From My P.O.V.



Let's jump right in to it.  I had surgery on Dec. 4th.

 

In the days leading up to the surgery I was keeping my self impossibly busy, mostly so that I wouldn't have time to think about what was coming up.

I got all of my Christmas shopping done.

And all of my Christmas cards addressed and in the mail.

I took the kids to see some Christmas lights.

 

 

I know that all of my family, both immediate, and extended had a special prayer and fast for me.  I cannot say how much that meant to me.

My Aunt Denise texted me and said that my uncle (her husband), had put my name on the General Authority prayer roll.  That knowledge made me cry.  In a good way.  I love the leaders of my church.

 

The night before the surgery, Nick gave me a blessing.

Armed with all of those facts, I went in to the surgery feeling very calm.

Originally, I was supposed to go in to surgery at 7:30AM.  But the night before the surgery, the hospital called to say that they had moved my surgery time back, and that I didn't need to be there until 11:30AM.

A lot of my friends must watch the Ellen show, because on the way to surgery that morning, I was getting texts that referred to Rachel Platten's, Flight Song.  Apparently, a gal with cancer had been on the show that morning, and she sang that song.  It made people think of me.  Kind of cool.  Plus, I really do love that song.

 

They used my port to put me to sleep in the operating room.  And they placed an IV afterward.  When I woke up, I laughed, because I saw that they had, had to make several attempts/pokes to place the IV, before they finally got it.  I was so glad that I hadn't had to experience that while I was awake.

I also laughed when they had me put on one of those shower-cap-looking hats, before surgery.  What a relief to know that my "hair" wouldn't get in anyone's way in the O.R.!!!

 

While I was sleeping, I dreamed that I was sitting with my (now deceased) Grandma Chellson.  We were holding hands.  I asked her if she could make me some French toast?  She said, "oh honey, I can't make you French toast.  But I'll find someone to make you some".

The nurses said I was talking about French Toast, in recovery.

So, they ordered some for me, from the kitchen.

When I made it to my hospital room, I didn't have to wait very long for my French toast to arrive.  Grandma did get someone else to make it for me!  Thank you, Grandma.

 

While I was in the hospital, Heather set up a GoFundMe account for my family.

I have been overwhelmed!  And grateful to everyone that has donated.

It has meant to much to us!  Thank you.

 

 

I spent two days in the hospital, directly after surgery.
I enjoyed having visits from friends and family.

And I was really happy to find that my chest wasn't "as flat as a pancake".  Tissue expanders had been installed and they gave me mound shapes.
Truly, I had been worried about how shocking it would be to see myself afterward...  I kept remembering all of the times I teased my little sister (before she went through puberty) that: "the walls were jealous of her" (you know, because her chest was so flat)! 
Wouldn't that have been poetic justice?

So, I went home.  It was late in the afternoon.
I immediately climbed in to my own bed.
That's when things get fuzzy...

I do remember feeling freezing cold.
I do not remember Nick taking my temperature.
Or, that my parents, and my sister were all at my house?

I do remember Nick telling me that I needed to get up, because we needed to go to the hospital.
But not that my temperature was 104 degrees!
I also do not remember getting in to the car to drive back to the hospital?  I'm pretty sure Nick had to carry me.

The moment that jolted me back to consciousness was when the ER doctor said that they needed to give me an IV.
Needles!  I hate them!

It was determined that my lung collapsed.  I ended up in the ICU at Huntsman Hospital for the next 3 days:

Since it hadn't been planned, I didn't take anything with me, for a stay-over.
Heather searched out some hats for me, downstairs in the lobby of the hospital.
My friends, Karen and Rebecca, brought me lotion, and chapstick.

Nick stayed with me during the day.
And when it was time for me to come home, my Dad drove up to the hospital to drive me to my house.


I feel like I have had some sort of appointment at Huntsman, every day, since my release.
But it's not bad.
In fact, the news has been downright miraculous!
I FINALLY got my genetic testing results.  No BRCA gene's for me!  Yay!  Genetics showed that I had an abnormality in my DNA, called "CHECK2", that lead to the Breast Cancer.  The good part is that no one else in my family needs to worry about it.

And since my pathology report showed that the surgeon cleaned all of the cancer out of my body!!!  I am resting so much easier.
The pathology report said that there was  more cancer in my ducts.  But since it hadn't turned "invasive", it doesn't count.   Also, my "tumor bed" (where the tumor was, before chemo broke it up), was enormous, but that wasn't earth shattering news either.  We already knew my tumor was an enormous sucker!
Yes, friends!  I can very nearly say that I am cancer free!
I meet with a Radiation Oncologist tomorrow, to set up a radiation schedule.  And I believe, that once I make it through radiation I can officially say that I am cancer free.

Other good news: I came home from the hospital with four drains sticking out of my chest.  As of this morning, all of the drains have been removed.  Good.  Because they were annoying.

My right arm, and two of the fingers on my right hand are numb, after the surgery.  The numbness in my arm will never go away, along with the numbness in my chest.  All of the nerves in those areas were removed with the tissue/lymph nodes.
But feeling should return to my fingers.

