"Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow." Einstein

I spent this past week anxiously awaiting today's doctor visit. It has been several weeks since I had walked into Huntsman Cancer Hospital. (I'm sure David wishes he could say the same) and I was flooded with emotions. Flashes of Dave bald, frail, weak, hurting plagued my mind. Could it really be such a short time ago. Now David has just completed his 7th month of chemo. (28 chemo treatments post stem-cell transplant). We have 5 months left to go.

The greatest news of the day was that Dr. Tricot said that he believes that the cancer is in remission. He said that David's spleen was still enlarged which isn't preferable but her feels the next 5 months of chemo should help it to return to a normal state. Dr. Tricot also said that he feels confident that if we can complete the next 5 months of treatment that the cancer shouldn't come back.

I could believe my ears and made him repeat himself. I truly for the first time during the past year felt HOPE. Real hope. I think I have been faking hope to comfort myself and to placate everyone else around me. Each time my fear would wake up and overwhelm me, I would try to allow my faith to put it back to bed. But today I feel like I can truly allow myself to picture my future with my sweet husband by my side. I haven't dared to look into the future at all. It always seemed to turn up posibilities of me raising my kids without Dave and my kids growing up without thier dad. I feel full of hope, grattitude, and love today.

It has been a year now since Dave got sick. This past year has been game changing for our family. We have felt things more deeply, we have seen the love of family, friends, and neighbors around us and I have felt carried through it. Each time the burden became to heavy, My Savior picked me up through sweet whisperings, feelings of comfort, and the hands of His angels around me. David has been such a positive influence on our family. He has stayed remarkably happy and confident through this whole process. If we could could the number of shots, sicknesses, transplants, pills taken, dr. visits, it would be unbelievable. Our world changed so quickly. I am grateful for this trial in our lives. It has truly been a blessing. We are better for having experienced it. Although there is much evil in this world. There is oh so much beauty, and kindness, and charity. I don't know if I can ever thank everyone enough who has been supporting us through this time.

Easter Sunday....and the rest of April

Fun with cousin's Lily and Henry after the egg hunt. Henry happened to have and wear the same vest. Seriously not planned. Chris and Amy hid the eggs and Amy crocheted cute hair flower clips for the girls Easter presents.

Easter Egg hunt at Grandma and Grandpa Welsh's house.

We got a quick family picture on Sunday. The kids have loved watering the spring flowers in front of our house.

April has realized that it is Spring and the flowers are feeling brave enough to bloom.

On April 5th we celebrated 9 years of marriage. We went to do sealings at the Salt Lake Temple which was emotional for both of us. We felt so grateful to be there together and to have Dave doing well. We ate at the Garden Restaurant afterward which is becoming tradition. It was a wonderful night.
Dave's Chemo has been going okay. He usual get's sick 2-3 days after each dose. He gets muscles aches, fatigue, and some not so fun gastro-intestinal side effects. But he is going to work through it all and just getting treatments on his lunch breaks up at the hospital. He is a superhero.

Ally has first gradeitis and keeps trying to find ways to not have to go to school. She would rather stay home with the boys and I.

Grant and Brody's friendship is growing and it is fun to see them wrestle and sword fight. We are getting back into the swing of things and have 1 month of treatment down and 11 left to go.

Spring is in the Air!

The kids with thier Hone cousins
Ally holding cousin Mckell Roxy with the classic 7-year old smile
An intense Mario cart battle with Moody cousins
Grant holding new cousin Allyson
Ally with new cousin Allyson


Grant's 5th Birthday

In our front year our tulips are pushing through dirt and begging for some sunshine. We are back in business and have had an eventful week. Dave and I went back to work. The kids went back to school, Grant turned 5, and Dave got his first maintenance chemo treatments. Ally and Grant had soccer games. Grant scored 3 goals and Ally scored 1 goal.
I had to re-register Ally Jane to get her back into class. When we walked into her room. Her teacher said, "look who is here class." They all shouted "Ally!" Then one kid started chanting, "Ally! Ally!" and the rest of the class chimed in. Then a classmate ran to give her a hug and a group hug formed. One little girl started crying and saying, "Ally I've missed you so much." They all started fighting over where she was going to sit. It was an emotional scene straight out of a movie. I tried to enjoy the moment and not think about the germs each kid may be exposing my daughter to with their hugs.
We were able to go visit my brother Dan and Becky and see our new niece and cousin. We also ate dinner with Trina and let the kids run around with their cousins. It felt so great to get out of the house and spend some good family time together. This week we were able to go to the park, it is great to see friends again and breathe the fresh spring air.
Dave, Brody, and Ally all did get a little sniffle early in the week but nothing too problematic. When I told Grant to be careful because Daddy had a runny nose, he laughed. I asked him what was funny and he said, "grownups don't get runny noses mom." I thought it was cute. He probably rarely sees a grownup with snot running down thier face. We feel so blessed that we have been able to stay healthy this winter.
Dave had a difficult time sleeping this week due to the steroid treatment that they put him on during the chemo. He got a dose on Tuesday and on Friday. However, this weekend he was feeling pretty tired and sore in his muscles. He still managed to make crepes for us today. His brother Chris and wife Amy and brother Steve came over to enjoy them with us.
We have seen the goodness that there is on this earth. We continue to be blessed by others. We have felt our Savior's love through the Spirit and seen His works through the hands of friends and family. Thank you so much.





