Glad I am home now....

Gosh, I never thought that my job caused me so much stress. I thought for sure that I would be more tense and go crazy being at home, but it has been the opposite. I haven't had to take as much meds for my pains and anxiety like I used to. Plus, I really think that I used work to ignore the problems that were going on at home. At first I thought that was a good thing, but now I can see that it has caused a little damage. Aaron and Marcus are really struggling with school and friends, they used to fight so much with each other, I thought the police would have to come separate them at times! Since I have been home, they have been getting along so much better, even though they get too physical and don't realize they are almost "adult SIZE" now and not the little kids they used to be (well, they are in their hearts). I honestly feel that this is what I was supposed to do. Nothing is more important that these years and they are flying by. Already Aaron's "attitude problem" is a little less, he is working on his homework more and is trying a little harder. Noah hugs me every morning and tell me he is glad to have me home. I sure did miss seeing the boys in the morning!!
Marcus is really having a hard time with friends. You always hope that teens will open up and tell you whats bothering them, but that doesn't happen until it spills out. Marcus isn't a real social person, but lately I have noticed that he has been really down. He has stopped going to dances, won't go on dates, and doesn't "hang out" with anyone. He finally told me that kids he thought were good friends of his have been doing things and not inviting him. He said he told them straight out that he wanted to go to the next dance with them, but they made plans without him anyway. He gets a ride to school with a friend of his who is senior, except for certain days. Well, he told me that a kid on the bus called him a 'retard' right to his face and was laughing at him!! Marcus stood up to him and told him he has cancer, but that didn't seem to stop this idiot! People stare at him and that makes him uncomfortable for sure. I asked him if he knew when prom was and he just snapped at me and said... "don't know, don't care". It just breaks my heart, High School is so hard for all kids, but to look different than everyone else must be so hard. I am sure girls are afraid of him because of his situation and they really don't know what to say. I wish I could find one girl that would ask him out to build his confidence. It is so hard for me to watch him go through this, I just want him to be a "normal teen" but I know he is not. I just wish they could see what I see, but then again, no one can see what I can see, I am his mother.

Make a Ribbon Bookmark - wikiHow

Make a Ribbon Bookmark - wikiHow

Update....

Well, all of Marcus's reports are on their way and I should get them soon. I talked to Dr. Watson who is Marcus's pediatric-neuro-radio-oncologist (long title, huh?) Anyway, he is the Dr. that did Marcus's radiation therapy. I talked to him over the phone while he looked on the computer at every one of Marcus's scans. (He acutally READ the scans himself, not as in reading a report) Anyway, he told me that there is no way that this "nodule" could be meningioma. #1 reason... it has been there since his first scan post-op and it has not changed since then. #2 reason... side effects of the radiation like another tumor growing don't show up until 5 -10 years post-treatment. Something I knew already and read many articles on. He also said that the pain in Marcus's knees could be caused by a hormonal imbalance because the radiation was so close to his pituitary gland. It also could be causing his behavior problems as well. Is it me or isn't this something that this Doctor, being a NEURO-ONCOLOGIST know about? Hasn't she dealt with anyone having radiation to the brain before? It just seems like they have the attitude of... oh well, it has nothing to do with cancer, so therefore its not my problem, have a nice day, GOODBYE. It really makes me so angry to think that if our Dr. was still around, she probably would have checked his hormone levels because she knows Marcus and knows where he has had radiation. I am just soooo "Urked" right now. If Dr. Bruggers doesn't come back, not sure what we will do. I don't want to go to someone who seems like they have NO IDEA what they are doing.
In other news, we took Aaron for stitches last night. Who says NERF isn't dangerous? Aaron and Marcus were downstairs (lower ceiling) in Aaron's room playing with Noah's HUGE nerf gun. Marcus lifted it straight up in the air and hit the glass light shade that fell on his head and broke (I think they put a metal plate in Marcus's head during surgery) which sent pieces flying everywhere including Aaron's arm. So we went to Instacare and Aaron had 3 stitches put in, which by the way, I won the bet. We bet on how many it would be. Marcus said 5, the nurse said 4 and I said 3... HA! I WON! Of course Aaron chose 3 after I did, so we both won. He was brave and survived the needle.
Nothing is ever boring at the Russells! Well, gotta go get ready for Jackson and Noah's Parent-teacher conferences.... So much fun to see what the boys have done, or with Jackson... what he has said or destroyed.

