I was fortunate enough to grow up on a 25 acre farm in Northern Nevada. Through a large portion of my childhood, both of my parents taught me to love the Lord and to work hard. We went to church faithfully every Sunday, and when our day of rest was over, we were expected to return to our routines of household responsibilities (deep cleaning the house was always on the list), taking care of the garden, milking the cow, farming, or whatever ever other "crazy" project my dad had concocted up. There were many times that I would have rather been playing than working (especially if it was weeding the garden), but I am grateful for these experiences now because they set the foundation for who I am today.
Looking back, I realize what a blessing it was to have a rich food supply on the farm consisting of fresh milk, a home grown meat supply (beef, poultry, and pork), fresh whole wheat bread, fresh eggs and fresh fruits and vegetables from our garden.We also had the luxury of basking in the beautiful outdoors anytime we wanted. Many summer nights were spent sleeping on the trampoline and gazing up at the beautiful night sky that God had blessed us with as we tried to protect ourselves from the pesky mosquitoes that always permeated the Nevada air.
My mother was a very devoted wife and mother who loved the Lord and her fellowmen. I am so grateful for her sacrifice of postponing her education and a career so that she could stay at home with us. She taught us how to clean, cook, garden and serve other people. She enrolled us in swimming lessons, dance classes, gymnastics, and insisted that we take piano lessons. She also went to great efforts to make sure that we always looked attractive by fixing our hair nice and she was a very talented seamstress who would often sew us matching outfits. She was a very intelligent woman and instilled in me a desire to obtain a higher education.
My father was a very committed to our family and always worked very hard to provide for us. He taught us to work hard and instilled a sense of confidence and a "can do" attitude in all of us. Our family owned a custom hay business for years and us children were expected to help run the equipment. I remember when I was about nine years old, my dad took me about five miles from home to pick up a hay stacker (a very large piece of farm equipment used to stack and haul hay) that he needed to get home. He explained to me how to drive it, warned me to turn wide at the road that went to our house or I would end up driving into the ditch and told me that he would see me at home as he drove away. I had driven lots of farm equipment before, but nothing this big and I was scared to death of ending up in the ditch if I didn't turn wide enough. I was in the middle of a field in the middle of nowhere and the only thing for me to do was drive home. As scared as I was, I made it home.
This experience became one of many that taught me to have confidence in myself, knowing that I could do hard things. My dad is also an extremely talented man and he kept our lives very exciting. He took us on week-long camping trips with the horses, fishing, snowmobiling, trapping for coyotes and bobcats, gold-panning and for rides in his airplane. He also loved music and would play the guitar and sing these crazy old cowboy songs. We loved to sit around and sing them with him.
This experience became one of many that taught me to have confidence in myself, knowing that I could do hard things. My dad is also an extremely talented man and he kept our lives very exciting. He took us on week-long camping trips with the horses, fishing, snowmobiling, trapping for coyotes and bobcats, gold-panning and for rides in his airplane. He also loved music and would play the guitar and sing these crazy old cowboy songs. We loved to sit around and sing them with him.
Although many things about our childhood were ideal, none of us fully understood that my mother's brain was slowly being destroyed by the effects of the devastating illness, Huntington's disease. This horrific disease was a large part of the gradual disintegration of our rich family life and my mother's mental state. Mom left our family in her early thirties, abandoning the LDS church that she loved and the values that she had been teaching us our whole lives. This event was when I was at the very pivotal age of 13 years old. During the custody battle, we were all taken out of our home and placed in separate foster homes for a period of time. This was all very confusing and heartbreaking for all of us. We were eventually court ordered to return home to my father and new step-mom. Nothing for any of us was ever the same again.
Shortly after my parents divorced, my mother moved and was married to another man. Not only did her 2nd husband lie, drink, and do drugs, but he was also physically and mentally abusive to my mother. My mother had custody of us every other weekend and every other holiday. We usually had very little desire to go to her home, however, because he gave us all the creeps and my mother's behavior was becoming more and more erratic. After eight years of abuse, my mom finally divorced her 2nd husband and went on to marry a few more times. There were also time periods where she was homeless and living on the street. We didn't find relief from the worry of not knowing where Mom was or what she was doing until she was admitted to a care center and her eventual death in 2012.