Dave decided to get a wig. These are a few of the runner-up wigs. He wore the one below back to work the first day and gave everyone a good laugh.

The doctor's visit and a little reflection

Our visit on Thursday went well. The doctor said that his lymph nodes are all normal size. His spleen is still enlarged but he said that the maintenance chemo should take care of that. The other cancer markers look good as well. It looks like the transplant did it's job. Dave gets his first doses of chemo on Tues, March 29th and Fri, April 1st. He decided to do two doses a week every other week. He will be on that schedule for a full year. We will see how things go. Hopefully he won't feel too tired or too sick.
Dave is still bald. He has some blond peach fuzz hairs starting to peek through. Our time at home is coming to a close. I have mixed feelings about getting back to REAL life. It has been a sweet time to be together as much as we have. Dave remains in good spirits. I overheard him telling someone on the phone the other day, "Man, I am lucky to have a stem-cell transplant so I can watch all of the March Madness games." I love that he considers himself lucky. We do feel so blessed for the doctors, medicine and treatment that he has received. We are also grateful for the tender mercies of the Lord and his earthly angels that we have felt along the way.

We have made a lot of fond memories during our time together. One of our favorite times of the day is when we go sneek into the kids bedrooms before we go to bed. We love watching them sleep. There is an indescribable feeling of love, pride, gratitude, and joy staring at their faces. Ally and Brody take after their dad's sleeping positions and is usually curled up is a peaceful sleep. Grant is usually sprawled out across his bed with at least one extremity dangling off, he takes after me. Those night time moments make it all worth it.

As we get back to our new real life. I hope that we can remember to take with us the gratitude, compassion, and perspective that we have gained through this experience. We will never forget the kindness and love shown to us by family and friends.

We're Alive

We are healthy and happy. Sorry that I haven't posted for a little while. I have been working on a slide show of Dave's pictures and some of our favorite memories of the past year. I kept trying to get it on our blog but the music wouldn't work. So for those of you motivated enough you can paste the link and watch the slide show. Make sure your sound is on. I found a song for Dave that I liked even though I am not a country fan. It is a Kenny Chesney/Dave Matthew duet. The pictures are not in chronological order but the last picture is the most recent of Dave.

http://www.go2album.com/showAlbum/548623/dave-slideshow

We are doing well and enjoying our family time. This week Dave will get another full body PET scan to measure the tumors and see if they are smaller or gone. Also he will get his blood retested to check for any of the cancer markers. We will meet with the doctor on Thursday and get the results. Hopefully things check out well and then he will start his maintenance chemo. Then he will be getting 4 rounds of chemo a month for the next 12 months.

We are so grateful Dave is recovering so well. We are loving the warmer weather and spending time outside with some fresh air.