Ch-Ch-Change....

Life at the Russell home is constantly changing. Just when we get used to one thing, something else comes up and life has to change once again. What has changed? Well, I quit my job and I am now a stay-at-home Mom once again. After the latest going on with Marcus, Aaron failing some of his classes, and trying to juggle getting Jackson to school from daycare in the middle of the day, we decided that this was the right time. I haven't been able to get things done to get the second opinion going for Marcus, and John has to schedule things at work around picking up Jackson. His work has actually been suffering a little. So we calculated things financially, he got a raise and a bonus at work and the city is paying him a "little" so that is what made us decide that it was time for me to stay home and get things at home put back into place. We have made a huge headway in getting quite a bit paid off, so hopefully in the near future, we will buy a new home. Unfortunately, that is not our main goal or concern right now.
I am working on getting Marcus's MRI reports, typing up a "report" to send to 2 other doctors. Plus, I am trying to talk with Marcus's Neuro-Radio-Oncologist who did Marcus's radiation treatments to see if he can look at his actual MRI's and read them for a 2nd opinion on the Meningioma. Dr. Packer at National Childrens Hospital said he would look over Marcus's MRI reports and give us his opinion, but he won't give us a "full report" until we go and he looks at Marcus himself. John and I haven't come to an agreement on that one yet, so for now I will just get the reports ready to "send" to Dr. Packer.
Well, I gotta go pick up the little boys from school. My new day-job.... Taxi-driver! YEAHHH!

Thanks to the Taylor/Horne Genes........

Jackson was officially diagnosed yesterday as being... "COLOR BLIND"! Not sure exactly what happens with that but Jacksons teacher had the Nurse come in and evaluate him, and sure enough, the little stinker is color blind. I kinda figured that because he is so inconsistent with colors, and with his little "stubborn" attitude (also thanks to those wonderful genes) he will argue that orange is red until the cows come home. What a lovely combination..... sigh. Oh well, he is who he is and I love him even more for standing up for what he believes is right, even if it is just a color. He is struggling to read even though he knows all the letters, sounds they make and has for a while. We are still trying to figure out if he just doesn't want to read, or if he can't. I am betting on the first option.
This picture is on Jackson's 6th birthday. I can't believe how big he is getting. He is wearing a size 13 shoe, and is wearing size 6 to 7 clothes. Noah is finally in size 8, and size 13.5, or a size 1 shoe. I can't believe how fast time is flying by.

Noah, had his first Pinewood derby, he came in 5th place out of 22 cars!!!! His car was GOLD. He and John put it together the night before... (just like a lot of parents do) and still came in good time. He is having so much fun in his Cub Scouts. He really is growing up to be quite the little fixer, and especially our Artist. He always has his "gallery" of art around the house. He makes and decorates the house for every occation. We have a snow man and snowflakes on walls and windows. Now he is working on some paper weaving projects. He is always working on something.

Mormon Religion: President Gordon B. Hinckley

Here is a dedication of his life, his humor, and his unconditional love for everyone.... even me.
We Thank Thee, Oh God for a Prophet....

Praise to the Man....

