Monday Evening, June 30, 2008

Different views of Dennis BEFORE the dreaded chemotherapy magically takes his hair away





Hi There!

Thought I'd try to put a few pictures in the blog of Dennis before he loses all of his hair. Supposedly he is supposed to start losing it by this next treatment, which is the upcoming Thursday. I wanted to prove that he really did have some hair before the chemo takes it's toll. So there he is, my handsome Prince!
It only took me 49 thousand hours to get these pictures posted, but I was determined and by darn, I don't know how I did it, but I did. I'm so proud!

Today Dennis worked a full day and did well. I was assigned to go and get the Van's emissions checked, oil changed and order a new front windshield. Mission accomplished! By tomorrow we should be able to assign me to go and get it registered again. I'm turning into a good little
"go-fer". I need to be able to do all kinds of things if Dennis takes a turn for the sicker, but I have great faith in him because of his great attitude, that he will stay well through the whole process!

An interesting sidelight that I'm sure I wouldn't remember years down the road. A young woman e-mailed me the other day and said she had been receiving e-mails from me about Dennis and from my pictures, she felt she knew me, but didn't know how or where. She has been reading the "blog" and said she had been praying for Dennis also. Her mother passed away of cancer a year and a half ago and she had great empathy for what we are going through. She has seven children and lives in Pleasant Grove. Well, this made me curious because I knew NOT
her name and e-mailed her back and asked her to call and chat with me. She called today and we had a wonderful conversation, but still can't figure out how she started receiving my e-mails and then why she started reading the blog. But, she was such a sweet young thing, about the age of our kids, and I really enjoyed meeting her on the phone. When she is in Salt Lake she said she would call me and we can get together and try to solve the mystery of "how she knows me". I guess I just have one of "those faces"! Anyway, that was a nice benefit of writing this blog. You meet new, very nice people.

Tonight for family night, we are having an activity.....Dennis is trying to unclog all our sinks that are so slooooow in draining. Success on the bathrooms, they now drain quickly! Yay for Dennis.
Next, he is going to install some sliding shelves under cabinets for me that I bought at a garage sale (so what else is new?) Anyway, I have about 6 of them and at least 6 places to put them.
Soooo, as I said, tonight is Activity Night for us!

I also started back to swimming aerobics this morning and I could not believe how beautiful the weather was and the water was heavenly. They had to drag me out when it was over! I can't wait to do it again this week. So, there are many fun and good things happening around here and we try to not think about the dreaded Thursday coming this week.

Have a good night and gee, what a bonus----two blog entries today (sorry). Love ya all.

Marilyn and Dennis

(Queenie and her Prince!)

Monday, June 30, 2008

Hi Gang of Blogger-Readers:

Just a quick note to let you know that all is well in Zion for now. This Thursday Dennis will have his 2nd Chemo treatment and this is the one when he will supposedly lose the rest of his hair that he has left on his head and face. He says it's no big deal because he is bald anyway....and I think bald is very sexy and so it won't bother me either. I'm just praying that his strength will keep up and he'll continue to feel as well as he has. I took pictures of him from every side to show his hair as it is now, so we can compare and remember! I'll try to load them on here sometime.

Since Thursday, as I mentioned, he and Jay and Bill have been the raving fishing fanatics and have had so much fun. They were so worn out and tired by Sunday, nobody could move! The first day I told you the fishing was horrid! (Enough said), but Friday and Saturday they went to Strawberry and caught more fish than should be allowed. They were all catch and release, so they didn't bring any home, but they all had sore arms from casting and catching soooooo many fish. Probably broke a record of how many they caught but Dennis double-dog-dared me if I told on the blog how many they actually caught! So, I am sworn to secrecy, but it was a bunch of fish and thy had a ball!

Bill left last night to head back to San Diego, and we hated to see him leave. He and Jay were so good to Dennis (and myself) and we all had mucho fun sitting around and visiting after the fishing good times. It's always great to be with these guys. Thanks Bill and Jay for always being so good to us. Jay is leaving the boat in our care this week and Dennis is going to try on Wed. to take Todd and Michelle and kids up to Strawberrry and have a good fishing trip (I hope), before his chemo on Thursday. Michelle played volleyball in
the summer games in St. George and hurt her knee and then tweaked it again when she got home, so she's been down and out with terrible knee pain and might have to have surgery. Those darn "Miller knees" get all of us!

This morning I am going to get back in the groove and go swimming (water aerobics) at the Sports Mall at 8:30 a.m. I haven't been for so long, I only hope and pray I can find a swimsuit that will fit me out of my 50 million "smaller size suits" that I wore last summer when I had lost my weight. Oh my, here we go again, the struggle of the weight begins in earnest again! Darn!!

It was so fun this morning when we got up to read scriptures at 6 a.m. to hear and watch the new sprinkling system going off and watering our lawn....it is great, wonderful, fantastic, and so appreciated, thanks again to one and all for your help.

Well, this was just a "journal update" more for me than you, just to keep me in the habit of keeping a journal. Hope you're not too bored, but relief is just a few words away....

Keep well, keep praying and remember: WE BELIEVE IN MIRACLES!!!!

Blessings to you all.