"So Sweet and Precious is Family Life." -James McBride

Dave has had a cough for a few days but it seems to be clearing up. He got up this morning and did some push-ups and sit-ups, he is getting stronger everyday.
This morning we built a fort in Brody's room and the kids had fun crawling around. The kids were thrilled that they got to play in the snow today. As soon as we got Brody down to sleep for his nap I spent the next 15 minutes getting the kids dressed in their snow clothes. I told them that they needed to play outside for at least 15 minutes to make it worth all the work finding the gloves,hats, scarfs, boots, etc. There is something precious about kids hardly being able to walk bundled up in thier snow clothes.
The kids took a bath in our jetted tub tonight. Ally and Brody love the jets and Grant is terified of them. Ally tried to convince Grant to let her turn the jets on. He finally agreed but said, "Can I hug you while you turn them on." They hugged and that sweet assurance is all he needed.
Brody has been cutting some teeth and been grumpy. Ally has been extra loving to him and said "Mom, It's hard to grow new teeth. I know how he feels." She is such a sweet big sister.
On Wednesday our carbon monoxide alarms kept going off. We changed the batteries and they still went off. We called around to see who could make sure we didn't have carbon monoxide in our house and a fire truck and ambulance showed up. Of course all the neighbors came out worried that there was something wrong with Dave. We were really starting to feel a lapse of attention and though we would boost it up a notch. Those who know us know that we love a lot of attention (not really). We are sorry for the anxiety is may have caused our neighbors.
The firemen went in with a sledgehammer and an axe. They were inside 10 minutes and then came out peacefully (with all the walls intact) and no carbon monoxide to be found. They told us that our alarms were expired since 2007 which is strange since we bought the house newly finished in 2008. Anyway we were glad that we could sleep well that night knowing that there was nothing to worry about.
My brother Matt and his wife had thier baby yesterday. She had a super quick delivery and the baby has been in the NICU for some glucose problems. I saw a picture tonight and she is precious. They are hopeful that she can go home soon. On a sad note, our sweet sister-in-law lost her baby yesterday at 12 weeks pregnant. We are so sad for the loss. We love them and are praying for them.

Joe is back

Joe has been staying with Dave's brother Steve and Amanda for the past three weeks. We started to miss him and he is now home with us. Things just didn't feel quite complete without him. I have to admit I really missed having him around and so did the kids. We adopted Joe from our friend's the Pettits about 4 years ago.

According to the doctor, Dave isn't supposed to touch him because of bacteria. He washes his hand if Joe slips a quick lick in. But we have enjoyed having him home. Things feel complete with him here.

We are doing good otherwise. I finally got unpacked today and folded over a weeks worth of laundry. Yesturday The kids and I went on a walk. It felt soooo good to be outside and breathe the fresh air. Dave started working on some certification classes that he is doing. He started doing a chapter a day. Go Dave.

Faith over Fear

When Dave first went to the hospital back in October. I remember going home each night with more questions than answers. It took a month before we got the Castleman's diagnosis and then a couple months after before they were sure that he had POEMS syndrome too. When the kids would ask me if Daddy was going to die. I found myself wondering the same thing. I didn't know how to pray. I wasn't sure if I was ready for "Thy will be done." I wanted "my will"- which was for Dave to be okay and our family to go back to normal. As we approached the chemo and transplant my anxiety grew. I wasn't sure if I needed to just hope for the best or prepare for the worst. My mind would wander what would it be like to be a widow at 32yrs. old. How would I take care of my kids by myself. How would they get by without a dad. I pictured Daddy- daughter dates and Father-son campouts unattended. It was hard not to think it. I guess I was running rehersals in my mind to try and prepare myself for that possibility. Convincing myself that I would be okay no matter what happens was my way to manage the anxiety.
A few days before the chemo began. We had a visit from the Stake President and the Bishop. The President gave me a beautiful blessing which words continue to resonate with me each time I get discouraged. The Bishop shared a quote with me that gave me the answered to what I had been looking for.

"Choose faith over doubt, choose faith over fear, choose faith over the unknown and the unseen, and choose faith over pessimism."-Richard C. Edgely

It has helped me each time I start feeling afraid. It was truly the answer I was looking for. Today has been a challenging day. Dave slept a lot and we all seemed a little more emotional than usual. But we made it through. Tonight we sang some songs and read some books. Brody wanted to say the family prayer. He grunts his best attempt at copying your words. Ally and Grant couldn't help themselves from laughing. Children's giggles have to be among one of life's most heartwarming sounds.

Just another day in paradise.....

Dave lost his hair in patches this week. So he decided to "Bic" it. I think he looks good! The eyebrows and goatee are still hanging on.

....you know you had a rough night of sleep when you forget how many times you were awaken in the night by each of your kids: bad dreams, growing pains, potty breaks, needing a drink, or spurts of random crying (Brody). Amazingly I don't feel too tired, yet. Dave said that he had a couple requests for me to update the blog. So, sorry for being a slacker all week. Thanks to those who are faithfully following our progress.

