Dad is doing well.  It took the surgeon over 10 hours to work on Dad, when it was only supposed to take 6.  They were able to remove most of the cancer, and what they couldn’t, they put in wire leads so that they can  do localized radiation treatments.  Dad is currently in ICU at Salt Lake Regional Medical Center.  But, he will be moved tomorrow!  They said last night that he could be in there for a week or two.  Now, he’s going to be in there just over a day.  He’s doing well!

Dad, I love you and I am so proud of you!  You keep fighting! :0)

We’ve just received an update on Dad.  It’s cancer, again.  It’s in the bile duct and has spread to the liver just a tiny bit.  They’ve removed that portion of the bile duct and will remove what they can of the affected portion of liver.  What they can’t remove, they will be putting wire leads into, and will do radiation.  Also, he is stable and doing well and will be done in about and hour or so.

I want to take this time to bear my testimony of the power of the priesthood.  Dad has been blessed so much, and will continue to be blessed.  He has been promised that he will be made whole, and that is what will happen.  I am so thankful for my Heavenly Father and all that He has blessed us with on this earth!  I love my Dad, and I am so thankful that I will be able to have him in my life for much longer.

King Julien, from Madagascar 2, says, “I like laughing!  It’s such a good experience!”

(Do you ever have times like these?  I remember growing up, and as we’d kneel down for family prayers, something would set us all off… This one was last night.  For some reason, Robby and Christopher couldn’t stop laughing.  And, when they get like this, it’s contagious!  The video isn’t the greatest… I had to be discreet!  And, you might be able to see Mallie’s cute little foot peaking in front of the camera a time or two.)

Here’s another.  Robby is so good at getting Mallie to laugh!

I was finally able to get Mom and Dad to let me take a picture of them!  I’m sure they will be so excited to see it on my blog… (*SORRY!*).  But, I wanted everyone to see my amazing parents, who I love SO much!

(To my sisters:  I will be getting you a copy ASAP!)

I love you Mom & Dad!

On the 15th, Mallie cut her first tooth!  I had to wait until it was really visible to take a picture of it…

Can you see it?  The other one is almost in, too!

LOVE. THIS. GIRL!

Robby lost something tonight:

He’s SO excited!  And, he didn’t even cry when it came out!  This is a break through!

Dad checks into the hospital at 6:30 am on Monday.  Surgery may be 6 hours.  Maybe more, maybe less.  Please keep him in your prayers!  Thanks!

Dad will be having surgery early, early Monday morning, at the Salt Lake Regional Medical Center.   The surgery will take at least 6 hours.  They will be doing the same surgery they did 5 years ago, except, hopefully, they won’t have to remove any of his liver.  He doesn’t have much left.  They do have to remove an inch of the bile duct that has the lump in it, and they will do a biopsy to see what it is.  They will also fix his incision from the previous surgery and the hernias that he has.  Dad has a liver infection right now, which is one reason the surgeon feels it’s very important to get him in as soon as possible.  He doesn’t feel well at all.  They’ve given him an antibiotic, and hopefully it will start working soon, so that he will get over the weakness and get his good coloring back.  Please, please, keep him and us in your prayers.  We’re going to need it!

Hannah just made this scrapbook page!  She was excited to show it to everyone!

Enjoy!

This post has been a long time in coming.  My nerves have been terrible, what with everything that’s going on in my family right now.  I needed to wait for a somewhat calm moment to be able to write about this.

My Dad started getting sick again a while ago.  They’ve done tests and found a lump in one of his remaining bile ducts inside his liver.  At the time, we were thinking, okay.  A lump.  It could be anything. It could be a stone, it could be food (given that Dad’s anatomy is different after his previous surgery), it could be something else.  We didn’t think it would be cancer, because Dad looks great!  He doesn’t look like he did the last time they found cancer.  So, they did blood tests.  And they found that his cancer markers went up to 80.  (They were at 3 in September, meaning his cancer was completely gone).  The next week they went up more, to 94.  Yet, still, he doesn’t look sick.  The doctors are stumped.  Dad has to go in to see his surgeon that did his last surgery, tonight, and see what can be done.  He will have to have surgery to find out what the lump is.  But, depending on what they find, we will find out if he has to have chemo again.

We think that the biggest reason he’s looking so good, is because he’s taking this nutritional supplement called Reliv.  It sounds like “Snake Oil”, but, we are coming to find that it has helped him immensely!  (That, and of course, the Priesthood blessings he has been given).

Please keep Dad in your prayers!  Prayers are amazing!