Changes

Tuesday, June 16 2009...

Niki and Lucas came out to visit for the day. And she was a great help while she was there. Russ and Niki had a good visit as well.

Russ needed to be shaved so Niki did it for him as he just can't do it all on his own anymore. I had shaved Russ on Monday (my first time ever shaving someone) as he hadn't been shaved for a few days. It hurt him while I was doing it as it had gotten too long. So I promised him we would make sure we shaved him everyday so he wouldn't have to go through that again....poor guy! Niki even put after shave on him as he said he wanted to smell nice for Deb =)

After Niki was done shaving Russ we left the front room and went into the kitchen. I came back into the front room to clean up and this is what I saw. It was the most tender thing I had seen...so I of course went and grabbed my camera. We had moved Russ into the living room on the couch so he could look out the front window and get out of his room for a while. So Deb had just sat down with him and started to read the Ensign.

Deb has been amazing with Russ and she has such strength with everything going on. She has been such a good example to us all! You could feel the love in the room as they were just there together holding hands...so nice! Russ gives her a hard time when she has to go out to get his medicine or whatever and is gone for a while ha ha. He will say, "Ohhhhh well look who decided to show up." ha He likes having her there with him at all times...comforting for him I am sure.


Russ also asks for Kent 2 or 3 times throughout each day wondering if he is home yet. Russ is a completely different guy when Kent finally does get home each day. It is like he relaxes and just let's go as he knows Kent is there to take care of him. With Deb and I or whoever is there helping him he doesn't quite trust us when we are moving him or helping him walk. He thinks we are going to drop him...which we wouldn't...but I understand why he is more comfortable with Kent.

Each day Russ seems to be getting worse. He now isn't able to really walk at all. We have to put him in the house wheel chair to get him to and from each room now as it is just too hard on him and us. Our backs aren't happy with all the lifting, but we are managing =) Russ says it is just too painful when we are trying to get him to walk or stand. I think it is because his muscles are deteriorating and his body is just so sensitive when touched.






The hair...

Russ's head has been SUPER itchy cause of the radiation treatment and now the hair loss. So after dinner Tuesday I was rubbing the cream on his head and then combing his hair to get rid of the loose hairs. I got bored so then I started to do different hair styles on him ha ha...he was a good sport. Nice mohawk eh =)

Wednesday, June 17, 2009..."the shave"

When Russ woke up Wendesday morning he told me he had thought about it and he thinks it would be best to shave his head as he just couldn't stand it anymore. Hair was everywhere and he was sooooo itchy. Wednesday was a hard day as Russ pretty much couldn't walk anymore. Everything is so sensitive on him and he is so frustrated that he needs so much help. BUT with that being said he is so good about letting us help him.

This is Russ before we shaved his head. As you can see it was really thinning and getting patchy.

This is me cutting his hair...look at the look on his face ha ha ha....what a guy!

This is the after shot. He was not sure about the whole thing and had yet to see it for himself.

When I wheeled Russ in front of the mirror so he could see it for himself he said, "holy doodle, that is awful" ha ha

I said, "whoa wait a minute you don't think I did a good job...guess I am not getting a tip then."

He laughed and said, "nope."

We reassured him we still thinks he looks handsome. Afterwards he wanted me to shave his face for him. Me thinking I had it all under control as I had done it before...I grabbed his electric razor and began to shave him...so I thought. He kept pulling away from me trying to look at the razor.

I asked him if I was hurting him and he said, "no, is the guard off the razor though?"

I looked and sure enough it wasn't HA HA HA!! He looked at Debbie and rolled his eyes...NICE, too funny! I am sure he thinks I am crazy =)

Since Russ was a good boy getting his hair cut he wanted a cupcake...not a great thing for a diabetic, but he deserves a treat every now and again =)

My sister in law Johanna made these yummy cupcakes for us along with so many other dinners and what not for us. Russ was so touched by them doing that for all of us and being so giving and helpful.

He said, "well why did they bring all of this food for us"

We told him they were being kind and trying to help us out with everything that is going on and being kind.

He sat there and thought for a bit and he said, "they don't even know me very well, that is so kind of them...do they remember me?" We told him of course they do and that is why they brought it all. He couldn't believe how kind that was of them to do that...we agree =) We too SO appreciated it all...THANKYOU!!! It was all so very delicious.

