Lots of Visitors

Saturday, Dec 7th

Marantec, Brace's work, sent a beautiful plant to the house and it is a centerpiece on our kitchen table. They have been absolutely amazing through this whole thing.

Rob and Kim Peck came and joined the party at the house. Brace laid on the bed and talked to everyone. It was fun to have Jon, Durran and Rob together. I enjoyed having them here but especially Kim. I needed some female vibes.... I think they went to Denny's once Brace fell asleep.

While I was teaching Ashlee Frost and Savannah Overstreet and getting them ready for Royal Conservatory music testing, Staci and Nathan came to say hello to Brace. Staci of course doesn't know how to say hello without a gift so they brought a beautiful blanket and great blue plaid shirt for Brace.

Brace decided today was the day to clean out the fridge. Brace was going strong for about 30 minutes and then petered out. See the pictures of our fridge stuff all over the kitchen counter.

I left about 5pm to direct the final choir performances at 6:15 and 7:15 at Follow the Star. (Because Jon and Durran were here I could leave Brace) . I was so pleased with the choir's performances. I thought they were just fantastic, but I was so tired that when I came home I collapsed.

Sunday, Dec 8th

Today, I woke up at 8:45am and pretty much didn't get dressed and I hung out in my robe most of the day. At 11:15am, the young priest's, brought us the sacrament. Brace felt exhausted but wasn't in pain and was able to talk with ease, well at least compared to last week.

Mark and Annelle Wells came over and brought enough Honey Baked Ham soup for our whole house full. It hit the spot and kept everyone happy. Brace took a few sips but had his gtube at the table. He is so tired of not eating. He tries, but it not only tastes awful but it is painful.

James and Kjarstin convinced me to go to choir so I could get a little church in. It was nice to talk with choir members who are like our family to us. We have so many dear friends at choir. Then Brace, Jon, Durran and I watched the Christmas Devotional with the First Presidency. We had a few technical difficulties but we loved the messages and the music.

Corey Procuniar brought a specially made meal made by the amazing Anne, just for me. It was divine and I enjoyed it for lunch when the house was quiet on Monday at noon.

Monday, Dec 9th,

Bonnie Nakamoto came to visit with her darling father Clint Hales. She brought a home-made darling music wreath and a red poinsettia. Clint knew Brace's father when they played church softball together. Clint was pitcher and Boyd was catcher. He said Boyd played a great game but never talked smack or cussed like some of the other players. Sounds like Brace's dad. It was fun to have Bonnie here. Bonnie and Brace are friends from their mission in Guatemala 30 years ago. We were only missing Ben Goodwin in American Samoa. The three of them went on many adventures together.

Radiation treatment #19. Right before he went today he did not feel well so I gave him some unicorn drugs (see previous posts) to get him through it. When we started radiation, we heard that people took at Xanex pills to get them through it. After that many treatments, it really starts to build up.

At night Bertha and Anabel Aghnatios brought me an amazing chicken, potatoes and fruit box, as well as voice teacher gifts. They are such a sweet family. I hope they like their new teacher that is filling in for me.

Brace felt awful tonight and his gtube site is still looking a little leaky.

Tuesday, Dec 10th

Today we met with the Dental Oncologist, Dr. Nelson Lowe. This was our checkup and he took pictures of Brace's tongue and all the sores in his mouth. He gave some suggestions on how to cope with the pain and he said that the mucocitis under his tongue is from the radiation. We start chemo on Thursday, so we are pretty concerned about that.

I came to home to homemade chicken noodle soup, raspberries, blueberries and cornbread that tastes like cake. Thank you to the Dahl family. James is out of town this week on business so I invited Kjarstin over for dinner tonight after she was done teaching. :)

Brace continued to feel awful so Alice helped us get into Interventional Radiology to have them look at his gtube. They gave us another antibiotic that we will start on Wednesday once the Keflex is done. The surgeon, Kevin Burns, came over to check it out and he took off the button under the phlange (sp?) which gave Brace some relief. We couldn't be more pleased with the staff and professionalism and kindness at Mission Hospital.

Then we came home and Brace took a 20 minute nap and headed out to Radiation #20. They gave him a calendar changing all of his times starting this Friday. They know I don't like them changing times so they tell Brace.

Hoping for a better day tomorrow. We appreciate your kindness and prayers. It is going to be a rough week with chemo round 3 starting on Thursday, Friday, Saturday.

Thank you's

Marantec team that sent the beautiful plant.

Food from the Annelle & Mark Wells, Anne Procuniar, Christy Dahl, Bertha and Anabel.

Erik Larsen, Jim Hope, Bob Demmon, Jim and Janice Wright for driving

Alice for being our advocate

Del for giving us pharmacist recommendations

Dr. Carroll for returning my calls.

Michelle for making the fun happy notebook.

Don Lake for sending Boost for Brace.

Jon, Durran, Rob and Kim for visiting.

Bonnie and Clint visiting.

Bev for coordinating a Christmas package for Penelope.

P.S. Pictures at the end are gross pictures of his tongue. Just warning you.