September 27, 2004

Up North

Hey there. Jade is back at chemo today and Garrett is napping (what a glorious time of day) so I thought I'd do a quick note to everyone.

We did get out of town last week. We were gone Mon to Fri at Jade's cousin's cabin in Island Park. It was heavenly to get out of town. We both were able to get some extra rest, read, go on walks and relax. We went to Harriman State Park and walked around the lake, drove to Yellowstone another day and went to Old Faithful (saw buffalo, elk, and geese in the Park), ate pizza and fudge (me, not Jade) in West Yellowstone, went on walks around the cabin and saw a moose and her calf, elk and deer. We also went a couple times to Big Springs and fed the fish. These trout are just huge! They get fed bread, corn and fish food a milion times a day by tourists so they're enormous! (No fishing allowed there until it dumps into Henry's Lake and the river.) I attached a picture of Jade, Garrett and I at Big Springs after feeding the fish. It was a great mental health break to get away.

Jade and I were able to go to the U of U vs. Air Force game on Sat. What a fabulous time that was too! We yelled and cheered and got a little sunburned but had a wonderful time. (Thanks for the tickets C & J!) So, going to Yellowstone and a great football game did a lot to help ward off some of the blahs. We had a nice Sun too visiting with Jade's aunt and uncle and a couple neighbors later in the evening. Now I just need to keep having little moments of mental health breaks and keep telling myself this is a marathon not a sprint.

Jade is back at chemo as I said. He didn't feel fabulous in Island Park and never really got the diarrhea under control until late Sat afternoon. (I'll spare you all the vivid details.) So half of Sat and all of Sun was good which makes starting up today again tough. The past couple weeks of chemo were hard so we're hoping to catch a break and maybe have this round not be so draining. He should get his CT scan scheduled today too while he's there. It'll probalby be Monday the 11th of Oct. Jade has noticed he has lost about 40 lbs over the past 18 months but it hasn't affected his belt/pant size due to the tumors in his abdomen. Such a strange phenomenon.

So, not a lot of medical info today - - just the travel log - - sorry, but at least you didn't have to see a slide show with it.

My brother sent me a thought in the mail that I quite liked. It states, "In life, two things stand like stone: kindness in another's troubles, courage in your own." - Anonymous We have been talking with a few friends and family members who are facing tough battles and feel this idea reflects a lot of people we know and associate with. We hope and pray that you have faith, courage and hope in your lives. Nobody gets out of life without some battle scars. We are so appreciative of your kindness towards us. Thank you!

Take care and we'll keep you posted with how Jade does this week. Oh, no apple crisp yet but we've had carmel apples and carmel popcorn and a great football game! Good luck with your own marathons this week!

Lots of love...................................Tanya and co.