We have had a great week as a family. It has been such a great thing to just enjoy being together. Dave sleeps in and takes naps during the day. He is getting a lot of rest. The doctor says he is not allowed to do any housework or go to work for 6 weeks. He helps me out by playing video games or watching TV with the kids. Brody likes to go over the the couch and pat the cushion where he wants Dave to sit. Then he goes over and climbs up on the couch next to him. Grant is getting a lot of extra help on his Lego Indiana Jones game and said that he can't believe they are beating so many levels. He loves playing alongside Dave. Dave has been teasing me that this is my dream come true. I love having him home, not sick, but it has been fun to just forget about life and be together.

There have been days or weeks of life where happiness has eluded me. Depressed and anxious feelings, I believe, are part of the human experience. It is in those difficult moments that we learn about ourselves or plead for closeness with our Heavenly Father. I have been thinking about how often have I wished the present moment away and thought I can't wait till.....We go on a trip, we get a new car, the kids are all in school, I loose my baby weight, the house is all organized, when everyone is healthy, and on and on. My lists of "I will be happy when" could be neverending. I have come to realize that happiness isn't bought, a certain size, or time of life. It is a choice, and a gift of the Spirit. And although my house is a mess, I am not my ideal size, our car isn't fancy and my husband is sick. I feel truly happy. I feel grateful for life, health, the gospel, friends, family, and the safety of our home. I am living in my own little paradise.

Batman vs. Chemo

Our friends, the Kellers, found this and sent it to us in the mail yesterday. Enclosed was a card that stated "We thought you could use a little help." It was hillarioes when I figured out who Batman was fighting. I had residual delayed laughter throughout the day. The kids have been having fun playing with it too. It's nice to know that we have Batman on our side.

There's no place like home

We have been enjoying being with our kids. Ally Jane kept asking if we were going to be home by Valentine's Day. That was so important to her. They kids and my mom had decorated our house with hearts and a welcome home banner. Ally even spent "two days" to sprinkle our bed with hand-made heart confetti. It looked like a lot of work.

Dave still went to the hospital on Saturday and Sunday. His counts are rising and he officially engrafted which means the stem cells have made it to the bone marrow and are starting to produce cells on thier own. They are giving him neupogen shots that stimulate the white blood cell production. Since we have been home he has seemed really tired. He has been sleeping alot. His hair has finally started falling out. On Sunday he woke up to a very hairy pillow. We gave him a closer shave. He is one handsome bald man. Today we had heart-shaped crepes, strawberries, and turkey sausage for breakfast. Our traditional holiday/birthday breakfast. It feels good to be home. Ally Jane and Grant made Valentine's for their classes and sent them with friends so they could semi-participate in Valentine's at their schools. Dave's immune system is still weak so we will be keeping the kids home another 4-6 weeks. They show no signs of cabin fever yet.

We feel so blessed to have everyone else healthy. Dave's work gave a generous amount from their bake sale to help with medical bills, our ward brought us a deep freeze full of meals, and a box full of toys and activities for our kids. Friends and family have sent packages, letters, emails, and left phone calls. This is a time in my life I will truly remember. It is a humbling and beautiful thing to feel overwhelming amounts of love and support. It is amazing the "fireman/firewoman" type people who run into the burning house when a crisis arises. There have been so many of those people who have been supporting us through this time. We feel so sincerely grateful for all those people in our lives at this time. Thank you. We truly feel loved. Have a wonderful Valentine's Day sharing it with those you love.

No news is good news

Dave has received another platelet transfusion today. He is feeling a lot of pain in his legs. The Physician Assistant said that it is probably muscle spasms from the chemo or electrolyte imbalances. Other than that Dave is doing pretty well. He is feeling tired but is still eating well. We are still hoping to go home tomorrow and feeling oh so anxious to do so. The kids visited last night and we had a great time with them. Dave's work sent him an email this afternoon and said that they are having a bake sale fundraiser for our family tomorrow. We feel so blessed to have such thoughtful friends and family around helping in so many ways. Thank you.

A laugh

Tonight I called the kids to talk. We tried Skype but couldn't see the kids. I sang Ally Jane her songs and she sang back. Then I sang to Grant and after I was done he said, "Thanks mom, I am just scratching my own back." It was so cute that he decided to take care of that since I wasn't there to do it.

Third times a charm!

Well after an all day affair at the hospital (and watching 5 episodes of Law and Order SVU) Dave is 2 bags of blood and one bag of platelets heavier and happier. They found a more specific match to Dave's antibodies and found a platelets that fit him better. They doped him up with anti-rejection meds and infused him slowley but surely. We felt happy that it all came together without a single negative reaction. We did start the day of with some negative intestinal symptoms that for Dave's self respect will go unnamed. But all in all we have made it one day closer to going home. Hurray! Chicken Pot Pies for dinner and no kids today=( But considering that we have seen them every other day we have been gone I'll try not to complain. We talked to them on the phone tonight and they seem to be having a great time with Grandma. Only 3 more days to go and then we get to go home, hopefully.....

