Saturday March 31st Update

I am writing this from the clinic.  Sarah is on day 2 of 4 for her second week of this treatment.  We were here 5 days last week and 4 days this week.  Unfortunately, the clinic didn't list everything for the appointment on Friday, so Jess thought it was just a check of numbers, but it also included 90 minutes for fluid and Sarah's chemo medicine.  Jess had brought Gus along since she thought it was just a shorter visit.  On top of that they were behind schedule so it became a long day where Gus missed his nap.

We are excited for conference but are sad that we are going to miss some of it by being in the clinic.  I brought Lilly with us today and both girls are playing on the Playbook.

Lilly and Sarah playing at the clinic

This week has been fairly normal though.  Lilly was sick one day and stayed home from school, but things were mostly according to schedule apart from that.  It has been a busy week at work, as I am trying to come up to speed on my new position.

Also some other pictures from this week to enjoy.

Lilly walking Gus

Gus eating a Lemon.  Crazy boy!

Monday, March 26th Update

We celebrated Lilly's Birthday on Sunday.  We had a cute flower cake and she opened her presents.  She loved her new clothes.  She also got Mario Party 9 for the Wii.  She had fun even though we didn't have any friends over.

Lilly's Birthday Cake

Sarah's treatments are going well.  She had a back poke today and woke up mostly happy.  This is the first time that she hasn't waken up cranky.  I am grateful that she was happy today.  

Sarah has another appointment tomorrow and then Friday through Tuesday again.  And her numbers should be going down this next week.  We hope that she doesn't get sick, so we end up back in the hospital.  

Thanks for all the love and support.  It strengthens my family and helps us to stay strong through this long process.

Saturday Mar 24th Update

I am writing this in the clinic.  Sarah's appointment on Friday showed that her ANC was high enough to continue her treatment.  The appointment today is 6 hours or so.  She needs 5 hours of fluids and then the chemo medicines.  It is always is a mix of feelings, moving on to the next treatments.  It is nice to have the breaks and the treatments are taxing on the family.  On the other hand, the faster we get through treatments, the faster we get out of the weekly treatments.

This week was pretty good.  It has been nice to have Sarah on a little bit of a break.  I was busy at work getting settled into my new responsibilities.

We had a fun experience with Lilly at dinner the other day.  Jess had made brown sugar muffins for dinner.  Lilly asked if she could cut the muffins and spread the butter on them.  She did it and was so excited about accomplishing it.  She is growing up fast.  It is fun to see her grow.

Gus is also growing up.  I am adding a picture of Gus where he is sitting on his chair reading books.

Gus REading on his chair

Thanks for all the love and support.  I am constantly amazed at the level that people are willing to serve.  I am grateful that those who have served us have continued over this long time that we are going through.  Thank you much.

Waiting and Change

If you didn't notice, the last two posts were written by Jess.  It was great to have her step up while I was in Utah and keep us all informed.  I am grateful for the work that she has done for our family.  She is a great mom.  I love her very much.

The end of this past week went by without a bunch of fanfare.  Sarah had an appointment on Friday.  Her ANC was 322, so she gets another week off, waiting for her numbers to get back up over 750 before continuing with the next chemotherapy.

I took Lilly to the Pacific Science Center on Saturday for her birthday date.  Her birthday is Tuesday, but with the state Sarah is in, we decided that she shouldn't have a party this year.  We will have a cake sometime this coming week or weekend, and have her open her presents but we are keeping it low key.  She and I went to see a show in the planetarium on our visit.  It was fun to learn about some of NASA's current missions to Mercury and to the Asteroid belt.  Lilly thought it was fun.  We are glad that we bought a pass last year and will probably renew it for this coming year.

Lilly learning about the food chain

There is some changes going on in my life.  While I had this past week off to teach skiing, I start back on Monday in a new position at work.  I will be managing a newly formed team split off from my current team.  It will be responsible for the qualification of new hardware and software for Amazon Linux.  It will be challenging and a whole different set of things to learn.  I also got released from my calling at church.  I have been working with the young men for the past 3.5 years.  I got called to be the ward employment specialist.  Both my new work position and the new church assignment will be challenging and new experiences for me.  I am looking forward to both of them.

Lilly and Gus before church

Gus is cute as can be.  After being gone for 6 days, I came back and could see that he had grown.  He is stabler on his feet and is running around after the girls.  He is also talking more.  How fast time flies.

Gus in his cute Sunday outfit

I am grateful for all the support that my family receives.  We know that many people sacrifice to serve us.  We hope the Lord blesses you for your sacrifices.   We are also very grateful for all those who pray for us.

Gus liked his picture taken.  He is saying more in sign language.

