So I was working on the computer when Ben and Heidi dropped in to pay a visit. Soon I was "invited" into the family room where I was surprised to see that Hilary had shown up too. Kami caught a ride home with me after work so here we were all together! Ben brought out cupcakes (pink and blue) and I read a card that announced we were going to be grandparents in June! Yeah, that's right, Heidi is expecting. We think they will be fantastic parents. Congrats!! Here's hoping we can turn out to be decent grandparents in the process.
So I was working on the computer when Ben and Heidi dropped in to pay a visit. Soon I was "invited" into the family room where I was surprised to see that Hilary had shown up too. Kami caught a ride home with me after work so here we were all together! Ben brought out cupcakes (pink and blue) and I read a card that announced we were going to be grandparents in June! Yeah, that's right, Heidi is expecting. We think they will be fantastic parents. Congrats!! Here's hoping we can turn out to be decent grandparents in the process.
A couple of days
Okay - so if this bores you fine, don't read it. But for my own entertainment (?) I decided to document my life for a week. So here goes:
Tuesday - November 4.
--Got up at 6:30 am to go vote at the Charleston Town Hall. I was there by 7:15 and back home by 7:35. Vicki had a quick breakfast there and I then I met DeVaughn (work colleague) at his place in Heber to drive up to Logan - Cache County Jail.
--Stopped at V-Chocolates in Salt Lake about 8:30 and picked up a couple of boxes to take to Cache. They also gave us a box of Chocolate covered strawberries - I ate 4 or 5.
--Arrived at the Cache Jail about 10:30. Did the tour, updated their CorEMR site and took Kathleen, Dennis and Captain Cheshire to lunch at the Blackstone. I had fish & chips - just okay.
--Got home about 4:00pm but had been headachy, sleepy and a little nauseated. I went to the woodshop for about 30 minutes, but enough of that.
--Crashed into bed about 8:30.
Wednesday - November 5
--Slept in until 7:45 because of the headache. Still feel a little crappy, but not too bad. Left for work about 9am. I worked on a few contract things, support stuff for a couple of jails.
--Greg, Trapper and I went to Red Robin for lunch today because Hilary was serving. I left a big tip (just a fun way to give her 10 bucks) Trapper left $6 and Greg left $3. Of course then Greg felt like the cheap one so we rubbed that it pretty good.
--Got home around 4:30. I ran over to all that stuff in the barn with Hilary and Karissa and got a few things (shhh it's Christmas shopping season) and then to the woodshop for only about 15 minutes. We kind of got woodshopped out with all of the jobs lately - so it was nice to have a little reprieve from it for a couple of nights.
--Had dinner (home made Pizza) then went up to G&G's to watch the Jazz pull of a win against the Trailblazers.
--Bed at 11pm thanks to a little ambien I slept until 7:30am.
Well I got behind on my week thing and it hurts my head to try and remember it all. Maybe another time huh?
Tuesday - November 4.
--Got up at 6:30 am to go vote at the Charleston Town Hall. I was there by 7:15 and back home by 7:35. Vicki had a quick breakfast there and I then I met DeVaughn (work colleague) at his place in Heber to drive up to Logan - Cache County Jail.
--Stopped at V-Chocolates in Salt Lake about 8:30 and picked up a couple of boxes to take to Cache. They also gave us a box of Chocolate covered strawberries - I ate 4 or 5.
--Arrived at the Cache Jail about 10:30. Did the tour, updated their CorEMR site and took Kathleen, Dennis and Captain Cheshire to lunch at the Blackstone. I had fish & chips - just okay.
--Got home about 4:00pm but had been headachy, sleepy and a little nauseated. I went to the woodshop for about 30 minutes, but enough of that.
--Crashed into bed about 8:30.
Wednesday - November 5
--Slept in until 7:45 because of the headache. Still feel a little crappy, but not too bad. Left for work about 9am. I worked on a few contract things, support stuff for a couple of jails.
--Greg, Trapper and I went to Red Robin for lunch today because Hilary was serving. I left a big tip (just a fun way to give her 10 bucks) Trapper left $6 and Greg left $3. Of course then Greg felt like the cheap one so we rubbed that it pretty good.
--Got home around 4:30. I ran over to all that stuff in the barn with Hilary and Karissa and got a few things (shhh it's Christmas shopping season) and then to the woodshop for only about 15 minutes. We kind of got woodshopped out with all of the jobs lately - so it was nice to have a little reprieve from it for a couple of nights.
--Had dinner (home made Pizza) then went up to G&G's to watch the Jazz pull of a win against the Trailblazers.
