Hiking

Shane has been taking the boys hiking quite a bit. They are all loving it!! He took a couple pics of Dylan & Dallas on one of their long, long hikes.

We went hiking as a family on Monday night and AF canyon looks beautiful with all the leaves changing colors.

Shane didn't want me to take his picture...can you tell my the look on his face?

Catching Up....Back-to-School

So I haven't been very good at updating the blog lately.... So I thought I would do a few posts to catch up to present day. So we are back in August for the First Day of School.

Tyler

Dylan

Dallas

I walked the boys to school and Dylan and Dallas saw friends just as we entered the school and took off. They are getting way too old. I did make them wait so I could take a quick pic in the hall before they left with their friends.

So it was only Tyler who I walked to his classroom and waited with. He was a little nervous because he didn't know anyone in his class. But he has made so many new friends now.

He was having a hard time looking at me with the sun in his eyes

Greatest Wife EVER!!!!

If you are a wife reading this please take note, Jen is the GREATEST WIFE EVER. The past 2 weeks my workout partner hasn’t been able to make it to the gym so instead of leaving for the gym at 5:45 I have been leaving around 7:30, this has allowed me to view Jens daily routine and I am amazed. Jen wakes up at 5:20, gets dressed, drinks a protein shake, lifts weights, gets on the treadmill for 45 minutes, makes the kids breakfast(usually pancakes, German pancakes, cinnamon roles, eggs, waffles, rarely cereal), she showers, gets dressed, helps the kids do their chores, helps them get ready for school, she eats breakfast, she cleans up breakfast, logs into the spa and checks reports and then still has time to do things like this:

This is only a few of the many notes I found when I got home from the gym today, and as you can see from the pic below, this isn't the first time she has done this.

Not only does this make Jen great, but she NEVER and I mean NEVER complains or whines, let me type that again for some of you, she NEVER and I mean NEVER complains or whines , and this is just what she does before she leaves for work. You're the best Hun and I love you tons.

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly!

One Hundred and Eight Thousand seconds ago I received both good and bad news. The good news being that it looks as though I am on the actual trial drug and not the Placebo, I have been getting sores in my mouth which is the most common side affect. The Bad is really bad though, it appears that I am responding quite well to the drug, so unfortunately for the rest of you I should live to see Christmas and I will be expecting a Christmas present, sorry guys. The Ugly is, well I think you already know.

Hun, I love you!!

So I guess I am a pretty horrible wife for not putting pictures of Shane on the Lake Powell post. But hun, there is a picture of you...if you look at the picture of Tyler jumping off the cliff (you know the one where it looks like he has a tail) you can see your cute bald head in the water. :)

There really was more than 1 picture of him...so sorry hun for not putting them on here. And the picture he posted below with Tyler, after calling his name 5 or 6 times and him ignoring me or not hearing me whichever he admits to, I just took the picture...kind of like this one too.

Here is another one of him.....

Doesn't this one count too...you can see part of him. :)

Sorry hun I will do better next time.

As I have read other’s blogs I have noticed that the “Blog Updaters” post pics of their families including their spouses. After reading Jen’s Lake Powell update I noticed that there are no pics of me, so I looked at the images on the camera and realized that out of 70 Lake Powell images there was only 1 of me ( The pic is actually of Tyler, but in order to keep me from hanging myself with a sock I pretend it is of me) Anyway, I pondered the question as to why Jen wouldn’t post or even take pics of me, and then it hit me, I am hideous, and what may you ask turned this extremely handsome prince into a disgraceful frog? CHEMO, and since I get a lot of questions concerning the side affects I thought I would post up some pics and explanations, so sit right back and you’ll hear a tale.

Warning: The pics are blurry.


Baldness – I miss my Goatee something fierce, but I don’t miss trimming my junk




Nails - Probably the most gruesome of the side affects, I actually get an abscess under the nail that stinks once it lifts the nail, so I dig in as far as I can and cut the nail off to dry it out.



Sensitivity to the sun – For someone who hasn’t worn sunscreen in I don’t know how long, this was a tough battle and as you can see by the pic I lost. I had a very minor burn on a Saturday and then had Chemo on Monday, my Wednesday I was almost purple. I ended up pealing 3 layers and it took about 3 weeks to somewhat recover. Also in the pic you can see my 3rd nipple\port, I am thinking about getting it pierced.





