Dennis Updates

Funeral Arrangements

2008-08-15T08:43:00.000-07:00

A viewing will be held at Jenkins-Soffe Mortuary, 4760 S. State, Murray, UT, on Friday, Aug. 15, from 6-8 p.m. A funeral service will be held at eh LDS church on 6350 S. Rodeo Ln., Murray, UT on Saturday, Aug 16 at 12 noon. Friends and family may call prior to the funeral, from 11 to 11:45. Burial will be at the Murray City Cemetery. Online condolences: www.jenkins-soffe.com

Marilyn Passed Away Peacefully in her Sleep

2008-08-13T09:32:00.000-07:00

Marilyn is finally cured and out of any pain. She is now with her son Steve and other friends and family members who have already passed away. Dennis and Marilyn visited with each other until midnight last night. This morning Dennis got up to fix her breakfast and found she had passed away in the night. Additional updates will be provided.

Sunday, August 10, 2008

2008-08-10T18:55:00.000-07:00

Hi to All,

Today was quite uneventful. I was still having a Lupus attack, and so I slept all day until Todd, Michelle and kids came over for supper. It was fun to see them,

I just wish I could get feeling 100% some time.

We had such a nice weekend celebrating Jay and Lynne's wedding which took place last March in Figi. They had rented rooms at the Inn by the Creek for all of us and that night (Friday) we all went out for Mexican food, which was sooo good,

Then on Saturday, I got up and tracked a few yard sales down (who out there among you thinks I'm kidding?????) I'm NOT kidding, found a few with some

pretty good stuff and then high-tailed it for home quickly to be there by 11 a.m.

to get ready for the fun.

I didn't mention that when I'm have a Lupus flare, it inflames my stomach problems also, and so Friday night I ate and got sick, then on Saturday, same story....sick as a dog. Came home and was sick all night Saturday and then as I said before, I slept ALL day today, but I'm feeling a little better now! That's the

end of that boring story!

Now to the important part.....Dennis!! He's had a great week and I am so happy to see him so robust and feeling so well. He begins his 7 hour treatments this Wed. but the good news is that this medicine shouldn't make him sick and his hair will start to grow back (black and curly and on the top of his head and out his nose)

I just made that part up, BUT, in truth, his hair should start to come back!

Side effects include neuropathy of his hands and feet (if he's one of the unlucky ones, but then he'll have empathy for me), and a few other things that I can't remember. I only hope and pray that he will be blessed as much over these next treatments as he was with the last ones, and I know he will be if everyone keeps remembering him in their prayers ----so please, do your part in this miracle!

Our little family from Idaho start a different regimine this week. They're coming to stay Tuesday night and then she has to go into the hospital for Wed. & Thurs. to have her heart tested and to receive some bone treatments, and then her new chemo, which she will do weekly for 10 weeks. Please remember her in your prayers too. Thank you.

Well, that about covers my "journaling", hope you skipped the parts that would be boring --- hmmmmm, that would account for the whole blog. Never mind, read what you can handle and remember this is my journal.

Until next time = WE BELIEVE IN MIRACLES!!!!

Queenie and Kojack

P.S. I noticed none of you bid on the "Peacock"....You're missing out!

Thursday, August 7, 2008

2008-08-07T16:34:00.000-07:00

Hi There!

Another good day and it's great to have Dennis feeling so well. He worked this morning driving and this afternoon he worked around here paying bills (yuck) and helping me out. I went over and got my hair cut

(it's not quite as short as Dennis', but Mary Lynn came pretty close to giving me the "Kojack" look....luckily we both stopped talking at once and

realized we were at the "stopping" point.)

Soooo, my hair looks very nice and I appreciate M.L. for cutting it for Jay and Lynne's post wedding celebration tomorrow and the next day. We're going up to Midway for the big celebrations and I'm so excited to see everyone. It should really be fun! The reason for the "Post" celebration is because they got married in March on the beaches of Figi and of course no one could afford to make the trip, so their "re-doing" the party for the

rest of us "po-folk".

Fortunately Dennis begins his 7 hour long infusions next Wednesday, and I think those will prove to be some very looooong hours. But hey,

if he can feel this good after 4 or 5 days, I think we'll make it, by jove!

We went to a fun Youth Activity last night. They are trying to raise money for service projects and they held a "Cafe Rio" supper and then auctioned off or out-right sold items and services that people had donated. I was able to pawn off some of the twenty-million home-made cards I have been making day and night when I can't sleep. I think they sold quite a few, so that was our donation. We didn't stay til the end because we were both tired, but I did end up with some cool "his and hers" towels, and the most exciting.......drum rollllll........AN HOUR CLASS TAUGHT RIGHT HERE IN OUR VERY OWN HOME, on how to do different things on the computer!!!!! Sheri Fullmer is our teacher and she teaches this class at Taylorsville High, so I am extra excited because she is also our very wonderful Relief Society President, so I know of her capable ways! I am way excited to learn how to get

pictures to this blankety-blank Blog and just how to work the million and one things I don't understand about computers yet. I know just enough to be dangerous as you have all witnessed thus far.

Enough useless chit-chat....I'm just on a high because Dennis seems to be feeling so good and so normal, and it just makes me happy and excited. So keep praying that these kind of days will be many, many and he will beat this beast called Cancer. Remember, WE BELIEVE IN MIRACLES!!! Let's hear it for our man!!!!

Love from the both of us....The Queen Updater who is almost Bald,

and Baldie, the REAL one.

Now if you want to buy the beforenamed Peacock, scroll CLEAR to the
bottom of this whole page and you will see the "bird". $300 to the first caller!

2008-08-03T17:28:00.000-07:00

Sunday, August 2, 2008

Well, I bet you all thought we flew the coop and took an extended vacation!
(We can only wish on that one). Anyway, our computer died the day we left for Ed and Teri's and we were finally able to get hold of our computer genius and before he could get here, the monitor went out too. So I hopped off to one of my favorite shopping hang-outs (D.I.) and picked up a monitor for five dollars, which was the right price, brought it home, hooked it up and our genius appeared today and pronounced the old computer "dead". Sooo, luckily, my brother Jay had given us his old computer a few weeks ago and it was in the basement on "stand-by", so we brought it up and BINGO, we were in business again. Except for the fact that I will have to re-enter all the data we lost from the old hard drive and a few major/minor things, I guess this too will pass and we are grateful to be blogging the old blog again today!

Dennis had his treatment last Wednesday....that is the half-way mark! YAY!
Next time he will have the dreaded 7 hour infusions, which means we will be spending a lot of time at the Huntsman Center...about 9 to 10 hours each time. Then he will still have to go up the next day for his booster shot. This time he says that he feels better than two weeks ago, but he is really, really tired and has been nauseated a lot. However, today he got up and went to his assigned Stake ward and then picked me up and we made it through our three hour block. We were both tired when we got home and Dennis was feeling pretty touchy in the tummy area. He's still a trooper and hanging in there with that good old positive attitude. He is a great example to all of us! Love that man!

The Andersen family arrived last Wed. shortly after Dennis got home. I had been really sick all day from a medicine the Dr. started me on. (Too high a dosage to start with and I was a gooney looney bird) Anyway, Dennis had to drive himself up and back from the infusion because I was out of it. I slept all day and that night I came back to the real world in time to visit with the Andersen's before they went to bed. Trevor is in Alaska fishing, so Barb brought her sister, Nanette to go with her, and her mother, Cindy, to stay and watch the two little ones with me. We had a fun time, and I was able to clean out my closet and send Cindy home with a bunch of my clothes that looked a lot cuter on her than me, and she was tickled to get a new wardrobe! So, we killed two birds with 3 garbage bags of clothing for her!

Barb's treatment went well, but now she is starting "weekly" treatments and then her booster shot the next day. They are going to try having an infusion in Rexburg and see how that goes. If so, then they will probably go there for two or three and to our house for one or two.

We're all anxious for the next four infusions to pass quickly so that they can have their "body scans" and determine where the cancer is or isn't.

We're praying for a lot of "isn't's", but we know who has the final say and it isn't us! So, keep those two sweet people in your prayers because,

WE BELIEVE IN MIRACLES!

It was so fun to be in Idaho. The kids treat us so well and going to the fair and watching Brooke come in first place in horse showmanship was really a lot more fun than watching her fall off her horse in the next event, but she wasn't hurt (except her pride). The third event was English riding which she's never done, but she looked so cute in her little outfit and she came in third place overall which I think is pretty darn

terrific for a first time try. She says now she is a "real cowgirl" because you have to fall off your horse at least once in competition. (and that she did). The Snow Shak kept Ed and Teri busy and we were glad we were there to help with the kids a little bit. We celebrated Benson's B/D and he was excited with all the new stuff and we were glad! All in all it was just good to get away and be with our loved ones!

We got home in time to say "goodbye" to Todd, as he was leaving for Korea to go help them build their new composite towers that Todd was in charge of and it 's been long enough now, that he will be home on Tues. and two weeks flew by like that! Good news on one of his inventions:

He has been asked to do a presentation at the Pentagon in August on the military satellite dish and case that he and his friend invented. Looks like they are really interested and Todd could come out with lotsa "something or other" if they all want to buy his product (and it looks like they want to) it will be fun to have someone "Famous" in our family, we'll keep you posted on the end results.