My hair is really coming in now.  By this time, next month, I may not have to wear a hat anymore!

Happy stuff at our house.
Even after Nick broke his ankle playing basketball, I didn't freak.  In fact, all I could do was laugh.  Really?!  REALLY?! Ha Ha.  At least we've already met our insurance deductible.  Go ahead, go to the ER.  LOL.
Nick's on the mend too.  He has a fun little knee scooter that he takes to work.  It's awesome.

Not awesome was my trip back to the chemo infusion chair on 12/18.
I was told that it would be easy, and short.   Yeah.  I 'm calling "liar, liar, pants on fire", on that.
I was at Huntsman for 7 hours that day.  And that night was miserable.  Night sweats came back, as did yucky diarrhea.
I can handle surgery recovery. 
And I can handle chemo.
But I cannot handle both of them at the same time!

At least I had my aunt Denise to keep me company during Chemo that day.  I am constantly amazed by the kindness of other people.  Denise took 10 hours out of her day, to help me out.
She also asked me what I had learned, so far, in this process?

Humility, and Gratitude.  For sure.
I have been helped so much, and in so many ways.  I am thankful to so many.

Also, this process has helped me heal so many relationships.
Dr. Laura says that the "mother-in-law/daughter-in-law" relationship is the most difficult relationship in the world.  I would say that is true.  But I would also say that it can be very rewarding.  I have grown such an appreciation for my mother-in-law.  She has been so helpful and caring through all of this, and I love it.
I also have a much better relationship with my parents, siblings, Nick's sister, my cousins, and my neighbors.
For as long as I can remember, I've had a list of people that I could "take-it, or leave-it" with.  And leaving-it would have been preferable.
These days, I want to have a good relationship with everyone I come in contact with.  My "shit-list" is down to only having one name on it!  I don't think it's ever been that short.

This Christmas is going to go down as the most memorable our family has ever experienced.  And it is definitely memorable in a good way.
We are so blessed.

Much love, and appreciation to all.

Blog Book Catch Up.

I get tons of emails from BlogtToPrint.  I'm probably one of their only remaining customers.  Ha Ha.

It's fine.

I like printing my blog book.

 

For my blog book: Heres' what happened in November.

 

At our church, the kids in the congregation performed a program during our main meeting, Sacrament Meeting.

In my opinion, Cohen was the highlight of the program!

 

He stepped up to the microphone and said (with jubilation!):

 

"I'm Tall!"

Then, an adult prompted him to say his line.  Which he did.  It was something about Temples.

 

The adult then said, in to Cohen's ear: "Good job, Cohen".

To which, Cohen said in to the Mic, "Good job, ME!".

 

It was great!

 

 

Everything was great, in fact.  During that week before Thanksgiving.

I got outside, and did four hours of yard work.  Cohen and Elsa helped.  It was glorious!  I put my yard "to bed" for the winter.  We raked leaves.  Mowed the lawn.  Mulched my flower bed.  Put all of the yard tools in the third car garage.  Hooray!



 

I was also able to help out in both of the girls' classes.

I went to Elsa's class and was able to lend a hand for their Thanksgiving Feast.

Look at that pretty pilgrim!

I went to Reagan's class and volunteered for a few hours.

I walked in to the classroom and all of the kids were up, out of their seats, playing Dance, Dance Revolution.  They were all really "in" to it!

Initially, I probably would have frowned on such an activity.  But their teacher seems to really know what he is doing.

Since Reagan started at the Learning Center, she comes home so much happier!  It has improved home life.

I feel like she's not trying to "hold it together" at school all day long, only to come home and fall to pieces.  And that's certainly saying something.

 

 

The week before Thanksgiving, Elsa and I went to see the Nutcracker at Weber State University.

I had started driving a lot more, during the month of November.  But only during the day.

Since the Ballet was at night, my friend, Karen offered to let Elsa and I ride with her, and her girls to the performance.

Oh! The music to the Nutracker is wonderful.

 

And, as you can see, I wore my wig to the ballet.

In that picture it looks pretty natural.

 

Below, oh boy.  You can tell my hair is fake.  No doubt.



My cousin Brenna, however, looks stunning!

I was SO happy to be able to attend her wedding.  I have some of the best cousins ever!

 

But back to my hair...

Insult to injury, my long-time hair stylist moved to Germany for three years!

I mean, I guess it's not totally bad news for me, because it'll probably take three years for my hair to get to a point where it needs to be cut.  But what am I supposed to do about my kids?

 

Who will cut their hair?

Like a lot of things, the answer to that will have to wait, until I am healthy.

 

I took Reagan and her school friend, Lauren, to see The Good Dinosaur.  You've gotta love how neither of them will look at the camera, for a picture!

 

Reagan HATES pictures.

We took the kids to Fotofly to get the Santa pictures done.

Reagan was not having it.  Period.

I thought, for sure, that this picture would be the beset one we could get:

Fortunately, Reagan softened a tiny bit, when she was given a candy cane.  So, we were able to get one good picture.

But oh boy, I was a nervous wreck, by the time we finished that 10 minute photo shoot!

