Miracles

When Larry was diagnosed with Stage IV pancreatic cancer back in July and given three months to live, my sister, Janice, who is a nurse, advised me to support Larry in whatever his wishes were. Larry's wish was to fight and live! Even though it has been a very difficult road, I have tried very hard to support him in his desires.

Recently I came across three quotes that very accurately describe Larry's stalwart nature and fight to live as we have went through this journey together:

1. "Difficulties are just things to overcome afterall"--Ernest Shackleton

2. "Perserverance accomplished what at first seemed impossible"-- Henry Knox

3.  "If you don't give up you can change your own odds"--Hank Smith

We are now almost six months out from Larry's original diagnosis and he is doing miraculously well. Since his first chemo treatment, about a month ago, he has been able to eat without pain and I am so happy to report that he has put on 13 pounds! His color looks good and he has the energy to accomplish things that he wants to do.

We also continue to do the majority of the treatments from Hope4Cancer (immunotherapy shots, boswellia shots, light therapy, sound therapy, juicing, clean eating, and a host of other supplements). We believe that the supplements have been a crucial part of his healing process, especially when it came to the "Flurona" (the flu and corona) that our family just got over. Larry faired really well through the sickness and was mildly down for a couple of days.

Larry started an extended water fast again today in preperation for his upcoming chemo on Tuesday morning. He will have chemo treatments Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday and will then transition to a juice, bone broth, and a protein shake diet for a few days. We are hoping to have just as good, or even better, results from this fast and chemo treatment. We will then go in for a PET scan next week to evaluate his progress.

One of the biggest struggles I have had through this process is finding adequate time for all of the people in my family with health challenges. Sadly, my three children with ataxia-telangiectasia (A-T) have been greatly ignored, so much so that I have done nothing with Ben & Rachel's feeding tubes since last Spring. They are faring ok without doing feedings, but I believe that they could be doing better if it was being managed. 

There have been many other areas of their care that I have been neglecting as well and I appreciate so much so many of the kind people in our lives who have stepped up to fill in these gaps, especially in regards to their school work and other needs that I am probably not even aware of. As so much of this is out of my control, I have had to turn so much over to God and trust that he would take care of things. I do recognize, however, since the demands with Larry have slowed down, that it is time to reengage more with their needs.

Bekah, 18, has come to me crying on a couple of occasions this past week crying because she has really started to struggle more with her speech and ataxia. I have just held her and cried with her. Mine and Larry's hearts are both broken. She has been planning on going to live on her own and go to college next year and my heart really broke when she told me that she doesn't know if she can go and live on her own because she realizes that she needs me too much. I still believe, if she really wants to go, that we can find the right accomodations and make it happen! There is nobody in this world who is more deserving of God's healing power than our sweet Bekah. God miraculously healed her immune system when she was five and I know that he has the ability to heal her now.

Ben, 18,  has been struggling more and more with lung issues (the no. 1 cause of death in A-T patients). He is very independent and has often disregarded much of the advice I have given him regarding his lungs, but he is starting to own his disease and do his own research in regards to his lungs. He really could benefit from getting back on his feeding tube, to not only put on some weight, but to also get more calories through his tube and avoid doing more damage to his lungs. When Ben was just over a year the Spirit very clearly told me that something was really wrong with Ben, but assured me that everything would be ok. I have often reflected back on that assurance from the Spirit as my heart also breaks watching him struggle.

Rachel, 11, is really loving middle school. The staff at the school have been so good to just jump in and assist her with things that they can see that she needs. For one of her classes and for lunch, she has to make a long walk over to the high school which is very exhausting for her. She has a very nice pink powered wheelchair, that she has used for the past two years, but now that she is a "cool" middleschooler she doesn't want to use it. Thanks to a very kind, and persistent teacher, they have slowly gotten her to comply which has made her life easier. They also have a "Rachel lunch" in a classroom that is by the middle school once a week so that she doesn't have to go back and forth quite so much.

Tonight Larry and I attended a missionary prep fireside with Ben & Bekah where Elder Brough shared the quote from President Nelson that states: "Obedience brings success, exact obedience brings miracles." Elder Brough went on to elaborate that "exact obedience" does not mean that we are perfect, but rather quickly repenting (changing) when we make mistakes and getting back on track.

As a family we have decided to put this promise in action and pray for miracles for our three A-T children. In Mark 12:30 it says, "And thou shalt love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength." As a family we have decided to practice "exact obedience" by showing our love to the Lord by having our personal and family prayers daily and having personal and family scripture study daily. In return we are asking the Lord to give us miracles for our A-T children according to his will. We are so grateful for all of the blessings and miracles that God has allotted to our family and pray that we may continue to be worthy of these miracles.

We recognize that Larry being here with our family for the past three months has been a miracle and it has really touched my heart as I have realized all of the things that he has continued to be part of because of this miracle...

The Bar J Wranglers farewell concert. Sadly, Larry was in the hospital during this performance that he really wanted to go to, but Larry's brother vicariously went in his place and Larry was there in Spirit.

Our annual Ward Feed dinner at the Dude Ranch. If you zoom in and look at his glasses you can see that his sense of humor is still alive and well.

Bekah dance competition and Rachel's Christmas dance performance. Sadly, Larry was not able to attend either one of these, but he was able to cheer them on from home. He was, however, able to make Nate's Christmas performance at the elementary school.

Larry has been here to help out with all of the snow removal at home and at the store! I am so grateful for this as this has been a very snowy season and I don't know what I would have done without him. This is a picture of our drive home from Pocatello on one of the worst snow storms of the season. I really woudn't have made it home without him. I would have gotten a hotel or slept in the car. 

As we have not all been together for Christmas in several years, this was an especially special Christmas for us. Not only were we all together, but Larry was miraculously able to be here to celebrate it with us!!!