My parents came up for the day to visit with all of us. They wanted to see Russ and Deb. Russ was really tired on Wednesday so they didn't visit with him too much. But we were glad they were able to come up anyways. Bryn loves her Grandma! Whenever I talk to my Mom on the phone I will put it on speaker phone and my Mom talks with her and sings to her. Bryn tears up as she stares at the phone smiling and listening...it is the cutest thing ever!

Mom was helpful with laundry and Bryn as my poor house has been neglected lately...I have much more important things going on right now =) But I think I am doing a pretty good job with somewhat staying on top of things. I need a maid ha ha...that would be AWESOME!

Crawling...

When I went to go into my room Monday morning this is what I saw...Cole laying on the floor peeking around the corner telling Brynley to come to him. And she did! Cole was so shocked, but so excited! I have really tried hard to NOT let Bryn crawl as I didn't want her to yet ha ha ha...oh well it was going to happen sooner or later. She is just getting so big so quickly it seems.

I sat on the floor a ways away and this is her crawling to me. AWWWWWW!

Home

Russ was finally released from the hospital this past Saturday. He was in there for 11 days. We couldn't take him from the hospital until we had ALL his medicine in hand and ready to go. So we made sure we did that before we picked him up. Russ had a TON of visitors everyday at the hospital. He was so thankful and shocked by that...as his family, we were so thankful so many people showed how much they cared. It really means a lot!

One of his funny stories from being in the hospital is that Debbie and her sister Donna would be at the hospital every day together to be with Russ. And on Russ's hospital files it states his religious views. So he says he thinks the nurses see these 2 women coming to see him everyday and must think that he has 2 wives ha ha. He thinks it is hilarious and isn't going to tell them other wise LOL what a guy =) Donna went back home to Ontario Sunday evening. It was so good to have her here and we so appreciate all she did while she was here.

Since we have been home his strength has REALLY weakened and we have to do most things for him. It frustrates him and he says he can't believe how weak he has gotten. His left side is still somewhat OK, but his right hand, arm, leg etc. are pretty useless and numb he says. He keeps saying we are doing too much, but we keep reassuring him that we could never be doing enough for him. Kent is his "main" helper in all areas of modesty =) If Russ needs help showering or in the bathroom Kent is the one to do it thus far. It doesn't even faze Kent and Russ has come around to having to be OK with having help like that. No one likes to have to have help and we all want to be independent don't we?!

The home care nurse came by on Sunday to see how we were doing and what we needed to make things easier in the home for Russ. She was great and we are so appreciative that there is this program...it is a HUGE help! So Kent and I went into Airdire to the home care office and picked up the equipment we need to make life more comfortable and easier for Russ to do things in the washroom. We also got him a wheelchair as he just can't walk without help either anymore. He is getting so skinny and it shocks him every time he sees himself in the mirror. We are hoping to see the palliative care nurses today or tomorrow to get some more equipment in the house that we are needing for Russ.

Deb, Brynley and I took Russ to 2 appointments he had Monday in Calgary. I have to say I have a new respect for people who are in wheel chairs and all it entails to take them out and get things done. One was for his diabetes and teaching us how to feed him properly and manage things better for him. And the other was his last radiation treatment at the Tom Baker Cancer Center. Russ's head is VERY itchy because of the radiation treatments and his hair is now falling out. We were able to get some cream that should help his scalp from being so itchy as he isn't supposed to itch it AT ALL! So for now we will will put the cream on his scalp and comb his hair regularly to get all the loose hairs out of his way as they come out. It was a long day for Russ and he was exhausted by the time we got home.

When we did finally get home Kent's cousin Daryl had been at our house most the afternoon putting in a remote controlled ceiling fan/light in Deb and Russ's room for them. He was done installing it and it looked great and is already making such a big difference in their room. It get's so hot in there and they had a tall stand up fan, but it was in the way. So this is going to be a great help! Thanks SO MUCH Daryl you are wonderful!

Sheri and her boys arrived around supper time Monday. Sheri has been here the past couple of evenings to visit and help out with Russ and he has really enjoyed that. Sheri lives 45 minutes north of us. Russ loves his kids coming to visit and enjoys seeing the grand kids.