All in all we're doing fine. Just wish all the $20,000 bills on Dennis would stop coming in the mail, and wish that the Insurance would decide to pay 'every last penny" (ha ha) of the cost, but if wishes were fishes.....and we know that would never happen, so we are just ever so grateful for the blessings we have been given and for the trials too. I'm sure there is much for us to learn from this experience.

Thanks again to all of you for your love and support and prayers. Keep remembering that WE BELIEVE IN MIRACLES and surely it will happen.

Hope the picture of Dennis, Barbara and the kids turns up at the bottom of this blog, believe me I've tried to get it over here from there, we'll know in a minute if I've learned the eternal question of how to post pictures on this thing.

Until tomorrow, or some day soon, Goodbye, goodnight and be good!

The Queen Updater and Kojack!

(Scroll to the end of the page to see the "picture")

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

2008-07-22T16:51:00.000-07:00

Hi,

Just a quick update: Dennis went to the urologist and he told Dennis that the bleeding is being caused by the chemo irritating things down below.....whatever that means. Anyway the Dr. put him on a stronger antibiotic and said it should help and he also told Dennis that he is a "rare one" to have breast cancer. That seems to be the consensus of anyone who hears his diagnosis. Dennis is feeling much better today and Ed and Teri have invited us to come up to their place and spend the next few days celebrating the 24th, Benson's Birthday, and just hanging out with them. It sounded great to us to have a change of scenery, so we are leaving tomorrow, (Wednesday) and won't be back until next Monday (July 28th). They are having their "Fair" days and Brooke is competing with her horse on Monday morning, so we wanted to be there for that too. Sounds fun and so you probably won't hear from us until after his next treatment (Wed. July 30th).

I went into the Dr. today and he did some blood work for my diabetes, for thyroid possibilities, and did an ekg on my heart which was beating out of my chest...so he upped my heart pill from 180 mg to 240 mgs. (Of no interest to you, but I want it for my records)
Bone Dex looked good he said, which makes me wonder what the back surgeon was drinking when he looked at my x-rays and said I had a terrible case of osteoporosis. Sooo, after I get the rest of the blood results I just keep on truckin' .

We hope you have a fun holiday week and we know we will too. It's always great to be with the family.

Love to you all, remember: "WE BELIEVE IN MIRACLES"!!!!!!!

Queenie and the "rare one"

Monday July 22, 2008

2008-07-21T20:41:00.000-07:00

Well, this has been quite a weekend. Poor Dennis has been so ill and we've run the list of what could be wrong...from too much of one medication, to reaction to antibiotic, to his urinary infection, to just plain old chemo reactions, to we give up!

We've finally decided that he was just having a bad time from the chemo
treatments and he wasn't used to getting so sick after them. He really felt like he had fallen down a deep, deep hole and couldn't dig UP...Finally, today he is feeling better in the nausea and fatigue department, but his
cancer dr. had him schedule an emergency visit to his Urologist for tomorrow and see what is going on with the bleeding. I surely hope it is nothing serious, and am so glad that they worked him in so quickly.

I've got Physical Therapy in the morning and my Internist in the afternoon, so I guess he'll be going by himself to the urologist. I'll be anxious to hear what's a happenin'. We'll keep you posted.

Yesterday he was scheduled to speak in our Ward for his High Council talk and he was REALLY sick to miss an assignment. That's the first one he's missed I think, but he couldn't have spoken anywhere! He stayed down most of the day and then Michelle had invited us to her house to eat and she and Todd fixed a wonderful Halibut and Salmon dinner and that seemed to really hit the spot for Dennis and he finally was able to eat after three days of nearly nothing. Since then his energy is up somewhat and he is trying to obey the Dr's and try to lay low for a change.

Barbara (from Idaho) called today to see how Dennis was and she is feeling fairly well, just tired she said, but trying to follow the dr's orders
and slow down too.

We brought Seth and Dallin home with us to sleep over and spend Monday with us. Todd is leaving for Korea tomorrow for work and he and Michelle had a million things to do before he leaves. Jess left for girl's camp this morning. The boys and I had a fun time...we did some crafts, painting, and then went to Walmart, the Dollar Store, and to Sonic for a slushie and then home to eat pizza! It was quite a day, but we had fun! I always love it when the kids find a day in their busy schedule to sleep over and play with Grandma and Grandpa.

Tonight Michelle and Todd picked up the boys and Dennis and I have just been doing things around the house to clean up a bit. I've been on the computer trying to work the blog in a smooth way, but I am sooooo
bad at doing anything cute, clever or darling....so here it is, just the facts.

I hopefully will have some pictures show up at the end, but who knows?
Saturday I found all the pictures of Precious on completely the wrong day and the pictures were HUGE. So much for my vast computer knowledge! Well, I just peeked at the end of this and there ARE pictures, however they have nothing to do with the blog, I just thought you might like to see some pictures of our darling grandkids! Sorry, but gee, aren't they adorable???

Well, tomorrow we'll let you know who gets to complain the loudest, me or Dennis, after our Dr. appointments. I have the feeling he will have the most reason to complain and I'll have the most pain to complain about.
(and I hope neither of us has anything to complain about)

We love and appreciate you. Thanks again for bloggin' along with us!

Queenie and her Man, and most of the grandkids!

Monday, July 22, 2008

2008-07-21T20:29:00.001-07:00

2008-07-20T08:04:00.001-07:00

Saturday, July 19, 2008

2008-07-19T19:47:00.001-07:00

Good Evening:

Dennis still hasn't felt well today. He's been really tired, nauseated, and lightheaded. I feel so badly for him. I stayed awake all night last night

checking on him and after only two hours sleep I got up and asked him if he cared if I went to some garage sales and he said, "Go, I'm so tired I could sleep all day again". So with that permission, I called Todd's mom,

Joy, to see if she wanted to go too, she did and we went and had a ball.

We were supposed to go to Birthday lunches for each other, but instead when we both ran out of money, we went to I HOP and had breakfast. That was fun and we both got lotsa "bargains".

I was home before 11 and Dennis was just waking up. He has still felt

really tired all day and finally the phone rang and it was our dear Larry
Reaveley wondering how Dennis was and offering to give him a blessing.

Soon he and Chuck McHenry arrived and gave both of us a blessing and we were so grateful that our friends are so in tune as to know when to call and offer their help. Thanks so much Larry and Chuck!

Another thank you to the Broadhead Family. Their two boys, Garrett and Ben came over again and mowed our lawn. They've done it all summer so far and we are so grateful to them. They are outstanding young men and we want to thank them and their wonderful parents for teaching them how to help people. They are always so happy to help us whether it is mowing the lawn, or carrying "bargains" in from the car for me. They act like they actually "like" to help the Adams'. What great guys...Thanks so much all you Broadheads!

Again a thanks to the "Sprinkler Committee"...every other day when it goes off, I feel like standing at attention and saluting it and shouting

"HooRay for the Little Ctnwd Young and Older Men"! Boy, what a dream come true to have our water come automatically! Thanks to one and all!

(Especially Wade and Bryan). You are ALL wonderfully!

Today was an emotional day for Dennis and I as we decided we were no longer giving our little Maltese the attention she needs. We are too wrapped up in the current problems of the day. So, we asked Joy (Todd's mother) if she would be interested in adopting Precious and she said "Yes". She loves dogs and her two older dogs passed away not too long ago and she was ready to get another dog and she's tended Precious for us before and just loves her. I have to admit on the way over to Joy's I was bawling my eyes out, but when we arrived at Joy's and Precious just

jumped out of the car and ran up to her house and acted as happy as a little clam, I decided she could care less who owns her as long as she gets all the love and hugs she needs and she will get lots from sweet Joy. So

I dried my tears and thought what a great adoption placement I had just made and felt good about it...they are a good fit! Thanks Joy!

Well, I've been trying to do this blog for hours and Dennis just tried to walk down the hall and about passed out, so I think I better go do my

"nurse" job and help him....this seems so odd that I am the helper for a change and he is the one in need.

Thanks again to all of you for your thoughts and prayers.

Love ya all,

Queenie and her King

2008-07-19T18:13:00.001-07:00

Friday, July 18, 2008

2008-07-18T18:53:00.000-07:00

Today we said "good bye" to the Andersen family as they left to return home to Arko, ID.
We've really enjoyed having them here these past few days, they are such a great young
couple and as I mentioned before they brought their sweet sister to help with the kids and the little kids were so good and so fun. I think we all bonded even more. Before you know it we will be taking out adoption papers and adopting the whole bunch of them!
Anyway, it was a treat to have them in our home and they brought a great spirit with them.

Barbara wasn't feeling too well after her infusion, and Dennis was feeling great.....UNTIL
this morning and then it hit!..... He came home from work shortly after noon and was so pale and sick to his stomach and so tired he could hardly move. He said all morning he had just kept falling asleep and I thought, "hmmm, he is driving lawyers from courthouse to their office, not too good to be sleeping on the job". Thank goodness he made it home without any problem and just went to bed.

I was in touch with the Physician's assistant pretty much all afternoon and she called in a different pill for nausea. Apparently, the one he took this morning was supposed to be
"one every six hours" and a mistake had been written "take two every six hours", that
seemed to account for the extreme sleepiness, but the nausea and lightheadedness
were a different thing. He's on an antibiotic for his urinary tract problem, and we're hoping that it will clear up soon so he won't have to go into the urologist again. We'll just wait and see, but I surely hate to see him feeling so rotten. I guess it is to be expected with the chemo, but he's been so lucky so far that I was assuming that he would just breeze through this like a champ! (silly me) Anyway, new request: don't forget to pray for him (and also Barbara). Thank you!

