Round 4 of Chemo

As we headed out the door for round 4 of Chemo, a sweet note was left on my windshield and the  picture below was on my phone as my screen saver.  Both of them were from the same sweet girl.  Kelsie is so thoughtful and sweet.  I appreciate her kind heart and loving ways.  I am so lucky to have been blessed with such a wonderful daughter. 

 

 

 

December 11, 2012 

If you have to be in the hospital, December is a great time to be there.  Every day Josh received some kind of gift or treat.  He was given this stocking from the "Helping Kids with Cancer" organization.  It was a very generous and thoughtful gift as it was filled with everything Josh loves.  Really, I couldn't have put together a more personalized stocking for him myself.  So if you need some ideas for stocking stuffers for a teenage boy, here are some ideas:

Rubiks cube, Axe spray, Laffy Taffy candy cane, sock monkey, beenie hat, nerf torpedo, Reeses snow man, M & M's, sticky hand and Toblerone.

 

Kyle came down on Thursday to be with us and take us home.  It was so good to see him.   He offered to sleep at the hospital that night, but I just didn't think he would fit on the bed.   

Believe it or not, but all of the Gatorade seen in these pictures were consumed by Josh in just 1 night.  Josh has Diabetes Insipidus meaning his body can't regulate his water intake and urine output on its own.  Without his medication he drinks and drinks and drinks!  And because of all of the drinking he.......well you get the idea.  During Chemo they want him in this crazy drinking state to flush the chemo out of his system.  One of his Chemo drugs is especially hard on the kidneys.  On the last night, his sodium levels weren't coming up so they put him on a strict Gatorade diet.  It did the trick and it let him work on his artistic skills..............

Once we got home Josh was headed back to the hospital for his first and hopefully last blood transfusion.  His red blood cells were really low.  He was given 2 units and had a mild reaction to it.  His head broke out with the hives!  Needless to say, we spent the entire day at the hospital, but it sure worked like magic.  His cheeks were rosie again and he had more energy.  I wanted to ask them to hook me up!

                                                                 The Giving Tree
A few days before Christmas this adorable tree was delivered to our house by the Erickson family.  It was decorated with encouraging quotes, gift cards, and a touching story of another "giving tree" given to Tyler Smith during his courageous fight with liver cancer.  We were so touched by the generosity and love that this tree held.  Tyler's motto was "F2TF" which stands for "Fight 2 The Finish."  Josh is fighting Tyler!  

Family Home Evening--BYU-I Style

How cool is this?  A BYU-Idaho student ward, Family Home Evening group, planned a Family Home Evening for our family.  All of our children had a blast!  After learning about each one of our children by putting them on the 'hot spot' they helped them make custom t-shirts.  It was organized by a young man who is from Kyle's home town of Logandale, Nevada, McKay Winzinried.  Our children loved the attention from all of the college kids.  There were some real artists in the group and our kids walked away with some awesome t-shirts.  We even had Brother Riggin's famous bacon waffles for dessert!  It just doesn't get much better than that!

 

So, thank you for thinking of our family and for making all of our kids feel special and important!  It was just what we needed!

 

                                                         Weekly Well Wishes For Josh

Josh's Sunday School class is always so good about writing notes to Josh every week and delivering them to him.  One time they even held Sunday School at our house.  Below they are all pictured wearing Josh's orange bracelets, sending a little love and support his way!  I am always touched by their thoughtful notes and they always end by saying, "I am still praying for you!"  Josh thinks he has the best Sunday School teacher in the world!  I agree.

We Are Thankful For.........

Thanksgiving 2012

 

We have much to be grateful for this year! 

 

 Grandma and Grandpa Wilson came up for Thanksgiving.  We thoroughly enjoyed our time with them.  They spoiled us like they usually do and took us all out to eat at Big Judd's on Friday.  We had a blast!  Thanks Grandma and Grandpa for a wonderful Thanksgiving! 

 

 

 

 

They boys were in charge of the potatoes this year.  I think they were the best mashed potatoes I have ever had.  I am sure it was all the BUTTER that they put in that made them so yummy! :)

                                                                        

Drake, getting it done.   Did I mention they made 2 pots of potatoes?  That's how much Walkers love potatoes!

                                   Andrew called the drumstick---and he ate the whole thing!



Can Grandma and Grandpa come to visit without playing a few "uncompetitive" hands of 5 Crowns?  I do believe Grandpa had a little "humble pie" for dessert that day! 

                                           Grandma and Kyler doing some crafts together. 