Hives, Hives, and More Hives

Well our routine visit turned out to be an experience today. We went in and somehow Dave's platelets had dropped lower than yesterday even after his tranfusion. Platelets are resposible for clotting blood. Anyway, they were cautious and gave him some Benedryl and slowly started the transfusion. He slowly started popping out hives and they stopped gave him hydrocortizone, waited and then started again. Then the hives then went crazy. He had them on his head, stomach, back, arms, and a huge one on one of his eyes. He looked like a prizefighter. They gave him more hydrocortizone and decided it wasn't safe to proceed. We were finally sent home in the afternoon and said to come back tomorrow. The blood bank is going to try to search more closely for antibodies that he may be reacting to inside the platelets. He will recieve two bags of red blood cells tomorrow and a bag of platelets, hopefully all goes well. If not they said he would need to be admittted inpatient. And we don't want that. He has been smiling through it all. And no sickness yet. We feel so happy that he has been able to eat. It is amazing to see the man you love face something like this with courage and optimism. My love and respect for him grows every day. What a man. My mom brought a delicious crockpot dinner and the kids to visit tonight. My mom looked a little overwhelmed with loading and unloading all the kids and dinner to bring. She didn't want to commit to coming again tomorrow, "maybe Wednesday" she said. It's sure a lot of work bringing the kids somewhere when you aren't used to it.

Super Bowl Sunday

We went in for our check-up at the hospital. Dave got another dose of chemo Velcade. He also got an IV antibiotic to help prevent infection. They found in his blood results that his platelets were too low. He received a platelet transfusion. Five hours after being at the hospital we returned to the hotel. Dave had an allergic reaction to the platelets and started getting hives. We contacted the on- call doctor who said to watch him closely and give him Benadryl. The hives went away and he has felt okay so I think we are okay. Good news to report other than that. Dave was told that if he didn't get mouth sores by today that he is probably in the clear. We are feeling exited about that. We also are feeling great that Dave has been able to eat and isn't feeling sick, just tired. The kids came to our hotel tonight with Dave's brother Chris and Amy. We watched the super bowl. It was fun to see them. Ally and I made a felt donut that she has been wanting to learn how to sew and Grant picked out felt for a cupcake he wanted me to make for him. Brody kept us laughing with his dancing and his learning to wink. He is so cute. We love the time we are getting to see the kids. Thanks for the prayers and fasting. We truly have felt the support.

One week in......

The kids came to visit us today. We watched veggie tales, sang songs, and played hide-n-seek. Dave got Velcade chemo through his port yesterday. He is feeling tired but is still doing pretty well. No mouth sores yet not too much upset stomach. We are happy he is doing well. The nurses say that this upcoming Sunday through Thursday are typically the worst days of transplant and that by next Friday he should be feeling better again. The kids had a great week with their Aunt Kimmie. She cleaned our house top to bottom and even cleaned out my hidden junk areas. (I hope I am not the only one with hidden stuff under my bed). Anyway, she went home today and tears were shed we will miss her. Chris and Amy (Dave's brother and wife) are taking them this weekend. I am sure they will have a lot of fun. I feel so grateful for good friends and family. Also, I feel grateful for our doctor close by who was able to diagnose David quickly and know the best treatment for him. Dave and I have a hot date night tonight. A couple of schwans TV dinners and some serious games of PAC-MAN. Dave still beat me even on chemo. Hope you all have a great night.

Neutropenic

Neutropenic basically means your white blood cells are zero and you are unable to fight infection. Dave has reach netropenia today from the high dose chemo that he has been recieving. He was sick this morning but seems to be feeling a little better now and has been able to keep his meds and some food down. We did get special permission to go home and watch the BYU game Saturday night since our hotel doesn't have versus:) We want to let our neighbors know how much we appreciate the meals and acitivities for the kids. They are enjoying them so much. We also want to let friends, co-workers and family know how much we appreciate thier thoughtful gifts, packages, phone calls, posts, and emails. We feel so blessed to have such a supportive and loving fan club for Dave. We have felt your prayers for us. We have truly felt comforted day and night. Even when things feel overwhelming or unsure around us I love the peace that comes through the Spirit and the Savior carrying us through.