So, as you can tell we've had a pretty low-key day. I did at least shower! (The neighbors
have quit complaining about the odor in the air), and I feel better even if I don't look any
better! Jay (my brother) just called and said he and Lynne are dropping off some nectarines for us. They have been so darn sweet and thoughtful throughout this whole time, they'll never know how much we love and appreciate all their kindnesses. So,
Jay and Lynne, if you're reading this...We love you and thank you for EVERYTHING!

Marilyn and her Man

Thursday, July 17, 2008

2008-07-17T21:12:00.000-07:00

Here we are again. Just a note to let you know about today's events. Barb and Trevor went to her treatment at 8:30 a.m. The treatment went well, and here on the home-front it went very well too. Kaeloni was a wonderful help,
(I would say more like she was the head babysitter and I was the babysitter-
watcher). Anyway, the kids were so good and Kaeloni and I enjoyed getting to know each other better. She is such a sweet girl and her name in Hawaiian means "Heavenly Child", and she is truly just that! I hope she can come every time they come for Barb's treatment. We've really enjoyed having the Anderson gang here and have bonded more and more. Boston wasted no time in calling us Grandma and Grandpa and wanted us to be with him most of the time. He was really cute and little Brynn would just coo and giggle the whole time. So all in all, we had a very good day.

The nurse called from Dr. Ward's office and said that Dennis' urinalysis yesterday showed a few problems: (1) blood in the urine (2) bacteria in the urine and (3) sugar in the urine. So, she called in an antibiotic and said if it doesn't clear up within the week, to get hold of Dr Middleton and see if the bleeding has anything to do with his prostrate problems. They don't want
ANY kind of infection, so red flags waved with vigor today when they checked his test. Hopefully, the antibiotic will clear things up quickly. Other than that problem, he feels fine and is High Council Meeting right now.

On the other hand, poor little Barbara looked so pale tonight and is feeling quite nauseated. My heart ached watching her trying to take care of her little ones and not having the energy or clear stomach to do what she wanted to do. Thank goodness for Trevor, who is so good to her and Kaeloni, who is the "lifesaver" personified! I just hope and pray that a good night's sleep and a few days will help her regain her normal self again and she won't feel so crumby. Again, we ask for your prayers in her behalf as well as in Dennis'.

Not much else to report in on, just wanted to touch base and let you know that we are all in survival mode, some more than others, and we are praying for tender mercies and mighty miracles in behalf of both Dennis and Barbara.

Thanks again for listening and caring and sharing and praying and everything else you wonderful friends and family are doing to make our lives easier.

Blogger Woman and her Man!

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

2008-07-16T21:26:00.000-07:00

Hi There,

Well, #3 down and done! We were at the Huntsman Center for way too many hours today because they were so darn busy. Every chair in the infusion room was taken, so we just had to wait for Dennis' turn. When it finally came (at 2 p.m.) it took another 3 1/2 hours to do the infusion, so we didn't get home until after 6 p.m. Luckily, just as we drove up, the Anderson's from Idaho were just arriving and so we jumped out to greet them and see the beautiful new car they purchased today and then rushed them off with us to the neighborhood children's parade and dinner. They were probably totally overwhelmed at meeting so many new people, but they were so gracious and so nice and everyone kinda knew about them from reading our blog, so they were actually kinda like "movie stars" in their own right! The children were so cute, and Boston felt right at home riding around on any scooter, bike or car that he could find. He even found a helmet and put it on. He's a cute little guy. Brynn is a darling, chubby little girl who smiles at the drop of a hat and is such a good 4 month old baby. They brought Trevor's sister,

Kaloni, who is 15 and such a sweet girl, to help with the kids while they are at treatment tomorrow. I'm sure all will go well and I just hope she does as well with her chemo as Dennis has done so far!

We've taken some pictures, but of course I can't remember how to download them, so I'll fuss around tomorrow until I figure it out and will post pictures then. In the meantime, it's 10:30 pm

and we're all tired and ready for bed, so we'll call it a day ---- in fact we'll call it a GOOD DAY!

and be grateful once again for the tender mercies of the Lord in helping Dennis with these

treatments. We do believe in miracles and we thank you for believing in them too.

Thanks and good night!

Blogger Woman and Her Man of Iron!

Tuesday, July 15, 2008

2008-07-15T17:00:00.000-07:00

Well, it's the night before the next chemo day and I am a little nervous about the big #3, but Dennis is as calm as calm, so I am hoping the Lord will extend another tender mercy to us and let Dennis go through the treatment without any side effects. We have been so blessed up to now!

Our adorable little Anderson couple from Arko, ID, will be arriving tomorrow night to stay with us while she has her treatment on Thursday.
We are really excited to have them stay with us, I just wish I could get around the house better to "unclutter" a few rooms. I think I will have them sign a paper tomorrow that they will promise NEVER TO REVEAL
the shape of our clutter, whoops, I mean HOME! Honestly, it's not horrid, but it's been better. With all our dr. appts. and therapy and chemo, etc., etc., I hurt too badly to walk in another room, and Dennis is so busy doing other things that he only has time to do so much! Oh well, I know they'll have clean sheets on the bed and I know that we will all enjoy being together and in the eternal perspective of things, that's all that really counts!

My niece, Lori, called today to tell us that she knows some people from
Arko, ID, and so she and I are so excited to tell the Anderson's about them and let Lori talk on the phone with them. You'd have to know EVERYONE in the town the size of Arko! Anyway, what a coincidence!
I failed to mention that Lori was on her mission with two people from Arko and she said they must have good stuff in the water because these two friends of hers are just outstanding!

I guess I better get moving and do something instead of sitting here stalling on the Blog. Again, please pray for Dennis that things will continue to go well and that they will for Barbara too. We love you all and thank you for reading this, praying for us, and just caring. God bless all of you!

Queenie and her King

Sunday, July 13, 2008

2008-07-13T16:31:00.000-07:00

Just a quick (she always says) update. This has been a busy, but fun week having Teri, Ann and Adam staying with us while all the "older"

kids and two dads went into the Unitas for a few days. They returned home safely, but not without a few problems. Apparently one of Todd's horses didn't like the idea of carrying every one's "stuff" and was pretty "spooky", enough so that coming out they had to leave a lot of the equipment up there and then Todd went up with another horse the next day to get all of the things they had left when the horse wouldn't carry anything. I can't blame the horse, I wouldn't want to carry everything and watch the people walk in with ease!

Anyway, I feel badly that Todd had to make the "extra" trip in, but he went, he retrieved, he came home safely. That's his story and I'm stickin' to it!

The kids all had a blast. Except for the mosquitoes grabbing them on every part of their bodies, and having to walk miles and miles and miles, and all the other good stuff (like no REAL bathrooms), they are young enough to think it was wonderful! They are looking forward to going again next year.

Matt had a great experience at EFY and although he missed out on the fishing trip, he learned so much and grew even more spiritually from the wonderful time in Provo. It's extra special to him because Steve was so involved with EFY and that's where he and Deanne met. Steve was a Leader over groups of counselors and Deanne was the cutest counselor in the place.....so naturally they hooked up and the rest was history.

I haven't talked to Deanne yet, but she was in a Triathlon this past weekend and I'm anxious to hear how she did. Swimming, biking and running. Oh, kill me right now even thinking of doing it.

Dennis was able to go to Church today, in fact, TWO churches. He went to our ward and then went to another ward for their Ward conference. He has the new "Kojack" look and took a lot of kidding about it, but people were so happy to see him and everyone was so kind and concerned about how he was doing. He was his usual happy, positive self and I've decided that he has a very nice perfectly shaped head to wear his new "do". We both went in to renew our temple recommends and that is always special to have an interview with the Bishop and look inside to see how worthy you really are.

Our Bishop is such a wonderful man. I've talked about him before, but he never ceases to amaze me. He is so young in years, but so wise and caring in his love for the people of our ward. I have had a bit of trouble lately with my emotions and I cry at the drop of a hat. He was kind enough to take too much time with me, but gave me a beautiful blessing and I felt and feel so much calmer and better since. He is the type of person that never makes you feel like you are taking too much of his time and is so sincere and so in tune. If you're reading this, Bishop Arrigona, thank you so much for all you do for us and everyone else. He also interviewed Dennis and was so kind and helpful to him also. We both feel so blessed to have him as our Bishop during this time.

Talked for a minute with our cute little Idaho couple and they are planning to come and stay with us this week when she and Dennis have their treatments. She has lost her hair too, but her husband said she had a great week as far as not being sick like before. I am so glad to hear that, she is such a darling. We are going to talk tonight to finalize plans for this week. Thanks for remembering her in your prayers too!

This may be the end of this "short" (ha ha) blog, and it may not be..depending if anything exciting or interesting happens in the next few hours, but for now, good night and thanks again for your love, support and prayers!

Blogger Woman and her Kojack!

P.S. Nothing exciting happened, so good night and we send our love!

