Ronald's Update
Doing well... appetite diminished, stomach upset, nausea so unable to keep any food down YET... with all that said looking and feeling pretty well! All labs are right on point and perfectly ready for his big day!!!
DAILY THOUGHTS:
Well, here we sit on the eve of the day which hold the greatest promise of re-birth for my good husband, carrying with it some of the most pain yet, the most hope and healing available !! I would have never dreamt up this scenario just a short 18 months ago.... so much SERIOUS MORTALITY merging with so much SERIOUS ETERNITY has seemed to penetrate each and every day- since 3:15 February 27, 2015... the way I view this life has seemed to evolve into something so much more tender, fragile and absolutely priceless. Those feelings have once again magnified not only because of my Ronald's upcoming opportunity for deep cleansing , but I have also had some especially extraordinarily emotional and tender feeling these past several days!....
....For those who haven't heard , the night before Ronald was to return to Huntsman to begin the next phase of his adventures and begin his abliterating chemo before transplant, I was told by my sister, Michelle, that after months of not feeling very well, she had just been unexpectedly diagnosed with
ovarian cancer, stage 3C/4 !!! My first thoughts were... REALLY... there is NO WAY the Lord is going to allow this to be true!!... and then within minutes my thoughts were... WHY NOT??? The Lord has effectively taught me and my family the last several months how creative He can be in molding and refining us and getting us to understand and truly rely upon Him, His teaching, and His infinite atonement! Words cannot express how deep I have hurt for Michelle having a knowledge of how difficult the road ahead may be for her. Between what we have been told is ahead of Ronald and now Michelle's painful road ahead.... I have once again come to the solid conclusion that we CANNOT do this... It will be absolutely IMPOSSIBLE to experience all the pain and discomfort... all he inconveniences, weakness, ...all the pressure and support and all the unknown and fragility of life!!..... Absolutely physically, mentally, and spiritually impossible...WITHOUT the compensatory power provided through the atonement of our Savior Jesus Christ! A dear friend of mine led me to a recent talk by Elder Neil A. Andersen that helped put these feeling of mine into better worlds.
what we have pretty much lived and relied on the past several months and will put to the test to an ever greater extent in the several months ahead:
“As [difficulties] increases in the world, there is a compensatory power, an additional spiritual endowment, a revelatory gift for the righteous,” he said. “This added blessing of spiritual power does not settle upon us just because we are part of this generation. It is willingly offered to us; it is eagerly put before us. But as with all spiritual gifts, it requires our desiring it, pursuing it, and living worthy of receiving it.”
In short, we are certain that the Lord will most certainly provide us with all the need powers and abilities that are needed to compensate for all are unequipped and what strength and means we have to offer is just not enough!!
Thank you to all of you for your faith filled thoughts and prayers and unbelievable support!!
We invite you to join other friends, family and ward members for a special fast tomorrow as Ronald receives his bone marrow transplant, for his sister Rhonda who has so selflesslessly donated much time and emotional and physical sacrifice as she is the donor of Ronalds bone marrow/stem cells, and especially my sister michelle as she begins her difficult days ahead. We feel certain the Lord is in every whit of every detail in each of their lives as well of all of us who love them so dearly!!
WE TRULY LOVE YOU ALL !!
NOTE: for all those who would like to follow my sisters unexpected adventure she has a blog set up: www.somuchllghtandlove.blogspot.com
Monday, August 31, 2015
Thursday, August 20, 2015
T-7 DAYS
Ronald Update:
Hello there everyone! Sorry if you have been checking in on this blog the last few weeks with nothing new...Things have just been crazy busy, but all in the things we are happy to be busy with.
Work, Pre-School planning and preparations, Family gatherings, Church activities, working in the yard, cleaning up the house, a few doctors appointments, feeding Ronald all we can as his appetite is great right now, but best all just loving being home all together!! .... because Ronald goes in to begin Bone Marrow Transplant (also referred to as Stem Cell Transplant) this next Wednesday.
LOVE to see him so Shooting Water bombs with his Spent a great day with
hungry and eating!!! awesome brothers...Look at that Ronald's family that
boys face!!! Good times really help charge up up!!
As we have many people wondering what is ahead I thought I would fill you in if you may be wondering yourself.... so here goes....
