The Santa artwork of Susan Comish

About a month ago I had the opportunity to go to the home of a artist named Susan Comish.  She belongs to a women's group that I attend every month and she invited us all to her home to see her Christmas paintings and specifically her Santa Claus original art pieces that she has hung all over her home.  They were BEAUTIFUL!!  She gave us all a copy of the print of Mr. and Mrs. Claus and I bought another one of just Santa.  I love them!  I BELIEVE in Santa and I love having her work in my home that captures the sparkle and magic of Santa.  Check out her web site here. 

Look at all her PRINTS and ORIGINALS and see how reasonable her prices are.   She is the QUEEN of painting Santa Claus and capturing the magic of Christmas!

Sister love

 My two oldest sisters Janet and Mary Ann came to town to help me get ready for Christmas!  I know my two younger sister would have come as well if they hadn't been working.  This is what they created in about one day of decorating.  I would have taken me days with my low energy to accomplish what they did in hours.  In fact I wasn't even sure if I was up to the task this year.  I love my international creche collection in the living room and my Santa collection in the family room.  My sisters saved the day and got us all ready for Christmas with cleaning, decorating, shopping, wrapping and just having a great time together while listening to Christmas music.  What a BOOST in every way possible before my 6th and last chemo treatment! 
This year my THOUGHTFUL and KIND nephew Dustin and his wife Daelynn cut us a fresh Christmas tree from the mountain near the home where I grew up in Idaho.  I haven't had a freshly cut tree since living in Idaho!  He brought it all the way to my doorstep and set it up ready to decorate!  It's the last picture.  Isn't it beautiful?  It is still so fresh and smells so good.  It's drinking about a quart of water a day and will probably last til Valentines day.  What a sweet, sweet surprise from a darling nephew!

I got these new pictures this year from the artist Susan Comish
 who is a wonderful artist and who paints a lot of Santa paintings.

Janet and her family gave us this wonderful map of the 50 states and we love it!

Thanks Dustin for this beautiful freshly cute Christmas tree.  WE LOVE IT!

Chemo #5

November 14.  My sis-in-law Margie went with me to the chemo clinic this go around.  She stay and chatted with me until Rick came towards the end to take me home.  It was so nice of her to come down all the way from Farmington and spend the day with me.  We had a great visit. It still takes about 5 hours with all the blood work, Dr. visit and then the 5 drips of drugs.  Colleen brought us dinner from Milagros.  Yummy food. The last "real meal" I would eat for about 10 days.  Still have my eyebrows and most of my eyelashes!

I got the Neulasta shot on Thursday which brings bone pain for about four days while the white blood cells are working hard to rebuild.  Dr. Wallentine decided to take a proactive approach this time and and have me return to the clinic on Friday and on Monday following treatment to get saline, steroids and anti-nausea drugs.  They helped so much and I think he will take that approach this last time.  My red and white blood cell counts weren't that good...boarderline...and he even considered postponing treatment for one week. Luckily he decided to forge ahead with my encouragement.  I want to get this over with! Each treatment is harder and it takes longer to recover.  It really beats down my body, but I try to concentrate on the fact that it is also beating down and killing the cancer.  Die, cancer die!
My sweet daughter Jordan came to town from Arizona on Thursday night to help me.  It was so nice to be with her for three days and she took such good care of us cooking, cleaning, raking 12 bags of leaves with Rick and providing loving service.  We even got out Friday pm to watch the last installment of Twilight.  It was so cheesy, but we've come this far, we had to finish off the series and we had some good laughs.  Her husband Jake was the main caretaker of their three little girls while she was gone and it was so good of him to encourage her to come and pay the way for her to fly!

 
Sunday we went out to Rick's parents home for their family Thanksgiving dinner with about 30 people. I rested while they went to church and did absolutely nothing to help out (no one would let me.)  We had a lovely dinner, baby shower for niece Catherine, family pictures and a large extended family gathering of Rick's dads side of the family for the annual pre-Thanksgivng pie party.  About 70 aunts, uncles and cousins attended at their ward building while I stayed at their home and rested.
 

 

Monday, November 19 I got anther IV of saline and anit-nausea drugs and was just barely up and about the next day when Rick and I drove to New Mexico for Thanksgiving with Claire and Rich.  I felt OK and made the trip fine.  Wednesday-Friday I was having more side effects and hardly ate any Thanksgiving dinner.  However, it was worth the trip since we got to see 5 of our 6 grandchildren.  What other activity would put a smile on my face and a spring in my step?? Jordan and Jake drove over from Phoenix and we had a lovely dinner sharing it with Rich's side of the family in his sister Elise's lovely home. 
Saturday the 24, the troups all headed to the BYU-New Mexico state football game in Las Cruses  while I stayed at Claire and Rich's home and watch three movies and rested.  All in all, it was a very fun Thanksgiving holiday and a WONDERFUL distraction from the side effects of chemo #5.  One more to go!