2008-07-09T20:09:00.000-07:00

2008-07-09T20:03:00.000-07:00

Wednesday, July 9, 2008

2008-07-09T18:45:00.000-07:00

Hi There,

Here we are again! I can't believe it is Wednesday already. Dennis starts infusion (chemo) therapy on Wednesdays starting next week. They were on Thursdays before. That is actually a better day for him as he is not as busy at work on Wednesdays and can take it off easier. Our sweet new friends from Idaho, (The Anderson's) will still have her treatments on Thursday, so hopefully they will be here to stay with us next week. We are anxious to have them stay with us.

As I said before, Teri and her two youngest have been with us since Monday when the older kids went with Ed and Todd to the Unitas's to hike in and fish. We've had a fun time! Teri and Michelle hung out together today and had a ball taking the little ones to a water park in Herriman, going to the temple and then going out to eat. Teri and Ann just got home and Adam decided to spend the night at Michelle's with Dallin. So
I think everyone is happy. The rest of the troops will be back tomorrow night and then the Hegemann's will head back to Idaho to resume making their "millions" on their Snow Shak and Firework's Stand. They have really done well on both of them so far this summer, but it's hard to leave and trust other people to run them for you. But, they found some good reliable people and so far everything seems to be running well. They've taken on quite the responsibilities with these little adventures!

Teri went to the Dr. for her "pregnancy" check up and they heard the heartbeat of the baby and so that is exciting. She is POSITIVE it's a boy, and I'm leaning towards a girl. I think because I have so many little girl outfits put away for her. Oh well, HE will look just "darling" in little girl pink!

Michelle is doing better after all her accidents this past month. She can now (#1) turn her head, (#2) put some weight on her knee and (#3) her bruises from being thrown from Jay's boat are starting to heal! The last one was a REAL journal entry. Dennis was driving the boat, Michelle was sitting in the top captain's chair, and Dennis turned to say something to Todd, hit a wave and Michelle catapulted about 30 feet into the air and into Strawberry Reservoir (without a life jacket)....oh, what COULD
have happened is scary to think about, but luckily all she ended up with were many bruises and a panicked family and Dad. After they rescued her and realized she was going to live, Dennis and Todd chuckled, but the kids were still shook up by the time they got home. They love their mom and it wasn't funny at all to them!

I'm still limping around with my toes, feet and hip; but I have had my new "bridgework of teeth" installed by our dear friend, Martin Bingham. He did a great job and it is one of the best, if not the best, crown threesome I've ever had (and I've had my share). He is an excellent dentist and I would recommend him highly if any of you are looking for a good one. We have so much fun laughing when I go in, he has to schedule 3 hours for a half hours worth of work...I keep talking and he can't get his hands in my mouth! (Imagine that, I TALK TOO MUCH!)

Dennis is trying to get used to the idea of being a "skin head", but he says it is a lot better than sitting there watching his hair fall into his cereal milk! I'm getting used to it, but he still looks so different to me! Handsome as ever, of course, but different.
He hasn't had to shave in a few days, so the hair on his face is gradually disappearing.
His eyebrows and eyelashes are starting to retreat and we're guessing if the nose-hairs will go or not! If any of you have been through this experience, what happened with you?

I went to water aerobics again this morning and it was wonderful again. What beautiful weather (at 8:30 in the morning) and so refreshing and great to start the day that way. I am so grateful to live in such a beautiful part of the Lord's vineyard.

Well, this was supposed to be a short update (what was that about me talking too much????) Anyway, I proved my point - I DO go on and on. We're fine, the Lord is so good to us and we love Him so very much for all He is doing and has done to help us get through the beginning of this "different" experience. Thanks again for all you do for us, we apparently need all the prayers you can spare! Bless you all!

Queenie and her man

2008-07-08T09:34:00.000-07:00

Pictures of "the man" (Kojack)

Teri and all the kids are having way too much fun
cutting all sorts of designs in Dennis' hair. Today
he will go from "Hair Today and Gone Tomorrow" and
"Skin is In" > He does a mighty fine Kojack impression!

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

Monday July 7, 2008

2008-07-07T20:13:00.000-07:00

Good Evening to all of you.....

Today was the day called: "Hair today = Gone Tomorrow"!

We had the official shaving of the head of Grandpa. Brooke, Benson, Adam, Ann and Sam were all here to witness and participate in the cutting of the bald. We got some great pictures, but when I downloaded them, of course through my usual vast computer knowledge, the pictures have again spun into outer darkness and until Ed comes back here, we have no hope of retrieving them! Oh well, if not tonight, tomorrow.

All the kids were grossing out because Dennis' hair was coming out in handfuls since the chemo last Thursday. Dennis was eating some cereal and looked down in the milk and low and behold there were clumps of hair floating in the milk.....yuck! Luckily, Teri and Ed and kids were coming down tonight so that Ed and Todd could go into the Unitas's with the oldest kids and backpack for a few days. They were all excited and I am so excited to have Teri and the two younger ones stay here with Me and Michelle and Dallin...we will lots more fun staying clean than they will wallowing in the dirt! Dennis has always gone in with them, but his energy level isn't at the highest right now, so he'll stay home and be with the "girly-girls". But, we'll love having him here with us!

Tomorrow I get to have my bridge with the teeth put back in by the noted genius, Dr. Martin Bingham. What a blessing he is to us. I'll be so glad to have "real, fake" teeth once again.

Tonight Ann is having so much fun chasing our poor dog around the house. I think she's mad at her, because they are trying to get the binky away from Ann, and when I threw the
binky to Teri, she caught it and said, "Oh no, Precious caught your binky and ate it all gone. Will you share with Precious?" Ann looked all over and then said, "Okay I will share my binky with Precious". And then she hasn't mentioned it since. I guess she really thinks the dog ate it. However, the dog is paying the price because she is chasing her and throwing everything she picks up at the dog and then says, "I love you Precious". Pretty tricky!

Well, time to put the little ones to bed. Just wanted you to know that "Kojak has been reincarnated and Dennis does a mighty fine imitation of him now." Actually, he has a nice shaped head and looks really good.....as they say, "Skin is in" and boy, is he ever in!

Sleep tight and maybe the "bald pictures will magically appear".

Thanks again for your caring and sharing. WE BELIEVE IN MIRACLES!!!!

Queen Updater

Happy 4th of July, 2008!!

2008-07-04T20:04:00.000-07:00

Happy 4th! Are we a blessed nation, or what? I just hope with the way politics are going (or not going) we can stay that way. We really do need to
pray constantly for our elected officials. (Where the heck did that blog of
political wisdom come from????) Anyway, let's do it!

We are so happy to report that Dennis is still feeling fine today! No one, even
at the Huntsman can believe how well he is doing. Hip Hip Hooray! He went up for his "booster shot" today and was able to drive himself up and back. It was a good thing because as I was bragging about my energized spirit the last few days......well, it flew the coop and the body came out and let me know where I really stand (lay). Anyway, I was so hyped last night about Dennis that I didn't sleep much (as usual), and I got up at 4 a.m. and started repainting the bathroom mirror which I decided during the night looked awful.....well, at
5 a.m. it didn't look much better, so I started over and by 7 a.m. I didn't care
how it looked, I was exhausted. I started to try to do a couple of little things
and the old body said, "Whoa, we're spending the day in bed". The body won
and I slept nearly all day, waking only to open my eyes, think, "I ought to move", and then go back to sleep. I think I've just had Dennis and treatments on my mind so much and when it was finally over and everything good, so far, I just collapsed! It sure felt good and I am STILL in my nightgown and getting ready to go to bed when I finish this Blog! THAT my friends is the height of laziness, and I loved it!

Well, I hope the rest of you got to do some fun things to celebrate the 4th, but it was so darn hot again I don't think I would have gone outside even if I had been awake! (I know, I'm pathetic).

This is a short one, but just wanted you to know that all is well still today, and for that wonderful blessing we could not be happier. Thank you again dear ones, for your thoughts, cares and prayers.....and what's our motto????

"WE BELIEVE IN MIRACLES!!!" Yeah, don't forget it!

Love to you all,

Queenie, the Blogger-Woman

Thursday, July 3, 2008 - A double YaHoo Kinda Day!

2008-07-03T20:27:00.000-07:00

HELLO EVERYONE!

This has been one heck of a dippity do dah day!!!! The second chemo treatment and no sickness, no tired, no nothing---but good! Oh, how grateful
we are to the Lord for this wonderful tender mercy He is showing so far to Dennis and myself. Thanks to all of you for your prayers and thoughts and fasting and caring and love!!

We hit the Huntsman Center at 10:30 a.m., and after they had determined that Dennis' blood counts were okay to have the infusion today,and they were, they shipped us down to the infusion room and started the IV at about 11:00 a.m. and ended at 3:30 and all went sooooo well. I just cried (as usual) but for happiness and thankfulness and all that good stuff. The dr. and nurses and infusion nurses could not believe that he didn't get sick or real tired from the first treatment and son of a gun, so far (and I say that with my knees on the ground and my fingers crossed, just in case) he is feeling perfectly normal! We are both so relieved and happy for this one more week of pure blessing.

I just called to him a minute ago to make sure I could write this blog and say
"all is well, all is well", and he said "Go for it!" So, here we are, going for it!

