http://havehopeinlife.blogspot.com/
My "little" sister has updated her blog about my mom again... some good news...
Keep praying :)
Saturday, April 16, 2011
Spring Break 2011
in eleven hours I will be sitting on a plane heading to San Francisco
that alone would be a good spring break story
but that's just a connection
for my flight to Beijing, China!
I get to go to Asia for 11 days!!
It's a 12 hour flight and a 12 hour time difference so we leave Saturday at 2:30pm and get there Sunday at 2:30 pm. Weird.
Can't wait!!
Sad part will be saying good bye to Mike when he takes us (Janet, my rommate and me) to the airport tomorrow.
that alone would be a good spring break story
but that's just a connection
for my flight to Beijing, China!
I get to go to Asia for 11 days!!
It's a 12 hour flight and a 12 hour time difference so we leave Saturday at 2:30pm and get there Sunday at 2:30 pm. Weird.
Can't wait!!
Sad part will be saying good bye to Mike when he takes us (Janet, my rommate and me) to the airport tomorrow.
General Conference weekend, in brief
Most everyone thinks we're engaged and it's easier to just say we are engaged but just haven't picked a date yet. I've had some awkward moments though! In his ward's Relief Society, for example, "Sister, you belong to the single young man in our ward, don't you?"
"Um. Yes. Yes. I do."
A few minutes later, the one woman I know in his ward (the wife of my former principal) comes in, sees the ring and announces to the room, "Miss Adrienne is engaged!"
The Relief Society pres looks at me, "You didn't tell us you are ENGAGED! I guess we will be a lot more of you, aren't we?"
Awk.Ward.
Then, when Mike and the kids were waiting in the hall for me, lots of women stopped to say congrats to him, leaving the poor kids bewildered about what they were talking about. We haven't said anything to them yet.
So, I have a promise and a ring and I'm hoping for a July 9th date at the Draper Temple. He just needs a job, responsible man that he is, and then hopefully we can get the paperwork done so he can be sealed again!!
Friday, March 25, 2011
in a funk
Do you ever have days where you're just in a funk for no good apparent reason? My funk today has been building for the past little while and it seems the funk-ness keeps getting compounded.
Today, the principal was 20 minutes late to the ethics overview he was supposed to give us. Reason? He was in the weights room working out and didn't have the time. Lame. Given the fact that I can't seem to find anything good about his leadership style and everything that is wrong with my school stems from him, he just annoys me and when he's late to a meeting we had to be there for at 8 on a teacher work day AND last Friday we (the faculty) got yelled at for arriving late to school... I have a hard time with glaring hypocracy... and that he laughed and yelled at me for asking a question in that same faculty meeting. (Have I mentioned I'm considering switing to the charter school the principal is trying to fight since it's opening in our boundaries?)
Let's see, my boyfriend and I have seen each other for less than 2 hours since last Saturday. I realized this week that my days aren't really complete without seeing him and just texting or talking on the phone is sort of annoying at this point in time. We sort of scared ourselves last weekend and put ourselves on "restriction" for this week and I guess indefinitly. Sometimes it would be easier to just elope so we could get it all over with and just be done with all the rules. Oh, and a job he applied for this week was denied him because he's divorced with kids and that just doesn't work for their company's travel requirements. Understandable? Yes. Annoying? Totally.
I have two roommates (long story on how I acquired a second one... ). One of them has a job but is dealing with a dumb boy who is doing everything he can to sabotage their relationship and since I've been around since the beginning of it, I get to be a counselor for its demise. The other roommate doesn't have a job and since she pays me rent, I get to hear all the stories of how nothing is working out.
My mom's platelets haven't moved in weeks and the blood tests didn't show anything wrong with her blood (that's good news) but she hasn't had chemo in 5 weeks or something and she can feel her intestines getting squeezed even more. They gave her some chemo today to do something for it but without higher platelet counts...
I got called a witch (but the other word with a b) by a student when I asked her why she was trying to turn in an assignment 3 weeks late. She got mad when I kept trying to get an answer. No matter how thick your skin is, getting called mean names in front of a classroom full of students is never pleasant. I realized this week that while I used to be able to think of quirky, funny jr high moments everyday, this year, I'm just annoyed.
I am in a really, really bad funk. It's almost laughable how bad it is. Having snow today didn't really help. I guess I just feel like the respository of bad stories from others (at home, school, relationship, family, etc.) and there's neither an escape nor an end in sight.
Boo.
