Hello all! Time for our biweekly check in. These last few days, dad has been feeling pretty sick still from his Chemo last week. He's been tired and has had more nausea than ever before (but at least it's not completely stopping him from eating). He has continued to love his visitors, so much in fact that he likes to pack in as many people as he can!
This week on Friday, dad has a PET scan before his doctors appointment. For those who don't know, a PET scan helps the doctors see how big the tumors in his abdomen are. We are expecting them to be the same size or even shrunken (is that a word?) a little, since the blood work indicates that his tumor markers are going down. I guess we'll see, and let you know next week when we get the results! Dad isn't really looking forward to the scan, though - something about standing up with your arms and one leg in the air for 200 minutes and drinking seventeen gallons of red dye or something like that - I don't know, you'll have to ask him :)
Otherwise, things are continuing to be okay at the Loser home. We received a great email from Cam this week, and here's another little excerpt:
"We are a very very blessed family. I have a father that I love dearly and I know that he loves me. A lot of people don't have that and their relationships are worse or they don't have one at all. I believe ... I have a father ready to meet our Father in Heaven and Christ. Dad, don't get me wrong, you have gotten mad when we didn't do our jobs you asked us to do. When you were always working on a new project and we would sneak off to hang out with friends or to get out of doing the work you would get frustrated. But you were always trying to help us learn how to work, and I realize now that you always always always wanted the best for us... I hope I can raise my kids like you have and be a dad like you have been to me. I am so very grateful that our Father in Heaven chose me to come to this family."
Again, we want to thank all of dad's visitors who come to cheer him up! It's fun to see dad off to breakfast with his buds, the amazing Tweedledee and Tweedledum (who's who?). It's also fun to see how Isaac (the most beloved and spoiled person who's ever been in our house) interacts with dad's visitors. This last week our good friend Siope visited and brought his daughter, Ileana (sorry if I spelled it wrong!) who tried to play with Isaac. When all he wanted to do was line up grandma's ceramics on the window sill, she participated by narrating what she declared was his "garage sale." Kids are so fun!
We love you all! Give your loved ones a squeeze for us,
The Losers
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
Grandpa & Isaac
Isaac loves spending time with Grandpa! Today they had fun pulling their tractors around the house. Isaac followed Grandpa like a little duckling. Judging from the smile on Grandpa's face, I'm pretty sure he loves spending time with Isaac too. What do you think?
Sunday, February 1, 2009
End of the Month Round-Up
Hello all! Are you ready for a long post? I know, we haven't posted in a while. This one comes to you courtesy of Nichole.
It's been interesting, because dad "celebrated" the benchmark of 3 months past diagnosis. It's kind of a midway mark, given the statistics of the disease, and there are a lot of dynamics at work. We still have many unanswered questions, such as "How long will dad continue to feel okay? At what point will he go 'downhill'? What does 'downhill' mean or look like?" We don't have the answers - in fact, no one does, so we're playing it by ear. With that being said, we've had a fantastic Loser Family counsel and re-grouped. It was a good event, and we've reset (and re-acknowledged) some priorities and planned some more great family activities. We hope to post on the blog twice a week from now on. Dad also still loves all his visitors - please call to schedule a visit if you'd like!
As far as medical updates go, dad's cancer doctor (Dr. Whisenant) is great and very sensitive to his needs. Dad is still getting Chemo every Thursday, but his blood count levels were down again, so this last week he got a small shot of this really expensive medicine to help - like the nurse didn't want to waste any, because a drop cost hundreds of dollars. Amazing, isn't it? Do you think they'd let me pay rent in "medicine drop?" In any case, dad still has the nausea and fatigue from the Chemo, too. He is taking steroids right now, which have made his face fill out. To those of us who know, he's actually pretty puffy, but a lot of people think he looks "really good." Dad is wishing he felt even a little bit as good as he looks. A bright spot: Dad gained 7 pounds in two weeks! Hooray for eating!
We also wanted to mention that Cameron (Elder Loser) is doing very well in Mexico. Here is a snippet from his last email:
"Dad, I still can't put into words how I feel about you and how amazing you really are to me and to everyone who knows you. Your faith and strength are immeasurable. I love you dad. Mom, you also are an amazing, amazing example of a true eternal companion. I hope to marry someone who has the qualities and patience and love and support that you have and give to dad and us as your kids and to everyone else around you. I love you all so so so much. Isaac better remember who Uncle Cameron is when I get back, and maybe even another nephew. That goes for both marriages in the family. I love you guys, and thanks for everything - you all help me out so much."
We love our missionary!
Some events from the past few weeks:
* Dad attended some family weddings, including Sheri Scoresby from the Ricks family and Ryan Dickison from Mom's side. He loved them!
* The Loser family got a wonderful weekend visit from one of dad's childhood friends - she flew
all the way from California to see him! What a lucky dog. Thank you, Peggy, for your visit and the wonderfully cheerful spirit you brought to our home!
* The Loser family also got a visit from Jane Stoddard. We know her family from our time living in Grace, Idaho many years ago - we were good friends, and we've stayed in contact all these years. Thank you, Jane, for making the trek down to Utah to visit, and for your wonderful homegrown potatoes!
* Dad's niece, Jessica Wood (Catherine's daughter) was baptized! Hooray and congratulations for Jessica! She invited dad to speak on the Holy Ghost, and his talk was wonderful and inspiring for all.
