One Year Later

Hi Everyone! Thank you for all your love and support for my favorite lady, my mom and best friend, Angie! :) I have been super busy and haven't kept up on a progress report for my mom. I apologize to all those who use this blog to keep updated on Angie and how she's doing.

 Well, she's doing quite good! She's feeling a lot more energetic (although she still doesn't feel up to speed), her back isn't bothering her quite as much and except for a few colds, her health continues to improve. She's done with chemo for now and is only periodically going to the Cancer center for checkups. Yay!

We are trying to make up for lost time last summer by taking her on lots of camping trips this summer! We've already been to Payson Lakes and to Manti to watch the beautiful Manti pageant. She's loved it all and we are SO grateful that she's feeling well enough to spend this time with her family!

	We ♥ Manti!

We also got to celebrate her birthday a few days ago! What a crowd! We can be SO noisy! :) HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM! ♥

Hey, Everyone! :) Shay here, since my sweet Momma is busy as a bee taking care of everyone! (Also, she kinda sucks at updating this. ;) Jk Momma! I love you!) She is a neat lady! Not only was I blessed with a flippin amazing Grandma, but a Mom as well! Grandpa, too. MY FAMILY IS GREAT! Anyway, because Grandma is so stinking great, she is H. O. M. E. from the hospital. Basically, she's the strongest person ever. She was out just short of 3 weeks! She is so happy to be home! We're all happy as well, there is really no place like home! Her eating habits have been the most worrisome throughout her chemotherapy. It's been a tough road for Grandma, her appetite is to a minimum and all of the medication has her tummy in knots always. It's hard for her to keep food down and everything she does eat is small and very soft on her tummy. Luckily, we've found some decent things that she's been able to eat pretty swell. Thank you, Top Ramen! :) The poor lady had a check-up today, they had to take blood out of her, (probably enough to feed a vampire.) She laughed, you should laugh, you're welcome. :) Everything went well, besides her being light-headed, but she was rewarded with a Coke. Was she able to drink it all? No, but every day we see a little more progress and are just looking forward to the day, when it's basically back to her old self. Dark chocolate eating self! A few more days of 24 hour care and T.L.C, Grandma will be able to be out and about in 2 or 3 months. She looks so beautiful and we love having her home. She's just as positive as ever and is ready to be up and better already. :) We are so grateful for her and her healing process, that the Lord has blessed us with. (Doctor's too! They have been great.) We just can't wait for everything to fall in to place and get her 110%! We just want to take a minute, to thank all of you for the support our entire family has received, emotionally, physically, and spiritually. The blessings that we've been blessed with have been phenomenal and we're so grateful for the ward, the friends, and those who have supported us through this trial. We thank our Father in Heaven every day for you and everything that you have helped us with. Heavenly Father really speaks to us through each other. We thank you so very much and we love you. BTW Angie World: Her other favorite granddaughter, Nikki, says hello. We'll keep you posted more often! Thanks for checking up on Grandma. Your warm thoughts, prayers, and comments are always and very much appreciated. (I love Grandma most. :) ) Love, Shaylyn and the Fam. :)

Hi Everyone, Mom was admitted on Tuesday & had her high dose of chemo Tuesday & Wednesday. So far she's only been a little nauseous. She finally had her stem cells replaced today after having it delayed because her kidneys were struggling with all that was being done. Thank you so much for all your prayers, service, care and concern for my mom. We are so grateful! Love, Cresta

Hi Everyone, So Mom was scheduled to be admitted for her stem cell transplant today. Unfortunately she received a phone call yesterday. They had found something concerning on her lung xray. So instead of being admitted to BMT center she spent the morning at the hospital getting a CT scan of her lungs and additional bloodwork. The good news is the test results came and it was only a cracked rib. She now has been rescheduled to be admitted to the BMT on Tues (next week). They promised her this was the last delay! It has been very difficult for mom to try and psych herself up for this difficult process and then have it put off again & again. However through all of this she's has continued to be sweet, positive and more concerned about others than herself! I love you Mom! Love, Cresta

Hi Everyone, Well it's been a long time posting. I feel bad for that, but it's been quite a good time for mom. She was able to complete the first phase of her cancer fight, the initial chemo treatments and got her count down to 1.2! She then received a much needed break from chemotherapy as they got her geared up and ready for her second phase. This last week and a half she has now been working on her second phase. First, she received a series of shots to help her body shed stem cells into her bloodstream. Then she had her port removed and had a central line installed (this is where they will retrieve cells from and transplant them back in after the chemo treatments). She had her first stem cell retrieval yesterday morning. It was a huge success, they were able to obtain half of the required 10 million stem cells. However, it also took a huge toll on her body and yesterday afternoon she became very disoriented and confused and lethargic. We had to rush her back to the hospital where they filled her with fluids and potassium and magnesium and finally she got to go home about 11pm last night. She then had to be right back at the hospital bright and early this morning for another retrieval session. This time they decided to not push her body as hard and took about 1/3 the amount yesterday. Unfortunately, we got a call back and they weren't able to retrieve as many stem cells as they had hoped, so she needs to make another trip back up to the hospital to receive another shot. Poor mom! She is such a trooper through all of this. She has kept her sense of humor and is so pleasant and sweet with us and the doctors and nurses. I am continually amazed at what a wonderful woman she is and her example to me. I love you, Mom! Love, Cresta

Hi Everyone, Mom's finished her second round of chemo treatment this week early this morning and so far, she has been feeling pretty good. They've started giving her some anti-nausea meds right into her port before the chemo, so we are all hoping that this works well for her. Mom is such a trooper! Through all of this her attitude and sweet, upbeat personality has continually amazed me and I am SO proud of her. Her doctors are now looking to prepare her for her second phase of the myeloma treatment which will include a higher dose of chemo and then a bone marrow transplant. Please keep her in your prayers! Mom and all of our family SO appreciate all of you who continually pray for her, help her, encourage her and everything else you have done for her and our family. We are so grateful to be surrounded by such amazing people! Thank you!! Love, Cresta

Hi Everyone, I am SO sorry for not updating this blog. Between helping with Mom & Bud, my own family needs and my work piling on enough projects for 5 people, I've been a bit swamped, but that's NO excuse for leaving you all in the dark! I will try to at least update this weekly for those that want to know how mom is doing. So, a couple of weeks ago, I took her in for chemo, but her tests came back with poor liver function (this was the second time her liver function had gone down). So they made her skip a week of chemo. This actually worked out great for mom because she felt the best she's felt since June! Unfortunately all good things must come to an end and last week her liver was improving so they gave her chemo on Monday. She was SO nervous about it and was pleasantly surprised when she actually felt quite good all week. She had a second dose of chemo on Friday which was much harder on her. She was feeling pretty sick Saturday and Sunday. I have some good news to report, though. She has said that she's feeling much better today. :) I am SO happy to hear that. Love you! Cresta