 

The following day, we had a photoshoot for family Christmas card pictures.

Korie has been our photographer for so long, that she knows what she needs to do to get good pictures of our kids!

See:

 

And then, it was time for Thanksgiving!

For the third year, in a row, we ordered a smoked turkey from R&R BBQ.  Slam Dunk!  Deliciousness!

Nick made his famous mashed potatoes, and some cranberry compote.

I made pies, and pies, and pies.

 

Thanksgiving morning, it was windy and cold.

I braved the undesirable conditions, and ran the Turkey Leg 5K.

As always, I was glad that my neighbors, the Thomas', included me; and let me hitch a ride with them to and from the race.

Thanksgiving was wonderful.  We went to Nick's parents house and ate.

 

I'm not really sure about when it happened?  But Nick agreed to let his parent's golden retriever, Kona, come stay with us, temporarily.

Nick has shown me numerous articles, that outline the (supposed) benefits to having a loving animal in the home, when you have an autistic child.

Having Kona in our home was going to be a trial run.  If it went well, I was going to consider getting a dog.

I wasn't in love with the idea of having Kona in our house.  But I went along with it.

 

Who would have thought?!  It turned out to be a brilliant plan!

Reagan couldn't have cared less that we had Kona!

Elsa, on the other hand....

Was so happy to have someone to boss around (besides Cohen).  And Cohen was thrilled to be off the hook, from Elsa's usual tyranny.

 

Elsa wanted to be with Kona ever waking, AND SLEEPING, minute.







 

 

 

Everything turned out well.  Kona was happy to go back to Nick's parent's house.

And I was happy to realize that getting a dog wouldn't be the magic cure Reagan had needed!

 

 

Yes, the month of November was great.

I felt halfway normal.

It was nice while it lasted...

The good and the bad of today!

Brooke is getting some rest and healing. Thank you to everyone who has prayed for her or served her family in any way!

The BAD: Early this morning Nick was playing basketball and he broke his ankle! WHAT?? I couldn't believe it when Brooke told me! He spent the morning in the hospital getting it splinted.  Brooke has some great neighbors that took the kids while this was happening.  Also, Jenny, Brooke's sister in law, took Cohen to preschool. Thanks to everyone who pitched in to help and continue to help the Scheurer family!

The GOOD: Brooke got two of her drains taken out this morning and the other two will come out next week! Even better than that... the doctor told Brooke that they got all of the cancer during the surgery!!!!  I was crying as I got this news! I love my sister and that love has only grown through this experience! I am so happy that she is going to continue to recover and beat this!! It feels so good to know that even though the treatments have been brutal and the surgery completely horrible, the cancer is now gone from her body!

Please continue to pray for Brooke's family! She and Nick both need to heal now!

She's home

Brooke got home last night and was so happy to be sleeping in her own bed! She told me today that she felt like she'd been hit by a truck but she could handle it now that she could rest at home.  She wasn't too hungry but when I asked what I could do for her she said she wanted a Berry Good Doctor drink from Fiiz.  When I saw her she looked so much improved from Sunday I was so happy! She was up and walking around and said it is easier to breath deeply when she is up! Thanks to everyone who has prayed and helped her family out!!

In the hospital again. :(

Last night around 6:30 pm Brooke was running a fever for 102.  My dad and Nick gave her a blessing and she took some Tylenol. By 11:00 the temperature was up to 104.  Nick took Brooke into the ER while her wonderful neighbor kept Elsa overnight.  Cohen and Reagan were at my house.  Brooke was having a hard time breathing as well.
At first they thought it might be a pulmonary embolism (blood clot in her lung.)  After doing a chest x-ray and CT scan they ruled that out.  They moved Brooke from the U of U hospital to Huntsman Cancer Institute ICU.  Nick got home around 3:30 this morning and needed some sleep! I got up to the hospital around 9:30 to stay with her until Nick could come back.
She was looking much better than the night before! While I was there they did an ultra sound of both of Brooke's legs.  Both legs were free from blood clots! YAY! They also did an echo of Brooke's heart while I was there and that was normal too! All good news!
The doctor determined that Brooke has atelectasis .  A partially collapsed lung.  This can cause a temperature and the difficulty breathing.  They are having Brooke sit up instead of laying down.  They also want her to walk around more and are having her breath in a machine.  Her oxygen levels weren't staying up when I was there without the oxygen on Brooke.  They are keeping her overnight until her levels stay up without the oxygen on.  She should be able to come home tomorrow.
Thank you for your prayers!
Thank you Wendy for letting Elsa sleepover and getting her to school today! Also, to Jennifer Philpot for picking her up from school! AND Bev for getting Reagan off of the bus and keeping her until I could pick her up! Brooke has the best neighbors!!

Prayers needed

Brooke is home from the hospital but is not doing very well tonight.  About 2 hours after arriving home she developed a fever of 102.  Nick called the doctor who told them that it happens sometimes.  He told them to treat her with Tylenol tonight and if she is still feverish tomorrow to go back to the hospital.  Nick is taking good care of Brooke. Please pray for her and her family!!
Her coloring didn't look great tonight and she was in some pain. This was very hard for me to see.  She has stayed so strong through out this whole thing. To see her weak and in pain was difficult! I love my sister and I want her whole and well again.

