May 5, 2015

The big news from this past week is Marjie completed her radiation treatments (33), and the initial phase of chemotherapy!  Some tears were shed on the last day, with hugs from the technicians at the Huntsman Hospital, and flowers from a fellow patient.  We celebrated with the Swanks by going out for pizza at the Mellow Mushroom, which is located near our out-patient therapy in the Sugarhouse area of SLC.  It was delicious, and the 4 of us (5, including Caleb) did our best to consume 3 large pizzas.

So, when are we coming home to Twin Falls?  At this point, we plan to head home sometime the last week of May.  Marjie has several doctor's appointments on the 21st, plus a baseline MRI.  We will continue to fill our time while in Utah going to therapy (Speech, Occupational, and Physical), going to the wellness gym at Sugarhouse, and exploring the Salt Lake City area with our favorite tour guide, Caleb.  He wears many hats.  We are hoping to go to the zoo this next week, weather depending.

Marjie has started to read again this past week, an activity she has really missed.  She finds it easier to concentrate and enjoy it more now that radiation is completed-allowing her brain to relax a little.

In our spare time, we have been exploring this area in case we ever moved near here to be closer to the Huntsman and to the Swanks.  Future plans are unknown, and will depend on the medical outlook as we go forward.  But it has been fun to explore and get to know SLC and the surrounding area better.  We recently took a drive to Heber City.  The mountain views there are spectacular.  Marjie also has her eye on a couple of museums she would like to visit.  We went to the movies recently as well (with buttered popcorn of course).  It was great to have a relaxing time doing something totally unrelated to therapy of any kind (except maybe good emotional therapy).

We also had an opportunity to attend the grand opening and ribbon cutting ceremony at Maxtec, where Matthew is employed as a mechanical engineer.  Maxtec is a company that specializes in the design and manufacture of oxygen sensors and other medical devices.   Matthew gave us an excellent tour of the new facility, and we had a delicious taco lunch. 

We again thank everyone for their good thoughts and prayers.  We are also so grateful for the love and support being shown through Marjie's GoFundMe site.  We hope and plan to get personal thank-yous out to the many friends and relatives that have supported us in this way.  Until  we find the time, however, please accept this less personal, but heartfelt thanks to all of you. 

And thanks again to all who are working on the Benefit 4K Fun Run/Walk planned for June 2nd.  Attached is a flyer that was sent to us in connection with this event.

And, we can't end this entry to the blog without at least one picture of Caleb.  I had trouble narrowing down the pictures this week, so I have attached a few.  They include (1) a picture from our end of radiation pizza celebration at Mellow Mushroom, and (2) Caleb, engineer in training, working on a project at Maxtec, and (3)  a picture of Marjie at Wheeler Historical Farm, with the farm house (built in 1898) in the background.