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.