All of us helping Russ in this time of need is such a blessing for him and mostly us. I think giving of yourself is the best thing you can do when a loved one is going through something like this. It helps give you peace of mind and the feeling of thankfulness that you can do something to somewhat help ease his burden that he is having to face.

He is taking everything so well so far. He gets teared up every now and again, only mostly when he talks about his mission in Malaysia and when he hears from people and he is so touched by the love he has felt by SO SO many people...it truly has just amazed him. He so badly wants to be back in Malaysia on his mission.


We are looking forward to Father's Day this weekend as it will be a special one for our family. Everyone is coming home and we are getting family picture's taken. And then we have made something for Russ and we will all just be together and have fun. We are going to be getting Russ a big comfy chair this week sometime to put out in the main kitchen area where he can sit and be a part of everything going on. It is a chair that can also help him sit and stand up so it will be great. Lot's to do before the weekend arrives =)




The kids...

Cole and Bryn having fun together downstairs

Every now and again when I am needing to get things done the boys will take Bryn downstairs and hold her while they play there games. She quite enjoys this! They give her a controller to hold so she thinks its great.

Hospital Visits

Thursday...

Kent, Brynley and I went and saw Russ Thursday night for about an hour at the Tom Baker Cancer Center. Niki and her family went as well. It was good too see him and visit him. Deb goes in every morning around 7 am and doesn't get home until around 8pm. Her sister Donna is here so she goes in with her every day.

His blood sugar levels are still up around 27. So they have changed what insulin they are giving him. He is now getting 2 shots every 4 hours. The nurse calls the one shot "Toronto" and Russ has named the other shot the "Detroit" shot ha ha...he is so funny!

He is taking more "Chrysler pills" (as he calls them) than he was before too. He had another seizure Thursday morning so they changed his dosage. He wasn't happy that Deb keeps taking all of his "good food" (food that is higher in sugar) off his tray when they bring his food. The hospital has been letting him order his food and not watching what he orders since he is a diabetic....nice eh! So now Deb told the hospital staff she is to fill out his order form and not him so they can help keep that under control. Other than that he seems good. He was pretty talkative and happy to be in a room.

Russ's steroid pills are the exact same shape as this Chrysler logo...his pills are white of course. So he now calls them his "Chrylser" pills.

Friday...

Russ visiting with everyone...he looks pretty good today I have to say.

We took the boys up to see Russ in the hospital today. They were anxious to see him and see for themselves how he was doing.

Friday he seemed like he was doing pretty good. His nurse (which is a male) is really good to him and takes great care of Russ. Russ told us that his nurse gave him the best gift he has gotten since he has been in the hospital...hospital pants ha ha ha! Russ hasn't had any pants all this week and was very appreciative to FINALLY get some.

His numbers were down Friday morning to 4 (which is too low) and now they are up again around 24...crazy how all over the place these numbers are! So he will be in the hospital for sure for the whole weekend until these numbers stabilize.

There were 16 of us there visiting Russ ha ha...good thing there was a lounging area for us all to go to.

Niki and her baby were there as well as Jeff and his family, our family and Aunt Donna and her son Dean along with Deb and Russ of course. We all sat around this table that had a big puzzle started at it and they just started adding more pieces to it and visited while they did it. While we were sitting there Russ had a mild seizure. None of the kids even realized what was going on. They were just so happy to be there.

Cole took this picture of Brynley and I.

Brynley is 8 months old as of Friday

Russ said I sure take a lot of pictures ha...yes I do and one day everyone will thank me for it! He saw that I was about to take his picture so he did this face...this is a "classic Russ face." You have to know him to know what I mean. I am SO glad I got this picture of him being silly...he is hilarious and he was in great spirits today. It was so nice to see him like this.

This is my 2 year old niece Kori and I. I was trying to keep her preoccupied while we were sitting there visiting as she was getting antsy to run around. She was giggling away as I took our picture. Cole took the bottom picture of us and I took the top one of us. I love this little girl she always makes me feel so loved...I love how she loves me !