Just wanted to post about a man whom I have known all my life, and always smiled when I heard his voice. I have felt such an emotional bond with him because that is who he is. He is the one person whom I could feel Heavenly Fathers love come through the pulpit and into my heart. President Gordon B. Hinckley.
Meeting him for the first time, he was in the First Presidency of the Church, a councilor to President Benson, where he dedicated a new Young Adult Stake Center here in Logan, Utah. I was in the Choir where I sat right behind him during the Services. What a spirit filled the room when he was in it. After it all came to a close, President Hinckley turned around and told a few of us what beautiful music we had performed, shaking our hands. What a feeling when he looked me in the eye and shook my hand, I felt like he knew me and loved me.
After he was made President, I saw him when he went to Colonial Juarez to our High School's Centennial (our High School is operated and owned by the LDS church. ). Little did we know that it would be there that he had the inspiration for the Small Temples being built. How exciting to know that he was thinking of my family and how they could serve in the Temple as well.
Then... when we came to the dedication of one of those first Small Temples in Colonial Juarez, I will never forget the words he spoke of my ancestors and that this Temple was built for them because of their hard work, dedication and trials they had endured. No other Ward or Stake in the world has so many Mission Presidents, General authorities, and Temple Presidents have come from one little place, that most people don't even know about.
Tears come to my eyes whenever we sing.. "We Thank thee Oh God, for a Prophet." Because I know we have one and even though President Hinckley is not with us, I know that President Monson is now our living Prophet today. I love him as well and look forward to many years of him Guiding us onward.

Good News..... but still uncertain.

Went to Primary Children's yesterday. They did both MRI's on spine and brain, all looked clean!!!! That is great news, except no one knows why Marcus is having pain. I really want to believe that it is just the Osgood-Shlatter (growing fast so the ligaments pull and cause pain) but I just feel deep down that something is wrong. I mean, obviously it is because Marcus is in a lot of pain and it seems to get worse. The Aleeve he has been taking really doesn't help much anymore and he just hurts all the time. I have had people tell me that I am just "looking for trouble" and that I am just jumping over every little thing. I am sorry, but I am a Mother and I am a complete believer in a "mothers intuition". Ever since Marcus's last MRI I have felt on edge and not understanding why I am just not feeling the peace I have been praying for. Well, part of it I found out today.

Our Oncologist that we saw yesterday is a new Dr. they hired back in September. She went over all his symptoms and then went down and looked at his MRI's. Came back saying they looked great. So she suggested going down and having his knees x-rayed on our way out. Today, she was nice enough to call John at work and tell him that she looked at his x-rays and off hand she can't see anything that would be causing the pain, but she is not a bone specialist. Then she goes on to say... "Oh by the way, did they tell you last november that his last MRI showed that his ___ (can't rembember what its called, but its the lining of the brain underneath the skull) has thickened quit a bit?" NO WAY!!!! No one ever told us that. She said that she didn't notice it until she went back and looked at his past scans and spent some time comparing them. It showed up in novembers scan and looks the same right now. If it gets any thicker they will have to do surgery. Of course they didnt give John any information on the signs or symptoms to look for if it does. Now, I know this has NOTHING to do with his knees hurting, but this really makes me wonder if anyone took the time (since Dr. Bruggers is gone) to really look at his scans and compare. This also makes me wonder if they are missing anything. I really am just sooooooo ANGRY about this, I can't even tell you. I am going to do everything I can to get on this and nag anyone and everyone to get his knees taken care of and also to look at his scans. I just can't believe that this is happening. I know someone from my Ped. Brain Tumor support group who has had bad experiences with them as well. It has taken them 6 months to finally tell her that her son needs a 3rd opinion on his pathology!!! I tell you, I am ready to pack up and go to another Dr.... SOMEWHERE... ANYWHERE because my trust in these Dr.'s is about out. Like I have heard a 1,000,000 times... no one loves my children as much as me and I am the only one who can speak for them and get them the treatment they need and deserve.

Ok, off my soap-box. Just had to "vent" a little, and it will probably not be the last time either.

Tucson, Arizona.