Today, the principal was 20 minutes late to the ethics overview he was supposed to give us. Reason? He was in the weights room working out and didn't have the time. Lame. Given the fact that I can't seem to find anything good about his leadership style and everything that is wrong with my school stems from him, he just annoys me and when he's late to a meeting we had to be there for at 8 on a teacher work day AND last Friday we (the faculty) got yelled at for arriving late to school... I have a hard time with glaring hypocracy... and that he laughed and yelled at me for asking a question in that same faculty meeting. (Have I mentioned I'm considering switing to the charter school the principal is trying to fight since it's opening in our boundaries?)
Let's see, my boyfriend and I have seen each other for less than 2 hours since last Saturday. I realized this week that my days aren't really complete without seeing him and just texting or talking on the phone is sort of annoying at this point in time. We sort of scared ourselves last weekend and put ourselves on "restriction" for this week and I guess indefinitly. Sometimes it would be easier to just elope so we could get it all over with and just be done with all the rules. Oh, and a job he applied for this week was denied him because he's divorced with kids and that just doesn't work for their company's travel requirements. Understandable? Yes. Annoying? Totally.
I have two roommates (long story on how I acquired a second one... ). One of them has a job but is dealing with a dumb boy who is doing everything he can to sabotage their relationship and since I've been around since the beginning of it, I get to be a counselor for its demise. The other roommate doesn't have a job and since she pays me rent, I get to hear all the stories of how nothing is working out.
My mom's platelets haven't moved in weeks and the blood tests didn't show anything wrong with her blood (that's good news) but she hasn't had chemo in 5 weeks or something and she can feel her intestines getting squeezed even more. They gave her some chemo today to do something for it but without higher platelet counts...
I got called a witch (but the other word with a b) by a student when I asked her why she was trying to turn in an assignment 3 weeks late. She got mad when I kept trying to get an answer. No matter how thick your skin is, getting called mean names in front of a classroom full of students is never pleasant. I realized this week that while I used to be able to think of quirky, funny jr high moments everyday, this year, I'm just annoyed.
I am in a really, really bad funk. It's almost laughable how bad it is. Having snow today didn't really help. I guess I just feel like the respository of bad stories from others (at home, school, relationship, family, etc.) and there's neither an escape nor an end in sight.
Boo.
Saturday, March 19, 2011
marmie
http://havehopeinlife.blogspot.com/
My sister has Mom updates about this week's G-tube and chemo.
At some point, I keep thinking that there's going to be good news with all of this but instead the poor thing keeps having issues that require more and more tests.
I'm going up with my brother and his family tomorrow so we'll see how she's doing. Hopefully my cute little 11 month old already walking niece can make Mom smile :) I mean, how can you NOT smile when you see this cute little grin?!!!
My sister has Mom updates about this week's G-tube and chemo.
At some point, I keep thinking that there's going to be good news with all of this but instead the poor thing keeps having issues that require more and more tests.
I'm going up with my brother and his family tomorrow so we'll see how she's doing. Hopefully my cute little 11 month old already walking niece can make Mom smile :) I mean, how can you NOT smile when you see this cute little grin?!!!
Friday, March 11, 2011
reality sets back in
Mom had her oncology appointment Monday to talk about options.
First option: start a new chemo regime with drugs that target the stomache and colon.
Second option: get a stomache tube to reduce the risk of tumors of the esophogus due to rampant throwing up and start a new chemo regimine a couple weeks after the surgery.
Third option: be made comfortable
Needless to say- we're not going for option three. Mom has actually decided to go with option two after meeting with a surgeon on Thursday about the stomache tube. The tube will be put in Monday. I think it's an out-patient surgery so she'll be at Intermountain Medical Center in Murray for it and then go home. I could be wrong. I haven't actually talked to Mom since Thursday-- I got all my info from texting.
Nothing hits home more than someone saying that if we don't try the new drug, we'll make you comfortable; the implications are rather sobering.
Pray, please!
On a happier side note- this weekend my mom and her four sisters are hanging out at a cabin at Bear Lake together. Nothing helps my mom's spirits than sister time (or time with her brothers...)
First option: start a new chemo regime with drugs that target the stomache and colon.
Second option: get a stomache tube to reduce the risk of tumors of the esophogus due to rampant throwing up and start a new chemo regimine a couple weeks after the surgery.
