1 year ago today, Justin underwent surgery where the surgeons opened his stomach and removed the cancer infected lymphnodes.
Reflecting on this makes me remember all of the feelings I had while he was under anesthesia. Was he going to be ok? Has the cancer spread? Are we going to have to do chemotherapy? How will this affect the rest of our lives? I had so many things running through my thoughts while waiting the 6 hours for him to come out of surgery.
It's nice to look back now and remember everything we went through last year and that we got through it. I don't think people realize that they are stronger than they think. I never thought I would be able to deal with all of these feelings so early in our marriage. I love Justin with all of my heart and I thought we would not have to deal with life threatening health issues until much later in our lives together. I now realize that the Lord gave us this trial to bring us closer together and to realize that we can make it through anything and we will be ok. I know that the Lord knows whats best for each us and He knows our thoughts and feelings and He can give you comfort when you need it most.
I am so grateful that Justin is cancer free today. He is an amazing man with many amazing qualities and he is going to do amazing things with his second chance at life. I love him so much and I can't wait to see where we are at 10, 20, 30 and 40 years from now.
Thursday, September 9, 2010
Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Our activities over the past few months....
Alot has happened in the past few months so this post may get a little long....
Toward the end of April into the beginning of May we ripped apart our backyard to lay a lot of concrete. It turned out to take longer than we expected because of the horrible weather but it is done now and I couldn't be happier. We extended our RV pad to go all of the way back, then we poured a cement pad for an extra garage and then we poured a beautiful new patio (my favorite part!) We did not have a patio before and it turned out so awesome.
Before:
My Birthday was on May 8th and I had such a great birthday. Justin took me to breakfast and then took me shopping. I also really wanted a convertible VW Beetle and we went to the dealership to test drive one and talk about our options. We didn't end up buying one but it was still fun driving one around for a half hour. We ended the night by meeting our family up at the Drive ins. We watched Iron Man and we Barbequed some hot dogs. We had a great time with all of our neices and nephews driving them back and forth in the back of Justin's truck. The were laughing and having a great time.
Toward the end of April into the beginning of May we ripped apart our backyard to lay a lot of concrete. It turned out to take longer than we expected because of the horrible weather but it is done now and I couldn't be happier. We extended our RV pad to go all of the way back, then we poured a cement pad for an extra garage and then we poured a beautiful new patio (my favorite part!) We did not have a patio before and it turned out so awesome.
Before:
After:
We also went to Moab with some family and friends and had a great time. We went around the end of April and it turned out to be a great mini vacation for us. We were able to drive around Justin's old Willy's Jeep. It was passed down to him from his grandpa and it was really fun to actually drive it and bring it home with us after spending a couple of years in St. George at Justin's dad's shop. Justin's dad fixed it up really nice for us and put a backseat in it. Its such a fun little Jeep and Justin has a blast driving it. We go to Moab during car show weekend every year and have so much fun eating ice cream on the main street and watching the cool cars go by.
My Birthday was on May 8th and I had such a great birthday. Justin took me to breakfast and then took me shopping. I also really wanted a convertible VW Beetle and we went to the dealership to test drive one and talk about our options. We didn't end up buying one but it was still fun driving one around for a half hour. We ended the night by meeting our family up at the Drive ins. We watched Iron Man and we Barbequed some hot dogs. We had a great time with all of our neices and nephews driving them back and forth in the back of Justin's truck. The were laughing and having a great time.
Thursday, April 8, 2010
CT Scan Results
Justin's scan is showing no signs of cancer still. YAY!
The doctor said that all of his organs and his kidneys are perfect so we can't ask for any better of an outcome from chemo. Kind of interesting... the doctor told us that we should not get pregnant the old fashioned way because his sperm from the may have defects in it from the chemotherapy and can cause defects in our child. So when we are ready to have children we will have to use what we have saved in the sperm bank. So we will really get to plan our family. No surprises here!
The doctor said that all of his organs and his kidneys are perfect so we can't ask for any better of an outcome from chemo. Kind of interesting... the doctor told us that we should not get pregnant the old fashioned way because his sperm from the may have defects in it from the chemotherapy and can cause defects in our child. So when we are ready to have children we will have to use what we have saved in the sperm bank. So we will really get to plan our family. No surprises here!
Wednesday, April 7, 2010
CT Scan
Justin has his first 3 month CT Scan tomorrow. We have a Dr.'s appointment right after the scan to find out if the cancer is still gone. I will update everyone tomorrow! Please keep him in your prayers!
Visits
At the end of March my mom and Jeff (step-dad) came to visit Justin and I. We had so much fun together and I realized how much I missed my mom once she left back to Tucson. But we were able to spend a lot of good quality time together and I can't wait until they visit again!