Just got home today. Marcus went to his band camp and University of Arizona. He left wednesday, spent some time with Nanny (John's Mom) and a little time with Matt and Nancy (John's brother and his wife). He spent all day friday and saturday at the camp. I flew out friday night and spent the day with my parents, my 2 sisters and my brother and their families. We all made it to the concert on saturday evening. I think we had the biggest crowd for just one student. I love to hear him play. We ordered a CD and I video-taped it as well. He looked so handsome up there all dressed up and right on the end where we all could see him.
I am having a "deja-voo" just writting this. I have waited to post anything because I waited to tell Marcus until we got home from our trip. He has been having a lot of knee pain, so much that I notice him walking like he is in pain. He also has had his legs "give out" on him a few times and the other day, his leg went numb just sitting in the car for a 10-minute drive. I called the Oncologists office and they took forever in calling me back because their whole office is a MESS. Marcus's doctor, Dr. Bruggers is still on personal leave and probably won't be back until MARCH! I tried to get a hold of the BT specialty nurse that we know so well, and after 2 calls, I found out that SHE is out on personal leave as well!! I got so frustrated I called our good friend, our Primary doctor, Dr. Duke. Not only is he our doc, he has been my therapist, voice of reason and someone we can call on for anything. He takes our phone calls no matter where he is. So I call him and he was at lunch, he calls me back and I answer his call in the stupid bathroom because we can't have them out on the floor. So I tell him whats going on, and I ask him what it could be and if I should be concerned about it. All he did was take a deep sigh and said... "Karen, you and I both know what it is". And because I am the mom I started thinking of anything I could, like side-effects from the chemo or radiation, growing pains, ANYTHING but that!!! Then I could feel a drop that landed hard in my stomach. He said, Karen... you and I both know what a horrid thing this cancer is, and it has probably spread somewhere that is putting pressure on those nerves. This thing is eventually going to take his life someday, and we just have to keep trying new things to keep him here as long as we can or as long as he wants to keep on fighting. There is no cure for this, but we can do the best we can with what we have. I suggest you just call up Oncology and make an appointment for the next week or so and have an MRI done on his spine and brain. " I agreed and thanked him. There I was in the dumb bathroom at work. I looked up at myself and the tears just came. I couldn't stop, I went in the stall and bawled. Then I had to snap out of it and go out to work, but I just couldn't stop the waterworks for NOTHING. So I went home and took some xanax to pull myself together. Afterall, it was Jacksons birthday and I had to put a smile on my face and have a PARTY. We decided not to tell Marcus until he got home so he could enjoy his time. I told him on the plane home and he took it well. He is just staying positive and enjoying being home with his brothers.

"Who busted a grumpy?"

Yes, this is what I hear on a regular basis at our house lately. With a house full of boys, what do you expect? For those not familiar with this term, it is a new (not sure if its really new, but new to me) way of asking," who let wind?" Yes, I am not really sure why boys are sooooo entertained by this disgusting bodily function, but it can really get out of control. Its so much fun to be out-numbered.......... NOT! In church I look around and see these cute little girls in frilly dresses, bows in their hair, nails painted and wonder... what would that be like? But you know, if it was MY little girl, with all these boys, (and yes, without the boys, I admit) she would be just like my monster boys and fit in quite well. I held my own with the boys when I was growing up, and gave my parents enough grief to make up for most of the other kids put together. So when I talk about Jackson, I do so with love, because.... like John would say to me..."he is soooo you, Karen". Yes, I admit it, but just not to John.... I want him to think I am a little ANGEL..... shhhhhhh, don't tell.
Speaking of Jackson, he turns 6 years old day after tomorrow! WOW... can't believe my baby is so big. Hopefully we will be getting him a bike, but with all the snow we are getting, not sure where he could ride it until after Noah's birthday in April! He really needs one though.
We are also getting ready for Marcus to leave on Wednesday for Tucson, Arizona!!!! He is so excited! He will be going to a special Band Camp there where he will get an opportunity to try out for a scholarship. Plus he will be meeting kids from all over the west and performing with them. I will go too, but not until friday after work, but I am thrilled that I get to go too.

Happy New Year!

What a difference a few days make. We have been so fortunate to have some fun things come to our family. The Make a Wish Foundation called and want to grant Marcus's wish. When I first asked him what his wish would be, he pointed to his poster of an F-16 plane. He loves planes and wants to fly the military planes the most. I know that is a wish that might be really hard to grant, but wouldn't that be awesome?
Also Marcus will be going to Tucson in a couple of weeks for an Honors Band camp at University of Arizona. He will fly down the 16th of January and start camp the 17th. I will fly down as well, but that will be Friday after work. He will have a concert Saturday and we both will fly home on sunday. He is really excited about that as well. We have been so blessed to be able to have these opportunities come up for him.
I have really felt so comforted lately. I have had some wonderful friends and family give me some great words of comfort and support. That has meant so much to me. I am so grateful to have so much love and support around me and my family. I just hope I can give it back to others.
It also has been nice to be home most of the whole Christmas Vacation with the boys. It has been so nice to spend some quality time with them. Today they get to go to school and I get to have some time to myself. Wow.... what will that be like? Anyway.... all is good today!