Believe it, or not, but on Friday we still had room in our bellies for Big Judd's!  All 9 of us went there, but only 8 returned.  Drake works there, and they were packed.  He wasn't scheduled to work that day, but they asked him to stay.  He did.  Sorry Drake.

Josh will probably go to PCMC on Dec. 10th for his 4th round of Chemo.  I am grateful that we will all be together for Christmas this year.  It is going to be an unforgettable Christmas!

Keep on Smiling!

Round 3 of Chemo

 

Josh underwent round 3 of chemo on November 14th.  He was at PCMC again for 4 days--3 of those days being chemo.  He smiled his way through it.  It was interesting to hear almost all of his Doctors and Nurses comment on his cheery disposition, his kindness and his great manners.  He continued to thank everyone that did anything for him, even if they were drawing his blood.  His gratitude was contagious!  One nurse commented to me on what a sweet spirit Josh has.  I had to agree.  When we were getting ready to leave his Doctor said it was a privilege to work with Josh and that she looked forward to seeing him each time.  We ended that conversation with hugs.  Is it appropriate to hug your caregivers? 

 

 

 

 

Kyler spent the week at Aunt Bernice's and came to visit on Thursday.  It was SO good to see our little man!  He put a smile on all of our faces. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It's a Small World After All!

So, in the picture below I am with Joshua's nurse that we see when we go to clinic.  We just saw her last week in clinic when we went down for Josh's MRI.  The interesting thing about this story is that all this time we didn't realize or appreciate who Joshua's nurse was.  We knew her name was Jessica but what we didn't know was that her last name was Jensen and she lived across the street from Grandma Haworth for 3 years in Logandale.  Her husband is Jason Jensen and their family, the Jensens, grew up in the house across the street from Grandma.  Jessica figured it out and came and found us while we were in the hospital.  She walked in and said, "is your grandma Sharon Haworth?" 

 

                                                                    Round 3--DONE!!

 Andrew was REALLY excited when we got home (evidenced below)!  I made it back in time to watch Andrew wrestle in his first match.  It was so fun!  Good job, Andrew!

 

 

 

My brother Jaydel had these bracelets made to show his love and support of Joshua and to serve as a reminder that we can smile, even in the midst of adversity!

So, Keep on smiling!

All I Want For Christmas......

So, our kids wrote letters to Santa the other night telling him what they would like for Christmas this year.  This is what Kelsie wrote to Santa:

 

 

And then I cried.

 

A Day, a Night, and a Day

Joshua had his post-chemo MRI on Tuesday at Primary Children's.  On Wednesday Josh had a lumbar puncture, and we met with doctors to discuss the results of the MRI.  The MRI looked good, but not good enough to move ahead with radiation.  The tumors have shrunk dramatically--some are gone already, but they want them all gone before they move ahead so that Josh can have the least amount of radiation possible.  That means 2 more rounds of chemo for our boy!  This was not the outcome we were anticipating.  We were hoping to see a clean MRI.  And although I am disappointed that Josh has to have more chemo, I know that one day I will look back and see the reasons and the wisdom in the delay of his healing.  Josh and I are headed back down to Primary Children's on Tuesday for round 3 of chemo.  We are praying for good driving weather!  

 

 

 

 

 

This is Joshua's PICC line that his chemo is given through.  We maintain it at home by flushing the line 2 times a day and changing the dressing once a week.  You know, I have always wanted to be a nurse.  I never thought that this is how that dream of mine would come true! 

Kyler went with us on our overnight trip to Utah.  He was excited to meet the famous Spider man that he had only seen pictures of.  Spider man was still dressed up for Halloween! 

 

 

 

We rushed back Wednesday evening and surprised Kelsie by making it just in time for her Fall Choir Concert.  The choir sounded great and Kelsie looked beautiful!  Our dear friend, Megan Lloyd, did Kelsie's hair and make-up.  After the concert we went straight home and locked Kelsie in her room, and we are not letting her out again until she is 21!  Well, maybe 19 if she wants to serve a mission!!  :)  

When did she grow up? 

Kelsie, Becca, and Korryn

 

 

 

 

Stitched With Love

 

The Beehive class surprised Josh by making him a patch work quilt.  They were a sneaky and hardworking little hive as they had all of the young men and young women of our ward write encouraging notes and sign it with fabric markers.  Many of the "Bees" of this little "hive" were missing when they brought it over, but Josh loves it and thanks all of them for it and for thinking of him!!  It has been on his bed every night since he received it, it made the trip to Salt Lake, and it is headed back down again for chemo!   

 

Thank you,

thank you,

thank you!!