and Heartbreak

First the Joy....

Matt and JayDee just found out that they are having a BOY!! We are soooooo excited!!! I am crying with joy just thinking about having a little baby boy running around the house. They don't have a name for him yet but when they do, I know it will be perfect. The Doctor says he is a very active little boy and he gave them a run for their money when they were trying to see what sex he was. He is going to be just like his daddy... run... run...run

Now the Heartbreak...

Last night as Evan and I were getting ready for bed, Cody was in the shower singing to the radio. When he got out of the shower he was a little teary eyed and he said that he was listening to the song "Christmas shoes" and it reminded him of what was happening in his own life and it made him cry.

It breaks our hearts to have to see him go through this. No one should ever have to lose their dad, their best friend, when they are still so young. He needs his dad. How do you help your son cope with this? How am I going to cope with this?