--Bed at 11pm thanks to a little ambien I slept until 7:30am.
Well I got behind on my week thing and it hurts my head to try and remember it all. Maybe another time huh?
Getting Decked
When I first got sick, Dad said he wanted to finish our deck. Our home teacher, Jay Price, jumped in too and organized some guys to come over and put the thing together. I had all of the concrete posts in, but they did everything else. Scott McFee, my brother-in law and his son Austin came and built the big support beams underneath. Then the crew showed up a couple of different nights and put all of the decking, stairs and railing on. It was a lot of work that would've taken me two years to finish on my own. A couple of weeks ago Vicki and I invited all of the deck guys and their families over for dinner as just a simple way to get to say "thanks." Nearly everyone was able to come and we had dinner on the deck and visited. Thanks again everyone - you were awesome and we love this deck!
Gardening Again
Kami and I were dressed up to do some gardening and someone zapped a picture of us. I'm not sure why she's so serious looking, I'm sure it's because I must've said something very profound that she was pondering over.
Kami aka "Miss Wasatch"
Well our amazing Kami was crowned Miss Wasatch 2008 this past summer. She was crazy busy during the county fair. This is her in a parade in Midway (aka West Heber).
Gardening
We've had a lot of fun gardening this year. We've had great tomatoes and corn. Vicki delivered corn to all our neighbors. We planted "miracle" and "kandy korn" and the kandy korn grew over 10' tall - Andrea in the pic. We've been eating tomatoes for a few weeks now. Our little cherry and grape tomatoes are delicious too.
Cancer Chronicles
Bottom line is that cancer sucks, but when the doc tells ya you've got it then you just deal with it. I was diagnosed on March 14, 2008, did 6 chemo treatments that I tolerated pretty well. Then we went on the awesome family cruise to Alaska. When I got back they did a body scan and found there were 4 leftover "hot spots" so they started zapping me with chemo again on Monday, August 25th. I'll do one more in September then another body scan in December. We plan on killing this thing and living forever.
Ah well a couple of days after chemo they gave me a shot called "neulasta" it is supposed to increase my white blood cell production from the bone marrow. It stimulates the bone marrow to work harder and the side effect is aching bones. So it makes me feel like a little old man with arthritis for a few days.
I got tired for a couple of days and the other typical things like, headache, nausea, tender lymph nodes and sore throat, but overall I tolerate it pretty well and am glad it's not worse.
I finally finished my last chemo treatment on September 26th, 2008. It was probably my easiest one yet. A few days of nausea and tiredness, but nothing that kept me from missing work. The usual other side effects weren't too bad either - water eyes, sore throat, sore lymph nodes etc. I've got my PT scan scheduled for December and then I'll meet with my Doctor the following week to get the results from him. I admit i'm slightly nervous about it, but I just have to remind myself that I've been given some pretty powerful blessings about being healed. I don't know the whole story with that obviously, but I've got great confidence that I will be blessed as the Lord sees fit.
Well - here we are a few months later. June 2009. My latest PET scan in March showed NO CANCER cells. So as of now I'm cancer free. Just doing quarterly check-ups. I feel good and strong and believe that that little episode in my life is behind me. Thanks everyone for your love and prayers and care throughout all of this.
Ah well a couple of days after chemo they gave me a shot called "neulasta" it is supposed to increase my white blood cell production from the bone marrow. It stimulates the bone marrow to work harder and the side effect is aching bones. So it makes me feel like a little old man with arthritis for a few days.
I got tired for a couple of days and the other typical things like, headache, nausea, tender lymph nodes and sore throat, but overall I tolerate it pretty well and am glad it's not worse.
I finally finished my last chemo treatment on September 26th, 2008. It was probably my easiest one yet. A few days of nausea and tiredness, but nothing that kept me from missing work. The usual other side effects weren't too bad either - water eyes, sore throat, sore lymph nodes etc. I've got my PT scan scheduled for December and then I'll meet with my Doctor the following week to get the results from him. I admit i'm slightly nervous about it, but I just have to remind myself that I've been given some pretty powerful blessings about being healed. I don't know the whole story with that obviously, but I've got great confidence that I will be blessed as the Lord sees fit.
Well - here we are a few months later. June 2009. My latest PET scan in March showed NO CANCER cells. So as of now I'm cancer free. Just doing quarterly check-ups. I feel good and strong and believe that that little episode in my life is behind me. Thanks everyone for your love and prayers and care throughout all of this.
Grandpa and Vicki in Juneau
We took a tram up Mt. Roberts in Juneau to this beautiful overlook. Grandpa and Vicki hiked around up to the top and I took a shortcut.
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