Mama Blogger

Thursday, June 26, 2008

Hi Again,



Today was a "fishing" day for Dennis and my two brothers, Bill and Jay. However, they would tend to say it was a "non-fishing" day, because the lake they went to had had "winter kill" and there were no fish to be caught! However, they each caught a few, but nothing to write home about! But, being together and enjoying each other's company was "therapy" for eveyone!



By the way, Happy Birthday to Jay! I told you that June was a busy month for birthdays!

Jay turned 39 (again) today.



Tomorrow they are going to hit Strawberry and hope for better luck.....Usually these guys can catch fish out of the toilet, so good luck guys!



Actually the fishing was so bad that they came home early enough for Dennis to be able to go
to his Stake High Council Meeting tonight, so that's where he is now. Jay and Bill are out celebrating Jay's B/D right now. It's sure fun having the guys around.



Tomorrow I am going in for another radio frequency procedure on my back like I had a few weeks ago. They will do the other side of my back (right) this time and they are hoping that the nerves in my spine will connect and start talking to each other and help the neuropathy in my

foot to improve and help the pain in my back to improve also. We'll see, I didn't get too much relief the last time they did it. Oh, to be able to walk without pain......My sweet friend, Darlene,

is going to pick me up and take me since they will put me out for the procedure. I surely am grateful for wonderful friends and family.



Today it was fun to have our good friends, Bob and Jo Evans stop by while visiting family. They used to live in our neighborhood and now that live in Arkansas. It was so fun to catch up on each others news and find out about each of our families. They looked great and seem very happy where they are living now. Their children are in Vermont, China and Salt Lake City, so they have to do a lot of traveling to see them. Anyway, it was great to visit with them.

Well, not much else to say, except remember we believe in miracles and thank you for praying for us.

Good Night,

Queenie

Wednesday, June 25, 2008

It's blogging time again!

Again, we've had a lovely day today. The wonderful men finished the sprinkling system and I think I'm going to get up at 6 a.m. tomorrow to watch it go off! Thanks again to everyone who helped on this mammoth project!

Dennis and I ran up to Crandall's cabin tonight to take a part to an ATV that was broken

(which we took a new one up and Dennis installed it) and now the ATV is working perfect!

That's one other wonderful quality about Dennis, he always says, "Return it or Leave it, in better shape than you found it" (when you borrow something or use something) So, luckily it slipped right into place and we found ourselves mounting an ATV each and going for a beautiful ride about 7 p.m. Oh, it was glorious, in fact, I kept thinking about a poem I needed to write and the words were pouring into my head as we drove around.

I came home and sat down and wrote the whole thing out without crossing anything out.

I guess it was a "meant to be poem", and I'm going to include it at the end of this blog so

I won't forget that I wrote it for us. You're welcome to skip it if you want.

Dennis felt good today and not as tired, so that was a plus. He is out at the airport picking up my brother, Bill, who is coming out to go fishing with Dennis and my other brother Jay. They planned this on the week that Dennis wasn't having a treatment hoping he would feel like going...and he does....and they're going! They will have a ball, they all get along so well.

Last night, our good friends and former neighbors, Rob and Judy Reese came over for a visit and it was so good to see them. They have made quite a few visits and we appreciate them so much. Rob used to be in our Stake Presidency, until they moved, and he and Judy have such a wonderful spirit about them. Every time they come, Rob has offered to leave us with a prayer and I really think he knows how to talk to God. What beautiful blessings he asks for. We are so grateful to them and hope they will continue to buoy us up like they always do.

It's late and I'm leaving you with my poem:

Just Me and My Honey

Just me and my sweet honey, riding Crandall's ATV's,

Riding through the mountains underneath the old pine trees.

Clear blue skies above us, not a cloud is in our sight,

If it's only at this moment, every thing just seems all right.

The wind blows on my face and bugs hit in my eyes,

It doesn't even bother me, and that makes me surprised.

'Cause I'm right here with my honey, making memories,

All because we're riding on Crandall's ATV's.

We've seen animals a plenty; deer and moose galore,

Riding 'round for hours and my fanny isn't sore!

Oh, I love the freedom, that I feel tonight,

If it's only for the moment, everything just seems all right.

No bills, no heat, no cancer; Dennis by my side,

Oh, let's just keep on going on this wondrous little ride.

Off into the sunset, lovers side by side,

'Cause we're both together on this perfect ride.

Don't let this time be over; don't make us be apart,

'Cause riding here together, we're feeling heart to heart.

But, dreams must have an ending, and this one must end too,

But, I always will remember riding ATV's with you!

That is dedicated to my sweet husband, may we always be as much in love as we are after these 46 years. I am a blessed woman to have him by my side.

If anyone out there is reading this blog, I would love it if you would just sign in under the "comment" section, so I'll know who is sharing this with us. It means so much to know you care enough to read this and if you read this I know that you believe in miracles and you know how to pray! THANKS!

ATV - Mama Blogger

Tuesday, June 24, 2008

We are sharing a very devastating trial with our family and friends. But, by sharing, we feel the love from you coming back to us like the tides in the ocean; ever so beautiful and comforting and returning over and over. You show us again and again that you are always there calming our souls and helping the Lord to answer our prayers. Whatever will be will be....we will trust in Him. Thank you, and may you be blessed for your kindnesses to us.

