September 21, 2021

 We seem to be very busy and trying to fit in time to submit info on the computer to the Mayo Clinic and others for cancer treatment and make phone calls to up the time for Tom’s back MRI and such things takes real effort. Cancer wears you out emotionally and physically and we feel like we are moving in slow motion. We want to keep getting to the Temple and serving in the Temple, going swimming and doing other things we feel are important but we know we have to be our own advocates in seeing that Tom gets the care and support that he needs. We have our ups and downs but we are pretty good most of the time. Our children having been trying to help us and we appreciate that. Trevor and Tammie have found a couple more places in the USA that are starting to offer the theranostic treatment for prostate cancer patients but so far we feel that the Mayo Clinic is the best option and they have been communicating with us. Germany needs to have a phone call set up to start things with them and Israel did call us early in the morning one day. The spine clinic visit with LGH’s Dr. Janicki was good and he was very nice. He has ordered an MRI and feels that the pain is arthritis related and that if it doesn’t start to improve he can be fix it with some surgery. We need the MRI. Tom also told me that the zometa nurse Brie said PSA can increase when the patient is in pain. We are wondering if his constant pain has caused a problem. We will still move forward with the Theranostic option  in case the pain is not the cause and we need to be ready if a treatment opportunity arises.

We celebrated Ross’s birthday this week, had our weekly family zoom meeting on Sunday, distributed our BC Thanksgiving Food Drive bags in our neighborhood, got some family Christmas gifts from Roots (not all) and did our swimming and Temple service. Zachary and Monica drove out west to get Zach to Boise for his hockey season and spent a couple of days with Justin and JayLynn in Utah. I did a bit of Fall clean up in the yard. Our disappointment this week was that Max took our BMW on Monday to finalize the sale to John Layton and returned it later in the day saying that the sale fell thru as John’s wife MaryLou wouldn’t let him buy it. We were upset because John had promised Max during the summer that he would buy the car in September. Max had to renew the insurance and bring it back here. Too bad.

We continue to receive love, prayers and support and that truly keeps us going. 

September 14, 2021

 Today day has been a difficult day and also an exciting day. We went this morning to have our appointment with Doctor Vrabec for Tom to receive his lupron shot and to discuss how things are going. We knew Tom’s PSA levels had gradually been increasing but we were hopeful that it wasn’t going to be a problem. When the Doctor looked at it, he said that the hormones were failing and we needed to be looking at other treatment options. He put a referral into a Medical oncologist and suggested we look into the theranostic treatments offered in Germany and other countries. We were very disappointed as we had hoped the hormones would work for several years not several  months. He said the testosterone was low but PSA increasing indicating an aggressive cancer. The reality started settling in more as the day went on and by evening fatigue added to our concern and we both had a little meltdown which is not like Tom at all. We contacted the children indicating that we needed help with visa papers for Australia and just generally needed HELP. It gets hard to carry the burden of cancer even though we are aware of the love and prayers of so many and we are grateful for our supportive children who jumped into action and for our concerned grandchildren who just love us and offer support. Cindy phoned the Australian clinic right away and got some immediate direction. We are realizing the difficulty of going to Australia as they require a 2 week quarantine, a medical visa and to top it off very few flights are going into Australia right now due to covid. Other options such as Germany are looking better.

The exciting part of our day came with Zach and Monica FaceTiming to announce that they were engaged.  They are driving Zach out to Boise to first meet  Justin and JayLynn in Utah and then get Zach to Boise where he will be playing hockey for the Steelheads. Zach had the day all planned out and the engagement organized with his family’s help. Jadyn was hiding in the bushes to take pictures. Zach is a great kid and he has worked hard to get himself to the Temple and strong in the gospel and now we will have to pray for Monica that her heart will be open to the gospel. We will be praying for both of them.

Wyatt had his birthday last week and Scott had his birthday today. We continue our service in the Temple. We are looking for new kitchen table chairs but have decided to have Terry recover our old ones with a leather like vinyl. Cindy received another good job option at a high school that she has taken and we hope this works out well. She hated to leave her little student at James Kennedy Elementary school even though he is a handful. This placement is a better opportunity for her. Charmaine had one wisdom tooth out last week but still managed to play a beautiful number in sacrament meeting on Sunday. It was a special version of O How Lovely Was the Morning. It truly brought the spirit into the room and brought Tom to tears. Tom had his zometa infusion last Wednesday at Doctor Vrabec’s office.

This is a difficult time but we will move forward with faith. We are surrounded with love for each other and from many others on both sides of the veil.

 

September 7, 2021

Labour Day has come and gone and the children are back to school this week, although our American grandchildren have been back in school for awhile. Zach is waiting to drive out west to Boise to start playing for the Steelheads and Jaydn has been recovering from her tonsillectomy and will be doing online school this semester from BYU Idaho. Justin has started another semester in PT graduate school and Ross is on his way back to school again too. Max’s online school is ongoing and he is still waiting to get to Australia and to Jaqui to get married. JayLynn’s pregnancy is moving on with baby due in January. 

Our exciting news this week is that Zachary went to the Nashville Temple on Saturday to receive his endowment. I think it was a little overwhelming for him but he is excited to go again and that is best thing to do - go again and again. We had a busy Temple week last week with Tom serving as sealer on Wednesday and Friday evenings, along with our regular session Tuesday morning and our regular service shift Saturday afternoon. It was almost like serving in the presidency again. We love it.

Jack had driven back to Kelowna with Brendon and Bryson when they were here last and Cindy, Paul and Sam drove up this Labour Day weekend to visit and pick him up. Paul and Sam came over yesterday to help us trim our Dogwood tree in the backyard and cut our grass. Jack rode his bike over this morning to be here for the delivery of Tom’s xtandi medication while we were at the Temple but the delivery came just before he arrived and we left. I thought that might happen. He did stay to do a zoom meeting he had to attend and eat some treats. 

We continue to swim twice a week and Tom is doing his stretching exercises, his inversion table and his stationary bike. He does pretty well in the Temple and at the swimming pool but he seems to struggle with church on Sunday. He gets a lot of hot flashes and seems to be uncomfortable. The hormones he has been taking for hot flashes don’t seem to be helping and in fact seems to increase the problem. He is extremely brave as he is in pain most of the time but carries on.

The weather has generally been lovely with the odd cool day. Fall is coming slowly. We still need to get more rain to get the wild fires under control. The air quality in Kelowna has not been good. We are having more fires every year and throughout the world more sever weather patterns are becoming the norm.There are many days when we just feel ready for the Savior’s return and relief from the world and it’s turmoil. We are grateful to know the plan and know He will be coming.