More Radiation...

Today is Thursday, August 29, 2013 and we just got home from the Huntsman Center.  Ron had radiation on 2 more spots found on his brain, they were small spots but spots just the same.  So 15 min. radiation time on them each.  When he had his 5 spots done he said he would never do that again!! What is that saying, oh yeah, "never say never!" But he just continues to amaze me!!! He has always been my Hero!! The one for me to look up to and depend on, and he still is doing that through it all.  He was not very excited to go this morning and I knew it, but what does he say, "well lets go to the "barbecue" and get this thing done!" And he did! He is now sleeping soundly with yes, you guessed it Rocky right by his side!! I think Rocky is the best comfort for Ron too! It's amazing to see how he can tell when Ron is not feeling well and Rocky will not leave his side!

I read this quote the other day and it is exactly the way I think Ron has approached all of the challenges that have faced him through this cancer journey!

"In this life we are all just walking up the mountain and we can sing as we climb or we can complain about our sore feet, whichever we choose we still gotta do the hike. I decided a long time ago singing made a lot more sense!"  I have to say my Ron has beautiful singing voice!!! 

Thank you all for the Love support and prayers they are so very felt!!! More test and scans to take place next week.  As for now Football season starts tonight guess what we will be doing!!! Love to watch Football with Ron!!! 

The Wedding....

The wedding was wonderful!!!! So here goes.... Picture overload, sorry if it's too many but believe me I had a hard time narrowing it down to just the ones I put here.  It was a great day!!!! They are a beautiful couple, and we know they are going to be so happy together.  They did everything the right way and we know that the Lord will bless them in their life together! 

I love this picture.  In front of the Logan Temple, where they were married and sealed for Time and All Eternity!! 

Lindsey and Ron waking up the groom the morning of the wedding! Both love to tease Logan, Chase would have joined in if he knew about it! 

Ready to go!!! Get me to the Temple on time!!!:)

Love the boots!!! That is Lauren's personality shinning through!! She is Great!!!!

Logan and his Grandpa Beckstrand.  

All Three of our children and their spouses.  Chase and Kaylee, Logan and Lauren, Lindsey and Preston.  We are so proud of our children and the choices that they have made. 

Yep there they are left to right Chase, Logan and Lindsey always goofing around!!! 

Logan with his best men and Ron (Chase, Ty, Logan, Ron, Colton) a great group of boys!!!

Proud parents!!!!

Me and Logan

 Ron and Logan

The rain came down and that did not stop them from having a wonderful time!!! Turn up the music and lets dance.  That was Lauren's solution to the rain.  She was great and took it all in stride and danced up a storm!! I think watching them dance was our favorite part of the evening!! 

 Chase and Emma enjoyed the rain dance too!!!

Ron was amazing!! He didn't stop the whole day, it truly was such a blessing! He was able to enjoy the day watching his son on the most important day of his life! I hope Logan has learned all he can from his dad and he will be an amazing husband.  Lauren will have a very blessed life! 

So here we all are.  The Beckstrand Family

Logan and Lauren Beckstrand

We are so happy to be able to add another Chair to our family table, Lauren fits right in and we Love her so very much!!! Welcome to our Family Lauren!!!

It is now Monday afternoon the 26th of August.  Logan and Lauren are on their honeymoon and Ron and I are back to the fight!!! We just got back from spending the day at the huntsman cancer institute, that seems to the hang out for us "empty nesters" these days.  He had another brain MRI in preparation for the radiation on the brain, for the one spot they found.  Unfortunately they found another spot so now he has to have radiation on 2 places not just 1.  The good news is that because I saved the mask from the last one he didn't have to spend as much time getting another one made.  They were able to map it all out and be ready for his radiation on Thursday.  It will take a bit longer again because they have to radiate 2 spots.  Not the best news for Ron as he had a hard time doing it last time.  It took a little over 3 hours last time though and this time should be just under 45 min.   

Next week (the first of September) he will go back for CT scans which will show where the cancer is at in all the rest of his body.  And if you kept up with all that I just said, good on ya! haha Lindsey says that I can ramble on when I update the blog so hopefully what I just said makes sense.  

So just a recap...This Thursday Radiation on the brain.. Next week CT scans and then he will meet with his main doc to see where the cancer is at in the rest of his body,  and when to start his next round of chemo.  

As ALWAYS prayers are appreciated on Ron's behalf, that he can make it through Thursday ok and the scans next week will all find good results!!! 

FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT

Fast and Fun Weekend...

First of all I can not even begin to tell you how happy we were to see Logan! It had been way too long since we had seen him!!! He looks so good and very happy! Which in turn makes us so very happy!!! 

He is living in AZ now working still going to school, and getting ready to start a new life with the Love of his life.  He is doing great!!!!  

 Lauren went through the Messa Temple.  It was a wonderful day!!! 

 Then that evening her parents gave them a "small" open house, so that the people who wanted to could come see them before the big day in Utah! 

This is the happy couple.  Are they not the best looking couple you have ever seen!!! Love them so much!! 

 Logan and Lauren enjoying the evening.  

 It really was a perfect weekend.  Ron did amazingly well.  I know he was very happy to spend time with Logan.  We stayed at Logan's home where he and Lauren will live after they are married.  It is a very nice home and Logan had all the things that he thought would be needed for his Dad.  We really have such great kids.  They are so kind and always concerned about their dad! We are so blessed.