Marilyn and Dennis


Well, another day, another blog. Today was a great day! I no longer have the Grand Canyon in my mouth. As I said before, my dear friend from jr and sr. high school, Martin Bingham, was so
kind in helping me with my bridge. I went in this morning to his office and we laughed and laughed about all the crazy times we had in our "younger' years. I think his darling chairside girl thought we were both nuts, but she laughed with us ("at" us??? hmmmm) Anyway, between the giggles, Martin used his wonderful expertize as a dentisit and prepped my mouth for the
gigantic bridge that he is going to "install" in two weeks. He is being so kind and generous and we appreciate him so very much! Again, what would we do without our dear friends and family?

Dennis was able to go to work both this morning and this afternoon and felt well all day. YAY!
He was pretty tired this morning when we got up, but after he got his engine going he made a
full day of it and is now out fixing supper while I jot down a thought or two. What a sweetheart he is......and yes, all you women out there, I DO appreciate him so very much!

The infamous sprinkling system is all but finished! YAY! (again). Wade and Brian were up here today and got nearly all of it done...tomorrow will be the "TEST DAY"! It will be such a blessing to have the system and not have to drag that stupid hose around....I don't know if all the men and boys who have helped us will realize how much this will mean to us, but it means the world and more! Thank you, all you volunteers!!!

Again, shorter than my usual novels, but at least I'm keeping "my" journal going by doing this.

God Bless You All! And....thanks again Martin!

Sunday, June 22, 2008 - Happy Birthday Mom Wilson

We are sharing a very devastating trial with our family and friends. But, by sharing, we feel the love from you coming back to us like the tides in the ocean; ever so beautiful and comforting and returning over and over. You show us again and again that you are always there calming our souls and helping the Lord to answer our prayers. Whatever will be will be....we will trust in Him. Thank you, and may you be blessed for your kindnesses to us.

Marilyn and Dennis

So here we go again! Happy Birthday yesterday to our dear Michelle, and today to our sweet mom, Effie Wilson. June is quite a month of remembrance for our family!

It was a beautiful, but hot, day today and I was able to attend Church at our ward, but when Dennis got up he was feeling pretty tired, so he stayed home from our ward, but went later to a ward to speak as the High Council speaker. He said he felt good about how it went and I'm sure it was terrific!

Later in the afternoon we drove down to Orem to celebrate Mom's birthday and to be able to visit with our sister Diane and several of the grand and great-grandkids. It was such a nice afternoon and as usual Diane served up a fabulous meal with the help of most of the grandkids.
Nat and Luke and baby Whit, Connie and Nicole, Andrea and Grove and kids, Jeremy and Wendy and girls, Eric and Cassy, Diane, Mom, and Dennis and I were all there. It was so good to be able to visit with Diane as she has come out to see her new grandbaby, Whitney Kate, and in turn be here for mom's b/d and do a few things with both of her daughters. She returns to Texas this week.

I've been so impressed with something concerning my dear Dennis, that I feel I need to journal it so that I will always remember it. Sometimes during the years, I have wondered if Dennis ever worried about anything and he would say, " You worry enough for both of us". It kinda bugged me to think I was a worrier and he wasn't, but the events of this past week have made me realize what a wonderful gift he has been given to NOT worry.

At the present time he is undergoing tests to see if he carries the gene for breast cancer that would affect our daughters and granddaughters. In the questionnaire it asks: "Since you have been diagnosed with cancer have you had any fearful thoughts, nightmares, worries, etc." Then he is supposed to answer: "always, sometimes, often, rarely, or never." Anyway, they ask a lot of questions like the above and I was reading his answers and I was shocked to see that on every question that was asked he would always write "Never". I told him that no one would believe that he had not had concerns or worries since the diagnosis and he said to me, "If you don't know after 46 years of being married to me that I do not worry about anything I cannot control. If there is something to be concerned about, that is under my control, I fix it and go on". I sat there and thought, "Wow, he is right." In all these years when I've worried my head over things that sometimes didn't even happen, he was there just being calm and happy and acting as if he didn't care....well, it wasn't that he didn't care, he has just learned how to deal with stress and life and all of the stuff that comes with it. I immediately felt so much respect and extra love for this man whom I thought just "didn't care", when I realized what a wonderful gift he has been given and he has developed....he is only concerned when he CAN do something about a problem and he fixes it and moves on. Man, I wish that I could do that! We all have been given different gifts, but it's taken me this long, until he is facing a life threatening disease that I realize how strong and smart and good he really is. I've always known he was extra-wonderful, but I guess the whole picture just dumped in my mind this week and I am so impressed with his ability to handle stress and problems. But he's always been like that....I just wasn't appreciating that gift as much as I do now.