He will get 4 days of hard chemo ( they told us yesterday that it is so hard that if he didn't follow with the transplant he would die from the chemo..... isn't that crazy??? but all is set to follow through with the transplant so were good :-) then he will have a day off and then receive the bone marrow stem cells and NEWNESS OF LIFE on September 1. The doctors told us that he should feel pretty awful for about 7-10 days and if mucocitis appears it cold be a bit longer and then about day 14-21 they look to see if the new marrow cells start to become ENGRAFTED which is a big deal! We have no reason to believe they won't since he will be receiving he angel sister's bone marrow cells and that presents a really wonderful chance of it grafting! He will be at Huntsman until his numbers come up to a safe level, he is eating, has no infections/high temperatures
and is in overall safe health to leave.... at that point (most likely about 3-4 weeks following transplant) we will move him into a small apartment (owned by an angel family friend) that is near the hospital for between 30-60 days... this is due to the fact that apparently he may get unexpected infections and complications that can come very quickly and may need immediate response, also during this time he will be under constant 24hour supervision for any complications and evaluation for a highly possible reaction calle Graph vs Host Disease (GVHD) that arrises because of the "conflict" between his body and the new cells multiplying within him. He will be on Immuno Suppressant Medication for about 6 months which cause his T-Cells to be suppressed as to decrease his chance of rejection new cells and complication so during that time he will be more susceptible to infections and illness an may take longer to get over such infections, but we are told the greatest possibility of illness/infections during that time will come from exposure to elementary age children and especially children three years old and younger due to a bacteria they naturally carry and transmit (didn't know that till yesterday) so if all goes as smoothly as we hope, he will be very tired off and on for many months but should be able to try to carry on as normal life activities as he is able to within reason of staying away from possible places and people who may increase the chance of illness .... by the time our darling missionary arrives back home in Glory just about November 17th... although his magical 100 mark will be December 10th ( 100 days from transplant day is the time that the doctors say we can breathe just a bit easier and begin doing more and more :)
WHEW!!!!! sooo,.... if your still with me..... Please know that we rely on and truly hope and count on
your fasting, prayers and continued faith filled lives to help bring to live action every miracle and tender mercy that the Lord could possibly have reserved for us contingent upon our faith!!! We also ask for your prayers not only of deepest gratitude but also health and safety for Ronald sister Rhonda who will be going through the process of marrow preparation, donation and recovery this next week. She quite literally is gifting Ronald his great opportunity of renewed mortality and life. No words can express the value and love that is attached to such a priceless gift as she is extending to us so freely and with such a generous,loving, and unconditional heart.
We will check in again... most likely the day he is admitted again ( Sept. 26th)
For now..... The future looks unfamiliar, a bit daunting and a little overwhelming but it also looks
very VERY BRIGHT!!! We love you all and continue to pray as well for you to receive all the comfort, guidance, understanding and magnified blessings that you and your family stand in need of as well!!
Daily Devo
Try VERY hard not to take time with your family and love ones for granted. We have learned for
ourselves that time in the home, family dinners together, sitting outside in the yard and even working on the yard together , not to mention having Family Home Evening, and just reading a few scriptures together in the same room is a precious, precious opportunity and blessing!!! We have felt so very thankful to have these past few week all at home together as we never thought we would have this opportunity before Ronald's transplant and we have been absolutely SOAKING it up.... As much as we loved spending time together BC (before cancer) we have found we truly took it deeply for granted........ feel free to learn at our expense or more at our mortal experience.... don't wait for something dramatic, traumatic or tragic to strike .... Just SOAK UP TIME WITH YOUR FAMILY TODAY... and tomorrow... and the next day..............!!
Daily Laugh
Did you hear they're changing the flooring in the daycare centers?
They're calling it "infantile"!
How do you make an octopus laugh?
With ten-tickles!
Did you hear about the hungry clock?
It went back for seconds!
What is the difference between a school teacher and a train?
The teacher says "spit your gum out" and the train says "chew, chew chew"
Have a wonderful last few weeks of summer!! We love you!!
Hello there everyone! Sorry if you have been checking in on this blog the last few weeks with nothing new...Things have just been crazy busy, but all in the things we are happy to be busy with.
Work, Pre-School planning and preparations, Family gatherings, Church activities, working in the yard, cleaning up the house, a few doctors appointments, feeding Ronald all we can as his appetite is great right now, but best all just loving being home all together!! .... because Ronald goes in to begin Bone Marrow Transplant (also referred to as Stem Cell Transplant) this next Wednesday.
LOVE to see him so Shooting Water bombs with his Spent a great day with
hungry and eating!!! awesome brothers...Look at that Ronald's family that
boys face!!! Good times really help charge up up!!
As we have many people wondering what is ahead I thought I would fill you in if you may be wondering yourself.... so here goes....
