Thanksgiving Weekend!

 

It's the day after Thanksgiving and we are in Colorado Springs visiting Melissa and Dave. We had a fun day yesterday and as usual ate way too much, but it was just too good to pass up.   One of the highlights was when Melissa bought a can whipped cream.  We had a good time shooting whipped cream into our mouths.  Rand especially liked it, Kathryn would have nothing to do with it and Reese didn't know that he is supposed to swallow it.  Grandma was totally disgusted with us as she has been for years when we do that.

Dave, Troy and I went to Harry Potter last night at a late night dollar movie. Troy enjoyed the parts he didn't sleep through. As we were leaving the theater, we opened the door and a mouse ran into the theater. Maybe he was there to see "Ratatouille (sp) that was playing in theater #5.

The girls went shopping for a little while this afternoon. Tonight, Mom and I, along with Rebecca, Rand, Melissa and Kathryn saw "Enchanted." Melissa and Rebecca wanted to see it mostly because Dr. McDreamy is in it. Kathryn wanted to see it because it has a princess. We just needed to get Rand out of the house. His ongoing endeavor to become friends with Daisy took a terrible turn for the worse today. Anyway, about the movie. It's really good. A good time was had by all who attended.

Tomorrow is a big day of shopping and more football. I can't talk much about the football because I have been chastised about posting so much this week about the game. It's been really cold here in 'the springs'. The wind was howling as we came out of the movie tonight and along with the COLD temps, we just about froze our giblets walking to the car.

It's been a fun weekend. We aren't looking forward to the drive home on Sunday, but we've really enjoyed ourselves and Dave and Melissa have been good hosts. We have a lot to be thankful for this Thanksgiving. We have been truly blessed and know that the Lord will continue to pour out His blessings on our family. Happy Thanksgiving, and go utes.

JUST IN CASE YOU FORGOT......

GOOOOO UTES!!!

Rice-Eccles South

Home away from home for the University of Utah Utes. When they can't play at the original Rice-Eccles Stadium and want a win, all they have to do is travel down I-15 and they feel right at home, having won 6 of the last 7 contests played there. Saturday November 24 should be no exception. All together now.........

GOOOOOOOO UTES!

We met with the doctor today and after a CT PET Scan next week, I am going to start a new course of chemtherapy on December 10 consisting of Fludarabine, Cytoxin and Ritoxin. Iwill have a treatment everyday for five days once a month for 4-6 months.

By the way did I remember to say.....

Gooooo UTES!!!?

I was .....

....reprimanded today by my daughter, telling me that if I am going to be a blogger that it is a requirement that I post a new blog weekly at the minimum. Mercy me, I didn't know that there were rules that must be followed!!! So, I am truly sorry and pledge to post weekly even when I have nothing to say.

I attended the Utah/New Mexico football game today with my brother Blair and witnessed the Utes defeat the Lobos 28-10, winning their seventh straight game after starting the season 1-3. So, they are now 8-3 and playing really well. Next up is a trip next Saturday to Provo, UT and the stadium recently renamed Rice-Eccles South, the Utah Utes' home away from home to play the Team Down South. Next week's opponent has an 8-2 record and think that they are pretty special. The week of this game is always fun as it tends to bring the best out in most and makes fools of the rest of us.

We are looking forward to spending Thanksgiving in Colorado Springs with Melissa and Dave. We will be driving over on Wednesday with Troy, Rebecca and boys. The weather forecast calls for storms on Tuesday and Wednesday, so the drive could be an adventure. Dave has some friends where we can watch the game on Saturday.

Sharon and I meet with Dr. Shehadeh (my oncologist) on Monday to determine the next course of action in my cancer treatment. Dr. Asch of the transplant team at LDS sent us an eight page letter outlining their recommendations. Just some light reading.

Until next time when I may know how to even post photos and be able to put a space between paragraphs on this thing, have a great Thanksgiving and as Rand Matheson, son of TDS fan Troy Matheson says.....

GOOOOO UTES!!!

Breathing A Little Easier....

We spent the afternoon on the 8th floor of LDS Hospital where I filled out forms, was questioned, poked, prodded and informed. We met with Dr. Julie Asch, one of the directors of the Bone Marrow Transplant team at Utah Cancer Specialists.

She was great, very nice, informative and also very young. Rather than going through a Bone Marrow Transplant right now, she is recommending to us and Dr. Shehadeh a regimen of chemotherapy they call FCR, which consists of Fludarabine, Cyclophosphamide, and Rituximab. She cited an ongoing study that is showing 70% of complete responders with CLL to be progression-free at 5 years. Complete response means that after the FCR treatment, the cancer is completely gone from the bone marrow (It is then in remission, but not cured, so it can come back in the future). If that happens, then we can go on with life, monitoring me regularly and then if or when it comes back, consider a transplant at that time.

If I don't show a complete response after the FCR treatment (4-6 cycles), then she would recommend that we look at a transplant at that time. We will meet with Dr. Shehadeh on the 19th and determine what we will do. Dr. Asch will write us and Dr. Shehadeh a letter explaining her recommendations next week.

Mom and I both feel good about what happened today and are quite relieved that there may be an alternative to transplant at this time. We appreciate all of the love and support we have received. This isn't over by any stretch, but we are encouraged.

Love to all.....

I can't believe we are blogging....what a world!

Well, here we go. The hardest thing about this has been coming up with a name for our blog. I felt like it needed to be something that would be meaningful to both of us. We talked about using Hobbes somewhere in the name, but he isn't around anymore. I suggested "Civil War Negligee", but that didn't take. There were many others and then this one came to me today. The name I chose means something to Mom and I, and some of you may know of its origin, and then again, some of you may not. Maybe we'll tell you and maybe we won't.

I figured that we needed to get on the blog bandwagon or we would be left behind. Maybe we will even get Mom to contribute on occasion. She will probably want to just to correct what I say.

We went to the doctor today and there are many questions swirling around in our heads tonight. The next few days will detemine alot of things. The enormity of the whole "C" thing is probably starting to hit me when I think of the possibility of a BMT in my future. Let's hope for the best. I appreciate all of the love and concern and help that has been shown to me the past several months. It's certainly made it easier.

So, this begins the start of the .....more today than yesterday blog. We will learn as we go and as soon as Mom gets hold of it, it will be a masterpiece. Right now, it's pretty simple cause we don't know what the heck we're doing.

Love to all.........