Water Retention – This is the most annoying side affect of them all, the pic doesn’t do it justice. I can gain 20 lbs. of water in about 5 – 7 days, it starts after my double dose and even though I haven’t had Chemo in over a month it still comes and goes. It may not seem that bad to most, but on one of my appointments my resting heart rate was 115 BPM, up from 67 the week before due to water retention.





Snot – This may be the weirdest of the sides, as you will notice in the pic, it is mostly blood, I was getting these 2-3 times a day, it gets bad enough that I start breathing through my mouth. I am sure you all want to know, and the answer is YES, they do taste as good as they look. MMMmmmmmm







Oh and here is the pic of Tyler, and yes below that is the pic of the sock I have chosen to use.

Update

So we received results to Shane’s scans last week. It showed a very slight increase in size in the one in his back, but they didn’t know if that was just the difference in how the radiologists measured it. But the ones in his lungs are either not there or were too small to measure. The ones in his lungs were very concerning, so that was definitely great news.
So Shane started the experimental treatment on Monday. It consists of taking 4 pills a day. No one is allowed to touch the pills except for Shane..kind crazy. The doctor told him that he should know within a few weeks if he got the real or placebo pill by how he feels or if he gets mouth sores. They will do another scan in 8 weeks.

Family Lake Powell Trip

We went to Lake Powell last week with the boys, Jace, and Mindy (Shane's brother and Mom). We had a really cool camping spot. We always go to the Escalante and camp in one of the caves with big overhangs so we have shade all day long. This year we had a great view of an arch.

There was a lot of fishing....

some cliff jumping....

A little tubing, snorkeling, and not a lot of wakeboarding (The water was pretty choppy) But Dallas was so excited to wakeboard this year. He is loving it and it getting really good.

Seven Peaks

I took the boys to 7-Peaks last week and they had a blast. Dylan and Dallas wanted to go on all the slides and Tyler just wanted to hang out and play in the pools.

Dylan and Dallas both went down the Free Fall (or whatever it might be called now - they have changed all the names of the slides since I was a kid). Dylan loved it and decided to go down it for a second time. Dallas thought one time was enough.

4th of July Weekend

For the 4th of July we went down south by Antimony to go camping/four-wheeling. There were some good trails to ride the four-wheelers up and there were a lot lakes all over. The boys fished for awhile and on one of the days, Shane and Jace decided to build a raft. It wouldn't quite hold both of them. But Dylan and Dallas both got on and they were looking like Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer out on the lake with their sticks rowing.

Dylan and Dallas have become quite the little expert in the four-wheeling. We went up some very rocky roads and they just bounced right up the road. There was an occasional stopping to help get them up the hill, but for the most part they did awesome.

I forgot to take pictures except for one night while we were roasting marshmallows and then right before we were leaving.....so here they are:

One more to go.....

So Shane might get to be a part of an experimental treatment. If he is able to get in and be one of the 300, then his last chemo treatment will be next week. We were told about this a few weeks ago and it sounded really good. It is a pill that he will take daily. We do not know any of the side effects. Well today we got a little more info. There will be 300 people accepted. 150 will receive the pill and 150 will receive placebo pills...we would not know what he would be taking. So that is the scary part. After 8 weeks of taking the pill, they will do scans and see how things look. If we was taking the "real" pill and there was progress, then he will continue on with that treatment and they say that it would be free for the next 3 years. For those of you who don't know how freaking expensive chemo is...that sounds pretty dang good. One day of chemo ranges from about $10-20k depending on which treatment day it is.

Anyway, so if it is working...GREAT!! If he was one to get the placebo pill and the cancer has grown..then back to the old treatment. One thing we have been told is that this kind of cancer will never go away. He will always be on some type of treatment for the rest of his life. So if this experimental one were to work for him, most likely this is the type he would continue taking.

Happy Father's Day!!

So Father's Days and Mother's Days seem to be interesting days for Shane and I. Mother's Day is bittersweet for me since my Mom died, yet it is supposed to be a great day to celebrate that I am a mother. So I can imagine that sincce Shane's Dad is no longer alive, he feels the same way on Father's Day.

I think Shane is the greatest Dad to our boys. I can't imagine how hard it was for him to go from 0 kids to 3 kids overnight. It takes a good man to take on that kind of responsibility.