Merry Christmas!

And that it was! We had a great day today. We had a great time especially because he had around 8 inches of snow last night and most of it fell in less than 8 hours. The boys were so excited to have some snow to use their new sleds on. Today the weather was wonderful, bright blue skies, snow on the trees and ground, it was just a beautiful day. We all had a fun time this morning opening gifts and enjoying time with each other. I am so glad that I have the rest of this week off. It is some much needed time to spend with my boys. It will be so nice to be able to just "hang out" with the boys and spend some quality time without having to worry about being anywhere or doing anything. After we do some cleaning that really needs some attention, we will bust out some games, watch some movies that we got for Christmas, and hopefully have some "Peace on Earth" in our home for a few days.
The last few days I have felt so much more peace and comfort. I know that the Lord has blessed me with that peace so that we could have a nice Christmas that we will remember for a long time. John has been such a great support lately, and that has meant the world to me. I was seriously worried about us and which way we were headed, but I think things are turning around and we are doing so much better now.
Well, I am going to go check on my boys before I go to bed. I am so grateful for such a great day like today. Its what we all needed.

Just CRAZY!

Here I have promised myself to cheer up, put on a smile, get into the Christmas Spirit. For some reason it really has been hard to get myself there, and I am sure its cause of Chloe for one reason. She is still in the hospital and her mom is at home about to give birth. I can't imagine all this going on especially during Christmas time. Stacie will be induced on the 22nd, and hopefully get their little baby boy here.
We have some neighbors who live a block away from us whom we really don't know real well, but Marcus and Aaron know their oldest daughters. Anyway, day before yesterday their 11 yr-old daughter was diagnosed with a..... BRAIN TUMOR! Hers is located between 2 lobes and is sitting on a major artery. They did surgery today to try and take out what they could. When Julie, our neighbor called and told me (she is the R. S. president in their ward) I was dumbfounded! All the feelings came rushing back and the nightmare was real again. I just want to run over to their house and hug every one of those kids. Oh how I wish NO-ONE would have to hear those words or feel that stab in the stomach. That night John and I sat in the dark, just staring at our Christmas Tree not even speaking to each other, but yet knowing what the other was thinking. John finally said... I never knew life could be this hard.

We made it.

I haven't posted in a while because life has just been crazy.
We got some bad news yesterday. Marcus took 5 hours of testing yesterday with the Neuro-psychologist and the extent of his short term memory loss is a lot more than we thought. He really has a hard time remember anything unless he goes over it over 4 or 5 times in a row and that is only on some things. He has been failing every test he has taken. His language skills are pretty minimal. The place where the tumor was, is where his language is. He has always struggled putting his thoughts on paper, but now it is even worse. He has a hard time putting his thoughts together period as well as not really understanding words that he reads or hears. School at this point is going to be a MAJOR struggle for him and so is trying to get the schools to make accommodations for him. He pretty much passes the tests on a "below average" level, therefore this legally doesn't qualify him for "resource". He hasn't been able to get his drivers permit because he can't understand the book to begin with, plus he can't remember things either. He also has "outbursts" where he actually hurts his brothers, and according to the Dr.'s that is normal with any frontal lobe injury. They think going to a psychiatrist would be good and maybe put him on a anti-depressant. I guess to me its just a reality-check that yes, Marcus is alive and well, but in terms of his future, all the dreams he has ever had are gone. Even the thought of a mission is a very scary thought for him, especially when he can't put his thoughts together to say a prayer other than what he has said over and over again for years. It really bit me in the butt that life for him will never be "normal" and trying to keep him positive and happy is getting to be harder and harder. He realizes that and I am sure its the scariest thing for him. Not being able to remember is a scary thought for me, but to think that most of the things I wanted to do in life are going to be harder than ever, if even possible at all.
On the other hand, we have been blessed with another chance for him, for which we don't know for how long. I know tomorrow is another day and I will be grateful for having another day with my sons and husband.

