March 29, 2015

We have really enjoyed the Swank family hospitality this week, and have also enjoyed the beautiful spring weather.  Marjie has been going for walks, assisted by Scott.  She has also been playing with bubbles in the back yard, assisted by Caleb.  We went on a picnic to nearby Wheeler Farm.  The highlight of the trip was seeing several newborn baby calves (although Scott had to point out he had seen thousands of them in his previous life as an ag-banker).  They were exceptionally cute, as were the ducks, geese, goats, horses, bunnies, and other farm animals. 

We are really enjoying the new therapists we have met at Sugarhouse Therapy.  Unfortunately, our insurance severely limits the number of out-patient therapy visits.  We were spoiled by the 6 sessions a day during in-patient therapy (but I think Marjie is one of the few that would feel that way-she loved the hard work).  However, Scott says "That's what savings are for".  We will continue with adequate speech, occupational, and physical therapy to keep her left arm progressing, and to accomplish the "fine-tuning" phase of Marjie's balance and walking.  We are also learning so much to practice on our own, and Marjie has joined the Sugarhouse "wellness" program which allows for use of their gym for additional exercise. 

This past week we have enjoyed visits from O'Leary Middle School friend, Lynn, and from Scott's cousin Rob, his wife Laurie, and son Clark.  We also had a great visit from the Withers family (school and running friends from Twin Falls).  We thoroughly enjoy these visits, and really appreciate the stories and updates from Twin Falls.  In addition to personal visits, we continue to be amazed and humbled by the volume of mail (both regular and email) that we receive each day.  Thanks so much for keeping us in your thoughts and prayers.  Please know that while we are not able to respond to all of these notes, you are also in our thankful thoughts and prayers. 

One note on personal vists- while we love to see you, please remember that Marjie is undergoing chemotherapy and radiation, and as a result her immune system will be weakening.  We ask that you please keep this in mind, as we are doing our best to avoid colds and flu. 

Speaking of chemo and radiation, Marjie just completed week number 2.  So far, side effects have remained quite mild, and manageable with the various drugs that have been prescribed. 

One of Marjie's goals this week is to take a "Scott-assisted" stroll along the Jordan River pathway near the Swank family home.  We are also very much looking forward to a visit from our sister-in-law and niece, and to Becky's 30th birthday!

We will end this week's update with a picture of Marjie coloring with her "still favorite therapist", Caleb. 

March 22, 2015

It has been a busy week, highlighted by leaving the hospital on the 18th.  After saying some tearful goodbyes to the excellent therapists and other staff we met at the U of U Inpatient Rehab Facility, we moved into our new "home" at Becky & Matthew's house (and grandson Caleb of course).  Caleb wakes us up in the morning with a huge smile and giggles.  This is much better than the early morning "vital check" and meds at the hospital.  We are thoroughly enjoying our time with Becky, Matthew, and Caleb, and sincerely appreciate the efforts and the accommodations they have made for us.  They are making us feel right at home, and we are getting great food and good rest.  Marjie is even taking an occasional nap.

 Last Friday we went to evaluations at Sugar House Therapy near the U of U, and plan to start out- patient therapy there.  Part of their evaluation was for Marjie to walk for 6 minutes with minimal assistance- which she did!  During the Occupational Therapy Evaluation, Marjie surprised even herself with what she was able to do with her left arm.  While there is still a long way to go, the arm is progressing more than we were actually aware. 

 We had a very nice visit with Phil, our Pastor from Twin Falls, and his son Eric today.  It was great to see them and catch up on some of the events back home.  Again we want to thank all of our family and friends for their cards, gifts, letters, and prayers. 

One week of chemotherapy and radiation is now completed (but who is counting- Marjie is!).  So far Marjie has had a little nausea and headaches.

We will conclude this entry with a picture of our best therapist, Caleb! 

March 17, 2015

We are a few days later than planned getting this update posted. We have kept very busy over the past week, and Marjie continues to make good progress in her therapy sessions. We have been so pleased with the staff and therapists at the U of U Inpatient Rehab Facility that we requested an extra five days here. We will be moving to Becky's house on Wednesday, March 18th.

Marjie continued to make progress with her balance and left leg strength this past week. Today, she walked a lap around the therapy gym area using just a cane-no one holding on to her (but Jonathan, Geoff, and I were close at hand just in case she needed help). She did lots of stair work over the last few days in preparation for the move to Matthew and Becky's house. She also showed continued gradual improvement with her left arm and moved her fingers some today. Scott wanted to celebrate with coffee ice cream and M&M s, but Marjie vetoed that on the basis that we have been eating a little too much during our stay at the hospital.

We had a wonderful weekend full of visits from friends and family. Bart, a good friend from high school and college came to see us. Scott's brother Steve, Lorie, and Dave came for the weekend. We even had a picnic outdoors with them and shot a few baskets.  Twin Falls friends Dolores, Carrie, and Griselda made our Sunday afternoon extra special. We had a great visit with them filled with good stories and laughter. It was the perfect mental therapy before chemo and radiation started.

Chemo started Sunday evening, and radiation began on Monday.  So far the side effects have been very manageable. We hope this continues to be the case. We are confident Marjie can get through this with the help of the prayers and good thoughts of our wonderful friends and family.  The only good thing about an experience like this is it has shown us how blessed we are with love from family and friends.