* We were able to have the Jeff Dickison family over for Sunday dinner, and it was amazing! We all fit around the table and laughed and talked, then we played games - we love playing games with you guys! Thanks to Chari, Jeff, Jordan, Sarah, Chelsea, and Charlotte. And thanks to Sarah for letting Isaac run the fire truck up and down your face. That means he likes you!
* Mom and Dad were able to have a couples night with Jan and Steve Story - they ate delicious food and played a board game - yes folks, dad actually played a board game. It's like pulling teeth to get him to do it at home. Anyway, they loved it.
* Mom and Dad were also able to go out to dinner with the Reddings, and they love how good they feel around you. Thank you for being so uplifting!
* The Loser family got a special visit from the Elders, who were apparently too lazy to put on real clothes. Just kidding - it was a pajama visit! Thank you guys for coming over and oozing comfort. As always, we love to hear stories of the Elder family adventures.
* The Loser family were the recipients of a special musical concert put on at our home by Michelle Sundwall and April Moriarty. Sister Sundwall's singing lifted us to the heavens, and Sister Moriarty's violin playing made the angels jealous. Thank you for sharing a portion of your testimonies and bringing the spirit into our home.
In closing, as you can tell, we are still so very blessed. We have friends and family who are willing to put up with us, and we are served by all of you every day. Your prayers are known, and the hand of our loving Heavenly Father is evident in our lives.
We thank you for your patience and your love.
We love you all,
The Losers
It's been interesting, because dad "celebrated" the benchmark of 3 months past diagnosis. It's kind of a midway mark, given the statistics of the disease, and there are a lot of dynamics at work. We still have many unanswered questions, such as "How long will dad continue to feel okay? At what point will he go 'downhill'? What does 'downhill' mean or look like?" We don't have the answers - in fact, no one does, so we're playing it by ear. With that being said, we've had a fantastic Loser Family counsel and re-grouped. It was a good event, and we've reset (and re-acknowledged) some priorities and planned some more great family activities. We hope to post on the blog twice a week from now on. Dad also still loves all his visitors - please call to schedule a visit if you'd like!
As far as medical updates go, dad's cancer doctor (Dr. Whisenant) is great and very sensitive to his needs. Dad is still getting Chemo every Thursday, but his blood count levels were down again, so this last week he got a small shot of this really expensive medicine to help - like the nurse didn't want to waste any, because a drop cost hundreds of dollars. Amazing, isn't it? Do you think they'd let me pay rent in "medicine drop?" In any case, dad still has the nausea and fatigue from the Chemo, too. He is taking steroids right now, which have made his face fill out. To those of us who know, he's actually pretty puffy, but a lot of people think he looks "really good." Dad is wishing he felt even a little bit as good as he looks. A bright spot: Dad gained 7 pounds in two weeks! Hooray for eating!
We also wanted to mention that Cameron (Elder Loser) is doing very well in Mexico. Here is a snippet from his last email:
"Dad, I still can't put into words how I feel about you and how amazing you really are to me and to everyone who knows you. Your faith and strength are immeasurable. I love you dad. Mom, you also are an amazing, amazing example of a true eternal companion. I hope to marry someone who has the qualities and patience and love and support that you have and give to dad and us as your kids and to everyone else around you. I love you all so so so much. Isaac better remember who Uncle Cameron is when I get back, and maybe even another nephew. That goes for both marriages in the family. I love you guys, and thanks for everything - you all help me out so much."
We love our missionary!
Some events from the past few weeks:
* Dad attended some family weddings, including Sheri Scoresby from the Ricks family and Ryan Dickison from Mom's side. He loved them!
* The Loser family got a wonderful weekend visit from one of dad's childhood friends - she flew
all the way from California to see him! What a lucky dog. Thank you, Peggy, for your visit and the wonderfully cheerful spirit you brought to our home!
* The Loser family also got a visit from Jane Stoddard. We know her family from our time living in Grace, Idaho many years ago - we were good friends, and we've stayed in contact all these years. Thank you, Jane, for making the trek down to Utah to visit, and for your wonderful homegrown potatoes!
* Dad's niece, Jessica Wood (Catherine's daughter) was baptized! Hooray and congratulations for Jessica! She invited dad to speak on the Holy Ghost, and his talk was wonderful and inspiring for all.
* We were able to have the Jeff Dickison family over for Sunday dinner, and it was amazing! We all fit around the table and laughed and talked, then we played games - we love playing games with you guys! Thanks to Chari, Jeff, Jordan, Sarah, Chelsea, and Charlotte. And thanks to Sarah for letting Isaac run the fire truck up and down your face. That means he likes you!
* Mom and Dad were able to have a couples night with Jan and Steve Story - they ate delicious food and played a board game - yes folks, dad actually played a board game. It's like pulling teeth to get him to do it at home. Anyway, they loved it.
* Mom and Dad were also able to go out to dinner with the Reddings, and they love how good they feel around you. Thank you for being so uplifting!
* The Loser family got a special visit from the Elders, who were apparently too lazy to put on real clothes. Just kidding - it was a pajama visit! Thank you guys for coming over and oozing comfort. As always, we love to hear stories of the Elder family adventures.
* The Loser family were the recipients of a special musical concert put on at our home by Michelle Sundwall and April Moriarty. Sister Sundwall's singing lifted us to the heavens, and Sister Moriarty's violin playing made the angels jealous. Thank you for sharing a portion of your testimonies and bringing the spirit into our home.
In closing, as you can tell, we are still so very blessed. We have friends and family who are willing to put up with us, and we are served by all of you every day. Your prayers are known, and the hand of our loving Heavenly Father is evident in our lives.
We thank you for your patience and your love.
We love you all,
The Losers
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