So this is the week! Ron will complete taking his next round of chemo on tuesday night.  And hopefully some of the side effects will be gone before the wedding day! If not all of them.  We have so much to be thankful for! Thanks so much to Lauren and her family for all they did this weekend! We can not wait to see them this week and have more fun celebrating our wonderful kids!!! That is what we will focus on this week!  Next week we will change our focus and start the FIGHT again!!

FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT

Some days are just better than others!!!!

Leaving for Arizona tomorrow to spend the weekend with Logan and Lauren.  I can hardly wait to see them and have a change of scenery! 9 days and counting!!! 

FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT

The fight continues. . .

Ron is now in the 2nd week of his 2nd round of the Chemo Sutent.  It has been much harder this time than the last, but Ron is still a fighter!  Nights can get really long around our house, because he takes the pill each night right before he goes to bed, it seems like around 2 or 3 a.m. is when the side effects seem to hit the hardest.  Then it takes some time to get them under control and get back to sleep. Therefore mornings are also hard.

His brain radiation is scheduled for the week after the wedding.  He will be off the chemo then as well so hopefully that will make the radiation not as bad for him.  Who knows!!!

Emily Dickinson said, "Faith---is the pierless Bridge Supporting what We see Unto the Scene that We do not---"

So we keep on going and doing even though we do not know what will come at us at the next turn.

This is what we do know....

This is one of my favorite pictures of Logan and Lauren and they are giving us much to look forward to!!! 

We love our Children and Grandchildren so much! And they are what brings us so much joy and happiness! Two weeks and counting!!! 

FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT

The return of the mask!!!:(

Home again from our half day at the Huntsman and the results really are not too bad.  Ron had 5 spots on his brain that were treated with radiation 4 months ago.  They have been watching them very carefully ever since.  He had another MRI done today and they found that the 5 spots are basically dead now.  That is a really good thing.  In other words the radiation on those spots was a success! 

The not so good news.... They found another spot:( The good news... it worked once before it can work again).  So they will be scheduling another radiation treatment for Ron.  It is not something that has to be done really fast, so they are going to be calling us to schedule it, and they said it would be ok for him to wait until after the wedding.  So all in all not to bad of news, just more things to fight! And we are getting very good at that.  They said he would have to be fitted for another mask, but me being the wife that I am said, well if we still have the old one does he have to go through that again?  Nope he doesn't And believe it or not I saved the old one and therefore will be taking it back with us so he can use it again, and that will save Ron from an extra procedure! Wow I never save stuff like that but I did this time and what a blessing.  

This is just a little reminder of what Ron gets to do...fun right!

"In some quiet way the expression and feelings of gratitude have a wonderful cleansing and healing nature, gratitude brings warmth to the giver and receiver alike. Gratitude expressed to our Heavenly Father in prayer for what we have brings a calming peace, a peace which allows us not to canker our souls for what we don't have. Gratitude brings a peace that helps us overcome the pain of adversity and failure."
-Elder Hales 

So although we would rather not have to do this again, how thankful we are that we know that it works! So we will do it again and keep on fighting!!! 

Thanks for all the love and support! It means the world to us!!!

FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT

Sutent Begins Again!!! August 3, 2013

"Seeds of discouragement will not grow in the thankful heart."

I am so thankful for this wonderful weekend!!! We went to our favorite place in the whole world!!! The mountains.  Whitney Lake in the Uintahs.  What a most peaceful, beautiful place to spend some much needed time together.  It was wonderful!!!!  

Ron started his second round of chemo on Monday so, I was a bit nervous about going alone.  I made sure that we let our good friends know where we were going to be, they have been there with us many times, so I felt safe that if there was a problem I would be able to call and they would be able to help.  Thankfully we were ok! Ron did have a rough night the first night...Side Effects (SE) from the chemo have started a lot sooner this round than the last one.  But we knew what to do to fight back and that is what we did.  Ron was able to get some much needed good sleep in the fresh clean mountain air.  The next night was much better.  Fatigue is a big one this time along with the other usual SE that Ron doesn't like me to talk too much about, so I won't just enough to say they are there.  He is tough and is trying hard to push through them.  Here is some pictures of us in the mountains.  

Ron and Rocky ready to go!!! Rocky loves to be with us on the 4-wheelers.

Me and Rocky on the back of the wheeler going for a ride. 

Ron in front of our trailer very tired!!!

Me sitting in the sun with my favorite things...book and knitting who could ask for anything more!!!

Ron trying to walk after riding his hip did not like sitting for too long! Made it very hard on him to walk. He has a tumor on his hip that continues to bother him darn thing!!! 

Rocky don't you love the sun rays he is a very special dog!! Haha we love him a lot can you tell?

Rocky loves to ride with us! 

Well we are now home and very tired!!! Ron goes in on Tuesday for his MRI (brain scan) I am praying very hard that the tumors are all smaller than before and doing what they want them to do, which is just continue to shrink and not be a factor in anything.  Ron still has head aches, but not like he use to, so I am hoping that is a good sign.

So he will continue to take his chemo and we will continue to pray!  We have set some goals and making it up to the mountains was one of them and it was great!  Logan and Lauren's wedding is only a few weeks away now and we are so excited about that! Thanks you as always for all the love and prayers that are being sent out way!!!

FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT