Latest news

Sorry its been so long.

We had a wonderful trip to SLC. Jim was able to see a lot of family and friends, and the trip was great. Thanks to Great Grandma Cook for letting us use the condo, it was perfect! Thanks also to all the U of U people who showed their love and appreciation for Jim at the lunch. It meant so much to him to see all of you and feel your support. It was great to see old high school friends and family!

Josh graduated from college, and Jim and I went to the graduation lunch with Josh and Kirby. It was wonderful, we are so proud of all his hard work!! Nicole came down and spent several days with us between semesters, we really loved spending some time with her.

We have been working hard with Jim and the hospice nurse the control the cancer pain. He is doing pretty well for the most part, just very tired. He sleeps a good part of every day, but is still able to wake up and participate in some activities. Justin has had several performances the last few weeks, for the school musical, jazz band, and orchestra. Jim made it to everything but the jazz band, and really enjoyed seeing Justin perform. Katie also had a performance for her fourth grade class, and Jim was there to cheer her on!

We did something last weekend that we have not done for a very long time. We saw a movie at the movie theater!! :) We saw the Star Trek movie, and Jim made it through the entire show! It was so great, we did popcorn and drinks and the whole thing. I think I may have enjoyed it more than he did... lol ... but we both had a good time.

Between all the performances and the movie, we pretty much wore Jim out. He has had several days of sleeping and not much else. His feet have swollen to about twice the normal size, and he has lots of numbness and tingling in his hands and feet. He threw up again today, has not done that for a while. For the most part, the nausea has stopped, although sometimes it just comes on for unknown reasons.

He is still unsteady on his feet, and fell again last week, this time outside on the cement. He bruised his ribs and scraped his arm, but didn't break anything. He uses the walker most of the time when we go out, sometimes the wheelchair. He still eats, but not as much. He likes fruit and fudge bars (which is not good for his diabetes), but we just kind of feed him whatever he wants. He still loves to watch movies, although he dozes off a lot in the middle of them. It takes a lot of energy for him to talk, so he is very quiet most of the time.

He did have a good day yesterday, and we went to his Uncle Lou's house to sit in the hot tub. That helped his feet feel better.

We love our hospice nurse. She comes over twice a week to check on Jim, make sure his pain is under control, orders his pain meds, and takes his vitals. We have also had some aids come to help us move furniture and do errands. This is much easier on Jim than the constant trips to the Dr and hospital. We are grateful for the hospice program, and the wonderful people who work with us.

We are so grateful for the Gospel, for the knowledge that we have that life will continue for us on the other side of the veil. We are grateful for all the angels here and on the other side who give us strength and support.