After an extended period of struggles, my grandfather left this life and returned to the loving arms of his savior and his wife. He was a giant of a man, both physically (6'3" strong as an ox) and spiritually. Although I will miss him, I'm truly happy for him that he is finally at peace and with the love of his life.

MRI 4-14-12

So, Katrina had an MRI yesterday. It was all clear, we're still in remission. We'll be switching to three MRI's a year instead of four for now. She's also going to start taking some new meds to see if we can keep here energy level more consistent through out the day.

We also had Dentist appointments today. I have a tooth that is dissolving it's root just like baby teeth do so they'll fall out to make way for the adult teeth. The problem is that this is an adult tooth. They are going to try to fix it as is, but it may have to come out and be replaced. The more I think about it the more I kind of wish they'd just pull it and replace it. Even if they replace with metal it will at least be the same color. The problem is that it's in the front of my mouth and it will always look like I've got something stuck in my teeth. Katrina forgot to per-medicate (she has to take antibiotics a couple of hours before going to the dentist), so we have to take her back in tomorrow. 

Guilty

I've been feeling guilty lately about not posting. I'm not even sure there is very much interest in the blog anymore.

Life has been crazy for us these past few months. Lots of family drama and other trials. We've had lots of close family in and out of the hospital for one reason or another and Three Divorces. Top all that off with the fact that I've gone back to work and school.

College is going great for me. I'm about three weeks ahead of schedule in my courses. I just passed LUT 1 today! Work has been fun too. I'd forgotten how much more fun it was to be a staff member than director.

Katrina is doing pretty good too. I know that her rehab doctor's are pleased with her progress. It's not all peaches and cream but she has come a long way. Especially given that all she could do right after surgery was drool on herself and cry weakly. It wasn't pretty and thankfully it seems like a distant nightmare now. She has her total cerebral spinal MRI this week and then a follow up with the Chemo Doc to discuss it. I hope our blessings hold out and it comes back clean. We've been fortunate that her scans have been coming back clean so far, although her white count has never really recovered from the radiation.

Thank you to those of you who continue to keep us in your thoughts and prayers.

Trouble comes in thr. . . err . . . fours?

So It seems our trouble is not over yet. Katrina's mom was admitted to the hospital last night. She had some pockets of infection in her body and one ruptured. The doctors where hoping that surgery wouldn't be required and that her body would fight off the infection on its own.

This evening her temperature spiked and her pain "came back with a vengeance." They are taking her into the OR asap.

Trouble comes in threes

Trouble comes in threes. Hopefully that means we're done for a while.

After My brother and cousin have both ended up in the hospital I am sad to say that Katrina's Grandmother passed away this morning.

Doctor's Appointment Update 8-9-11

We had an appointment to follow up with the Chemo doctor today. Things still look good with no new growth. He white level counts have climbed two tenths and she weighed 99 pounds.

We had an opportunity to visit with my Cousin, His wife and My aunt and Uncle. My cousin had a farming accident Friday and hurt his hand pretty bad. He seemed in good spirits. Please pray for him and his family as they go through their struggles right now. In farming your hands are are pretty important things, and I know that they'd really appreciate the prayers. I wish that Katrina and I were in a better position to help them out some how. They are just good down to earth, friendly people, whom I really feel it a pleasure to call family.

An update on my brother, he's doing well. They seem to have the brain swelling and blood thickness under control He's up and around being a nerdy teenager again.

A Week

It's been a stressful week, and I'm beginning to think that the month of July is cursed for my family and me.

My brother had to come home from scout camp because he got super sick. He probably never should have gone because he wasn't feeling well that morning. It turned out that he had a blood clot in the artery in the base of his skull and he spent a few days in the hospital. He's home now but it will be some time before he can return to anything nearing normal activity.

The other thing that happen is our vehicles both need registered this month, and my truck failed safety. To make a long story short; it was a costly repair involving the axle and the rear breaks. It ended up costing a little more than half of what we were quoted, but we still couldn't afford it. Thankfully Katrina's mother was able to help us out there.

It seems like every time we start to get life figured out and things are going okay again life throws us another zinger.

Katrina sent off some paper work to the university to get into the student learning rehab center like her rehab lady wanted her too. If that goes through it will be twice a week. It will also cost us thirteen dollars a session. They gave us a huge break on the cost though. It's normally fifty or sixty bucks a session.

The great moult begins.

They told us that the third week she would begin to lose hair. Like clock work it arrives immediately following treatment this morning, the first session of the third week. She began to lose hair. It is falling out quicker than I expected. We thought it would be a clump here a and a clump there over the next few weeks but she has already lost a lot of little patches.

On a side note. Doesn't rotten luck just seem to come in groups. The other day my cousin burnt her hand pretty badly in a grease fire. I know that her and her family have followed my wife's progress pretty closely and kept us in their thoughts and prayers. I want Crystal and her family to know that she, and they, are in mine right now. If she really wanted to go down to the U though, she could have just come and visited us while we were there. She didn't have to find her own excuse (wink wink). But seriously I hope that you have a speedy and easy recovery and that it doesn't interfere with your collegiate plans too much.