Many of you won't understand all that last stuff I wrote, but if you know Dennis very well, you will realize that he really has a wonderful gift from our Heavenly Father and he realizes it and uses it to his benefit. He is NOT afraid to die, in fact he says it will be neat to see his father again (he died in World War II when Dennis was just 5 years old), and especially anxious to see our son Steve who passed aways 4 1/2 years ago, and of course his brother, Stephen, who passed away a month after our son passed away and his step-father, Bud. Plus the many other people we love who have gone on before us. So he is not afraid of death, just would feel badly to leave me here without him to take care of me as he has for so many, many years. He also has his life in order. Every day for years he has been studying the scriptures and for the past 10 years he has been listening to all the standard works while he is driving the van back and forth taking the lawyers where they need to go. While he is alone in the Van he is constantly listening to religious tapes and this year alone he has "read" the Book of Mormon over 8 times. So, I guess we can all see that peace comes to people when their lives are where the Lord would want them to be and Dennis is there....he is at peace with himself and the Lord.

However, I am NOT ready to let him go....so please keep praying that he will have many more years here on this earth (for my sake). And, thanks for letting me put my feelings down on
"paper", so I can remember the thoughts that I had during this difficult time.

The sprinkling system is nearly complete!! Thank you so much, everyone involved! I can hardly wait to turn it on and see the water come gushing out (without us having to drag a hose all over the place.....YAY!!!)

Tomorrow Dennis is going to work and then we are going up to Logan to pick up our car at Deanne's place. Teri and Ed borrowed it to get all 8 kids up to their house this week and it sounds like they have all had a riot being together. Deanne was returning from her trip tonight and driving up to Teri and Ed's to pick up her kids and have a friend with her to drive our car back down to her place....did you follow that??? Amazing. And, we will drive to Deanne's to pick up our car ...... and that's the end of this story for tonight. Sorry if this was a boring entry....it was important to me.

Thanks again, and God bless you all!

Blogger Mama

Thoughts from our hearts

We are sharing a very devastating trial with our family and friends. But, by sharing, we feel the love from you coming back to us like the tides in the ocean; ever so beautiful and comforting and returning over and over. You show us again and again that you are always there calming our souls and helping the Lord to answer our prayers. Whatever will be will be....we will trust in Him. Thank you, and may you be blessed for your kindnesses to us.

Marilyn and Dennis

Saturday, June 21, 2008

Number One Rule: Never say Never!

It surely was nice while it lasted, but last night Dennis had a pretty rough night and this morning he woke up not feeling really great. The nausea has reared it's ugly head and
fatigue is beginning to sap the energy out of the "Iron Man". Darn! I was hoping against hope that he wouldn't get sick, but I guess when they pump all those poison chemicals into your body, you can't help but feel yucky!

The wonderful men of the Ward showed up bright and early to work more on the sprinkling system. Of course Dennis felt he should be out there with them, so out he went and he stayed out most of the day with just a few stops to come in and rest when he got too tired, hot or sick. However, as usual, he was out a lot longer than he was in and I wish he would come in to stay. I talked with the nurse today and she said he should be very
careful not to get too hot or dehydrated, and naturally he is probably doing both. We do
so appreciate the efforts of all these good men, but I feel badly that they are working in this climate. Wade Meier and Brian Quick have been here since 7 am and are still here
at 5:30 pm. Steve and Garrett Broadhead have been here most of the day as have CJ
Bazner and John Forsyth. Bless all of your hearts! THanks again! This project WILL be over some day and you can all stay home with your families and not have to be running to help the Adams'. In the meantime, thanks to your families for letting you come over!
The temperature is in the high 90's.....not good.

This is a short blog entry, wish we could have said he is still feeling great, but.......
"if wishes were fishes...." as we've asked before, please keep him in your prayers.

Love,

Blogger Mama

Friday, June 20, 2008

My goodness, I feel like we are in a dream-world. Dennis is doing soooo great and is feeling as good as he ever does. He still has NOT experienced any nausea or pain from his shot today. We are so grateful that the sickness has not occurred yet and hope and pray that things will continue to go as well as they have so far.

He went up to get his chemo "booster" shot this afternoon and so far it has not phased him one bit. We even went out to eat tonight! It was so fun because we came in and saw our dear friends, the Allreds, who had just finished eating, but we begged them to stay and visit with us while we ate and they were kind enough to do it. What a fun and enjoyable time it was to be with old (as in GOOD OLD, not old) friends and laugh and talk and catch up on the news in the "old neighborhood". They have been such great friends for over 40 years and we love and appreciate them.

I am still carrying the "devil" around on my shoulder, but I think he's wearing down. This morning I went up to the dr. to get my feet x-ray'd because they are still hurting so darn bad. The dr. said the toes still look like they were cracked, but healing. Again, there's nothing to do for them, but he x-ray'd my other ankle and it is just swollen and acting up with arthritis and tendinitis. My mouth is still a great cave, but we decided to go ahead and have the bridge fixed here due to the kindness of my good friend, Martin Bingham.
He will prep it and get it ready on Tuesday and I'll have teeth in a couple of weeks. That will help my brother to not have to worry about what to do with me and I can be home to take care of Dennis (if he ever needs me -- I hope he doesn't if it means he will stay feeling well). So thanks to kind friends, once again, I'll be able to stay in town and be able to get my mouth healed up.

