Round 2 goes to Cancer!

I would like to start this blog entry out by thanking everyone for everything that you have done for our family.  We are truly blessed, and hope every day that we are worthy of all of the thoughts and prayers that are coming our way.  We live in a remarkable area and we have incredible friends. 

It has been a whole week since I last wrote, because it has been a rough one.  On Dec. 8 Craig had his 2^nd chemo.  We were planning for pretty much the same experience we had the first time.  We soon realized that every day is different, from his struggles with food, to his struggles with pain.  After each chemo treatment he then has two weeks to build his body back up before the next one.  The hard part about it is that you don’t ever get back to where you were the week before, so basically it’s a downward slope.  The past two weeks since his second treatment have been brutal.  He was sick from the chemo for a week. We kept thinking that he was turning the corner but what we didn’t realize was that he was still on the wrong street.  The pain since last Wednesday has been pretty bad.  We increased the pain pills to try to get on top of the pain again, instead of chasing it like we were.  We feel like we are still chasing it right now.  The best thing right now for him is to hold very still.    

Last Sunday night he was really struggling.  He tried to explain to me how he was feeling and from what I could see he was having a panic attack and severe anxiety.  He had been feeling like that a little before but didn’t realize what it was.  After speaking with his doctor we realized that the feelings he has are normal and we are working through them.  I told the doctor that Craig has never had problems with panic attacks or anxiety before.  Her response was that he has never had cancer before.

That night just as he was at his worst, some friends of ours from Kaysville showed up for a short visit.  At first I thought there timing was pretty bad because of the way Craig was feeling.  I soon realized that there timing was perfect; it was good for our kids to see each other, and for us to see Todd and Kristine.  Todd was diagnosed with cancer one week before Craig.  We were able to talk with them about his radiation he is going through and consol each other with everything that is going on in our lives.  Todd was able to give Craig a Priesthood blessing that helped him and all of us to calm down and let him rest. We met this family while out camping a few years ago.  Our families get along very well together.  We are amazed how we have become friends and how Craig and Todd discovered there cancer just a week apart.  In our prayers we continue to pray for Todd and for there family to be able to make it through this trial.  As I see it, it is another one of Heavenly Fathers tender mercies.

He will start chemo again tomorrow, two days early, because of the holiday.  No one wants to give, or get, chemo during the holidays, but we just have to remember that what we are doing is KILLING the cancer.  That is the miracle that we are hoping for this Christmas. 

We had some wristbands made that say, “LIVE-PLAY-LOVE-PRAY”.  Sometimes I think we get the proper order of those words mixed up.  Maybe we put too much emphasis on PLAY.  We should put more on PRAY and LOVE.  Our family does know how to play very well and we are glad that many of you have done it with us.      

 We continue to pray for everyone that is need of any miracles at this time.  We know that with faith anything is possible.