July 23

Today Home Health Care came and picked up Becca's oxygen supplies. She has been off oxygen for a month now and is doing great. It just took us a while to get all the ducks in a row to get the supplies picked up. We are very pleased with the progress she is making. She is getting chubbier by the day and is already starting to roll over. She cooes and laughs and has us all wrapped around her little finger. When she cries James tries to comfort her by bringing her a blanket or a sharing his toys. He is a wonderful big brother. Now if we can just keep him from stepping on her when he tries to play with her toys.

Karen

July 15 (CT Scan #4)

On July 14 I had another CT scan to see how the chemo is working. Today we got the results. The largest tumor in my liver was 13 cm long to begin with. The scan in April showed that it had reduced to 8 cm long. It is now 4.5 cm long. The spot in my lung is now 2 mm long. So they are thinking that the tumors have shrunk by almost half a second time.

We both feel that this is because of the prayers and support you all have given in our behalf. We would like to thank you and hope that you will continue. We wouldn't be able to do this without you all. Thank you again.

Karen

July 17

It has been a busy few weeks for us between a holiday, a family reunion and a couple of chemo treatments for Karen.  The Saturday before the 4th we did a trip to see how the kids would handle a long car ride.  On the way back both of them fell asleep.

We had a good time over July 4th at the parade though James did not like the loud sirens.  After that we went to a get together at a friends house.  James was even able to have his first horse ride.

Karen had a chemo treatment a few days after the holiday.  She bounced back from it well and the next week we were able to spend a few days at her parents' while we attended my family's reunion.  We also spent some time catching up with friends and relaxing.

James had his first experience on my parents' 100 foot water slide.  He seemed more interested in watching other people go down it.  It was nice to catch up and be around family but it was also nice to head home.

On the way home we stopped by Karen's brother's house for a short afternoon visit.  Between there and home both of the kids fell asleep.  Once we got home James decided he wanted to go for another drive but this time with him behind the wheel.

We got back home a few days before Karen's latest chemo treatment.  She is currently recovering from it.  Little Becca is doing well and is even getting a little chubby.  She is holding her head up very well and usually sleeps 6 hours a night and sometimes even more.

Braden

Projects (Karen posting)

Projects

After all the projects Braden was trying to finish before Becca and I came home we have taken a bit of a breather. We are slowly getting the house organized again and trying to get back into a routine.

Here are some pictures of the projects Braden has been working on. Warning: Some of these are finished while others need some final touch ups.

Shelves in the garage:

Repainting the Family Room:

There were also two bathrooms that we repainted, but I don't have pictures of them yet.

Braden has been working hard on our yard as well. When we bought the house there was more grass in the flower beds than the yard. That is no longer true. In a couple weeks my family is going to come and help us with the flower beds; removing old tree stumps, lava rocks and weed trees. We hope that this is allow us to plant new trees and a garden next year.

Karen

June 26

So it's been two weeks since my last post.  In that time Karen has had another chemo treatment and is recovering while preparing for her next planned treatment on Tuesday.

Becca had her 4 month checkup and immunizations.  She reacts very differently to the shots than James did.  The first two shots James cried for a second or two then stopped while Becca screamed louder after each shot so it took a few minutes to calm her down.  She is now at 22.5 inches and weighs in at 9 lbs 13 oz.

The doctor okayed taking Becca off of oxygen but wants us to keep her on the monitor for a while.  Karen finished removing the stickers and tube from her face so we don't have it following her around everywhere.  She did very well yesterday and seems more awake without the tube going into her nose.

Since I last wrote James caught a cold which is lingering in the form of a cough.  I think I caught it too along with Karen and Becca.  So far James is the only one to develop a cough and Karen seems to be recovering fairly quickly from the cold.

James has taken to crawling into the swing we use for Becca.  If we leave the tray up he will stand up in it and try to surf.  We try to keep him out of hit but he really likes to explore everything, including the trash cans and weeds.  About the only time he will sit still is when he is watching Karen cook, is really tired or is in his high chair.

Braden

June 12

So yet again there was no chemo for Karen this week.  She is scheduled for a blood test on Friday which will tell us what the doctor will try next.  Whether it is an attempt to raise the platelet levels faster or chemo on Tuesday.

It seems like Karen has more energy and is more alert but she says she is still tired all of the time.  Must have something to do with raising two kids.

James is a funny little kid.  I caught him the other day balancing on his head and feet with his hands on his hips.  I wasn't fast enough with my camera to get the actual moment.  There will be lots of funny things that I will swear he did when he's older but I won't be able to prove it.

Rebecca was off of oxygen for several hours this week.  Her levels are much better than they were but still drop a little when she sleeps.  Her cheeks and the rest of her are really filling out.  She hasn't been weighed recently but I'm sure she is closing in on ten pounds if not over it already.

Karen and I are constantly reminded of how much love and support is behind her and our little family.  There have been so many people that have helped and are helping us.  The willingness of people to give a hand, a heart or their prayers has been very humbling to me personally and I can't thank everyone enough for their help and support.

Thank you,
Braden

June 4

Karen and I made it through the weekend.  The family dinner after the baby blessing took a lot of work to put together.  Thankfully there was a bunch of help from Karen's parents and one of her sisters.  Not to mention everyone that came brought some food and helped clean up.  We took Becca to church without her oxygen and she did fine.  We put her back on it afterwards since the last test showed she occasionally drops below 90 when she is without it.

I was a little worried about how all of the work would affect Karen right before a chemo session.  Fortunately and unfortunately I didn't have to find out.  When Karen had a blood test on Tuesday they found her platelets were low and told her they would postpone the treatment for a week.  Apparently platelets help your blood clot and the doctor would prefer to let her recover.

James has really started to walk a lot in the last week or so.  He is walking faster and I have the feeling he is getting ready to start running.  When we were cleaning out the garage on Saturday he kept carrying brooms around.  He wanted to hold one even when he was having his hair cut.  

Braden