Post Surgery

I visited Brooke in the hospital yesterday! She was still smiling! The doctors said that the surgery went as well as it could have! Great news!! She had a rough first night without much sleep but she was napping as much as she could! She has been up and walking around and it makes her very tired.  She should be coming home today.  She had a medical block on her chest so she wasn't feeling too much pain.  It was starting to wear off and she said it was very painful in the areas that it wasn't working anymore.  She was off all IV medication and just on oral medication.  This is to help her prepare to come home today.  She is to thankful for all of the prayers and support from everyone! If you have more questions please post them in the comments and I'll try and answer them so that she can continue to rest for the next little bit.

Out of Surgery

Brooke is out of surgery and doing well! I talked to her on the phone for a few minutes and she is hungry! I take that as a very good sign.  She said she still has some breast shape because they put in tissue expanders. These will help her skin stretch in preparation for her reconstruction surgery coming up in June! We love you Brooke and are so happy that the surgery part is over!!

Brooke's Cancer Treatment Fund

While Brooke is in surgery having her bilateral mastectomy and lymph node removal I was sitting at here with her children wondering what I could do for her??
We have talked a lot about her finances and how she is going to pay for her treatments next year.  I decided to set up a go fund me page for Brooke and her family.
Please share this with anyone you know who love the Scheurer family!! I think this would be a great Christmas gift for her family this year!
I love you Brooke, Nick, Reagan, Elsa and Cohen!


You can find Brooke's go fund me page at:
https://www.gofundme.com/rzdcug7g
or search Brooke's Cancer Treatment Fund

Two Weeks Without Chemo.

And I'm still fatigued.
All of my grand designs about what I was going to do with the time off aren't coming to fruition.

I have made it out on a jog a total of two times, in the past two weeks.
I am still registered to run the Farmington Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving Day.  But considering that I ran it in 29:01 last year, when I was in awesome physical shape...

I'm scared to even attempt it this year.  The course is brutal.

Losing my ability to run has been just another bit of collateral damage chemo has inflicted.  Chemo is not a smart weapon.  It doesn't discriminate between killing good cells and bad cells that are dividing out of control.  It just kills everything.
I've been really sad about not being able to run.
I like to run. 
Non-runners think runners are insane.  People that don't run, do not understand.  They view running as punishment.  Runners know this.  And yet, runners take a twisted pride in the fact that our sport is every other sport's punishment.
Sometimes, running would seem like a punishment to me.  But the days when running was glorious, and I felt like I could run forever!!! definitely made up for the crummy run days.
What I wouldn't give for a "runners high" right now!

While I've been going through treatment it seems like the entire world is going at it's normal pace, and I've been left behind.  I haven't been able to really live, while doing chemo.  I've just been "existing", trying to make it from treatment, to treatment.
And trying not too think too far ahead in to the future.
Even Still.  I'm not thinking past Thanksgiving Day.

The upcoming surgery, itself, doesn't have me worried.  It's the recovery afterward that is making me nervous.  My poor husband, and kids.  What I wouldn't give to function at full-capacity again.

Heather took me to HCI to have an MRI.  My surgeon called with the results.  Dr. Matsen said that I had a "partial response" to the chemo.  This means that my tumor isn't a mass anymore.  But it didn't shrink in on itself, the way I was hoping it would.  Instead, it broke up in to little pieces.
I had been told that this was a possibility.
And it doesn't change the game plan.  If anything, it strengthened my decision to have the bi-lateral mastectomy.  Just get this cancer out of my body!
Some of my lymph nodes still look abnormal.  So, all of the lymph nodes under my right arm will be coming out too.

The good news is that the cancer doesn't appear to have gone anywhere else!

I'm going to write about a bunch of stuff that is positive and funny, but I do want to complain a little bit more.  The tips of my thumbs are numb.  From nerve damage that the chemo inflicted.  It makes it really difficult to write, and to play the piano.  It's one thing that may never go away.  Boo!
My fingernails are still in bad shape.  Constantly breaking off above the quick.
And my nose is still runny.  Boy! do I miss my boogers.

But, the hair on my head seems to be growing back.  And it is gorgeously dark!  It's coming in the same way my kids' hair did when they were infants.  ie- a lot around the sides, and nothing on top.  Ha, ha.
The whole entire time I have been bald, I have still been washing my "hair" in the shower on a daily basis.  I also turban-wrap my head with a towel, when I get out of the shower.
Heather thought that was hilarious!
Old habits, and all that jazz...

Large silver hoop earring used to be my signature jewelry item.  But I stopped wearing them after I lost my hair.  The hoop earrings paired with head scarves left me one eye-patch and stuffed parrot shy of looking like a pirate.

Earlier this week, I was organizing my closet.  Back in the spring, I pulled out all of my "skinny clothes", and I sent my "fat clothes" to Deseret Industries.  I 100% assumed that I was going to loose a ton of weight, by going through chemo.
Little did I know...