Going to Arizona!!!

Well, we are heading out today for Arizona. John has a meeting this morning then we will hit the road. We will spend the night in Page, Arizona (about 8 hour drive). Then we head out early so we can get to Tucson by dinner-time. We are so excited to go to the nice warm weather and see all of our family. John's whole family will be together for Thanksgiving on thursday, then on friday we will have dinner at Alice's (my sister) with all of my family.
We will have to be extra careful with Marcus and going to places with lots of people. We got his counts back and his white blood cells are pretty low as well as his red blood cells. They are border-line, but the dr.'s think he will be ok going on our trip. We will have to draw blood again on monday when we get home, but we are thinking that his counts are on their way back up. He is pretty tired so I don't think keeping him still will be too hard. I am just grateful that we will be able to go. It will be a short trip, but it will be nice to spend some time with our families, its been a while since I have been on a family trip.
Happy Thanksgiving!

I can't help it......

I just can't seem to really get in and celebrate the good fortune we have had with Marcus. Don't get me wrong I am very happy that we are where we are, but I just can't stop thinking of little Chloe. We all pray for her everyday and I feel a tug on my heart every time I hear her name. I talked to her Mom, Stacie, at a baby shower for their baby that is due on the same day Chloe's bone marrow transplant is scheduled. They are planning to induce the baby (its a boy this time!) in hopes that he will be a perfect match for Chloe. I also saw Jake (dad) in the grocery store on saturday and talked to him for a few minutes. They really are struggling and I feel for them deeply. With the Lukemia she has, the CURE-rate was over 90%!!! She is one of the only 6 or so that relapse a YEAR!!! They were not expecting this at all. It just breaks my heart.

Well, to change the air.... (taking deep breath) We are looking forward to our trip to Arizona this week. It sure will be a short one, but it will be nice to get out of town and be with family. We are leaving wednesday, spending the night in Page, az, then thursday we will arrive at the Matt Russell's home around 1 or so for Thanksgiving Dinner. The boys are so excited and thrilled. It will be nice.

MRI

We are sooooooooo relieved to have it over with! The results were just what we wanted to hear. All things are "stable" or "the same" whichever wording sounds better but we are so happy to know that things are just the way they were last January. All of us are so happy to know that we are done. Life of chemo, radiation, weekly blood-draws, transfusions, IV's, losing hair, shaving heads, nausea.....and just NEEDLES are so close to being OVER. Marcus's platelet count was down so we had another transfusion on wednesday. As soon as his counts are up (probably a couple of weeks) he will no longer have to have 6-week checks nor have weekly blood draws. We won't have to go back to PMC for 3 months! WOW! That concept is just mind-boggling. After a year of all this, I can't believe we are done. It sure is scary, though. Now that we are on our own, every pain I will be recording, documenting and keeping constant watch.... Poor Marcus!!
So now that all this is over, we are going to do some testing, but without needles, pills or scopes. Marcus has had some problems with his short-term memory. He is really struggling in school and I think a lot has a lot to do with not being able to remember things. We have noticed little things that probably only parents would really notice. I think his attention span or able to comprehend what you are saying to him has been affected. There are a lot of times where we are talking to him and we can see that he is not connecting with us. The neuro-psychiatrist said that the area where the tumor was, is where language and personality are based. He was already struggling with English and writting, so this has made it worse I am sure. He completely failed the English portion of the state testing last spring. So on December 3, Marcus and I will spend the day in Salt Lake at PMC, but he will be doing a neurological test to see where he is and what areas have been affected. As time goes on, we will see more and more changes and late-affects from the radiation and surgery. They said he could even get a TUMOR from the radiation!! GO-FIGURE!!
Anyway, all in all we are happy where we are and feel so blessed to have so many good things come out of all this. I know our struggles are far from over, but we have faith that the Lord knows what is best for us and for now it is a break from the awful treatments of cancer. We give THANKS for friends and family who pray for us and give us strength. I am thankful for my Testimony of Jesus Christ and for the Love and Comfort he gives us on a daily basis. I pray that this same comfort that I feel can be spread to others, especially those who I have come to know through this. To those who have loved ones, lost loved ones,(especially children) or themselves who suffer from the horrible thing called...cancer. I know that the Lord has a plan for each of my boys, and for myself and John. He knows what is best and I will keep faith in Him to do that no matter how hard it gets for us because he will be there to guide and comfort us.