The darling little couple that I mentioned in our earlier blog, the ones from
Idaho, were there again and we saved them a seat next to us again so we could finalize the plans of them staying with us when she has her infusions.
Bless her heart, she's had it rougher this time than Dennis, but I told her to remember that she just had a new baby 3 months ago and her body is trying to regain health from that and then to have to go through a double radical mastectomy and then start all this chemo, we think she is a miracle to just be here.

We invited them to stay with us throughout her treatments. It's silly for them to pay for a motel when we have plenty of room for them, so they are planning to stay with us for the rest of her treatments. She is on Thursdays, but they changed Dennis to Wednesdays now, so that will work out well. They can come Wednesday, after Dennis' treatment and then we can watch their two little kids on Thursday while she has her treatment. Then they can stay over and get her shot the next day and then head home and not have to leave her little ones so often. They are just the cutest, sweetest little couple and Dennis and I just love them already. I think this will be a great experience for all of us. We can kinda help build each other up. Please add her to your prayers too...her name is Barbara and his is Trevor (Anderson) and they are from Arko, ID, (not Akron, like I said in the first blog...duh). Their little two and a half year old boy is Boston, and the baby girl is Brynn. I just hope and pray she can have an easier time this time than last. I told her that her tender mercy from the Lord was that her new baby has been sleeping all through the night since Barb had her first surgery. That for sure is a blessing.

Anyway, as you can tell by how many times I ask you to pray for yet another person, you can see that our circle of friends is growing through this trial and we feel fortunate to be able to be of some help to some other children of our Heavenly Father. Thank you for helping out in the prayer department, how grateful we are for you dear, dear friends and family. We got such nice notes from Dennis' two sisters, Diane and LuAnn, wishing him the best and of course from our children and Linda and Carol and Dale and their children, aunts and uncles, cousins, in-laws and out-laws, friends and more family and friends...wow! It's overwhelming, in such a wonderful way. We really have a great support group when we start to count. And of course, we are so grateful for the thoughtfulness of Dennis' dear Mother, Effie. We both love her so much and are so inspired by her 91 years of service to her fellow beings and her Father in Heaven. What a wonderful example of love and kindness, and being humble (and the list goes on) she is and has always been. She has been through so many trials and yet she is always so positive and happy and willing to help......Gee, I wonder where Dennis gets all those same great qualities from???? She is a perfect elect lady, and Mom, we love you!

I've had so much energy lately, if I could just not hurt so badly, I could tear thru this house in 5 minutes, but the body moves slowly and the spirit moves quickly, so yesterday the "spirit" painted the bathroom vanity, cleaned out the linen closet, went to water aerobics, went to physical therapy, cleaned the toy room downstairs, did loads of washing and then the body grabbed the spirit and said, "Stop it you fool or you'll never be able to walk again!" With that, I collapsed on the bed with elephant-size swollen ankles and every bone in my body screaming for relief (dramatic enough for you?) and tried to go to sleep, but again that little old spirit of mine was too worn out to go to sleep, so I laid there all night and "thought" about what I should be doing. By this morning a sore throat had set in and I'm doing my best to steer clear of Dennis; I would die if I got him sick.

By the way this is the week he should start losing those silver strands of hair.
Shall we try to guess how many hairs a day he will lose? Send in your vote to our "comment" blog and the one closest will win a check signed personally by us for TWO MILLION DOLLARS!!! There is one small catch,
please don't try to cash it or you and we will all be embarrassed to death. But it's a nice thought and a fun little contest. Whoops, I can tell my energy is lagging and I better close before this is called the dopey blog instead of the
"He did it again" blog!

Thanks again to all of you---- we send our love and we really do BELIEVE IN
MIRACLES!!!!!

Love,

Queenie

July 1st, already - wow! 2008

2008-07-01T22:45:00.000-07:00

Hi There Again,

Boy, this one should be good....I'm so tired I can't see straight, but wanted to blog a little
blogger before I hit the sack. Try, try, try as hard as you can to make sense of this, when I talk 'bout my man!

Today I finished my "go-fer" duties and got the van registered, new windshield in it to pass inspection and made the overwhelming trip to the DMV to renew everything! There were at least six zillion people there doing pretty much the same as I was and I think I was one of about 8 people who spoke English and were Caucasion! Talk about feeling in the minority! Whew. Of couse after receiving my number, the only seat available was sitting next to a very "leave me alone" young Africian American man. I could tell he wasn't in the mood to chat, so of course I began chatting with him. What an eye opener. I shared with him our "death trail" over the past few years and he looked at me and said, "Ma'm I don't know how you can deal with all of these deaths in your family and still seem happy and normal (well, we all know that normal is not a very good description of me, but hey, this was our first meeting) He had lost a half sister to cancr and a half brother who had been shot to death. He had so many problems, that my heart went out to him. We finally sat there long enough, that we were bonded and best friends when all of the sudden it was my turn to pay up or ship out. After I finished, I felt I must do something to help him. He seemed so alone and so needy. He has no family just he and a world whom he feels there is no one who cares whether he lives or dies. The feeling of wanting to help him was so strong that I went back to him and said, would you mind if I prayed for you? He said, "no Ma'm, I would apprecite it, I haven't got anyone I trust enough to think they would care enough to do that". I told him that I would, I got his name and then I asked him if he would pray for Dennis and he got teary and said he would be happy to do that. He told me his name was Alex Polk, and I am putting out a plea that if any of you need someone else to pray for, please add his name to your list and pray that he might find peace and feel love from someone, especially our Heavenly Father....and if you're really into this like I am, pray that some way, some how, the missionaries might find him and teach him the gospel. I told him I was LDS and that being a member and believing as we do is what gets me through each day. Wow, that was a long story, but I can't get him off my mind and thought I'd give all our blog readers a chance to pray for a poor lost soul. Thanks for remembering Alex in your prayers, that could be another miracle!

After that I ran errands and then came home dead-tired, but couldn't stop until I'd done a few washings and cleaned the toy room. Now that was a little too ambitious of a plan, but I worked until 10:30 pm when Dennis came home from fishing with Todd, Michelle and kids.

That is another amazingly scarey story. They were in Jay's boat, having a ball, catching fish, when Dennis turned to say something to Todd and hit a wave and Michelle sitting up top in the captain's chair literally flew 30 to 40 feet off the boat and into the water...with no life belt on. I'll tell you that Dennis and Todd and the kids were paniced and poor Michelle was out playing "Little Mermaid" in the water. Thank goodness she was okay, they got her in the boat, stripped her down to some warm, dry clothes and continued fishing!
That could have been such a tragedy and thank goodness the Lord was watching out for them and everything turned out okay including the fact that they caught a gazillion fish and the kids had a ball. Then a storm came up and they fought huge waves, getting literally soaked to death with Dennis driving as slow as possible to get them to shore.
All in all, Seth said that part was the funnest! Better than Lagoon! Dennis could finally laugh about everything after they got home, but it was panic-ville for a few times. We said a very grateful prayer when he got home!

I'm finishing this on Wednesday morning, because I fell asleep so many times typing last night that nothing was readable. Today there is too much to read!

Tomorrow is the big 2nd treatment....I am nervous about it, but as Dennis says, "Don't worry about what hasn't happened yet." So, I'll keep you posted on how he does.

Again, thanks for all your faith and prayers! You are loved by us. And thank you to those who have posted comments, it means so much to us to read and hear what you are thinking and what you have to say to us. Until tomorrow!......

The Blessed Bunch
Mama Blogger reporting

Monday Evening, June 30, 2008

2008-06-30T17:46:00.000-07:00

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

2008-06-30T06:44:00.000-07:00

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

2008-06-26T18:19:00.001-07:00

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

2008-06-25T21:16:00.001-07:00

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

2008-06-24T17:27:00.000-07:00

Sunday, June 22, 2008 - Happy Birthday Mom Wilson

2008-06-22T22:01:00.000-07:00

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

2008-06-21T18:15:00.000-07:00

Saturday, June 21, 2008

2008-06-21T16:29:00.000-07:00

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

2008-06-20T19:25:00.000-07:00

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

2008-06-19T20:34:00.000-07:00

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

2008-06-18T17:29:00.000-07:00

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

2008-06-16T08:00:00.000-07:00

Wednsday, June 11, 2008

2008-06-11T19:24:00.000-07:00

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

2008-06-06T20:46:00.000-07:00

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

2008-06-04T20:13:00.000-07:00

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

Friday, May 30, 2008

2008-05-30T20:16:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone!

Well, maybe we have the miracle we have been hoping and praying for. We've been up to the Huntsman today for more
tests (bone scans) so the Dr. could see how far the cancer has metathesised(sp?) into the bones. The Dr. is in Chicago
at a breast cancer convention, so I sat and called for the hours Dennis was in having tests and arranged for the radio-
logist to read the scan as soon as it was finished and have his staff send them by e-mail to Dr. Ward in Chicago. They hoped they could pull it off, but no promises. Tonight, just a few minutes ago, Dr. Ward called and said he felt like he
had some better news than the last time we were in there. He
said he can't say for positive, because he isn't looking at the original films (which he will do on Monday when he returns), but that the cancer is still in the remaining lymph
nodes in his collarbone, but not in as many places in his bones as he had first thought. He said he thought by the looks of things that the cancer was just in the pelvis and his rib area. However, that will be tentative until he is back in town. He said he will probably treat it with chemo
and then after he checks everything and Dennis heals some more he will decide what else to do.