Third option: be made comfortable
Needless to say- we're not going for option three. Mom has actually decided to go with option two after meeting with a surgeon on Thursday about the stomache tube. The tube will be put in Monday. I think it's an out-patient surgery so she'll be at Intermountain Medical Center in Murray for it and then go home. I could be wrong. I haven't actually talked to Mom since Thursday-- I got all my info from texting.
Nothing hits home more than someone saying that if we don't try the new drug, we'll make you comfortable; the implications are rather sobering.
Pray, please!
On a happier side note- this weekend my mom and her four sisters are hanging out at a cabin at Bear Lake together. Nothing helps my mom's spirits than sister time (or time with her brothers...)
Thursday, March 3, 2011
the mother
So, no news is usually good news and that's been the case for a while but now we have news.
For the past couple of weeks or so Mom has been throwing up again and it wasn't too huge of a concern because her platelet levels were doing ok as were her white and red blood cell counts. Sadly, Monday when she went in for her fifth chemo treatment, her platelet count had dropped from 120 to 84 and they wouldn't let her have the treatment. I'd taken the day off work to spend with her at the doctor's office but since that wasn't allowed to happen we went to 7-11 for Slurpies and went home and hung out for the day.
During her weekly visit with the Dr, he suggested to my parents that Mom might need a stomache tube in order to alleviate the pressure on her stomach and keep her from throwing up so much. Since it sounds so invasive and intrusive and yet another tube sticking out of her, Mom rejected the idea.
Then, the doctor decided that since she's still throwing up that he needed to get a CT Scan to see what's going on in there after the past few chemo treatments.
The results came back today: nothing has changed.
Nothing? Really? After doing chemo since November and going through almost 2 complete rounds of 2 different treatments? Nothing?
The next step is still uncertain. Mom meets with the oncologist again on Monday to discuss what will happen next. She will also meet with a surgeon next Thursday to get a run down on what a stomach tube will be like and to see if she's even a candidate for it. Apparently, the cancer around her intestines might make the surgery unavailable for her.
Bleh. Mom is really frustrated because after all this time she was hoping the cancer would have loosened up on her intestines and that some progress would be visible. The good news is that it doesn't look like the cancer has progressed at all-- at least her chest cavity is still clear and it doesn't look like the other areas have more cancer cells than before.
On another note, last week Mom went to visit her Dr at the Huntsman- the guy who did her surgery last Fall- and he said that he thinks the chemo is working. Proof? He looked my mom in the eye and said, "You are still with us."
How's THAT for sobering news?
That little line sort of killed my week and has added to my stress level. Thankgoodness for prayer and faith and people who are keeping both up in behalf of my mom!
For the past couple of weeks or so Mom has been throwing up again and it wasn't too huge of a concern because her platelet levels were doing ok as were her white and red blood cell counts. Sadly, Monday when she went in for her fifth chemo treatment, her platelet count had dropped from 120 to 84 and they wouldn't let her have the treatment. I'd taken the day off work to spend with her at the doctor's office but since that wasn't allowed to happen we went to 7-11 for Slurpies and went home and hung out for the day.
During her weekly visit with the Dr, he suggested to my parents that Mom might need a stomache tube in order to alleviate the pressure on her stomach and keep her from throwing up so much. Since it sounds so invasive and intrusive and yet another tube sticking out of her, Mom rejected the idea.
Then, the doctor decided that since she's still throwing up that he needed to get a CT Scan to see what's going on in there after the past few chemo treatments.
The results came back today: nothing has changed.
Nothing? Really? After doing chemo since November and going through almost 2 complete rounds of 2 different treatments? Nothing?
The next step is still uncertain. Mom meets with the oncologist again on Monday to discuss what will happen next. She will also meet with a surgeon next Thursday to get a run down on what a stomach tube will be like and to see if she's even a candidate for it. Apparently, the cancer around her intestines might make the surgery unavailable for her.
Bleh. Mom is really frustrated because after all this time she was hoping the cancer would have loosened up on her intestines and that some progress would be visible. The good news is that it doesn't look like the cancer has progressed at all-- at least her chest cavity is still clear and it doesn't look like the other areas have more cancer cells than before.
On another note, last week Mom went to visit her Dr at the Huntsman- the guy who did her surgery last Fall- and he said that he thinks the chemo is working. Proof? He looked my mom in the eye and said, "You are still with us."
How's THAT for sobering news?
That little line sort of killed my week and has added to my stress level. Thankgoodness for prayer and faith and people who are keeping both up in behalf of my mom!
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
a "Popular" night...
