Some sad news...

My dear, sweet dad was admitted to MVH last week with severe pain in his sternum, so severe that he could not catch his breath. They did a chest x-ray whiched showed the sternum to be suspicious looking. A CAT scan was ordered and revealed a 2-inch tumor on his sternum. He was admitted for pain control and further testing was ordered. The doc's did a bone scan on Monday afternoon that showed the tumor to be primarily localized in his sternum. No other "hot spots" were identified, which was actually the best news we could ask for. A biopsy was performed on Tuesday and the diagnosis at this point is "monoclonal gammopathy." Unfortunately, we don't know a lot about this, but we do know that it is a precursor to more serious cancers such as multiple myeloma and non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. There are M-proteins in his bone marrow that are over producing/copying themselves at a crazy rate and boxing out the white blood cells, red blood cells, etc. He will be seeing specialists in the next coming weeks, and also hopefully he will have an excisional biopsy of the tumor and what's left of his sternum as the area continues to spasm and cause him a great deal of pain.

We are extremely hopeful and optimistic that this diagnosis was caught in time for treatment and therapy to be curable. This mass in his chest and the pain he was having in his sternum was misdiagnosed 9 months ago as "costrochondritis" (by another doctor - not our family GP), and we are very thankful that it was actually a "burp" (which put a lot of pressure on his already deteriorated sternum) that caused the spasms, difficulty breathing, and ultimately led my mom to taking him to the hospital last Sunday night. Otherwise, I am afraid to think of how long this might have gone on undiagnosed?? Very scary to imagine...

My dad has been so strong and upbeat about this whole thing. I love him with all of my heart and soul! Please keep him in your thoughts and prayers! Love to all, Brenda

2007

OMGosh - I'm a blogger

Okay folks, here is the big test: Let's see if I can get this blog thing to actually work. I have to admit, I am terrified as I am not so savvy when it comes to this sort of thing.

So my sister, Afton, and my bro-in-law's wife, Kaisa, are huge bloggers. I have been in complete awe of their posts and never thought I could attempt such a feat, so I am just going to jump in head first...Here is a little bit about me: I am 32, very soon to be 33. I am married to Chris and we are celebrating our 12th anniversary at the end of this month! We have 4 children - Lauren is 13, Trevor is 10, Brandon is 7, and our caboose, Madison, is 6. We live in Santaquin, just down the road from where Chris and Steve originally grew up. Chris works at Neways as the production manager and I work at home for IHC. As soon as it is warm enough, we head to the mountains for hiking, mountain biking, BBQ'ing, and Chris' all time favorite - hunting. We recently made the purchase of a very old camper, so I am very excited to break that baby in and get her up in the mountains!

My favorite sport is volleyball. I have been fortunate enough to play with close family and friends on the women's league in Payson for the past 9 or 10 years Our original team consisted of: Vona Judd, Jennifer VanAusdal, Afton Lovell, Lori Lee, Merilee Judd, and Synthia Meredith - good times and good friends. These ladies are a mixture of family, plus wives of the guys I hung out with in high school. We really bonded and I felt like it was a crucial part of our circle of friends from high school staying close together. I finally took a break from volleyball 2 years ago after having knee surgery, but when Vona called me again this fall to see if I would play, I jumped at the opportunity, saying to myself "what the hell...you're only young once!"

I love my family dearly. They mean the world to me. My sister Afton moved to Logan when she got remarried last year. It has been so hard not having her and the kids 5 minutes away for a visit. The blog has been great to keep up with everything that they are doing...I just click and there I am...right along with them, having fun. Blogs are great. I don't know why I was so against them before?

So...here are my happy, sappy, closing words: Do what truly brings you happiness and live life to the fullest. Be adventurous, silly, laugh, and learn, with no regrets. I want to surround myself with you, my friends, and my family...the people who truly bring me happiness.

Love to all who read this...Brenda