Growing TOO FAST & our Rexburg trip

OK so I am VERY behind on posting all of my pics from the past few weeks...too much going on! So here we go...these are a little late, but better late than never =)


"Little Miss"...
Brynley has become a backwards "belly scooter." A few weeks ago I had sat her down on the floor in her room while I was putting away her laundry. I gave her some toys to play with and she was happy. A few minutes went by (I had my back to her) and all of a sudden she started grunting and she was really mad. I turned around to see what she was doing and this is what I found ha ha. She had scooted on her belly backwards and pushed herself half way under her dresser.

I was so SHOCKED!

As you can see in the pictures Brynley is now eating Cheerios...a staple food for every baby! ha ha She also tried out some type of baby cracker and like it as well. She enjoyed both of them as you can see by her happy little face. It is fun now that she can eat some normal food now and not just baby food.

If we are eating and we try to give her her baby food she won't have it. She now wants what we are eating...my how quick things change ha ha. She is a good eater and likes most things. OK let me try that again...she likes anything that isn't "mixed." For example she won't eat apple & strawberries or mixed fruit or vegetable beef etc. Her Aunt Sheri is alot like that and that is who Brynley is named after so I blame Sheri for Brynley's "mixing" issues =)

Rexburg trip...we went down to Rexburg Idaho for the May long weekend. Most of Kent's siblings and their families were there as well (except for Mike and his family). We all stayed at a hotel that had a pool and then went quading and dirt biking at the sand dunes down there. Kent's youngest brother Gary and his family live in Rexburg so we were able to be with them all weekend as well.

This is the terrain. It literally felt like we were in a desert. The sand dunes are amazing. If you have never been there, you need to see it to be able to understand what it is like there...amazing!

This is when we first got there. The vehicles that hauled all the toys down to Idaho.

Everyone getting on the quads and dirt bikes ready to go.

And we are off! Cole is the one on the dirt bike. He was a little nervous at first and then he did a good job. But he wasn't able to ride them on the sand dunes as it was WAYYYYY to hard...even for the adults.

That is Sheri and the kids on the bottom picture...and that is where I was supposed to get to on my own when I got lost!

This is all the many views of where we were at on the sand dunes.

Scary part of the trip was me getting lost at the sand dunes on a quad...I KNOW!? I was lost for about an hour by myself. Everything looked the same & I couldn't find my way back to everyone...I was terrified! It was hot & I wasn't sure what to do...so I just stayed by a metal marker & some tracks & hoped & prayed someone would come. I began to cry at one point as I was starting to panic. So I said a few prayers that the guys would find me (none of them even knew I was lost). Sure enough within about 15 minutes of that I saw my brother in law Darren come over the hill and he drove up to me. I was in tears and shaking as I would SO glad he found me. Poor Darren didn't know I was upset or lost when he drove up. I had a motor bike helmet on so he couldn't see that I was so upset until he could here me and I told him what happened. A few minutes later another brother in law (Gary) drove up. The thing that ticked me off the most is that I was so close to where everyone was and I didn't know it. The guys gave me a hard time about it all...never again will I let them make me go off on my own like that! Lesson learned =)

The kids sliding down one of the big sand hills...and the guys trying to drive the quads up and down it.

All in all it was a pretty good long weekend. It was such a blessing for us all to be together with us finding out everything going with Russ that weekend. I am glad we all still went. The hotel was great and being able to go swimming in the evenings was nice as well.

Bryn stayed with my parents while we went to Rexburg. She enjoyed being with her grandma. Her Grandma taught her how to clap her hands...so cute! Brynley has turned into an owl since we left her at my Mom's ha ha. Everything is ooooooo...and she does the dramatic face to go with it...it is hilarious!

Brynley wearing her Nanny's glasses and making her funny owl face...love it!

Recent stuff...

Bryn also cut her first tooth on Monday and is not a happy girl. She just hasn't been herself this week. On Tuesday Bryn started giving kisses when you ask for them and when you make the kissing sound. Mind you it is a wide mouth kiss with a little tongue and slobber from her ha ha...but we will take what we can get! =)

Kori, Ty, Bryn, Logan, Avery & Jade

Cousins and Ty hanging out in our bed & watching a movie this past weekend.

Russ...had a bone scan done on Tuesday. It was clear! But they ended up wanting him admitted as his blood sugar levels were critically high. They are going to keep him in the hospital until they get it under control. So this is night #2 so far that he will be in there.