He is doing a conference on breast cancer this Thurs. and he is going to present Dennis' case because it is so unusual. There will be radiologists, surgeons, chemo and radiation therapists, and Dr's of all types of cancer, but particularly
breast cancer. I'm quite sure the surgeon told us about these meetings and said we were welcome to come to them. I'm going to check on the time and hope that Michelle and I can attend and get some more information.

Anyway, any tiny, little piece of good news that we can hear is just the BEST~! I can't quit smiling, I feel a lot better about the chances of getting rid of this crazy thing called cancer!!

More good and equally exciting news is that Teri and Ed called tonight and had Adam announced to us that "His mother
is PREGNANT"! Yes, folks, good news comes at the bleakest hour if it is the Lord's will. And we hope and pray that her pregnancy will go well and that Dennis will be able to have many more years here with us!!

Now, I want to thank you all again for fasting and praying for Dennis and myself. Our names have been on prayer roles in Temples as far away as Tokyo,Hawaii, Washington DC, and all over the United States. Thank you all so much. The power of many prayers sometimes brings those miracles you hope and pray for and yet, in other circumstances, in our family and yours, the answer sometimes has to be "No". Those are the hardest of times, but when we look back at the growth we have gained with each trial, how much better we understand what we needed to learn at that time.

I would like you to know that I "THINK" in the pre-mortal life our Heavenly Father let me stand and pick out the man who would be the most wonderful man for me and I really think we must have gotten to choose our parents, our wonderful children and grandchildren and all our beloved extended families and, believe it or not, I think we got to pick out the finest people that would be here at this time to be our dearest, most wonderful friends----and that is each and every one of you!!(absoloutly no proof of any of that, but in my heart I feel it has
to be true because how could one lowly little family be so blessed?--that's my story and I'm stickin' to it!!!!)

No words can express the love and thankfulness we feel for each of you and the caring and everything you do to help and support us. YOU are wonderful and WE are blessed! Thank you!

Especially thanks to those of you who have called or written to say they have or will be fasting in Dennis' (and my) behalf. That means the world to us, and our children, spouses, and grandchildren wanted to thank you all too for being so good to their mom and dad/grandpa and grandma.

Big, juicy kisses from all of us to you. I hope after next
Wednesday's appointment we'll still be feeling better about
this whole situation. Again, God bless you and thank you from us!

YES, DEAR FRIENDS, WE DO BELIEVE IN MIRACLES!!
(but, don't stop praying!!)

Blogger Babe and Dennis

May 29, 2008

2008-05-29T20:01:00.000-07:00

Wouldn't you know it? The dr. called at 10 pm last night with some of the answers.
When he called Dennis had been up AND throwing up since 5 in the afternoon. He was soooooooo sick.

When the dr. called I told him how sick Dennis was and he said that was normal after all the radio active material they stuck down his wind pipe and that he will probably feel icky for a few more days. Dennis was exhausted and I was too. I stayed up trying to be the "little dedicated housewife" once again. I sure do miss Dennis' cooking!!!

He finally felt well enough to rinse off and go to bed. He stayed there about 10 minutes and then went downstairs and then came up and tried Teri's bed...I think he slept in every bed in this house before he finally settled down. He also threw
up all night and most of today. I think they gave him too much of the radio active
meds to light up the cancers and it made him so sick to his stomach. He basically laid around all day today just trying not to be so tired.

When the dr. called last night I asked him a few questions and he reminded me
(gently) that when he knew ANYTHING he would get hold of us immediately
He basically said he couldn't tell us anything without seeing the bone scans that will be taken tomorrow. He said that he felt over 90% that the cancer had spread to the bones and that it was in his collarbone, hip, legs, pelvis, and sternum, but NO
cancer in his vital organs. Thenk goodness for small favors!

He also said when we go in next week he will have a treatment plan ready for
Dennis to do. He said the nausea would leave when Dennis finishes all the tests
on Friday. They are doing BONE scans to see where and how bad it is. They also found more cancerous nodes in his neck.

But, we're not discouraged yet, because Dennis is relatively young, very strong and
healthy and that will work in his favor.

When I got home from the Pain Clinic Jay and Lynne were here and the bishop had just left. Jay has been so good to us, we really appreciate he and cutie pie, Lynne!

So all we know is no major organs are involoved, more cancer in lymph nodes, and bone cancer in various bones and we'll know the answers about Treatment
when we see him Monday. As he said,"Think the worst and prepare for the best"

So on that note and the fact that Dennis has to go through all that stuff to drink that makes him sick and he'll probably be up all night, and yes, I'll hear him!
I better shut down and try to get some sleep myself!

Thanks again to all of you and may God's choicest blessings be upon you at this time.

Much love,

Logger Babe
Marilyn
We love you and hope all is well with you. More updates later...I'm so tired I could lay down and eat my "shoes" right now....Huh?????

Wednesday, May 28, 2008

2008-05-28T19:47:00.000-07:00

It's nearly 9 p.m. and I've been waiting for the Dr. to call us back so we could ask him some questions about the tests today. It started at
8 a.m. this morning, we arrived bright and early and they took Dennis right back. He had to have a radioactive IV and drink a quart of Voodoo juice to light up the cancer in his body. Michelle was waiting with me and we were happy when two hours later they came to get us. I asked if I could see the scan (since I'm such an expert
on medical things). We went back and yup, it looked like a scan (I guess). The technician looked at me like "Come on you medical genius, tell me about it". I asked if HE could tell us about it and he said, "no", so we went to the waiting room and Michelle and I laughed so hard (you had to be there). She said "Come on mom, use your vast medical knowledge and tell us what you saw". Apparently, Dennis had told him I had a medical background and that's why I wanted to see the scan, so I guess the guy thought I knew something and then realized I knew next to nothing about x-ray scans of the body. I was a little humiliated, but we laughed it off.

When Dennis came out he was quite pale and sick to his stomach from drinking all the yukky stuff. I got him home, fed him a little lunch and then he's just been lying around and feeling light headed for the rest of the day. He just came up an about passed out on me, I am concerned and wish the dr. would call.

Back to the story.....the dr. DID call an hour after we got home (early this afternoon after the tests) and said he had some good and some bad news. The good news was that the cancer had not spread to any of his vital organs. Hooray! But, the bad news was that there are still some lymph nodes in the neck area that are cancer, and it looks suspiciously like bone cancer in the collarbone, pelvis, sternum, hip and legs. We didn't want to hear that.

Therefore, this Friday, Dennis is going up to Huntsman again to have some bone scans done to see if the pet scan was accurate on the bone cancer or not. We just don't know and were to dumb and excited about the organ diagnosis that all questions went out of our minds. The Dr. was going to call us back tonight, but he hasn't called yet and he's headed to Chicago tonight to go to a convention and won't be back until Monday, sooooo, if the results come in soon enough Friday, his nurse will e-mail him and he will call us. Otherwise, here we sit nervously twiddling our thumbs. (At least I am....Dennis is
calmly sitting in a chair being lightheaded and nauseated).

So, dear friends and family who have prayed and worried for us today, THANK YOU, and we wish we had better things to tell you.
Hopefully, we'll be able to add a P.S. to this later and know what the
Dr. has to say. We just want to know the "what if's?" and the "what treatments are we looking at?" and stuff like that. Oh well, this has been a waiting game for two months now, why would it be different?

Again, may you all be blessed for your kindnesses to us at this extremely difficult time. You'll never know how much it means to us to have such a wonderful family and friend support system.

Thanks and love,

Marilyn and Dennis

Tuesday, May 27, 2008

2008-05-27T08:03:00.000-07:00

Hi!

Quick update...tomorrow (Wednesday) is the BIG day when Dennis has his body scan. Finally we will know where the cancer has spread to and be able to treat him if the cancer is in a treatable place. I'm a total nervous wreck, and Dennis seems extra quiet and a little more emotional
I think we'll both be relieved to finally know what's going on and where.

We love you all and thank you for your concern and prayers. With God nothing is impossible, so keep your hopes up and prayers going up too.

Yesterday for Memorial Day we decorated Steve's grave here and then went down to Orem to decorate my mom's and dad's graves. Sweet little Mom Wilson fixed a lovely dinner for us, with al our favorite items and we
got an update on all you old Eldredge folks and what you are up to. Dick called us yesterday morning, and of course, he gave us a lot more info
than Mom did. What a character he is!

We enjoyed being with mom, she is such a wonderful comfort and we love her so much!

Well, keep your fingers crossed and your knees on the ground for tomorrow's test and we'll let you know as soom as we do.

Love to all,

The QUEEN Blogger!

May 25, 2008

2008-05-25T15:57:00.000-07:00

Hi. Short update...yesterday Dr. Ward called and said that all the blood tests he did on Dennis turned out normal, which he said "made him very happy". We don't know much about that, but we're happy too I guess!

It was so fun this weekend when Deanne and the kids came up to see us and stayed overnight and then went to church. Everyone raved about how cute Deanne and the kids are and it was so fun to have them there to brag about. It really seemed to perk Dennis up--as he always enjoys the grandkids so much! Michelle, Todd and kids came over after church and we had a light lunch and good conversation. It was so fun to all be together again. It is so fun having everyone within 3 hours of our house. That's it for today.