The steroids, menopause, and more sedentary lifestyle all contributed to (at last count) a 23 pound weight gain!

Why, oh why; did I get rid of my fat clothes?!

I broke down and bought two pairs of jeans.   But I refuse to purchase any more fat clothes.

While I'm on the topic of clothes...

I want to mention that my friend, Jennifer, bought me a pair of UGG boots that are just plain awesome!

I'll be wearing these cozy things to chemo from now on.  And pretty much everywhere else.  PS-Chemo starts again on December 18th.  Two weeks after surgery, and one week before Christmas.  This chemo will be every 3 weeks.

I still don't have details on radiation nailed down.  But again, I'm having a hard time looking at anything beyond Thanksgiving Day.

 

Other "favorite things" that have been given to me (just in case anyone is wondering about helpful gifts for cancer patients:) :

The Book, Crazy, Sexy, Cancer.  From my friend, Clytie.

Chick-Fil-A gift cards, from my friend, Haley. 

Aromatherapy lotions, from my friend, Joanie.

Chemo blankets, from Amy, Jessee, and Meagan.

 

And mostly, time.

Time that people have spent caring for my children.

Time that people have spent taking me to chemo.

Time that people have spent running me on errands.

 

Time that people have spent praying for me.

How miraculous is it that I never got sick, while I was doing chemo?  It's unheard of.

And how odd-defying is it that I was able to function (albeit not at 100%), during chemo? 

 

I like to think it's because of the prayer of so many good people, on my behalf.

 

If anything, please keep the prayers coming my way. 

I still have quite a "row to hoe".



Happy Birthday, Cohen!

This little boy.

He bring such joy to my life.

He is always happy.

And he is so easy-going.  Take, for instance, the time he sat still and allowed his sister's to color his hair with hair chalk:

He loves to pose for selfies.

And every day, I am grateful that he is a part of our family. 

 Happy, 4th birthday, Cohen.

Halloweenie

So, Halloween.  Not my most favorite holiday.  I tolerate it, because the kids like it.

Nick and I have been married for over 10 years, and we have been able to escape ever carving a pumpkin! Until this year...  We broke the streak, and carved pumpkins with the kids.

Cohen was adamant that he wanted to be the Transformer, Bumblebee, for Halloween.  I purchased that costume for him (no homemade costumes at our house this year).  Cohen wore the costume to his preschool Halloween party, and got the tiniest amount of cupcake frosting on the sleeve.
He declared the costume "ruined", and refused to wear it after that.  Even when I cleaned the frosting off!
Fortunately, I had a Frankenstein costume in the closet, that I had purchased on clearance at Gymboree last year, so that is what he wore.
Reagan and Elsa were My Little Ponies.  Twilight Sparkle, and Rainbow Dash, respectively.

 

Reagan is becoming increasingly less enamored with having her picture taken.  She does not want me to do it.  She humored me, for all of 30 seconds, so that I could snap a few shots.

When it comes to estimating how many trick-or-treaters we'll have...  I fail.  Every. Single. Year.
This year I purchased 150 pieces of candy.  I chose a bulk bag of Fun-Size: Swedish Fish, Oreo Mini's , and Sour Patch Kids.
I rationed the candy, and only gave out one piece to the kids that came to my door.  I ran out of the entire bag, and started to panic, because kids were still coming!
Fortunately, I had bought several six packs of mini root beer.  I had been going to send the root beer with Cohen to school, for his birthday.  But the canned beverages ended up saving my bacon, and I handed them out to the trick-or-treaters.

Reagan went trick-or-treating to about half-a-dozen houses, and decided she'd had enough.  She came home, and was totally happy to pass out candy with me.
Elsa and Cohen made a night of it, and filled their bags with goodies.

Nick and I weren't able to attend the Halloween party that our neighbors put on (because it was the same night as the Garth Brooks Concert).  But if we had gone, I'm sure our costumes would have won a prize!
Cousin It, and Uncle Fester (complete with a light bulb that glows when I put it in my mouth!).

And Then There Were None.

No more AC, no more Taxol!

Sure, I still have to deal with Herceptin and Perjeta; but from what they tell me, that'll be easy.

The night before my last round of taxol.  Chemo round 16, for anyone that is counting...  Heather and I decided to go to the Garth Brooks concert.  We ate dinner at Brio Tuscan Grill.  The food was good, but a bit too heavy for my tummy.  It made it so that I had to take three separate bathroom breaks during the concert!

Potty trips aside, Garth was amazing.  The man is an entertainer.

And Trisha Yearwood earned a few more points, in my book, by performing a song, dedicated to breast cancer patients.

While Heather and I were at the concert, Nick took our kids to Heather's house.  And he and Jeff fed the children.  My kids slept over at Heather's house, so that Nick could take me to chemo appointment the next morning.

I was so tired, but so happy. 

Sadly, Gary wasn't there for my last taxol treatment!  I think I heard the other nurses mention that he had food poisoning!  Poor guy.