Sarah and her cheeky smile

Fun Times with Nana Pheobe

Well, the kids have been having a fun time with Nana Pheobe. She has been a BIG help this week to give me a break while Nate has been ski instructing in Utah. Nana and I have been doing "Just Dance 3" together, and do we ever get a work out! She has also been busying herself with little projects she brought to help me entertain kids when she is back home in Utah.
Back to Sarah, her next appointment in this coming Friday. She will get the "complete" work-up if her white count is high enough. Which means she will get a lab draw from her port, a visit with the doctor, and a back poke with chemo medication given. She will not be able to eat breakfast until after her procedure, (thank goodness she is off those steroids otherwise I would need an army to keep her away from food!)
Sarah's hair has started to fall out again, just as it was starting to come back in...She will lose it again two more times I think before she actually gets to keep it for good. She has been sad that she is going to be bald again, maybe it is time to shave Dad's head again so he can be her twin. BUT, I only said maybe.
Thank you for all the kindness and generosity so many of you continue to show us, we are eternally grateful to ALL of you!

Hard Week March 9th Update

It has been one of "those" hard weeks...BUT Sarah has been off the steroids since yesterday, HALLELUJAH! She has been super whiny and ornery all week except when she is eating, so we can say we are glad she is off them.
On a high note, Nana Pheobe and Aunt Shannon made it to Seattle today. Sarah was happy to see them, but she was tired and cranky too. Gus wasn't sure about them at first, but he quickly warmed up. Lilly has been super excited for them to come, but needed to be pried off the computer when they arrived.
We hope next week will be easier with Nana and Shannon here, and Sarah being off steroids.
Thanks for the prayers, thoughts, and service you continue to provide us with. We wish we had the energy to thank you all personally-Thank You-

Sunday March 4

Sarah had an appointment this morning to check her numbers.  Jess and Sarah went to her appointment while the rest of us went to church. Her ANC was 318.  That means she is off her antibiotics.  Sarah's mood swings are pretty large because of her steroids.  She goes from being happy, to being hungry, to being ornery, to being not hungry.  It brings a new meaning to enduring to the end.  We are grateful for the kind words from others.  It helps us endure the hard times.

Today was a great day at church.  Gus is older enough to go to nursery.  When I dropped him off at nursery, he ran to the toys and started playing.  He was good enough that the nursery leaders didn't have to come and get me during Sunday School and Priesthood.

And since I put up a picture of Sarah and Gus yesterday.  Here is a couple of Lilly.

Lilly and her smile

Crazy Lilly

Saturday Mar 3 update

Sarah came home Friday afternoon.  She never did cross the fever threshold.  but her ANC was 153 so she went home on antibiotics.  Her steroids have kicked in and her appetite has grown.

Sarah chomping on Lunch

On the way home from the hospital, Sarah had fallen asleep.  We had decided that we were going to drop Mom and Gus at home and the rest of us were going to pick up Pizza for dinner.  As we were pulling into our apartment, we noticed that Sarah was asleep and I said that maybe I should take Sarah and have her take a nap on the couch and have just Lilly and I got pickup the Pizza.  Right after I said this, we hear from a half asleep Sarah:  "I'm awake, I'm awake."  We had to laugh because she was having trouble keeping her head up because she was so tired.

I am including a picture of Gus being a big boy sitting on a chair.

Gus reading some books

Mar 1st Update

Sarah did pretty good today.  Since she didn't get to sleep until almost midnight, she slept in a little.  She also took a nap before dinner which helped her stay happy the rest of the day.  When she is tired, she is whiney about wanting to go home.  It is tough at times, because I want some of the same things.

The doctors told us that if she doesn't have a fever and the blood cultures are negative tomorrow that we could go home in the evening (5-6ish).  It will be nice to not have to stay over on Friday night.  Her ANC did drop to 150 today, so when we go home, she will be on anti-biotics until her ANC gets back over 200.  Unfortunately, that might be a while, since she is still on her schedule to get more chemo tomorrow and start the steroids again for a week.

Sarah has kept her appetite up during this admit.  She asked for root beer float for dessert and ate a good portion of the breaded fish that they had for dinner.

Thank you all who have offered and who have helped out while we are dealing with Sarah's issues.

Feb 29th - In the hospital again

This week has been our family trying to get over sicknesses.  We also knew that Sarah's ANC was dropping, so we were trying to everything we could to keep her well.  Unfortunately on Wednesday afternoon, her temperature was approaching a fever 100.4.  This means that we re-check her every hour and watch it.  However, she also was complaining of pain when she went to the bathroom.  Jess ended up taking her to the clinic where they checked her urine.  It was the end of the day and they didn't check the ANC.  When Jess called the oncall after dinner to see the results, the oncall doctor said that even though the test was negative, they wanted to check her ANC and do blood cultures, since her temperature was still around 100.4.  So Sarah and I made a trip to the ED.  Her ANC was 206.  Since she was borderline fever and a low ANC, they admitted her, again.  We are in a room on the first floor, since the Hemoc ward is full.  We will talk to the doctors in the morning and figure out what the plan is for how long she stays in.  I am guessing that it will be Friday afternoon or Saturday before she gets out. 

Thanks for all those who are praying for us.  We feel the prayers and it helps to lift our spirits.