Love,
The Queen Blogger

2008-05-24T12:40:00.001-07:00

Friday 23, 2008
Hello to all of you,Today was quite the day. I left for my Dr's appt. at 8:00 a.m. and didn't finish until 12 noon when I dashed over to the Huntsman Cancer Center to meet Dr. Ward with Dennis. The Center is really beautiful and the people there are so caring and kind. We didn't know the intention of this meeting, but soon realized it was for us to meet Dr. Ward's whole team. Rozie, Ann, Mary, Lynn and a few others whose names I can't remember were introduced to us and they were all very kind, patient and serving with their hearts as well as their hands.They checked Dennis' incision and said it looked good, except he still has the two drains in it and they are not very close to being ready to come out yet. So, he's still dragging them around with him. The Dr. basically said that we won't know the complete treatment plan until after next Wednesday when Dennis has the scan. The Dr. said that surprisingly enough, they are finding that men with breast cancer are responding quite well to women's hormones. So, his plan is to see how far and where the cancer has spread to, (hence, the scan), and then develop a full aggressive plan of attack. He also said that it would be an advantage if it had spread a little to places that he could zap with a healthy dose of chemo and radiation and with the hormones too. I really didn't understand a lot of his plan, but Dennis seemed to feel good about everything and is still really positive and upbeat about getting started. I just hate to see him get too sick from the chemo, but if it will do something to prolong his life I'm all for it! In short, we were really impressed with Dr. Ward and his whole staff and in the "other" short, we are anxiously awaiting next Wednesday and then getting down to business. We'll be updating as soon as we know anything.As for my appointment (you can stop reading here if you just wanted an update on Dennis, but this will be my "journal" of this time in our lives and so I'm including other things too). Anyway, back to "my appointment", I went into the Neuro Surgeon about my constant back pain. He took 12 more x-rays and basically said that I have osteoporosis so badly that I could not take a risk on having surgery on any part of my spine. The neck is still quite precarious, but surgery might not work and could even make it worse, so we'll leave it alone. The lower back is the main problem now. The two discs are sitting side by side instead of stacked and are bone on bone. Again, there is no way he would do surgery because of my bone density and the chance of being paralyzed or in worse pain than before. Then above those two discs there is more arthritis and bone spurs that need to be removed, but for the same reason this won't happen. In essence, I'm stuck having the pain until the spine collapses and then who knows where I'll be. However, the one bright side is that he wants me to try some kind of injection that an "injection specialist" does, and no, I don't know what it is, but it isn't cortisone. He would put it between the two lower side by side discs and see if that would relieve some of my pain and maybe even help the neuropathy in my left foot. Anyway, ya hoo, one more challenge, boy, does the Lord love us or what???? The answer has to be YES, for Him to trust us with the trails we have been given, we only hope we can be worthy to return to him as "survivors," not "belly-achers". Thanks for enduring the reading of today's novel....shorter next time, I hope. We love you all and again, thank you for your thoughts, calls, prayers, smiles, and the love that streams from your hearts to ours...we feel your love and thank you!Love,he Queen BlogerPosted by The Queen updater at 8:47 PM

2008-05-24T12:34:00.001-07:00

Hello to all of you,Today was quite the day. I left for my Dr's appt. at 8:00 a.m. and didn't finish until 12 noon when I dashed over to the Huntsman Cancer Center to meet Dr. Ward with Dennis. The Center is really beautiful and the people there are so caring and kind. We didn't know the intention of this meeting, but soon realized it was for us to meet Dr. Ward's whole team. Rozie, Ann, Mary, Lynn and a few others whose names I can't remember were introduced to us and they were all very kind, patient and serving with their hearts as well as their hands.They checked Dennis' incision and said it looked good, except he still has the two drains in it and they are not very close to being ready to come out yet. So, he's still dragging them around with him. The Dr. basically said that we won't know the complete treatment plan until after next Wednesday when Dennis has the scan. The Dr. said that surprisingly enough, they are finding that men with breast cancer are responding quite well to women's hormones. So, his plan is to see how far and where the cancer has spread to, (hence, the scan), and then develop a full aggressive plan of attack. He also said that it would be an advantage if it had spread a little to places that he could zap with a healthy dose of chemo and radiation and with the hormones too. I really didn't understand a lot of his plan, but Dennis seemed to feel good about everything and is still really positive and upbeat about getting started. I just hate to see him get too sick from the chemo, but if it will do something to prolong his life I'm all for it! In short, we were really impressed with Dr. Ward and his whole staff and in the "other" short, we are anxiously awaiting next Wednesday and then getting down to business. We'll be updating as soon as we know anything.As for my appointment (you can stop reading here if you just wanted an update on Dennis, but this will be my "journal" of this time in our lives and so I'm including other things too). Anyway, back to "my appointment", I went into the Neuro Surgeon about my constant back pain. He took 12 more x-rays and basically said that I have osteoporosis so badly that I could not take a risk on having surgery on any part of my spine. The neck is still quite precarious, but surgery might not work and could even make it worse, so we'll leave it alone. The lower back is the main problem now. The two discs are sitting side by side instead of stacked and are bone on bone. Again, there is no way he would do surgery because of my bone density and the chance of being paralyzed or in worse pain than before. Then above those two discs there is more arthritis and bone spurs that need to be removed, but for the same reason this won't happen. In essence, I'm stuck having the pain until the spine collapses and then who knows where I'll be. However, the one bright side is that he wants me to try some kind of injection that an "injection specialist" does, and no, I don't know what it is, but it isn't cortisone. He would put it between the two lower side by side discs and see if that would relieve some of my pain and maybe even help the neuropathy in my left foot. Anyway, ya hoo, one more challenge, boy, does the Lord love us or what???? The answer has to be YES, for Him to trust us with the trails we have been given, we only hope we can be worthy to return to him as "survivors," not "belly-achers". Thanks for enduring the reading of today's novel....shorter next time, I hope. We love you all and again, thank you for your thoughts, calls, prayers, smiles, and the love that streams from your hearts to ours...we feel your love and thank you!Love,he Queen Bloger

Dennis Update - Thurs. May 22, 2008

2008-05-22T21:22:00.000-07:00

Well, I did it again...composed and then pushed a button and lost it all. Dang! We'll try again.

We had a fun day, not too much "medical" to report. We went up to Logan to Grandparent's day, invited by our granddaughter, Emily.
She was so cute and so excited to see us and we were so excited to see her. They put on a darling program of poems and mini-plays and then our Miss Emily was the Grand Finale! She recited a huge poem all memorized and dramatized to the hilt! It was so darling For sure she should be headed to Broadway, she's a talented little darlin'.

After the program we went to eat lunch with her and it was really fun too. Then we went back into her room and played a card game. After that we had to head for the hills because our dear neighbors, Karl and Lyle Ann were bringing supper to us. Everyone is so kind and the food is so delicious! Some day I'll learn to cook AGAIN!

Now Dennis is at his High Council Thurs. night meeting. Yes folks you heard it right....suffering from cancer and still follows through on his Church assignments. That's another reason I love him so much!

Tomorrow is the big day....we go see the Oncologiest at 12:30 p.m.
Hope he'll have some uplifting things to say (for a change), we'll be anxious to meet with him. Next Wed. Dennis has the body scan to see where the cancer has spread to. I will be so glad when that day gets here so we will have some idea of what we are dealing with.

Thanks again for all your prayers and kindnessess...we are completely overwhelmed at the love we feel from everyone. We ask that God will bless all of you too. AND REMEMBER, WE BELIEVE
IN MIRACLES!!!!

The Queen Updater

Wednesday, May 21, 2008

2008-05-21T19:05:00.000-07:00

Hi!

The pictures are of Teri and Dennis having a father/daughter moment and the other is Dennis enjoying his new "garage sale" chair..

Today Dr. Ward's office called and said Dr. Ward wanted to talk to us on Friday at
12:30 p.m. (Dr. Ward is our Oncologist). He's booked up for 3 or 4 months, but apparently has some things he wants to discuss before Dennis goes in for the Petscan or Pepscan or Bodyscan, or something like that! He is scheduled for the test next Wednesday at 8:30 a.m. We are waiting anxiously for this test because it will show us where the cancer has traveled.

It's been a good day for Dennis, he worked a few hours today and then came home and took it easy. We had dear friends bring us soup for supper and it was so delicious,
thanks so much to all of you who care so very much...you are so appreciated.

Last night as I was writing the Blog, I was so tired I kept falling asleep and banging my head on the computer monitor. I was sooooo tired, but I decided I wanted a low-fat fudgecycle before I went to bed (first big mistake.) I got one, put the TV on timer and I figured I fell asleep faster than I thought because when I woke up this morning, I had fudge ice cream all over my neck, face, nightgown, covers and to top it off, I was still holding the fudge bar's stick in my hand! Now, that's tired!

Tomorrow we are going up to Providence to go to Grandparents Day with Emily. She was so excited when she heard grandpa could come too. He's off work until next Tuesday!
Deanne and the kids are coming down for Saturday afternoon, night and Sunday Church and dinner. We are so excited to see them all! Michelle and Todd are on a mini-vacation and will be home Saturday night in time to come to dinner on Sunday. Teri and Ed and kids are learning how to work their newly purchased "Snow Shak"...(If you want to surprise them go into Soda Springs and go to Brolin's grocery store and tell them that Dennis and Marilyn said they would give you a FREE snow cone. (Lesson #1 in how NOT to make your relatives like you). Anyway, they are going to have a busy summer with the Snow Shak and the Fireworks Stand. Glad they're young and healthy!!