He also started his first radiation treatment Tuesday as well. They say it shouldn't really hurt, but he will probably lose his hair in the areas he is getting the radiation on his head where the tumors are. He has 4 tumors on his brain.

The Dr gave us a rough estimate as to how long Russ might have...3-9 months! That was hard for everyone to hear. But I think it is a good thing to somewhat know what to expect. This is part of life whether we like it or not.

Russ is being blessed as he isn't in any pain. The Dr's say he should be in a lot of pain and they are SO surprised he isn't having any headaches and what not with his tumors...and he says he isn't feeling anything! I truly know and believe Heavenly Father is protecting him thus far...and we are so incrediably thankful!

Debbie's sister Donna is here from Ontario. She will be here for a week for sure. I know Debbie is happy to have her here finally. I can't imagine being Debbie and all she is having to go through with Russ. We are doing our best to be here for her as well.

We are just taking it all one day at a time...

Hard weekend

I have to apologize as I just haven't been able to read any ones blogs lately or respond to comments made on mine. I just want to say THANK YOU to everyone for your love and concern it means a lot!

The past couple of weeks have been emotionally, physically and spiritually draining for all of us. I guess the silver lining in it all is how it has made us grow spiritually and how big our faith plays apart in our lives.

I tell ya my eyes are puffy and so tired from all of the tears that have come over the this past weekend. My father in law (Russ) had 2 seizures Friday night when we were with him. So Kent and his Mom (Deb) took Russ into the ER at the Foothills hospital Friday evening. He didn't get seen until Saturday morning and then they did a cat scan on his head...he has tumors all over his brain. It was devastating to hear...even though we knew it was already dire with all the other cancer his body has...this just took the wind right out of us. All we could do was cry and hold each other.

So Russ and Deb are back staying with us now that he will be getting radiation treatment in Calgary. He has to go every day 5 times a week for about 4-6 weeks. We are still waiting to hear when that will start. We are trying to get his diabetes under control as all of this new medication is throwing his numbers really high. So we have him on a schedule now and hopefully it will calm down. He is on steroides for his brain tumors and it has given him energy. SO he has been a lot more active. He has been playing games with the kids and I and eating better. So that has been a nice change!

Russ is amazingly calm about it all. I truly believe he knows what is going to happen and he is at peace and calm about it all because Heavenly Father is comforting him. Now we all just need to be that calm and at peace with it too...us being humans we want Russ to live and we want him to stick around for a long time. BUT, Heavenly Father has other plans for him and is needing him. So we will just be here for Russ and Deb and help in every way we possibly can. These next few months are going to be pretty special and so very hard at the same time.

We have had a lot of company come to see Russ this weekend and the phone is constantly ringing. He is feeling the love and it is all good. We are just going to have to get used to the whole "revolving door" thing with people coming in and out to see him and calling. We were so thankful for Russ's sister Ruth for coming up and seeing Russ on the weekend. Ruth and her husband Morley came up on Saturday and stayed until Sunday. Ruth is a nurse so she explained alot of his pills to us and gave us a lot of helpful advice. Russ's brother Dwight and his wife Gail also came by on Sunday and they had a good visit as well.

He is scheduled for a bone scan early this morning. Jeff is going to go in with Deb and Russ to that. They will find out the results for that within a couple of hours.


Yesterday we went to Walmart and bought some groceries and other things we needed. Russ rode on one of those powered scooter things that Walmart provides. He did very well with it and was able to keep up and we got things done in good time. He liked getting out and actually doing something he said. So I am glad they came.

the kids...
they are doing pretty good. They have been enjoying having their Nanny and Poppa around. Bryn has gotten to know them and gives big smiles when she sees them. They have questions every now and again about their Poppa and what is going on so we end up having some pretty good talks with them.

Kent is of course devastated about his Dad's health and what will come. He was so glad to have been there for him on the weekend at the hosptial. Kent is relieved to have them here where he can see them every day and help out. I think all of Kent's sibling wish they could have them within arms reach, but it just isn't possible.

We have gotten Deb and Russ all unpacked and settled in to stay. It is no fun living out of a suitcase. So hopefully they feel better now that that has changed.