We began our goodbyes to nursing and therapy staff today, and will complete that difficult process tomorrow. We have met some wonderful, committed, caring people during our time here.  Marjie has shed some tears, and Scott has had some optical leakage as well (not technically crying of course) as we say goodbye to what has been our home for the last month. One of the last things we did with the OT staff was a home inspection (Scott called it a home invasion) of Becky's house. Marjie, Scott, and 3 Occupational Therapy staff visited Becky's home in preparation for our move. This was very helpful and Matthew and Becky are being great sports about our minor remodeling of their basement stairway and downstairs bathroom.  We are extremely excited to move in with Matthew, Becky, and of course, Caleb!

We will close this entry with some pictures of our recent visitors.

March 8, 2015

It has been a busy, productive week. Marjie has continued to work very hard in therapy. She has more strength and motor control in her left leg each day, and can now wiggle her toes on her left foot. We celebrated that with a movie in the room, plus coffee ice cream and m&ms. Her left arm continues to be more of a challenge, but seems to be showing gradual improvement as well.

This week we went to the Huntsman Cancer Hospital where Marjie was fitted for a fixed mesh mask used to insure proper positioning during radiation treatments. These treatments, along with chemo, will begin on Monday, March 16th. We are scheduled to leave the U of U inpatient rehab unit on Friday, March 13th. We will be moving in with Becky, Matthew, and Caleb where we will be staying for the next 6-7 weeks.  Marjie will continue with therapy (on an out-patient basis) during this time.
Their address is:  41 West Lester Ave
                             Murray, Utah. 84107

Becky brings us mail regularly. Again, thanks to all of you for the cards, emails, phone calls, good wishes, and prayers.

This week we had visits from several friends from Twin Falls, including Gene and Marilynn Bright,
Howard, Marsha, and Anna Neibling, and Lori Hazen. Thanks for the visits-it was nice to keep connected to Twin Falls. Lori brought notes and pictures from Marjie's students which we enjoyed very much. The OMS students also made a YouTube video for Marjie. This video warmed our hearts and was a favorite at Marjie's physical therapy class.

Marjie went on a field trip last Friday to the Utah Museum of Natural History. This is an excellent museum located near the hospital. We will end this blog entry with a picture from that outing.  The picture shows Marjie with some of her great therapists-and a very large creature. We can't remember the name of the creature in the picture, but don't worry-he is extinct.

March 1, 2015

First, a HUGE THANK YOU to Katie and Gris for setting up this blog for us.

Second, a big thank you to all of our family and friends for their prayers, cards, phone calls and messages, gifts, and warm wishes. Your love and care for us has been overwhelming and much appreciated.  This blog is being used as hopefully a more timely method of communicating updates to all of our friends and family about Marjie's progress as we navigate through this challenging journey.

In early February, 2015, Marjie was diagnosed as having a brain tumor. After a preliminary visit  with doctors at the Huntsman Cancer Hospital, surgery was scheduled.  The surgery occurred on February 13th. The surgeon was able to remove the majority, but not all of the tumor. Unfortunately, pathology results showed the mass to be an aggressive, malignant tumor.  Because of this, Marjie will need additional treatments including radiation and chemotherapy.  We will therefore be in Utah for an extended period.  We feel very thankful that Becky and her family are close by in Murray, Utah.

Due to the difficult location of the tumor, Marjie experienced significant side effects from the surgery.  
She suffered paralysis on her left side. We have moved from the Huntsman Cancer Hospital to the University of  Utah Rehabilitation Inpatient Unit. Scott is able to stay in the room with Marjie, which we are extremely thankful for.  A typical day for us is 45 minutes of cognitive therapy, two 45 minute sessions of occupational therapy (focusing primarily on the left hand, arm, and shoulder) and two 45 minute sessions of physical therapy (focusing primarily on the left leg and hip). In addition, Marjie asks for additional therapy when possible, and the physical therapists have been more than happy to work in extra sessions for her. We also are practicing what we learn in our room in the evenings. Marjie has been working extremely hard and is showing good progress. She has regained significant strength in her left leg, and balance has improved a lot in the last week. She is working hard to improve motor control with the goal of walking without assistance. We are very pleased and
impressed with all of the therapists we have worked with.

In addition to Marjie's progress in therapy, one of the highlights of the past week was several visits from the grandkids (plus Becky and Matthew, and daughter-in-law Joan and her mother, Julia).
We have decided that grandkids are the best therapy of all.  Thanks Claire, Lucas, and Caleb!

Comment from Marjie (despite objections from Scott):  Much of my progress is due to the efforts of my private nurse, Scott. He dresses me (he calls the sports bra "the beast" and just can't quite figure it out).  He helps me go to the restroom, shower, and with all of the things I used to take for granted. It is much more comfortable getting personal care from my husband than from a nurse I just met-no matter how caring they might be.

Future updates will be more in "bullet point" format providing information on progress.  We apologize that this one got a bit wordy-almost felt like a therapy session in itself.

We will close this first posting by sharing a recent photo of Marjie with the grandkids.