He will get 4 days of hard chemo ( they told us yesterday that it is so hard that if he didn't follow with the transplant he would die from the chemo..... isn't that crazy??? but all is set to follow through with the transplant so were good :-) then he will have a day off and then receive the bone marrow stem cells and NEWNESS OF LIFE on September 1. The doctors told us that he should feel pretty awful for about 7-10 days and if mucocitis appears it cold be a bit longer and then about day 14-21 they look to see if the new marrow cells start to become ENGRAFTED which is a big deal! We have no reason to believe they won't since he will be receiving he angel sister's bone marrow cells and that presents a really wonderful chance of it grafting! He will be at Huntsman until his numbers come up to a safe level, he is eating, has no infections/high temperatures
and is in overall safe health to leave.... at that point (most likely about 3-4 weeks following transplant) we will move him into a small apartment (owned by an angel family friend) that is near the hospital for between 30-60 days... this is due to the fact that apparently he may get unexpected infections and complications that can come very quickly and may need immediate response, also during this time he will be under constant 24hour supervision for any complications and evaluation for a highly possible reaction calle Graph vs Host Disease (GVHD) that arrises because of the "conflict" between his body and the new cells multiplying within him. He will be on Immuno Suppressant Medication for about 6 months which cause his T-Cells to be suppressed as to decrease his chance of rejection new cells and complication so during that time he will be more susceptible to infections and illness an may take longer to get over such infections, but we are told the greatest possibility of illness/infections during that time will come from exposure to elementary age children and especially children three years old and younger due to a bacteria they naturally carry and transmit (didn't know that till yesterday) so if all goes as smoothly as we hope, he will be very tired off and on for many months but should be able to try to carry on as normal life activities as he is able to within reason of staying away from possible places and people who may increase the chance of illness .... by the time our darling missionary arrives back home in Glory just about November 17th... although his magical 100 mark will be December 10th ( 100 days from transplant day is the time that the doctors say we can breathe just a bit easier and begin doing more and more :)
WHEW!!!!! sooo,.... if your still with me..... Please know that we rely on and truly hope and count on
your fasting, prayers and continued faith filled lives to help bring to live action every miracle and tender mercy that the Lord could possibly have reserved for us contingent upon our faith!!! We also ask for your prayers not only of deepest gratitude but also health and safety for Ronald sister Rhonda who will be going through the process of marrow preparation, donation and recovery this next week. She quite literally is gifting Ronald his great opportunity of renewed mortality and life. No words can express the value and love that is attached to such a priceless gift as she is extending to us so freely and with such a generous,loving, and unconditional heart.
We will check in again... most likely the day he is admitted again ( Sept. 26th)
For now..... The future looks unfamiliar, a bit daunting and a little overwhelming but it also looks
very VERY BRIGHT!!! We love you all and continue to pray as well for you to receive all the comfort, guidance, understanding and magnified blessings that you and your family stand in need of as well!!
Daily Devo
Try VERY hard not to take time with your family and love ones for granted. We have learned for
ourselves that time in the home, family dinners together, sitting outside in the yard and even working on the yard together , not to mention having Family Home Evening, and just reading a few scriptures together in the same room is a precious, precious opportunity and blessing!!! We have felt so very thankful to have these past few week all at home together as we never thought we would have this opportunity before Ronald's transplant and we have been absolutely SOAKING it up.... As much as we loved spending time together BC (before cancer) we have found we truly took it deeply for granted........ feel free to learn at our expense or more at our mortal experience.... don't wait for something dramatic, traumatic or tragic to strike .... Just SOAK UP TIME WITH YOUR FAMILY TODAY... and tomorrow... and the next day..............!!
Daily Laugh
Did you hear they're changing the flooring in the daycare centers?
They're calling it "infantile"!
How do you make an octopus laugh?
With ten-tickles!
Did you hear about the hungry clock?
It went back for seconds!
What is the difference between a school teacher and a train?
The teacher says "spit your gum out" and the train says "chew, chew chew"
Have a wonderful last few weeks of summer!! We love you!!
Thursday, August 6, 2015
SOOOO MUCH JOY!!
Ronald Update:
Great things have come to develop the last few days...
1. Ronald's ANC ( immune system) kicked up to 700!!
2. Received his bone marrow biopsy!
3. Biopsy came back CLEAR of cancer which is exactly what we
hoped... sets up best case scenario for a successful transplant!
4. Drs decided to let Ronald come home yesterday while waiting
for transplant to be given in about 2 weeks!! YAHOO!
-Still so much to overcome, but for today we are thrilled to be riding this hopeful and exhilarating wave!! Thank you all so much for your love, support, concern, support, faith, fasting and prayers in our behalf ... it has made such an extraordinary difference in our lives! We are SO humbled and thankful for the great infusion of
hope, love and joy that we receive from you!!
Daily Devo:
"Some of the sweetest treasures are found in the space
BETWEEN the miracles."
Daily Chuckle:
Why did the traffic light turn red?
You would too if you had to change in the middle of the street!
Great things have come to develop the last few days...
1. Ronald's ANC ( immune system) kicked up to 700!!
2. Received his bone marrow biopsy!
3. Biopsy came back CLEAR of cancer which is exactly what we
hoped... sets up best case scenario for a successful transplant!
4. Drs decided to let Ronald come home yesterday while waiting
for transplant to be given in about 2 weeks!! YAHOO!
So much joy is found in being together as a family at home!! SO MUCH JOY!!
hope, love and joy that we receive from you!!
Daily Devo:
"Some of the sweetest treasures are found in the space
BETWEEN the miracles."
Daily Chuckle:
Why did the traffic light turn red?
You would too if you had to change in the middle of the street!
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