To Seattle and back....

Marleigh and I have always wanted to go to Seattle, to view the coast and maybe see a whale or two.

Well, it never really worked out with work and then moving to the East. But it's always been in the back of our minds. Maybe on our twentieth wedding anniversary -which didn't work out so well since I was on an airplane headed to Huntsman on that day.

This past week we were able to make it happen, with the help of many, many people; my cousin John and his wife Mary and their great kids, Jenn at the Huntsman clinic for making the arrangements with the Seattle Cancer Clinic, Josh Smart (Captain Josh), James and Jesse for making sure our van was road worthy, Toni at the kennel, and Sue & family, to name a few. Thanks to all those who helped, it's been a long time in the making and has created memories that will last a lifetime for me and my family.

We had a GREAT time. Captain Josh took us out to the San Juan Islands were we saw Orca (Killer Whales), fished, jelly fish, seals, eagles, and even some big horn sheep (go figure).

The kids loved going to the beach with their cousins where they caught clams, oysters, and jelly fish (the dead and non poisonous kind). They also swam and kayaked.

Again, we had a great time. I'll throw in some photo's and call it good for this blog.

Blaine

He's home.

Blaine's nose is bleeding a very small amount now, just residuals. He is home, and has had his final radiation treatment for the tumors he is currently presenting. We are amazed again at everyone's kindness and love. We so appreciate all that everyone does for our family. We are amazed and lifted, as well as very touched. It never gets old, ever. We hope as a family, to one day be able to give to others as we have been blessed. God bless each and every one of you.

Quote of the day:

"Josh, you up to replacing the radiator in the van?"

Silence...

"Whatever happened to super-glue and duct tape?!"

Have a wonderful, wonderful day.

NBFH

Marleigh has mentioned the difficulties of the week. But I think there is a light at the end of the tunnel. The tipping point that brought us to the ER was a nose bleed (from here on I will refer to it as NBFH-nose bleed from heck) that started 8pm Wednesday and is just now subsiding. The cause is a vein on the back side of a cytoma pressing in my nasal cavity. This cytoma has been a double whammy; it has blocked airflow in my right nostril and caused this NBFH in the other. Nasty bugger, and kind of gross. The treatment has been Radiation, Chemo, and inserting a Nasal Foley (sp) which is a tube placed in through my nose into this cavity. The Foley is then inflated to put pressure on the bleeding vein. They've packed my nostrils with everything from Afrin nasal spray, gauze, and tampons (weird but very effective). Again, the good news is that it seems to be working. The NBFH is nothing but a trickle this morning, whereas on Wednesday is felt like a rather large stream. The eye also has begun to resolve, with reduced swelling, and no more gross discharge. The vision is still not good.

It is 7am as I look out over the beautiful Salt Lake Valley. From Huntsman Cancer Hospital we have a great view of downtown including Temple Square. We will be here until the NBFH is no more, so if you've never prayed for a nosebleed-now's your chance. I'm hoping to go home tomorrow... we'll see what the Doctors say.

On a side note... I know we've confused everyone with our email address. Our nhsavages@myfairpoint.net address has blown up, never to be used again. This means our distribution list also went away. So I'm switching to comcast.net. We will still be using hotmail.com, but Comcast offers better distribution list options. As I send out this blog if you receive it more than once, let me know. If there are people who are on the list but don't want to be, let me know. If you notice someone from previous lists that have disappeared, let me know. The best way to get a comment to us is on the comment area of this blog. If you are not sure how to do that, remember to use the 'anonymous' tab when publishing the comment, but please let us know your name in the comment. We like to know who is thinking of us.

Thanks to all who have helped us this week, thanks for your comments and support, thanks for your love.

Blaine

Hard

Blaine is in the hospital and oh boy, has it been rough. I won't try to share everything. He developed progressive symptoms and landed in the ER last night then was admitted. He may or may not get to go home tomorrow. He has new tumors causing him grief, incuding visual impairment in one eye. We've been monitoring changes in his blood pressure along with a slew of other things. He has received multiple rounds of chemo and radiation today, as well as other procedures and meds. This one has been rough. Will blog later, either one of us.