Well, before I bang my head again, I'm going to bed. We both send our love and thanks for all your prayers and good wishes...REMEMBER to PRAY FOR A MIRACLE! I know
that Dennis, if anyone, deserves it!

Love,

The Queen Updater

Tuesday, May 20, 2008

2008-05-20T16:27:00.000-07:00

Hi!

Let's give this another try today. I hope that you are all finding this blog because I'm having a hard time sending it out (and saving it). Oh well, I WILL learn how to use a computer, "I know I can, I know I can!"

Today we were worried that Dennis might have an infection in his incision because last night it was so red and sore looking (still no pain pills). I called the Dr. who wasn't in today, but they had another Dr. who could see him. Of course he was at work, so I called him and arranged to pick him up and go in to see what the problem was. Fortunately, it looked a lot better today, he was allergic to the tape, so the dr. changed the dressing and put some more gauze strips under the two drains. Hopefully within the next week he will be able to get the drains out, they are a pain.

Before I left to pick him up, the phone rang and it was our Surgeon, Dr. Reading.
She was off today, but her nurse called and told her we were coming in, so the dr. called soeone at the office to tell them Dennis' story and problems. Dr. Swenson was very nice, in fact he is from Provo and lived only a couple of blocks away from where I lived. He was extremely nice to us. He kinda OK'd Dennis being the hero of the neighborhood, but said to pay attention if he started feeling tired and not over due his charmed life of no pain! He said things looked good and the incision was healing well. I about passed out when I saw how big and hollow it was. The incision goes from the middle of his chest over to his side and up into the armpit area.

Dr. Reading called me and said that she had taken out 40 lympth nodes and 39 of them were full of cancer. Not good news. We decided to still go ahead with the body scan (Wed. May 28), and then followup with an appoinment with Dr. Ward at Huntsman Cancer Center, who will decide at that time what treatment they will use on Dennis. This is like a "wait and wait and wait game" and then you still don't really know anythingl Let's hope that next week will be a bit more informative.

After we came home and ate lunch Dennis went over to do some work with Jay and I headed for the nail center to get my nails done. We both got home about the same time and I'm doing the blog while he is making supper. See what I mean???
What a great guy! Lucky me!

More later....thanks again for all you do, say, and pray.

Marilyn

Dennis Updates - 5/19/08

2008-05-19T20:12:00.002-07:00

Well, let's give this another chance. I wrote for an hour last night and lost it all again to the outer darkness place. Anyway, we had a lovely weekend. Teri came on Friday and helped us so much. While she was here she kept as busy as a little bee and cooked some ready to go meals that she put in the freezer for us to use when we have a busy day. She ran a lot of errands and basically just made everything easier. Thanks Ed and kids for letting her come and help us out at this
hard time! Happy Birthday, Adam!

Saturday, we needed an R & R, so there's no one funner to go garage selling with than Teri, so we hopped out of bed, gave Dennis some food and a hug and off we went leaving him to relax without us. We had so much fun and found sooo many
bargains! The best deal of all was a big leather rocker-recliner that was the exact color of my leather furniture in the front room...Looks like brand new and was only $20! Can you believe it? Dennis gave me a couple of crusty looks, like what the heck did you buy now? I had him sit in it and luckily (for me) is was "Love at
first sit!" Now we both race (limp slowly) to the comfy chair. The sweet boys across the street brought it in for us and helped us unload our million other "bargains"!

Dennis was pretty tired Saturday all day and needed to rest a lot. I tried to get him to take the old pain pill, but.....well you know old Iron Man, he wasn't going to mess with any pills, he was "JUST FINE, THANK YOU!" The surgeon told him he was "one tough old bird"!

Sunday morning Teri and I went to Sacrament Mtng. and it was really good, almost like they had written it for us. He talked about being a ward family and loving and supporting those who are in need at the time. The song was then "Count Your Many Blessings" and by then I couldn't quit crying. We are so blessed and we know it. You, family and friends, what a blessing you are to us. We feel as if everyone in the world is watching out for our welfare. The sweet Bishop has been over so often and today he was out mowing our front lawn. I about died and told him that some sweet young men across the street had offered to help Dennis out by mowing the lawn every week. He's such a good, caring Bishop and we adore he and his cute family.

Todd and Michelle and kids came over in the afternoon and we were so happy to see them. Rob and Judy came by as did CJ and Kathy. There are so many wonderful friends who care for us, even the phone had over 50 messages on it and it brings us to tears to know how many people are praying for Dennis to be able to recover from this rotten cancer. As I've said before....pray for a miracle!

Today, (Monday) Dennis got up and I heard him about 6 am fussing around in the bathroom. I went in to help him and he announced that he was going to go to work today... I wanted to BOP him and keep him home, but I realize this sitting around twiddling his fingers is darn boring and being at work just driving Lawyers from place to place would be more fun and productive. When I talked to him mid-
morning he sounded like the old Dennis again....up and positive and laughing and just enjoying life. I'm glad he went! Then he went over to Jay's office and gave some help to Jay. THEN he came home and started a wash, and by darn, just to show me he really is IRON MAN, he mowed the lawn with his left hand and walking rather slowly...the Bishop had mowed the front, so he did the back.
I was ready to sit on him, but I'm praying for a miracle, not a headline in the paper that says, "Chubby wife sits on husband to keep him healthy and he is found smothered to death!" Soooo, I guess I'm learning lessons about how people with terminal illnesses like to live their lives, especially that IRON MAN in my life who I love and would do anything for! He's a definite keeper!

We send our love and thanks for all your concern, prayers, food,calls just EVERYTHING!!!!! God bless all of you too!

Dennis Updates - 5/17/08

2008-05-17T21:01:00.000-07:00

Well, Hello again. I tried to do a blog yesterday and when I pushed the "magic'
button it went to outer darkness and I was so tired I decided I'd try again tonight.

The surgery on Thursday was really a hard surgery. The surgeon, Teresa Reading,
was such a jewel, she even had the nurse call out during the surgery as I had
requested to tell me if the cancer had spread to the lymph nodes. Unfortunately,
it had spread to all of the lymph nodes and she was very concerned. However, he came out of the anesthetic and only had one pain shot and then has not had even one pain pill since then.....I knew he was tough and boy, is he!

Mom Wilson, Todd & Michelle and myself were at the hospital all day waiting for the surgery to end...they had backed up pretty bad and Dennis had to wait until nearly 1:00 p.m. to go in. He walked down with the orderly and dropped the rest of us off at the waiting room door. He was laughing and joking and we were all having a good old time. However, after nearly 3 hours of surgery we were beginning to worry and wonder as to what was happening.

When the Dr. took us in the consult room, she said that the cancer had spread to all of the lymph nodes and so she wants him to have a body cancer scan as soon as he is a little stronger to see how far the cancer has spread. After that our Oncologist (Dr. Ward at the U) will decide what kind of treatment they will try. He comes highly recommended and we adore the surgeonl, so we are in good hands and have felt peace from our Heavenly Father over and over.

Teri arrived Friday at about noon and has been wonderful to help us. She's a busy little bee and has been cooking and running errands and watching a movie with her dad. We surely appreciate all of our children and the help they have all been in giving us such great support. We know how blessed we are and oh, how we love our little grandchildren too!

We want to thank all of you friends and family that have called, come over and been there to offer any help we might need. We feel loved and that love is sent right back to all of you....thank you!

We're especially grateful to our new Bishop Arrigona, he has been by our side nearly every day offering love, support and blessings, plus run errands for us. He is a wonderful man and we thank him so much for his caring.

Today Teri and I decided we needed have a little R & R and Dennis was probably glad to see me leave because I keep trying to make him take a pain pill. If he won't take it, I will: and if he won't rest, I will. Pathetic isn't it?
Anyway, we went garage selling and Teri is the perfect one to go with. We laughed and found sooooo many bargains, but the best one of all was finding a green leather rocker recliner that matched our other leather furniture EXACTLY!
And the price couldn't have been better.....$20 !!! I bought it and brought it home and got some pretty crusty looks from Dennis for spending the money, but the minute he sat in it, it was "love at first sit"!!! Problem is we find ourselves trying to beat each other to the new chair cause it's so comfy!

Also today, Dennis has been quite tired. I think it finally caught up to him, emotionally, and every other way. He's been pretty tired and so Teri was sweet enough to lay on the bed and watch a movie with him and they both enjoyed that. I came in here to try and do the blog, hope it works.

Well, that's enough for tonight. Again we won't know much until after the body scan, but we sure would appreciate it if you would keep your faith and prayer going in our behalf.

Love to all of you!

May 15th Update

2008-05-15T20:43:00.000-07:00

This is the first day of the blog to keep you updated on the condition of Dennis' recovery.
Today was the surgery. The doctor said she had to remove all of the lymph nodes as they had cancer in them. We'll be visiting again with the doctor on monday to discuss a plan of action. Sorry we probably won't know much more until then. In the meantime, we ask for your prayers and will update the blog as soon as we learn more.

Photos from the hospital prior to surgery:

Marilyn, Michelle, Dennis and Effie enjoy a giggle before surgery

Dennis preferred to walk to the operating room

Michelle and Dennis

Michelle, Dennis and Todd

Next update will come soon...