So, you're wondering where the devil comes in on this one??? Well, right after I left the dr. office, I rolled up (in the car) to a stop light and since my foot was hurting so badly, I leaned down to loosen my shoe and next thing I knew I was rolling and then stopping
abruptly! I guess it was due to the fact that I rolled into the guy in front of me who had a nice new BLACK car with the big tire holder in the back.....well, now that tire holder has white van marks and a few little dents on it thanks to me! Dang, I was so upset, mostly because I figured Dennis would kill me!.....When I got home and explained what happened he held himself down tightly in that great new chair I bought him and through clenched teeth he kindly said, "YOU DID WHAT?????" (As in "YOU IDIOT!!") Well, through tears and shaking he calmed down and said I could still live here which was a real relief, because I don't know which one of you would had to have taken me in and I knew you wouldn't be thrilled either. Anyway, that's where the devil played a role in my life again today, but soon the blessings started pouring in again and I do think that little old devil is starting to get discouraged because Dennis and I aren't going to let him win!!!!

See how I can turn one little incident into a 10 page synopsis?? Well, again, we sit on the brink of a disaster that hasn't really happened yet. We can only keep hoping and praying that things will continue to be good for Dennis and if they turn bad, we'll remember how many wonderful blessings we have received the past few months. The Lord is so good.

Thanks again and have a good night and wonderful Sunday, tomorrow.

Love from Big Mama Blogger Babe

Thursday, June 19, 2008

Hello America!

Yes, today was day #1 of the beginning chemo treatments and in the usual "Dennis
style", he (so far) hasn't even been nauseated. He is at Stake High Council Meeting
right now and I am dying for him to get home and see how he is feeling. I'm writing this later in the p.m. because I was hoping he would be home by now.....you know those high council guys, they talk and talk and talk and talk!

We went in this morning at 10:00 a.m. and by the time they had drawn his blood and made sure the counts were all normal enough for the chemo they started the
IV and he was through at 3:00 p.m. These first four treatments will be between three and four hours each, and then the next four will be between six and seven hours each.....that makes for a long day at the Huntsman Center. Then the next day after each treatment, he will have a shot to boost the chemo and that is the
thing that is supposed to make his bones ache....however, we'll see. He's pretty tough in case you hadn't noticed.

While he was starting, I went to our friend, Martin Bingham, who is a dentist and he surveyed the mess in my mouth and declared it a new national cave! It will cost a bundle to put the 3 or 4 unit bridge in and when my brother, Bill, the Dentist, in San Diego called tonight, he said if I'd fly down, he'd do it for me for a heck of a lot less which would surely help in the financial dept. of this bankrupt company....so, now I better get on the ball and find a cheap, quick flight to San Diego and take advantage of my brother's kindness. All of our brothers and sisters and spouses have been so supportive of us and have been there in any way possible to help at this stressful time. Thanks to all of you, we love you!

I always realize how much worse our situation could be when shown it right to my face. For instance, today we met a darling little couple from Arkon, Idaho, who were probably in their 20's. He served a mission and she waited and then they got married and they have a 2 1/2 year old little boy and a three month old baby girl.
Well, she also has breast cancer and her's is also in various places in her bones and it so happened that today was her first treatment too and she and Dennis are both being treated aggressively for their type of cancer. We got talking to them (what else do you do for all those hours?) and they were so darling and it broke my heart to think of their situation. Here Dennis and I have had 46 great years together and they are just beginning with their lives, with their two little kids. I just kept crying and I guess they thought I was really emotional about Dennis (which I am) , but my tears were for them and I wished so badly that we could have the choice to change places...I would gladly take her cancer and let her go home to her family, but it doesn't work that way and of course there will be great lessons learned by them, but I hate it! I wish I could take Dennis' cancer away, I just don't want him to suffer in any way, but again there's that "free agency" thing that we voted for a lonnnnng time ago and we must have known we would benefit
by going through the trials that were placed in our lives. I'm sure I stood in the line marked "pains" thinking that I was waiting for "brains", and here I am. DA
DAH! Fools rush in.....or something like that. Anyway, we invited them to stay with us when they come to SL for treatments and we bonded right away, such a dear, dear little couple. Her name is Barbara and his is Derick, if you want to add them to your prayer list.

Well, it's nearly 10:30 pm and Dennis is still at the Stake....I hope he is just talking and meeting, not barfing and crying! (That would be the day!)

I want you to know how grateful we are to all the hard working men in our ward who are working tirelessly to put in a sprinkling system for us. Men and boys, you will never know how much we love and appreciate you, this is going to mean so much to both of us. Thank you for caring so much, I know it's hard work and takes time, but you are all so dedicated and kind and we thank you from the bottom of our hearts.

Also, a giant big thanks to our dear friends, Mike and Jayne Neeley, who insisted on bringing up supper to us tonight. I fought her, but she insisted and after the long day we had the food was not only delicious, but appreciated more than words can say. Again, more blessings, from more friends and we thank you. When we win the lottery, we're going to give everyone a million dollars!! (don't hold your breath, we're not too lucky, unfortunately). But we do thank you and appreciate everyone!