There were also great hardships at our dad's home. My father went on to re-marry and we endured a lot of dysfunctional behavior and abuse. My dad ended up spending most of his time at work and we usually ended up feeling like the "red-headed step-children". Needless to say, I looked forward to leaving for college, but I always felt guilty leaving my siblings behind.
After one year of attending LDS Business College in Salt Lake City, UT I married my high school sweetheart. He was in the army and I moved with him to Manhattan, Kansas where he was stationed at Ft. Riley. While I was in Manhattan, I graduated with my Associates Degree in Office Administration from Barton County Community College. After his enlistment was up, we moved to Provo, Utah to attend Brigham Young University. After 4 and a half years of no children and a very rocky marriage we divorced.
A short time later, I met my current husband, Larry, and we were married in the Mount Timpanogos, UT temple in 1997. I continued with my education and am only one class away from graduating with my Bachelor's degree in Home and Family Life. We have been married now for 17 years and live in a small town in Idaho where we own the local feed store. We have seven beautiful children - Dallin (16), Spencer (15), Enoch (13), Benjamin (10), Rebekah (10), Rachel (3), and Nathan (6 mos). When our twins were 18 months old, they were diagnosed with a rare disease called Ataxia-Telangiectasia (A-T). Our youngest daughter has also been diagnosed with this same condition.
Most recently our family is recovering from toxic mold poisoning. As a result of this sickness our family has suffered Type 1 diabetes, pancreatitis, athma, Bell's Palsy, and lung issues.
Most recently our family is recovering from toxic mold poisoning. As a result of this sickness our family has suffered Type 1 diabetes, pancreatitis, athma, Bell's Palsy, and lung issues.
In spite of all these trials that I have been through, I love life and I know that the mortal trials that we go through are only temporary. I have always believed in God. From the time I was a little girl I could feel God's presence and influence in my life.
This blog will be a collaboration of the different experiences that I have been through in life. I feel like I have been blessed with some pretty amazing tools to cope with the cards that I have been dealt and I am excited to share these ideas and experiences with others. It is my hope and desire that by sharing my experiences and knowledge with others, I might be able to help them find hope and solutions as they go through their own trials in life.
So much has changed since I last wrote. It has been almost nine years since my mother passed away from complications of Huntington's disease. Unfortunately, I am now watching this horrific disease continue to cause havoc in the lives of the next generation, some of my siblings. It is heart wrenching to watch them suffer and watch the devastation that comes into their lives because of one faulty gene. In the last few years there has been some promising gene therapy that has been in the works that I am very excited about. I would do anything within my power to help them.
In 2014, while we were going through the height of our toxic mold experiences, and could have really used his physical help, my Father was sent to prison. His conviction shredded all of our hearts and caused a whole cascade of events that continue to devastate and affect all of our lives today. As Utah has indeterminate sentencing laws, it makes it impossible for anyone to plan anything. My sister and I have taken over as POA's for my dad's estate and were left to clean up all of the messes (as if we didn't have enough to worry about and do).
Larry continues his battle with pancreatitis. After about a year and a half break from acute pancreatic attacks, last September he started having attacks again and has been diagnosed as having chronic pancreatitis and lost 40 pounds very quickly. He went to the doctor at that time and had a colonoscopy done because he was having a hard time digesting food and stomach pains. We really thought he had developed Celiac's or something. The colonoscopy did not show anything and the doctor couldn't see any other problems so we just kept moving forward hoping that it would go away.
A couple of months later, after he still hadn't been able to eat right and was continuing to lose weight, I convinced him to go to the ER and get checked out again. His enzyme levels were slightly elevated (sign of pancreatitis), but the CT scan did not show anything too significant so once again we just kept moving forward hoping that it would go away.
By Christmas time he had lost even more weight and was eating very little. As our college children were home for the holidays, we ask them if they would watch the children so that we could get away for a few days and see if getting away from all of the stress of life would help. We started our trip by each getting a massage, which was a wonderful stress relief for both of us. We then went to a movie where Larry was hunched over and groaning in pain almost the whole time. By the time we got to the hotel room he was pacing the floor and then started throwing up. I was so discouraged and felt so helpless.
I spent most of the night doing research on the computer downstairs and trying to find answers to why he would be struggling so much. After everything I read I was convinced that at the point we were at the biggest concern we were up against was malnutrition, but I was so anxious about going back to the doctor and them not finding a problem again. The next morning I convinced Larry to go back to the ER and get checked out again.
I prayed the whole way there that the doctors would be inspired and that we would get answers and some help.
