Daddy & Alaina!

Hi! So here is my blog finally! (thanks much Lisa!) John just got out of the hospital again (his third time in ICU since April!) He started an oral tablet that we hoped would kill the cancer, but it made his blood pressure go through the roof and on Friday the 18 he had two seizures! After 4 days in the hospital we went to Tucson to see what other options we have. As soon as his blood pressure is down he will start on an IV drug that we pray will do the job without the major side effects!

We want to send out blogs so that it will be a fun easy way to keep family and friends up to date on John and our family! It is also our desire that the way John and our family is responding to this disease will inspire you!

We also want this to be a way to thank all of you for your support and love! John and I are so blessed to have the family that we have! Everyone in our family would be here for us in a minute if we needed ~ and they have been! Our friends are just as wonderful my heart is filled with unexplainable emotion as I think of all of the visits to the hospital, phone calls, letters and prayers that have been sent our way!

~ I would like to get pictures of everyone that I can on this blog so if you are not on it send me a picture!

Be sure to start at the beginning of this blog and work your way up!

Nana's Birthday!!!

Nana spends more time at our house than hers anymore! We love you!!!! And happy birthday

Debbie Dean & Ella came for a visit

Cousins! :)

Family!

Yummy seafood! And even better company!

Great Family and Friends!

John and Sue Rhodes visit us from Nevada!

Chad, John, Mike & Matt!!! Love you guys! :)

Lots of people have asked us how we have stayed so positive... Well it is an easy answer! We have had amazing people in our life!!! We have an awesome God that has provided incredible support and we are extremely thankful to you all!

Having Some Fun on the Tracks!

Jay teaching Alaina and Julia how to "drive".

Check this out! So much fun!

Alaina did this all night! Running the track while hula hooping.

Monster Truck!!!

Our new favorite past time! Jay and Lewie have the funnest place! Its like a playground for both young and not so young! :) A huge race track, golf carts, a play room, exercise room lots of snacks... They have been so great and full of smiles! John really likes to get out of the house but with the heat it has been really hard ~ They brought out a swamp cooler to the tracks so that John could be outside without getting too hot! Gotta love them!!! Alaina and her friends never want to leave!

August Birthdays Alaina's (and yes mine too)

August was a pretty good month. Alaina turned 9 and I turned .... hmmm? This was the month that we heard that John's cancer was back, so that was hard, but he (we) have had such amazing support and love that this awful news did not completely knock us down! Plus we have the power of the Holy Spirit to give us peace even in the most harsh of times!

Trip to Sedona

Lots of test for her too! But everything turned out just fine!

Yep Alaina's turn to be at the hospital!

Our favorite place to eat! :)
This was an unplanned trip to Sedona. With all of the crazy news regarding John's health we know how important it is to celebrate each day, so we decided to go on a helicopter ride. Alaina was just a little bit nervous so the company put a device on her arm ~ as soon as it hit her arm she fell on the floor in a full seizure! We drove to Phoenix Children's Hospital and she had another one a few hours later. Two days at the hospital and no reason as to why! But as of yet there has not been anymore!!!

Alaina had to have some fun too!

Yippie Grandma Kay and Grandpa John took Alaina to the zoo in the middle of the summer ~~ She loved it!!! :)

John's Birthday in June

When you see them smile like this we can't say no!

John couldn't go riding himself so he did the next best thing and bought a remote control car! Boys and their toys!!!

He was feeling pretty yucky that day ~ but he had a great time!

After Surgery News

When John went to the hospital in April we were all praying that the kidney would be saved, but that was not the case. John ended up having to have his only kidney removed. Going into this we knew very little about dialysis, and how one could live without such an important organ. We got a crash course! Dialysis is very difficult especially if you are as active as John is! He did and continues to do everything that he needs to do to make living without a kidney bearable. He only eats the food that he should, and he is very careful to limit his fluid intake! But after his surgery and the difficulties of dialysis he had a cardiac arrest on April 23rd ~ so back to Good Samaritan again! Once he got to Good Sams he had a defibrillator put in... he also caught a bad virus there that made him very sick. After all the surgery cardiac arrest and C- diff John lost over 50 pounds in one month!

Special Visits

Our church family came to pray with John before surgery!

John and Ryan such great brothers!

Mom and Russell hanging with the turtle shelled man! :)

Jay and Lewie came over to see John and brought lots of movies so we would not be bored! They have been so amazing! We love you!

The Beginning ~ March 1, 2009

This picture was taken on Feb 28, the day before John was in the dirtbike accident. He was riding his dirtbike with his brother, Ryan, on March 1. He flipped his bike. When he was taken to the ER they did a CT scan and it showed that he had broken his back. He had to wear a "turtle shell" that went around his back and stomach. The CT scan also showed that there was a tumor on the outside of his stomach wall... John was in the hospital for several days and had two biopsies. After getting out of the hospital and not knowing for sure what was going on, we went to see a surgeon who was to perform the third biopsy. It was at that visit that we were told that John did have cancer. It was also the first time that we heard that it was on his kidney. With John having only one kidney, we were very heartbroken to hear this. Dr. Gladding was very compassionate and explained that she would not be able to do another biopsy because it was too close to his only functioning kidney. She recommended that we go to see Drs. Jeffery and Jerimey Brink. They are twins (Jeffery is a transplant surgeon and Jerimey is a vascular surgeon). We spoke with both doctors and John was scheduled to have the tumor removed on April 7th 2009.