Stem Cells Back Today

Dave has been tolerating the chemo pretty well. The nurses says that he will probably be the most sick over the weekend and the early part of next week. Even though Dave has not been sick he somehow has lost another 10 pounds=( Poor guy is doing his best to eat. Since Dave's white blood cell count isn't too low yet the doctor has given us permission to go home and visit the kids. We have gone home Sat, Sun, and Mon and spent the afternoon, eaten dinner, and i got to put the kids into bed. It's amazing how meaningful that becomes to you. A once mundane task that I often couldn't wait to get over with and relax has become the highlight of my day. To be able to scratch my kids backs, sing to them, and assure them that I love them even when apart has been priceless. Each hug and kiss feels so good. My sister Kimberly is there with them this week. My mom and Rod are at home recovering from a long weekend that is more than they are used to. My mom said they took over a 4 hour nap the minute they got home. She says she has a renewed appreciation for the work that young mothers do. Today is our longest day ahead of us. Dave will be getting his stem cells back. They will be given them through his port in his chest. He then will recieve platlet and red blood cell transfusions from donors as needed throughtout the week. We have loved reading the comments on the blog posts. Thanks again everyone for your thoughts and prayers we can feel the support.

Chemo and Cafe Rio

Dave got his first experience with chemo today. He recieved it through the port in his chest. We were at the hospital for about 5 hours. Afterward we picked up our load of medications and I have been trying to sort them out using a pill box that a friend sent me:) Dave isn't feeling the effects of chemo yet and we moved in to our hotel room downtown. We are required to be close to Huntsman in the event that anything goes wrong. My mom and Rod brought Cafe Rio and the kids to come visit us tonight. It was so good to hug and kiss them. It is crazy how time warps. I felt like I hadn't seen them for days. They had a great time playing on the bellhop cart. Well now we sit and wait and watch for Dave to get sick and then we endure it and then we watch him get better. Sounds simple right? I love how trials can make you remember what is most important and how to cherish the simple yet meaningful things in our lives. Life is precious and beautiful. Thank you again to everyone walking with us every footstep we take. We love you.

Dave's co-workers all joined in.

Ben and Smith

Marc and Gabe
Feelin' the love.......

We had some additional supporters join in on the head shaving fun. I will post the pics as I receive them. Thanks to everyone for your support. Matt from Portland....

Thanks so much for everyone who participated today near and far. It was a lot of fun. Thanks Jeffrey, Jasen, Ryan P., Bishop, Carter, Scott, Dave B., Dan, Steve, Bud, Sam, Zac, Dave M., Austin, Jared, and Higgins.

Sunshine and Rain

This week has been a lot more challenging than Dave and I anticipated. Dave got really sick from growth injections this week and stem cell collection was really hard on Dave's body. They decided to keep him sedated on Tuesday and Wednesday after he got dehydrated from all the sick symptoms he was having. Then the fluids they gave him went to his abdomen and lung cavaties making it difficult for him to breathe. They then had to give him diaretics to drain the fluid so that he could breathe easy again. We spent most of the week at the hospital. Friday afternoon he started feeling better and has felt back to "normal" again. We had some sweet experiences this week too: visits, phone calls, notes, and care packages from people concerned for Dave. It has been bitter sweet. The kids are happy to have Dave's tubes pulled out of his neck. Grant had been avoiding huging or kissing Dave all week finally gave him a hug and kiss again. He was kinda freaked out I think. He still has a port in his chest for the next year where he will be recieving chemo. The chemo starts Friday the 28th of January.

Well today was the head shaving party. We had a great time and Dave felt the support of his friends, our bishopric, co-wokers, and family members.

Day One of Many Days to Come

Dave got his central line and his temporary line surgically inserted today. These line are ports that are used for removing stem cells out of his body and to put the chemotherapy in. Dave had a great attitude today and kept joking around. My personal favorite was when he was coming out of recovery he said "I have the power" refering to He-Man and then started singing the Thundercats theme song. He remembers none of this and is unsure that I am telling the truth. I am. He gets a long weeked of R&R to recover and get some shots to increase his white blood cells and then mobilize them into the bloodstream. Tuesday, Wednesday, and maybe Thursday he will be at the Huntsman Cancer Hospital all day to remove the stem cells.
He is resting and still a little out of it. Ally and Grant went to open gym at Ally's gymnastics tonight. We are trying to get the wiggles out before our 2 months home bound starting Jan.31.
Dave and I will be moving downtown in a hotel while the kids stay at home with my mom and my sister Kim. Thank goodness for family and friends.