Sunday, March 28, 2010
We're Back!
We're back on the blogging scene. I have found that this blog was actually doing what it was supposed to be doing; keeping everyone up to date on our lives.
My reason for quitting my blog was difficult because I didn't want to talk about Justin's cancer. Since July I have come to terms with the thought of Justin having cancer and I am finally ready to talk about it and share our experiences with everyone.
Toward the end of July we found out that Justin had testicular cancer. It turned out to be a whirlwind of events from there. A week after finding out that Justin had cancer he was immediately scheduled for surgery to remove his testicle. After the testicle was removed he tried to recover while we found out that his type of cancer was fast spreading and had moved into several of his lymph nodes. Immediately we were transferred to the Huntsman Cancer Hospital and were told that he would have another suregery to remove his lymph nodes in a few weeks. In the meantime we had to do some sperm banking because it was sure he would be sterile from the surgery. After he recovered from his surgery we were told that he needed to start chemotherapy to kill any other cancer cells in his body. Before he started chemo he had another surgery to install a power port to make it easier to receive the chemotherapy infusions. A week after that surgery he started chemotherapy for several weeks. It was almost a full time job. He somtimes had to be there for 8 hours a day hooked up to chemotherapy. The side effects were awful. He lost his hair, he gained 10-15 lbs a day, he was vomitting, his skin turned red, his mouth was full of sores and he was very weak and tired. A month after his last chemotherapy appointment he had a CT scan to see if the cancer was gone. And our prayers were answered, he was cancer free according to his CT scan. We are so happy. Now he has to go and get CT scans every 3 months for the next year to make sure the cancer is gone. Our next CT scan is on April 8th.
We have had so many wonderful people help us along this hard road. And I am so thankful for the help we have recieved from helping with meals, to mowing our lawn, to simple cards telling him to get well. We are so grateful for the love and support that we have had the past few months.
Everything seems to be getting back to normal and Justin is back at work and trying to make his body keep up with all of the things he wants to do. He has a nap about every day to regain some of his energy. Justin and I have really grown together the last few months and we are definetly much stronger and closer than we were before. Cancer was a definite struggle and I have had to learn things that I wish I never had to know at 25 but in a weird way I think cancer has helped us. I look at Justin in a whole new light. His positive attitude through this hard time has really made my outlook on life much different. You never know what trials will come your way but I think it definetly builds character and strengthens your spirit how you deal with these trials.
My reason for quitting my blog was difficult because I didn't want to talk about Justin's cancer. Since July I have come to terms with the thought of Justin having cancer and I am finally ready to talk about it and share our experiences with everyone.
Toward the end of July we found out that Justin had testicular cancer. It turned out to be a whirlwind of events from there. A week after finding out that Justin had cancer he was immediately scheduled for surgery to remove his testicle. After the testicle was removed he tried to recover while we found out that his type of cancer was fast spreading and had moved into several of his lymph nodes. Immediately we were transferred to the Huntsman Cancer Hospital and were told that he would have another suregery to remove his lymph nodes in a few weeks. In the meantime we had to do some sperm banking because it was sure he would be sterile from the surgery. After he recovered from his surgery we were told that he needed to start chemotherapy to kill any other cancer cells in his body. Before he started chemo he had another surgery to install a power port to make it easier to receive the chemotherapy infusions. A week after that surgery he started chemotherapy for several weeks. It was almost a full time job. He somtimes had to be there for 8 hours a day hooked up to chemotherapy. The side effects were awful. He lost his hair, he gained 10-15 lbs a day, he was vomitting, his skin turned red, his mouth was full of sores and he was very weak and tired. A month after his last chemotherapy appointment he had a CT scan to see if the cancer was gone. And our prayers were answered, he was cancer free according to his CT scan. We are so happy. Now he has to go and get CT scans every 3 months for the next year to make sure the cancer is gone. Our next CT scan is on April 8th.
We have had so many wonderful people help us along this hard road. And I am so thankful for the help we have recieved from helping with meals, to mowing our lawn, to simple cards telling him to get well. We are so grateful for the love and support that we have had the past few months.
Everything seems to be getting back to normal and Justin is back at work and trying to make his body keep up with all of the things he wants to do. He has a nap about every day to regain some of his energy. Justin and I have really grown together the last few months and we are definetly much stronger and closer than we were before. Cancer was a definite struggle and I have had to learn things that I wish I never had to know at 25 but in a weird way I think cancer has helped us. I look at Justin in a whole new light. His positive attitude through this hard time has really made my outlook on life much different. You never know what trials will come your way but I think it definetly builds character and strengthens your spirit how you deal with these trials.
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