This time the CT clearly showed that his pancreas and whole digetion area were very angry and that he was suffering from pancreatitis! He also had cysts and blood clots that they were extremely concerned about. Initially they were going to immediately send us to LDS Hospital for treatment, but in the end decided to keep us at Logan Regional where we ended up staying for four days while Larry had an NJ tube placed through his nose and received treatment for pain.
A few weeks later he was sent to LDS hospital where they did an ERCP and the surgeon placed a stint in his pancreas to allow fluid to start draining out as his pancreas looked like somebody had ripped it out and beat it with a baseball bat and the pancreatic duct was no longer existent. While placing the stint, he ended up having to take out the feeding tube. To make a long story short, he ended up going into a very painful pancreatic attack a few days later and he ended up spending six days in the U of U for pain management, replacement of the feeding tube, very aggressive preventative treatment for sepsis, and he was put on blood thinners because of the blood clots they found.
Since having the feeding tube placed, he has put on over 10 pounds and overall is doing much better. We are scheduled to meet with our GI doctor on Tuesday and will have a better idea of where we will be going from here. To date Larry has had 49 documented pancreatic attacks and 34 hospital stays.
I continue working at our feed store 1-2 days a week and work hard to keep it all together at home. I continue to search out treatment options for both Larry, Spencer, and our three A-T children and I get out as much as I can. I am enrolled in my last class from BYU to finish my degree and I plan to finish this year. The stress of all of our health problems has really taken its toll on me, especially with my mental health and weight gain, but I know the Lord is watching out for us and I find great comfort in knowing in the end everything will be o.k. and I can finally rest from all of these mortal trials!
Dallin is now 23, has served an LDS mission in Chihuahua Mexico, will be graduating next year with his Bacholor's degree in Geneology, is now married to a wonderful young lady named Alyssa, and we are expecting our first grandchild in August!
Spencer, 22 , continues to battle Type 1 diabetes everyday, served an LDS mission in Spokane WA (he spent the last year of his mission pretty sick with gastro problems and a variety of other health related issues), is now a Sophmore at BYU and is studying Nutritional Science. He works so hard to understand and implement good health practices to heal and maintain his health and it is slowly, but surely, paying off. His goal is to go into Osteopathic medicine and help others maintain optimal health for their own lives.
Enoch, is now 20, and is currently serving an LDS mission in San Antonio, TX. With COVID-19 having been thrown into the mix he has had quite the ride! He started out serving in Sierra Leone, West Africa where he had all kinds of crazy experiences and learned to speak several different tribal languages. After very unexpectedly coming home after only being out for 10 months due to COVID, he was re-assigned to serve in Calgary, Canada and then when the border remained closed, he was re-reassigned to service in San Antonio, TX where he will finish his mission which will end in just a few short months. After his mission he plans to attend USU and major in Biology in preparation for becoming a physical therapist. He has always loved and had a natural talent for playing the piano, but since being on his mission he has also learned to play the guitar, has been writing his own songs, and has started singing! It has been so fun to watch him develop his different musical abilities and I LOVE listening to his music.
Benjamin, is now 17, and just finishing up his Junior year at Westside high school. He is still mostly independent but does struggle with speech, drooling, fine motor skills, ataxia, and lung issues. He is a very inspiring young man with his determination and happy nature. He is a very smart kid with a great imagination and has been working on a fantasy novel for the past couple of years that we are all excited to read someday! He raises cattle to earn money and works some at our feed store. He also helps manage the football team and is working on building a bench in our very tiny, but cute local park for his scout Eagle project!
Bekah, is now also 17, and finishing up her Junior year at Westside high school. Even though school has been quite the challenge for her, she is a straight A student and she loves working with the children in the after school program after school everyday. Last year she started dancing on the high school drill team after a friend encouraged her to do so. This has been a great experience for her and has helped her grow and develop into the beautiful young lady that she is today. She loves watching sports and especially enjoys helping manage the high school wrestling team.
Rachel, now 10, is in the 5th grade and getting ready to go into middle school. She is a very smart girl and her favorite subject is art. She got a wheelchair this school year that has been a great support to her even though she is not wheelchair bound. She also continues to dance and absolutely LOVES it! She also enjoys swimming at Downata Hot Springs.
Nate, now 7, is in the 2nd grade and is usually the life of the party at our house. He loves to wrestle and is hoping to play baseball this summer.
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