We went to SLC for Dick's scan on Monday. Brianna and Deacon joined us this time because Brianna had some appointments with a reproductive endocrinologist. She hasn't been feeling that great lately and we know something is definitely going on with her health. About 2 years ago she went to visit this same physician and he told her that the inside of her uterus (via internal ultrasound) looked like she was going through menopause. She was only 24 at that time. Bree never did follow up. She had so many things going on during that time. That's when she was having those severe headaches, which they finally diagnosed her with pseudotumor cerebri. Lately her joints have been bothering her terribly and she experiences so much fatigue and hot flashes. There's always swelling to her face and so many other things. This made her go back to see this doctor. He did another ultrasound and a lot of lab. At this point, he does know that she is not making any hormones. The doctor told her that her ovaries had dried up and weren't even functioning. He said that if she ever wanted to get pregnant again that she could get eggs from one of her sisters. Brianna told him that right now she just wants to feel better and get to the bottom of her health mystery that started after childbirth. He will do more tests to see why this is happening. The doctor is wondering if it's an autoimmune disorder or if it's genetic. I'm so glad that she went back to him. The bad part of living in such a small town is that you have to travel a long distance to see a good specialist so it makes it very expensive for a young family on a tight budget. I told her we're up there every three weeks for Dick's chemo so she might as well make her appointments around the same time. I thought that should help her with gas money. Hopefully we will find some more answers soon for my sweet daughter.
Dick had a CT of his chest, abdomen, and pelvis which he does ever y 6 weeks. The scans showed no shrinkage of the 25 tumors within the abdomen and pelvis. We were really hoping that after 6 cycles of chemotherapy, there would be more response. However, we do feel blessed that the tumors aren't spreading or growing. Dick decided to continue with the trial. The oncologist said that she feels that the tumors aren't growing because of the chemo and that as long as Dad can tolerate the chemo, that she thinks he should continue. It gets a little more difficult for Dad to tolerate the side effects of the chemo with each treatment. I personally feel that his muscles are wasting away. We are praying for a miracle that the tumors do shrink or disappear even though they keep telling us this will probably never happen.
Cycle # 7 begins.
A good friend of ours, that went to school with Dick, loaned us their cabin. She is a sweetheart and is always thinking of others. It really was at the top of the mountain just past Park City. It was amazing! As we followed her to the cabin, I honestly think we saw 30 deer. Some of them were huge. I think they were mule deer. Brianna let Deacon get out of his car seat so that he could stand up and see all the deer. He was so happy to see so many. He kept saying, "Yes! I have really good eye sight!" We also saw a porcupine. It looked like Mrs. Tiggy-Winkle from Peter Rabbit. Earlier that morning while she was getting the cabin ready for us, she saw a moose right in front of their cabin. We didn't get that lucky to see it. After Dick's first treatment, we had dinner and headed to THE cabin.
This is where Brianna and Deacon slept.
I slept here.
Dad slept sitting up in one of these chairs. You can turn the love seat into a couch but he just wanted to sit up. He gets up so much during the night that I was worried for him to go up and down on the stairs.
It was so wonderful to sleep up on top of the mountain. The breeze felt so good all night long. They even had a his and hers mug to have a warm drink out on the deck.
Dick and I sat out there for about two hours before Brianna woke up. It was so nice to see the humming birds come visit. That's Dick's favorite bird and we haven't seen any in Idaho these past two years. When Deacon woke up, we heard him yell from upstairs,
"Good morning!" We had breakfast outside while we enjoyed the beautiful view.
When we go on a nature walk and Dad chooses to stay inside, is when I know that he is feeling so miserable. He's always been the leader of our excursions.
It was so good to have this special time with Brianna and Deacon. This boy really cheers Dick up with the things he does and says.
Deacon desperately wanted to find a butterfly.
I don't care what anybody says but I think that Utah and Idaho have the best weather, seasons, and scenery. Especially if you love nature. We are truly blessed to live in such beautiful country. I think that a place like this does a lot of healing and Dad needed to be in these surroundings.
There were so many different types of flowers.
Someone didn't want chemo. He was hiding, hoping no one would recognize him.
But they did find him.
Right after Dick's treatment, we had dinner with Leanna (my close friend) and Amanda (Brianna's close friend). It started raining so hard that we decided to go home with Leanna and stay at her place. I don't think our car would have made it up the mountain with that rainstorm. Our car rides so low and the road was a bit bumpy. Dad was feeling pretty nauseated and weak so I'm glad we stayed in town.
Ever since Dick became ill, he became Deacon's best friend. Deacon is always by his side. It used to be me. I really think that Deacon knows something has happened to Dick and feels like he needs to protect him at times.
The next day we stayed at Leanna's house again. Our car's engine light had been staying on for two days. We're hoping it's nothing serious. Just to make sure, we didn't drive up to the cabin again. I love my sweet friend Leanna and every thing she does for me and my family. Amanda spent the last night with us at Leanna's house. Our dear "cabin" friend gave us a key for their cabin so that we could go back anytime we want to. We definitely will be spending time there when my sweet husband feels better.
We loved it.
Deacon was so well behaved. He spent 3 days in two different hospitals, and two different doctor's offices. He waited very patiently.
We left SLC after Dad's Neulasta shot and drove to Logan. We visited with Dick's father for 30 minutes. Then we went to see Richie in "Woman In Black." He was amazing as always.
Giselle watched Deacon for Brianna. She said she asked him if he wanted her to take him on a special date and get him a special treat or if he wanted to see his cousins and he chose to see his cousins. After the play we picked him up at Richie and Chrislynn's house. The children were still up so we got to visit a short while.
We drove home right after that and got home around 1am. It was so good to see Aubrey and Anson. They were up waiting for us. We are so thankful for our Relief Society sisters for feeding them. We are especially grateful for Eli and Rachel Hansen for taking them under their wings. Eli was an ex-student of Dick's who graduated with Richie from high school. Aubrey started working for Rachel at the Italian Ice shack but now she's also working in her boutique that's right in the same lot. While we were gone she hired Anson too in both places. She kept both of them so busy working and doing fun things with their family.
Today after a long day of work for Anson and Aubrey, Eli and Rachel took them boating. They have 3 little children and our kids love their little ones too. Anson said the baby fell asleep in his arms while they were boating. We are so so blessed to be surrounded with beautiful friendships.