Of course, the nurse assigned to me didn't do a great job accessing my port.
And my new case-worker, Alex, was on vacation.  So, Nick and I had to wait For-Ev-Er, to get things done.
I'm really missing Lori, my old caseworker.
As of today, I still don't know how things are going to work when it comes to my radiation treatments?
And my next round of chemo isn't scheduled yet either.
I'm sure it will all happen, in due time.  But for someone that is regimented as I am, not being able to put those important things on my calendar is driving me crazy!

Reagan's New School

Only time will tell, but I think the whole situation with Reagan transferring schools will be a blessing in disguise.

We arrived home from Hawaii, and Reagan went to school that Thursday.  After school, I got a phone call saying that Reagan would be starting in the Learning Center at Creekside Elementary Monday. That same afternoon, I took Reagan to an appointment with Dr. Vo.

After Reagan's appointment last month, the one where I found out she had gained 6 pounds...  I was really bugged about having Reagan on the abilify.  Nick and I discussed it (and may I say how handy it is to have a smarty-pants pharmacist for a husband?!), and we decided to discontinue giving Reagan the abilify.  It isn't a medication that we'd have to wean Reagan off of.  And that is always the hardest part, when it comes to medications!  I really didn't notice any improvement, by putting Reagan on it.  And when we stopped giving it to her, I didn't notice a difference there either....

I told Dr. Vo that we had stopped giving Reagan the abilify.  And she told me that it was the right decision.  That she had been fretting about Reagan's weight gain, as well.

We put Reagan on the scale at that appointment, and Reagan had lost 2 pounds.

Dr. Vo said she doesn't usually like to see her patients lose weight, but in this case... it was OK.

Reagan's 2nd grade class at Burton Elementary threw her a going-away party that Friday.

They didn't have the new bus schedule set up.  So, I had to drive Reagan to, and from school; all last week.

Well, I guess I should say, I found rides for Reagan and me.

Nick's Aunt Carla taxied us, and so did my neighbor, Sam.

I took a picture of Reagan, to commemorate her second, first day of school.

The past week went well.
There are 8 kids in Reagan's class (counting Reagan).
Her new teacher is Mr. Brown.  And there are 2-3 aides in the classroom.

Reagan has made friends, with her seatmate, Lauren.  They are so cute together.

In the morning, when the kids first come to class, Mr. Brown has a fun activity set up for them to do. One day, it was tracing with dinosaur templates.  Another day, it was a play-doh activity.  And so, on.
They're still doing grade-level work.
Reagan brought home homework.

And once she is able to start riding the bus (she's so excited at the prospect) I think she will be on cloud-9!

The entire school participated in a Halloween parade on Friday.  Reagan loved it:

As I said, time will tell.  But I am really hopeful that this is just what Reagan needs.

Elsa-isms.

The day after we got home from vacation, Cohen had a pre-school field trip to the pumpkin patch.

Elsa and I tagged along.

These two.  At first, I thought having them 14 months apart was a curse.  But really, it's a blessing. They are the best of friends.

Elsa, herself, is funny.
I have a entire notepad dedicated entirely to the hilarious things that Elsa says.

For example:
"I'm getting very drink-y" when she's thirsty.
"I yarned" when she yawns.
"I just "bless-you-ed" on myself!" when she sneezes.
"Look, a mail-bus" when she sees the mailman jeep.
"I can't hold that, I'm full-with-hands" when her hands are full.
"My nose is fluffy" when her nose is stuffy.

Or, the time she had a lesson about the Holy Ghost, at church.  But she misinterpreted what they were saying; and later that week when we were driving past our neighbor's house...  The neighbor's that have a farm...  Elsa shouted out: "Look Reagan, it's the holy goats!  We learned about the holy goats at church, and there they are!".  I didn't have the heart to correct her.

Over the summer, one afternoon Elsa decided to put her artistic skills to work, and she drew pictures of "butts" all over the walls in the hall, and guest bathroom.
I had just started chemo, and I was none-too-happy to be cleaning pictures of butts off of the wall.

Earlier this week, I found one picture I must have missed.

Now I can laugh about it

But the Elsa-ism that really takes the cake happened while we were in Hawaii.

Elsa was listening to a Katy Perry song, Hot and Cold.  She kept rewinding an excerpt from the song, and listening to it over, and over.  And she was laughing hysterically!

Kay asked Elsa, what was so funny?
Elsa replied, "she says PMS".

Kay said, "Elsa, do you know what PMS is?".
Elsa responded, "You know, Grandma, it means, like, peeing-a-mess on the floor".

Then, it was my turn to laugh!
In fact, I'm still laughing.

Vacation.

The story begins over six years ago.

When Nick graduated from Pharmacy School our Pharmacy Family decided that we'd have our five year reunion in Hawaii.

Nick had never been to Hawaii, and I know he wasn't thrilled at the prospect of vacationing there.

We took Reagan with us to Oahu in October 2014.  That trip changed Nick's mind.  He wanted to visit again!

In April of 2015 (before I was diagnosed with cancer) I found roundtrip airfare to Honolulu for $320 out of SLC.  How could I pass a deal like that, up?!  I purchased 5 tickets, so that our whole family could go this time.