I can't wait............

Until this next few weeks are OVER! I am so so so so greatful Marcus is done with his treatments. I know this will be the last time we will have to worry about "blood-counts" and deal with transfusions. (Keeping fingers crossed) He had quite the ordeal yesterday.
Wednesday, Marcus came home from school, went to the bathroom and blood started gushing out of his nose. We had the results of his blood draw on tuesday and his platelets were at 29,000. Dr. Bruggers usually orders a transfusion to anything around 30,000 or lower. Well, she is out on Personal Leave for 2 months, so another Dr. said that he was OK and to draw again on Thursday. This bloody nose was Wednesday, so we took him to our local Dr. who drew blood again. Marcus's bloody nose stopped after 15 minutes, and he seemed to be ok. The Local Dr. said that he would be find to go to his concert that night. (More on that later) It started bleeding a little here and there, but nothing like earlier.
The next day we let Marcus sleep and stay home from school. By noon, we got the call that his platelets (what clots the blood) were at 25,000, so of course they decided to do a transfusion. Well, here in Logan we have to order the platelets from Salt Lake and they won't get here until the next day. I made the call to take him to Primary Childrens for it cause they could do it quick. I am so glad I DID! While we were there waiting his nose began to bleed a lot. We really couldn't tell how much he lost, but he was pretty Pale and out of breath exhausted. After the transfusion they drew again and got the results back before we left. His platelets were at 60,000 but his hematicrit (red blood cells) were down to 25. He was 2 points away from being admitted and spending the night getting a few pints of blood. He lost THAT much blood in just those few nose-bleeds. Talk about scary!!! They even left his IV in just in case his red cells fell anymore or if his nose started bleeding again. But he looked and felt so much better this morning. He was complaining about the IV so I took it out. He is feeling a lot better today and has so much more color to his face. "WHEW". We have been so blessed so many times, I am thankful for it.

I did it myself....

Check out my new link.... I made a video for my boys and the song that I picked means so much to me. When I first heard it I felt like it was written for me.

Happy Halloween

I usually Hate Halloween, but this year I really did enjoy myself and my boys. We went to Shopko 2 days before and got the 75% costumes but they got what they really wanted anyway. Noah was a Ninja, Jackson was the Red Power Ranger. (sidenote... I don't think Jackson has ever watched a full episode of Power Rangers, I think that he just thinks they look cool) Marcus stayed home to give out candy to the trick-or-treaters, Aaron went with a couple of his friends out on their own (he was a zombie, but took off before I was able to get pictures of him in his costume), John and I took the little boys out with us. We went to a couple of friends houses, but ended up going inside the Lund's home. They invited us in for some "halloween vegtable chili" so we stayed and hung out for a while. We really enjoyed ourselves.
We walked up to one house who had a black light on their porch, so all the white or light colors glowed. The man that answered the door was wearing black with white paint painted on his clothes that glowed, and some kind of paint on his face that glowed to look like a clown face. As soon as we left that house, Jackson yelled... "That was SWEEET". It was sooo cute. He did get scared, when we went to one of our neighbors and the boy who is 12 was dressed up with the mask from "Scream" was sitting out in front of his house with the candy to hand out. Jackson went up and he kinda jumped out at him and Jackson came running back and NOT happy. The boys Mom brought Jackson back and promised that Jackson could kick him for scaring him. Jackson thought that was pretty funny. We went home pretty wipped out, but certainly had fun. I really enjoy watching the little boys, they sure know how to entertain us in our old age and reminds me of what life is all about.... Having a good time.