As soon as Dennis comes in, I'll report on his condition and end this little novel...
Okay, it's almost 11 p.m., so I'm assuming that Dennis is doing fine or he'd be home. Any change in things here at headquarters and I'll let you know. Oh, wait,
here he is and he says that he feels "fine, great, normal, good, happy, positive, etc"
Wow! I'm so glad and grateful and hope and pray this will continue to be a tender mercy from the Lord......Yes folks, WE DO BELIEVE IN MIRACLES!!!!!!

Good night and thanks again for your prayers!

The midnight blogger mama signs off now.

Wednesday, June 18, 2008

Hi!

I'll bet you are all wondering what I was drinking when I entered the last blog (6/15/08).... Actually, that WAS darling little Ann and Grandpa, but the other picture was showing you the results of so many wonderful, caring people trying to find out where the heck our water main was so they could install the new sprinkling system.

Well, after 7 feet deep and 7 feet wide, it was still no where to be found. Late that night, with night lights a glaring and all these wonderful men over here to lend support, they finally called it a night and said they'd begin the search again the next day. I felt so badly, they had worked so hard. I guess the guy that built these houses just threw in pipes anywhere he felt like it and what a tangled web he wove!

The days previous to this (beginning about Thurs. June 12th) we started living in
"Job's World" (yes, the Bible guy). First, our washing machine flooded the basement nearly out the laundry room, but not quite. Only a minor wipe up job, and Dennis figured he could fix it. Wrong, when the next person went to use the washing machine (and had no clue that we'd been having problems) it flooded again, a little worse, but hey, it's happened before. We decided we DID need a real live plumber, but if you've called one lately, they won't tell you how much it will cost to come out to your house....they'll tell you the price (when they are here!)
We have a friend who is a plumber and we called and offered to pay him, but he didn't have any of his tools with him and so he couldn't do anything and the soonest for him would be the following Monday morning (June 16th).

Well, we had our fantastic Eldredge family reunion on Saturday and Church on Sunday and we were leaving for Crandall's cabin Monday, but he thought he could come early and so we thought that was the plan. Apparently we weren't communicating very well on phone messages and we waited and waited and finally called at 10 am and he said he thought we were calling another plumber.....(I've got to quit talking so fast). Anyway, we asked him if he could come when we get home from the cabin and he agreed. So, now we are home, the washer is not fixed and our friend the plumber said he would try to get over later tonight....how much are we betting that I was talking too fast again? Hopefully, this will turn out to be a simple problem and we'll get to wear fresh underwear again!

At our wonderful family reunion, somehow I was enticed by one of our favorite cousins to let him rub my sore old feet. It started out feeling soooo good, but then my toes were hurting a little more and more and of course I hadn't told him that I have Osteoporosis and an Arthritis flareup, so he kept rubbing. To make a long story short after the reunion I could barely walk and four of my toes on one foot were as black as black, and two of my toes on the other one were black. We are assuming that they were broken or cracked, but the dr. says the only thing you can do is tape them to the next toe. I will leave this favorite cousin nameless, because it was totally my fault not to stop, it really did "hurt good" while he was rubbing, but trying to walk afterwards was a different story.

We made it through Father's Day and Anniversary with McNeill's and Hegemann's here to be with us. The two girls did most of the cooking and were so sweet to let me try to keep off my feet. It was fun, but we still had to pack and put groceries
together for the next morning. We did it and only had to go in to town for a few items that I forgot while we were at the cabin. We surely appreciated the Crandall's generosity...they are wonderful friends and between floods and digging up the yard, we really enjoyed being AWAY from home for a couple of days!

A few minor setbacks that seemed to break the camel's back were: all new brakes for the Civic, a goodly amount spent to regain our computer back, the floods, the
toes, I've had cankers and thrush in my mouth for a month and my mouth is so sore I can barely stand it, so, last night at the cabin I bit on some crackers and my
three-part bridge shattered and I was swallowing crackers and teeth. I now have
a gigantic 3 or 4 tooth hole in my mouth with previous fillings jutting up to cut my already shredded tongue. Hopefully, tomorrow after Dennis' chemo treatment I am going in to a dear friend (dentist) whom I called tonight and he was so kind to say he'll try to help me tomorrow! (what would we do without friends?????)

During the cabin time, Teri was so sick being pregnant, Michelle was having terrible stress and pain in her neck, Ed tried to wrestle all the kids at once and he pulled some muscles in his neck and back to the point of he could barely turn his head. (He and Michelle were both quite "stiff necked"). Actually, Dennis was probably the healthiest one of us up there!!! Pathetic!!

Enough with the negatives, I just wanted to remember why I was so stressed the night before Dennis has to start enduring those crumby chemo sessions and writing this like a journal will help me remember. You can skip on to anything you'd like, I know this is a bore! After putting out several hundred dollars, and after repairing my teeth, more like thousands of dollars, this past month, I feel like Satan is sitting on my shoulder laughing at all the problems we have encountered this past two months....and the devil can hang it because the only thing that really matters right now is that Dennis is successful with these treatments and can regain his health and we can hopefully have many more years together!

