A Sister's Visit, A 5K, Spring Break and Insight into Noelle's Needs

On Tuesday, March 26th, my sister Christy (long-time Santa Rosans know/knew her as Linda) came to visit for a week. It was a lot of fun to have her here. We spent a lot of time talking, and she really seemed to enjoy being here and getting to know the kids a lot better. The kids enjoyed spending time with her, too. We were also able to give her some good time with David and Jeff's families. Here's a shot of Christy with her three "little" brothers.

One morning, Noelle and I took her to the Jordan River Parkway, even though it's the least beautiful time of year to see it. We walked over two miles that morning, enjoying the nice weather we had during the week. One night we introduced her to Ticket To Ride, our favorite board game of all time. Overall, we really enjoyed her visit. On Friday, the 29th, Jenna got sick--sort of a one-day fever enough to keep her home from school, then gone the next day. But even though the fever was gone on Saturday, she still wasn't feeling 100% and still could have been contagious, so it's good that Christy was here with us, because...

I've mentioned in other posts that I've been walking every day that the weather allows for it. Well, on Saturday, March 30th, my family and I walked a 5K to benefit the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. My brother, David, and his family came out to walk it with us, as did Matt and Melina Moore and their kids. Christy was able to stay home with Jenna. Here's a picture of us before the race.

Before the race began, Nathan Lunstad, who is the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society's Man of the Year for Utah and who sponsored the race, invited me up to the starting line where he was speaking to everyone there. He gave me some special recognition as a current patient who's fighting leukemia. It was nice to be recognized like that. David's family walked with Carter, who hadn't quite made it to his 5th birthday yet (it was just yesterday, April 8th), and he could only make it through one of the two laps, so they only walked half of it, but a mile and a half is pretty good for a 5-year old kid. Matt Moore walked the entire 5K with me. He shaves his head, so as we walked I think others who passed us thought we were both cancer patients. =0)

In our family, Abigail finished first--she and Aija Moore ran some and walked the rest. Of course, Matt and I picked up the rear, but finished in less than an hour (between 57 and 58 minutes), according to Matt's time keeping. I thought we took more than an hour, but I'll accept his data. When I came around the last bend, my family was there waiting for me, and encouraging me to run the final 50 to 100 yards. I was afraid my brittle leg bones would snap, but figured there were a bunch of doctors from LDS Hospital East 8 there, so why not? As I ran the last 50 yards or so with my family, Nathan Lunstad was there running along side us. There were people shaking cow bells and applauding as I crossed the finish line. It felt really good. Here's a picture of us running the last few yards to the finish line. Nathan is the man in black on the left.

Mid-way through Christy's visit was the beginning of spring break for our kids. We spent a lot of good time together as a family, playing games, going to the park, etc. The kids accompanied me on my daily walks a few times, and one time Jenna reminded me that I still hadn't taken my walk for the day after 4:00. "Dad, you still haven't taken your walk today. Can we go together before dinner time?" She can be very sweet sometimes. =0)

Spring break was also pretty enlightening as it pertains to how Noelle's doing. Over the past couple weeks, it's become evident that she's incredibly stressed. Noelle's been put through the ringer lately with our kids' behavior, and Spring Break was highly concentrated time with the kids and their behavioral issues. There have been a lot of issues we've been dealing with on that front and Noelle has born the brunt of that storm that never seems to blow out. Another source of stress is that her dad died from cancer 21 years ago, and she has always been worried that I would die from cancer as well. Now I have it and the 65-80 year old people who typically are the ones who get my kind of cancer don't tend to fare very well following the allogeneic transplant. Granted, they have a lot of peripheral health issues that complicate their recoveries and make various of their bodies' systems good targets for the graft vs. host disease (GVHD). So, unfortunately, there's not a lot of data available for how 40 year old people do when they have no health concerns other than the cancer. Also, there are the financial concerns. We're at a point where there just isn't anything after the bills are paid. She stresses about that all the time. All of this just became really evident to me and I saw my strong, amazing wife on the verge of crumbling a few times. I thought about us moving on to my second transplant which involves about 4 to 6 weeks in the hospital and little or no relief for Noelle at home. The thought of going into that without Noelle having a break or any relief before that really frightens me. I began thinking, How can I give her a break and get her away from all of this for a time? What can I do for her when I have no money? And then it came to me. Noelle has enough women who love her that I'm sure I can find a way for someone to take her away for a couple days of relief and relaxation. I contacted her closest friends and have now arranged for her best friend, Linzi Crans, to fly out from California and take her up to her sister's house about an hour north of us in Perry, UT for a few days. Thanks to her wonderful friends, her sister and my mother, Linzi's airfare is taken care of. The love of my life will get the break she so desperately needs. I'm so excited for her to be able to go. Every time Noelle gets to spend time with Linzi, she is refreshed and revitalized like giving water and sunlight to a withering plant. It's the perfect remedy.