Colleen gave me this darling hat!  What do you think??

My horn of plenty

The month of November is almost over and before it slips into the annals of history, I’d like to count my many blessings and name them one by one:

Modern medicine (I’d be toast without it) * a faithful husband who stands by me through thick and thin (and there has been a lot of thin lately) and who loves me unconditionally * 4 wonderful children who are leading productive and meaningful lives and who love God and his plan for us * their spouses who love and support them and us* our six lively grandchildren who are learning the important lessons in life from their parents and who are thriving and doing so well * 3 of our 4 parents who are still living and showing my their examples how to endure to the end and live life well * siblings and their spouses who check in with us and encourage us with their love and support * nieces, nephews and their children who enrich our lives * cousins, aunts and uncles who are great examples to us in so many ways *  the ability to live our religion and to practice it as we see fit * opportunities for education and enrichment through good theater, music and uplifting entertainment * opportunities to serve and make a difference  and contribute to our church, our community and our family * reading * a warm, soft bed * hot water and long baths (sometimes 2x a day) * friends who lift and encourage * humor * the power of prayer * a comfortable home with heat and cool when needed* freedom we enjoy living in the greatest country in the world * household appliances * priesthood blessings * clean food and water * a great heritage * enjoyable employment * lilacs * black licorice *  goodly parents * Young Women * cars that take us where we want to/need to go * airplanes * ocean waves * sun sets * mountain meadows * music *  knowing where we came from, why we are here and where we are going * knowing that someone is in charge and that we are never alone * Jesus Christ * the gift of the Holy Ghost * scriptures * temples * ordinances that bind us to one another  * repentance * newborn babies * my iPad * family togetherness * memories * photographs * family history *good conversation * a roaring fire in the fireplace * the ability to give * the gratitude I feel for all the many, many blessings I have been given!

An unexpected surprise!

I got an award at work from the university. Wow!  It was totally unexpected and a big surprise. It is a very NICE award.  It involved recognition, a clock with an engraved plaque, $100 cash and a $100 gift card to the ROOF in the Joseph Smith memorial building.  I really appreciate being recognized for my efforts over many, many years working at BYU. I've met a lot of wonderful people and I know the inside workings of several departments.  I could actually write a pretty interesting book about my adventures working there over many years and in many different departments.  Not too many more years and I'll make my exit.   It has been a great place to work and it has allowed my income to help my family financially along the way.  Except for 3 of those years, I have been fortunate to work part-time and help our children financially meet some of their goals including missions, education and marriage.

Chemo #4

October 24.  It was over two weeks ago, but it takes some time to get my wits about me in order to write about it.  Make no mistake, this is a battle.  I remember reading obituaries in the newspaper about people who "fought a good fight against cancer" or "battled cancer."  I get it now and so does Rick.  This is a fight.  It's a battle for me to keep submitting my body to the ravishes of chemotherapy.  It's a battle to not get too psyched out about it.  It's a battle to keep my spirit elevated so that it can lift my body.  It's a battle to not let my mind wander to dark places.  It's a battle to force myself to do things (like eat and drink) when that is the last thing on earth I want to do.  It's sometimes a battle to not throw in the towel and say "I can't do this anymore!"  Just like anything in life, it takes going through it to really understand/appreciate what is involved.

Round 4 was a worse than round 3, but still not at bad as the 1st round.  I think my immune system will just get weaker as it is beaten down over and over again.  The bone pain caused by the Neulasta shot isn't any fun, but the worse for me is feeling absolutely nauseated for days on end.  The oral drugs I was given for nausea just don't seem to be getting it done and they offer little relief.  I have absolutely no appetite.  Ever.  I don't crave anything and I eat only because I need to.  I don't have hunger pains and anything sweet holds no appeal. Plus, I can't taste much anyway.  I've lost 8 pounds, but believe me when I say, this is no way to lose weight!

Hopefully the Dr. will have something in his bag of tricks that we can try the last two rounds.  I did go in finally and get  2 liters of saline infused into my body with anti-nausea drugs that helped get me hydrated again and stop the worst of the nausea. After and during the nausea, the digestive issues are unrelenting as well.  Without going into too much detail, let just say that wet wipes are my new best friend.  My fatigue is worse with each round.  My skin rashes are spreading and now both of my eyes are twitching constantly.  My nose drips and I have a cough, even though I don't have a cold.  All chemo side effects.  All of this usually lasts a good 10-14 days and then the symptoms gradually subside until it is time to do it all over again!