Saturday night, Mike and I went to the Utah Symphony to see their "Wicked Broadway Divas" show complete with two women who played Elphaba in "Wicked" on Broadway. It was, pretty much, fab.u.lous! The two women were very entertaining and funny and (shocking, I know) great singers! The symphony accompanied them on songs from "Chicago", "Phantom of the Opera", "Ragtime", lots of others, and of course, "Wicked".
Right after intermission the conductor thanked the night's sponsors, the main one being The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and then, he surprised everyone by saying "Thank you from one diva to another, President Monson is here tonight." They panned the spotlight over to stage right and there, in the living flesh was the Prophet enjoying a night at Abravenel Hall!
A couple of my favorite moments:
Listening to the symphony play a gorgeous version of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow", holding my boyfriend's hand and laying my head on his shoulder. Ahhhh.... He later said that was one of his favorite moments, too.
Hearing "Popular", "Defying Gravity" and "For Good" with a symphony and the divas. The song "For Good" had a different meaning for me since Mike and I have conversations a lot about how our lives are different because of each other and hearing the duet made it seem more real. (especially since Friday night we'd been at the Shane Co looking at engagement rings... not that we're getting engaged but he wanted and idea of what I like in a ring...)
Learning about the musical, "Side Show" about Siamese twin sisters. The encore song was called "I Will Never Leave You" (ironic since the actresses would have been singing the song attached at the hip...) but it was beautiful and really closed the show and evening for me.
I'd made dinner before the show (rolled lasagna... very, very yummy) and so afterwards we came home and had chocolate pudding pie (also, very, very yummy).
It was a fun date night-- sort of a rarity since normally we just hang out together and "do life"-- and we got to get dressed up, which was really fun.
Right after intermission the conductor thanked the night's sponsors, the main one being The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and then, he surprised everyone by saying "Thank you from one diva to another, President Monson is here tonight." They panned the spotlight over to stage right and there, in the living flesh was the Prophet enjoying a night at Abravenel Hall!
A couple of my favorite moments:
Listening to the symphony play a gorgeous version of "Somewhere Over the Rainbow", holding my boyfriend's hand and laying my head on his shoulder. Ahhhh.... He later said that was one of his favorite moments, too.
Hearing "Popular", "Defying Gravity" and "For Good" with a symphony and the divas. The song "For Good" had a different meaning for me since Mike and I have conversations a lot about how our lives are different because of each other and hearing the duet made it seem more real. (especially since Friday night we'd been at the Shane Co looking at engagement rings... not that we're getting engaged but he wanted and idea of what I like in a ring...)
Learning about the musical, "Side Show" about Siamese twin sisters. The encore song was called "I Will Never Leave You" (ironic since the actresses would have been singing the song attached at the hip...) but it was beautiful and really closed the show and evening for me.
I'd made dinner before the show (rolled lasagna... very, very yummy) and so afterwards we came home and had chocolate pudding pie (also, very, very yummy).
It was a fun date night-- sort of a rarity since normally we just hang out together and "do life"-- and we got to get dressed up, which was really fun.
Saturday, January 29, 2011
updates on Mom from a sister
One of my sisters who still lives at home has started a blog and since she's actually at the house, she's giving some good updates on my mom. Check it out here: http://havehopeinlife.blogspot.com/
Mom and Dad are currently in Orlando hanging out with my two sisters and two grandkids (and I suppose my brother-in-law, as well). I hope it's a great weekend for my parents who have really been through hell and back since September. They need a mini-break from the reality of their lives.
Mom and Dad are currently in Orlando hanging out with my two sisters and two grandkids (and I suppose my brother-in-law, as well). I hope it's a great weekend for my parents who have really been through hell and back since September. They need a mini-break from the reality of their lives.
Sunday, January 23, 2011
St George 1/2 Marathon
While I finished in my goal time (2:30:00) this was a really hard race for me because I couldn't find my rhythm until about mile 7 and by the time I hit mile 12, I was done. As I ran the first part of mile 13 the song on my iPod had the chorus, "I feel like I'm in a race that will never end," which pretty much sums up how I felt about my situation at that moment! I loved seeing Mike at the 9 mile mark and on the last stretch before the turn to the finish line (where I told him I really just wanted to die). At the finish line were some of my cousins who were really fun to see and hug (even as sweaty as I was). I guess you know you're family when you willingly hug someone right after they've run 13 miles!
Since I finished my second half marathon (Bear Lake last June was the first), I think I'm going to get one of those 13.1 stickers for my car!
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