I love to see him out playing catch with them or teaching them to wakeboard. The boys really look up to him and mimic what he says and does and want to be just like him. It means a lot to me to see what a great relationship and bond he has with each one of them. He has definitely toughened them up since we have been married. Having raised the boys by myself for over 3 years, they picked up a lot of great things...like telling me that my new shirt was cute and how I smell good with my lotion on. Shane rolls his eyes when he hears that, so he is teaching them what he thinks they should know...umm like how to shoot a .22 or brand and castrate cows....quite a difference. But hey..they will be well-rounded kids.

Anyway...Happy Father's Hun!! Hope it was a good one!!

Shane has been requesting all these crazy things for his snowmobile lately...so for Father's Day, we got him 2 of them. I am not even sure what exactly they are for, but they gauges for some boost or something and I have no clue about the other one. Then I got him a couple of Gordon Ramsey cookbooks. He loves that guy and watches every show possible with him on it. Shane has become quite a cook.

Dylan & Dallas Turn 9

This year for Dylan and Dallas's birthday party, we let them choose one friend to take to Bookdocks for the Unlimited Pass. Dallas chose to take Austin, and Dylan chose to take Camden. They ran around from Laser Tag to Go-Karts to Bumper Boats to collecting as many tickets as possible. They had a blast!!

Then we went home for pizza, presents, cake, and icecream. Dylan and Dallas have been talking about getting one of thise Rip Sticks/Wave things. For those who don't know what those are..you are lucky!! :) So that is what Shane and I got for them this year. They have been on them non-stop. They have gotten to be pretty good. I will have to post pictures of them riding them. Shane has actually gotten pretty good too.

They also got a couple footballs, a new bat, and some bat bags. They are loving baseball right now, so now they are thinking they are pretty cool with their own bat bags.

Talking to Shane 101

First off I would like to point out that Jen is doing awesome, her foot surgery went well and she doesn’t seem to be in much pain. The Dr. said that the nerve was about the size of a string but the Neuroma was about the size of the end of your finger and was the consistency of gristle. She’s a trooper .

Now for me, let’s start off by saying that my scan went well, there are no new tumors and the ones I do have seem to be stable. The Dr. is thinking about putting me on some experimental drug, but for now it is the usual chemo.

If you see me in the near future here is a list of rules I would appreciate that you follow:
1. Don’t act uncomfortable around me, I can sense that a mile a way. You can NOT say anything that is going to offend me or make me feel bad.
2. If you want to know about my cancer, ask me, don’t beat around the bush trying to get information from me in some B.S. round about way, I respect people who are blunt.
3. Don’t ask how I feel, I feel fine, I feel normal, I feel better than you most likely.
4. Don’t be so sensitive, if you can’t handle me joking around about me dying, then don’t talk to me. I am realistic, I know I may die, but while I am here I want to have fun and make the most of this situation.
5. Don’t tell me you’re sorry, I am not sorry so why should you be? I have a really bad form of cancer and to be honest I wouldn’t have it any other way, if you are going to beat something wouldn’t you want to beat something difficult rather than something easy? If it were easy, anyone could do it.
6. STOP saying I look good, I interpret it as “You look good, for someone with cancer.”

I am sure I will think of more as time goes on, until then do yourself a favor and take a moment to appreciate everything you have and see. I am really lucky, I have had my eyes opened 10 fold. Take a moment and appreciate your spouse, or your kids, or your family, or your friends or even your cats, there are so many little things in this world that we take for granted, don’t wait for some life changing event to open your eyes, do it now.

Life Goes On.....

I know that we haven't posted on here in about a month....but there hasn't really been anything to post. I have recovered from DisneyLand...mostly. I have surgery on my foot on Friday...exciting....I will finally be able to walk normally instead of walking on the side or heel of my foot. Thought I better get it taken care of since wakeboarding season was coming up.

Shane and I had our 2nd year anniversary this past weekend. We celebrated it by losing a lot of money in Wendover. :( But hey it was nice to getaway and get our minds off of reality.

Shane is on Week 3 of his 2nd round of Chemo. He has a CT scan this week and we will have results sometime next week. Keep your fingers crossed that the chemo is still working. Shane is obsessed with working out still....or wait he calls it dedication, not obsession.