Thank goodness I have my horizon goals and my family to pick me up and put me back on my feet. I appreciated my good friend Colleen going with me (along with Rick) this time and bring us dinner (again) the day of the treatment.  I can only hope and pray that the havoc that I see being unleashed in my good cells is also completely taking out the bad stuff in the process.  That is the goal, right?

I've been following the blogs of several women who have gone through/are going through breast cancer as well.  All three of them are younger than I am (in their 40s) and they have children still at home.  I can't imagine having to take care of children or worry about who will take care of them and still go through this.  Luckily I don't have that concern, but I marvel and admire those who do.
Check out these blogs to read/see more about other women and their experiences going through surgery/chemo/radiation. It has been helpful to me to read about their experiences (especially with chemo) and to know that my experience is pretty similar.  Like all blogs, their stories end at the start or the most recent post, so if you want to read more, start at the beginning which is the end of the blog.

One is written by a good Baptist woman named Summer Miller who is friends with Kellie Pickler.  They shaved their heads together.

http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/summermiller/journal

Another is Mary Nickles who is a Channel 2 news woman in Utah.

http://maryscancerstory.blogspot.com/


And the last is an LDS woman named DeLayne who lives in my community and who is the mother of six children.

http://delaynedayton.blogspot.com/

Fall family trip to Chicago

We had this trip planned long before cancer came into our lives.  I'm so glad we could still go and I'm glad that it fell on my third week after treatment so that I felt good enough to go.  We had a marvelous time and enjoyed every minute we had with our children and their spouses/girlfriend from October 17-22.  Sorry, there are a lot of pictures!

Taking a city tour of the beautiful and vibrant city of Chicago 

Andy and Chelsea checking out the city 

We meet these Elders and took them to lunch.
 The one by Rick is the son of one of his Peruvian converts
who is now serving in Chicago.  Great visit!

Standing 107 stories up in the Sears tower with a spectacular view of the city.

We stood on a glass floor which was kind of creepy since we could see all the way to the ground

No caption needed.

Little Charlie sitting 107 stories in the air!

I snatched these pictures from Courtney of this cute family

The BEAN in Millennial Park.  Super cool art structure.

Cute couple Andy and Chelsea

Dave and Courtney and sleeping Charlie.

Miss Jordan P R R

You can't visit the city and not go see the Bean.

Girls only (oh and one little boy)

Dave and Courtney rocking it at the outdoor concert venue

It would be great to attend a concert here sometime

Enjoying the city bus tour with a funny tour guide

Our beautiful hotel "The Fairmont"  we stayed on the 19th floor
 and had connecting rooms.  It was very convenient
to be downtown for two days.

That says it all!

A view of the beautiful campus at Notre Dame

A great day for a football game!

Our second visit to campus.  The 1st was 7 years ago with the Philipp family.

A photo in front of "touch down Jesus"

Unkie Grant was able to go with us to the game.
  We really enjoyed his company!

1st down Moses

The administration building with the iconic golden dome

The hustle and bustle of pre-game excitement!

The grotto where people were lighting pre-game candles.
  Maybe we should have lit a candle for the BYU
 team since they lost that day.

Our last morning together after attending church in Valparaiso, IN

Goodbye to sweet little Charlie man

Our family photo sans Rich and Claire who couldn't
 make it due to a wedding (we really missed them.)

Loved having Grant with us

Happy, happy grandparents!

Sibs

the girls

The guys

Andy and Chelsea saying one last goodbye

We dropped Grant off in Chicago where he drove
 this rig back to Utah from the trade show he attended earlier that week

The Boston LDS temple on a beautiful fall day

These guys enjoyed an extra day in the city and took
 a river tour the day Rick and I drove to OH & MI

Great shot of the city

Out onto Lake Michigan for a view of the city

Something about some Nike shoes??

Great day spent together

Jord and Jake checking out the Windy City

We all enjoyed some traditional deep dish Chicago style pizza

Pre-game majesty as the band escorts the team into the stadium.
 So many wonderful Notre Dame traditions!

I got to tend Charlie while his parents attended the game.
 I think I got the better end of that deal. 

At last!  Attending a Notre Dame game!

Enjoying the ambiance if not the final score.

Checking out their amazing campus...

...and of course the college football hall of fame.