Todd and Ed gave Dennis and I each a beautiful blessing up at the cabin before we all headed for our various homes. The spirit was very strong and I could tell that
Steve was somewhere in that room with us, because his little kids were so quiet and kind and loving (they always are), but the spirit in them was very strong. Deanne is out of town right now and the Adams' kids are going to Idaho until Sunday when Deanne will go pick them up....we were hoping to be able to have them here with us, but I couldn't give them all that I'd like to give when I'm so
concerned about feeling well enough to take care of Dennis and Teri was kind enough to offer to watch them in Idaho. Michelle would have taken them in a heartbeat too, but she's headed out of town to play in a Volleyball tournament...
you go, Michelle! She is still an amazing athlete and she's turning "40" on Saturday.

We're so proud and grateful for all of our children and their spouses and all our little grandkids. These past few days (except for pain and trauma) were amazingly wonderful! Memories of those 11 little kids laughing, playing and helping each other were some of those "out of body experiences", because you
can't imagine that all 11 of them were so polite and spiritual and.......I could go on and on and I probably will, but it was a wonderful few days of memories that we will never forget! Thanks kids for being so good to your old grandparents, we
adore all of you!

Whew, this has been quite the novel! Believe it or not, I left quite a few things out.
My mind couldn't endure any more! (and neither could you)

There will be a BIG blog tomorrow night ALL about Dennis. Please continue to pray for him that he will continue to have these tender mercies from the Lord and that he will be comforted throughout this next year of treatments. The Lord hasn't let us down yet, and I know that He won't now. Thank you all.

A special thanks to our cousin, Annette, who took it upon herself to spread the word of "We believe in Miracles!" by making hundreds of bright neon colored
badges that screamed out...."WE BELIEVE IN MIRACLES!" and passing them out to everyone at our reunion, what a sweet thing to do...thank you again and again,
Annette, we love you!

Tomorrow.......

Sunday, June 15th, 2008 - Father's Day and Marilyn and Dennis' 46th anniversary

Wednsday, June 11, 2008

Hi There,

Just a quick entry. Dennis went into the surgeon on Monday and she said that the surgery is healed enough to start chemotherapy on Thursday, June 19th. The day is arriving and we surely hope it will do the trick. I'm sure I mentioned last time it will be
16 weeks of chemo every other week, a shot to speed up the chemo every other Friday and then a petscan to see where the cancer is and then 6 weeks of radiation and then start the pill, tomoxifin. Again, we ask for your prayers that his side effects might be small in comparision to what they could be. Thank you.

He and Jay went fishing last Saturday and really got into them at Current Creek. They had so much fun and then brought home the fish to give to people around here. We kept two and they tasted wonderful!

The radio frequency procedure hasn't done anything to help my back and foot yet. I'm
scheduled for another one on the right side on the 27th of this month. I'm not too
encouraged about it, but MAYBE!

The young men in our ward are over here tonight digging up part of the yard to install the new sprinkling system. They will never in the world know how much this will be appreciated. The elders and "healthy" high priests are coming to finish up the job tomorrow and Saturday. Oh, how grateful we are to such compassionate, caring people.
I made some cookies and Lime Slush for their reward and they are all so cute and thanking us and telling us how happy they are to help. Their parents should be commended for raising such fine young men. (Ben Broadhead, Tom McHenry, Houston ?, the Rowland boys, The Phippen Boys, Bishop Pruden, Brother Rowland, and I'll try to keep track of the rest of them...oh, and their "Great White Leader", C.J. Bazner, anyway, what great young and "older" men!!!)

Tomorrow Teri and the kids are coming. We're going to the Eldredge Family Reunion up in Morgan (thanks to sweet Dixie) on Saturday and it sounds so fun. We've all been making projects to sell at the auction and family store and getting the kid's games ready to play. It will be a fun day.!

The next day will be Father's Day and our 46th anniversary and McNeills and Hegemanns are coming for dinner.

On Monday, thanks to our wonderful friends, the Crandalls, we have been invited to go and stay a few days at their cabin in Oakley. We are so excited for that adventure. We haven't been up for a couple of years and the kids are all dying to get back up there and have a turn on the four-wheelers, paint rocks, build clubhouses, hike, eat, play games and anything else they can think of (that will be safe!) We are so blessed to have such generous friends!

Speaking of the Crandall's, I went in to their son Steve, (who is my physical therapist) the other day and had a 12 kleenex crying day telling him all my frustrations, I better be care-
ful or he will charge me for psychiatric care instead of Physical therapy. Anyway, he could kinda sense (ya think???) that I am stressed out of my mind and of course all my autoammune diseases come flying out and into my body and then the trouble starts.
Anyway, through his kind heart and capable hands he really helped the Fibromyalgia in my legs to calm down and started slowly on trying to help me cope with the stress I'm feeling. I go in again tomorrow and I hope that I can continue on the upward path. He surely is a kind person, no wonder he's in the stake presidency.

Well, enough of "me, me, me", but I want you to know that Dennis is still doing fantastic in his terrific attitude and physically, right now, he is doing great. Oh how I love him and
appreciate his happy personality.....He is the "wind beneath my wings" for sure!

We'll keep in touch!

The Blogger Mama

June 6, 2008

I just finished reading the blog out loud to Dennis and boy did I notice some typo's and repeats....sorry about that, I'm sure you understand my current state of mind. (Don't say, "She sounds 'normal' to us".)