I also booked us a no-frills VRBO house, because the price was right.  The house was very dated, and it wasn't close to the beach.

Then, I found out that I had cancer, and all of our Hawaii plans didn't seem like they were going to happen.

Nick and I agonized about it!

We hit our $10,000 out-of-pocket insurance maximum after my first round of chemo; and ever since then it hasn't been like funds are freely flowing in our household.  Our insurance deductible will reset in January, so we're trying to plan/budget for that too!

Fighting through chemo has been no easy thing.  For any of us.

In the end, and since we had already purchased the airline tickets, we decided to make Hawaii happen.

Nick's parents excitedly volunteered to come with us.

Nick isn't a fan of using my cancer as an excuse, or to procure favors.  So, he wasn't on-board with my idea to contact Marriott, to see if they could help us out with lodging.

It was a good thing I ignored Nick's protestations.

We are Marriott Elite members.  We've been loyal to them for years!  I figured it couldn't hurt anything to ask for them to return the favor.  And they did!

Joseph Trott, at Marriott; offered to take $150 off per night, of our room rate for a 2-bedroom Villa at the Ko' Olina resort.

It was amazing!

Upon arrival, they did even more for us.  We were given a room on the 8th floor, beachfront!

Marriott earned my loyalty, for life.

The resort was gorgeous.  Thank you, Marriott.

We made every attempt to be thrifty on this vacation.  Did you know that Cotsco polish dogs and a drink are still only a $1.50- even on Oahu?!

That was where we ate, our first night on the island.

We also picked up groceries, and did a lot of cooking in our Villa Kitchen.

DAY 1: Was travel, a quick layover in San Diego.  We picked up our minivan in Honolulu, went to Costco, and then spent the rest of the day lounging at the lagoon at our hotel.

DAY 2: The first morning there, we splurged, and went next door to the Disney Aulani, to have a character breakfast.

Cohen was so excited to meet Mickey!

This character breakfast was far better than the character breakfast we did in Orlando at Disney World.  The characters came around to the tables multiple times.  And the show/parade they let the kids participate in was so fun.  Even Reagan got in to it!

When we finished with breakfast, we discovered that we had missed the shuttle back to our resort by, literally, 20 seconds.  We were going to walk, but the people at Disney quickly grabbed one of their 6 people golf carts, and drove us back to our hotel!

After the breakfast, we drove out to Laie and visited the LDS temple and visitor center.

Dave was itching to play in some real waves, so we stopped at one of the beaches on the North Shore...  Shortly after exiting the car, a lifeguard came over to us and said that we couldn't have our little kids anywhere near the water, because the waves were too high, and the undertow too strong. So much for that.

We hit up the Dole Pineapple plantation.  But not to do the maze, or anything.  My sole purpose in that stop was to get a Dole Whip float.  Oh l'amour.  Isn't fresh pineapple heaven?

I think that was the day we at at Just Taco's, across the street from our hotel.  Before the trip I had purchased an Entertainment coupon book, and one of the coupons was for 50% off our bill.  Mexican Food in Hawaii?  Not really what people go for.  But like I said, spendthrift was the theme of this vacation.

Day 3:  Nick and his parents went to Pearl Harbor, and the USS Arizona memorial.  The kids and I rented a DVD from the DVD kiosk at the hotel; and I did laundry (having a washer and dryer in our villa was a total luxury, and lifesaver for me)!

When Nick got back, Dave, Kay, Elsa, Cohen, and I went to the Polynesian Cultural Center.  Again, Entertainment Book to the rescue!  We had coupons for 50% off admission!  And Cohen was free.

Nick stayed at the hotel, and took Reagan to the pool/water park.

This is the outfit that Cohen started out in:

We were watching the Canoe parade, and I asked Cohen if he needed to go potty.  He told me, no.  I asked him again, and literally, in the middle of adamantly denying that he needed to use the facilities, he wet his pants!
I hadn't packed a change of clothes.  So, I ended up purchasing a new outfit for Cohen at the shops they just opened at the PCC.  I bought a size bigger than Cohen usually wears, so at least he'll be able to sport this Hawaiian attire next summer:

The PCC was my favorite activity.  The kids loved riding the canoe.  And they were pretty well behaved.   All of the PCC employees are so funny!  The Samoan village presentation always leaves me in stitches!

DAY 3: Nick and Dave went snorkeling at Haunama Bay.  It wasn't until after-the-fact, that Reagan showed off her mad snorkeling skills!  Had we known, Reagan would have gone with them!

After that, Dave, Kay, Reagan, and I went to the Swap Meet.  And Cohen and Elsa got their turn in the hotel pool, wit Nick.
I have never been to the Aloha Swap Meet.  It was so fun!  But also ridiculously hot.  Like, face-of-the-sun hot!  I spent most of my time soaked in sweat, on this trip.  But I shouldn't complain...  I was in fabulous Hawaii!
Reagan and I both ate some shave-ice to cool down.