Last Saturday Jay took Dennis fishing and they didn't have the best of luck like they usually do, so I guess they're going to try it again tomorrow. They're going to Current Creek, by Strawberry.
Dennis is really looking forward to it. We surely appreciate how wonderful Jay and Lynne have been to us. Tonight they surprised us and brought Chinese dinner from our favorite restuarant and we ate together. They claimed this was how they like to spend their Friday nights, hard to believe they could be that desperate! After we ate we sat around and visited. They are great!

This morning Lynne drove me into the Pain Clinic to have my back
procedure (radio-frequency) done. The dr. said I should have immediate results if it were to work, but it could take up to 2 weeks before it all kicks in. Unfortunately, the pain is still there, but hopefully by 2 weeks from now I will have some relief in the back. I was so hoping it would help the neuropathy in my foot, but it didn't make a bit of difference (yet). Darn, I had some hopes of it working. Oh well, if wishes were fishes and all that.

Dennis mowed the lawn after working all day and is still going strong. What an amazing guy he is! I lay in bed all day (actually, it was the dr's orders) and I only had a couple of pain pills. I don't know how Dennis keeps going after all he's been through....I have a good idea though, that he is being blessed in that department by our Heavenly Father because of all the prayers that have gone up in his behalf. Thank you once again.

June 19th is the day he starts chemo, so we'll throw in an update or two between now and then so I can remember years from now what was going on in my crazy mind at this time in our lives.

Good night and we'll be a-talkin'

Marilyn and Dennis

To the Eldredges --- See ya'll next weekend!!

Dennis Update - Wednesday, June 4, 2008

Well, the day we've been waiting for finally came and went. We went up to the Huntsman
Center this afternoon to find out what the treatment plans for Dennis will be. Michelle went with us to make sure we were all hearing the same thing.....she is our secretary and bless her heart she takes good notes! We surely appreciate all the time she has taken to go to all the dr. appointments with us and to Teri for all her help a couple of weekends ago when she came down and helped us so much in getting ready for the upcoming events. Little did we know she was pregnant, or we wouldn't have let her do anything!
As it is, around the end of December or first of January 2009, she and Dennis will hopefully both be thru with their ordeals, and Teri will have a new little grandbaby for all of us to love and cherish. And Dennis will hopefully be back to his healthy self again!

Dr. Ward said that he has decided to treat this cancer as aggressively as he can. He said that the bone scan shows some questionable bone cancer spots and he is not taking any chances, so Dennis will have chemotherapy every other week for 16 weeks. He starts his treatments on June 19, 2008. He'll go in on Thursday, have blood tests to make sure he is healthy enough for the chemo, then sit for 3 1/2 hours having the chemo IV, then go home. Then on Friday morning I take him back up for a shot to help speed the chemo up so that they will fight the cancer cells quicker.

The shot will apparently have a side effect of making his bones ache badly that night and over the weekend. He can (if he will) take pain pills for that. He will most likely be nauseated and extremely fatigued over the weekend and maybe feel better by Monday.
Everyone reacts differently, so we are just trying the "wait and see" of how he does. He's been so tough since the surgeries that it will be interesting to see how he handles the rest of this stuff. Some of the side effects are taste buds changing (metal taste in mouth), smelling things differently, throwing up, you know, the rest of the junk that goes with it all.

After the chemo for 16 weeks, he will have another body scan to see where the cancer is or is not, then he has radiation every day for 6 weeks. Hopefully, he won't feel as miserable as he will be tired.

After the radiation he will begin the pill Tamxafin (sp?) for a maximum of five years. Hopefully, all of these things will be successful and he will be cancer-free. Keep those prayers going, it's only just begun!

As the Dr. reminded us again, "take one day at a time", "prepare for the worst and hope for the best", and a lot of other things that went through one ear and out the other!

The nurse then put us in a golf cart and drove us to the infusion lab and gave us a tour.
Everyone there is so kind and helpful and we feel as though we are in the hands of the best medical help to be found. Just wish we could avoid all the side effects that he will have to endure, but we do what we can do and Dennis has such a great attitude that I am sure if anyone were NOT to be sick during all of this, he would be the one. I'm counting my blessings and the very first one is::::Thank you for such a positive, upbeat husband!!

I need to get my two bits worth in too: Friday, I'm having a little back repair, and hopefully it will help get rid of some of the low back pain. I'm counting on it working because I'm heading out garage sale hunting in the morning and going to a baby shower for my niece in the afternoon. They said I'll know if it works because it will reduce some of the pain and if it doesn't work, it won't.......let's hope for the "will".

It's late and our dear, busy bishop just stopped by to hear what the dr. said. What a guy he is. He had a funeral for Jack Zobell today and is heading out for youth conference tomorrow and he and his family are going to Croatia (sp) the next day. He's going to need a little R&R with his darling family after how busy we all keep him! I hope he realizes how much the ward loves him.

Thanks again for your thoughts, prayers, and everything else. We'll let you know how our "Iron Man" does with the treatments after the 19th.

We send our love.

Blogger Mom