I honestly don't remember what we did for the rest of the day?
It's times like this that I get so frustrated.  The loss of my short-term memory makes me so mad!  I can't recall details the way I used to.  My blog has been such a blessing, in that respect, because I've been able to look back and say, "oh, yeah! I had forgotten about that".

And, thank goodness for pictures!  They jogged my memory, and reminded me that we went to the Sea Life Park.
Before that, though, we had lunch at Ono Steak & Shrimp Shack.  Their fish taco's are heavenly! And if you're a Yelper, you get 50% off, when you check in!
Dave and Kay ordered shrimp plates, and gave them raves as well.

We got to the Sea Life Park 2 hours before closing.  The nice lady at the ticket window gave us 40% the price of admission.  Score!

The touch pool was under construction, so the kids didn't get to touch any of the sea creatures.
But the one of the trainers at the park, had the Wolphin (half killer-whale, half dolphin) give us a private show.  That made up for the disappointment of the lack of touch pool.

We watched a dolphin show, and when the trainer asked for a volunteer, you had better believe that Reagan was out of her seat quicker than a kiss!  They wanted volunteers to sit on the front row, and get wet by the dolphins.  Reagan was more than happy to oblige.

DAY 4: Was our BEACH DAY!
Last year, we used Hawaii Beach Time, to rent a setup for our beach day.  I wasn't in love with their services, but they're the best option, all things considered.
I contacted them, to reserve things for our beach day, this trip too; but apparently, they don't do deliveries to the places they used to.  Sad.
Nick and I really wanted to go back to Lanikai beach.  But two days prior to that, there had been a shark attack at that beach...
So, we went to Kailua beach instead.

The kids boogie boarded:

But even Kailua wasn't safe.  I noticed (what I originally thought was) a piece of bubble wrap with a blue string attached?  As I got closer, I realized it was a beached jellyfish.  I also noticed that they were all over the beach.
A local, that was walking along the beach said that Kailua is always littered with Portuguese-man-o-war's when there's a full-moon.  She told me to "take care".
I was all-too-eager to leave, when Nick suggested it.
We decided to take our chances at Lanikai.

It has to be one of the most gorgeous beaches on the planet.
Sand as soft as flour, and beautiful turquoise water.

We didn't see any sharks, but we did see an enormous black fish.  The saddest part was that we didn't have any Stand-Up Paddle boards to play on.  But we still had fun.
After we left, we grabbed lunch at Crepes, at Crepes No Ka 'Oi.  Savory Crepes, and Sweet Crepes; they did both of them well.

We decided to try the North Shore, again.  We found a different beach.  Nick and Dave headed out to the surf.  They took turns holding the kids' hands, but those waves!  They were still knocking everyone down.  It was nuts.

DAY 5: We had a lazy morning.  We went to Costco (again).  Sadly, their food court was closed for remodeling, so we had lunch at McDonald's, instead.
And then, we went to the airport, to catch our flight home.

5 minutes before we were supposed to start boarding, an announcement was made that a part on the plan needed to be replaced; and our flight was going to be delayed by 45 minutes.
45 minutes, turned in to four hours!
Alaska Air made sure that everyone on the delayed flight got a free dinner, so that was something, I suppose?
When I realized that we would not be getting in to the San Jose Airport (our connection) until after 1AM...  I started bugging the Alaska Air desk agent.

Most everyone else on the flight didn't have a connection.  For them, SJC was their final destination. For the 7 of us, that was not the case.
Shuttles stopped running at the airport at midnight, so we were going to have no way to get to our hotel!
The Alaska Air employee said she'd get me a voucher to pay for a taxi in San Jose.

We made it to San Jose and grabbed our luggage.  It was 1:30AM.
We went to find a taxi, and were informed that the voucher we had was for a taxi service that did not exist in San Jose!!!!
I was fit to be tied.
To top it off, the taxi driver that showed up with a mini-van didn't want to fit all 7 of us in to his vehicle.  Even though the hotel was half-a-mile away.  We had to be split up, and put in to two separate taxi's.

It was a nightmare!

All told, I think we got 5 hours of sleep that night.
Cohen and Elsa (and all of us, for that matter) were exhausted.

And then, as if things couldn't get worse???  The Alaska Air Ticket Agent at the San Jose airport, was totally giving Dave and Kay grief about their checked bag.  It was half-a-pound too heavy, according to her.  What a joke.

I will say, that one good thing that came out of the final leg of our trip, was that it gave all of us enough jet-lag, to get rid of the crazy sleep schedule you put yourself on when you travel to Hawaii.
We got home, and slept well.

Beyond the #alaskaairnightmare, our trip was very nice.

I am grateful we were able to make it happen.  And that we were able to reconnect as a family.
I am grateful that Marriott accommodated us.
In addition to having amazing views from our room:

The Marriott resort also saved us money, and my sanity.
It was ideal to have daily maid service.

And since the hotel provided us with beach towels, for use at any beach, not just at the hotel!  I saved money on baggage fees since I didn't have to pack as much.  The resort also had a "take it, or leave it" box; that housed beach toys; free for guests to use.  It was how we acquired the boogie board we took to the beach.  So cool.

We will remember this vacation, forever.