Its not hard to imagine that this year has gone by so fast since I’ve been quite busy. In August 2006 I moved in with grandpa & grandma cleaver to care for them. Grandma had a cancerous tumor removed and had weakness on her left side. She has had a succession of 30 radiation and 30 chemo treatments (pill form administered by me at home) completing in Winter 2006. We continued a monthly chemo treatment until late May when we discovered with an MRI that the tumor had begun to grow again. We are now testing an intravenous chemo administered at the hospital every 6-8 weeks. This new chemo is very strong and is destroying her bone marrow causing us to get weekly shots for red/white blood cells and monthly platelet transfusion’s, we have even decreased to chemo dosage but no change in the marrow damage. Also her mobility has lessened and she is unable move without help. Grandpa’s Alzheimer’s has rapidly diminished his capacities and he has a hard time with basics. I would say that his physical and mental age is about 2-3 years old and these past few weeks he sleeps about 75% of the day, while 25% he lays in bed and mumbles to himself. He does say some funny things like ‘bottled water is no good for horses’ or that his bed is a car and I’m the driver and we are dead ducks.
In February I quit working for Cleaver Construction and started working for my cousin Nathan @ Nathan Cleaver Septic Design Inc doing his CAD drawings and working from home, which with all of the doctor appointments we have is very convenient.
I’m still teaching in primary in the CTR5 class and enjoying every minute of it. I love the imagination of my kids; it helps bring my sanity back. In September Mom, Dad, and I took Grandpa and Grandma back to Kansas for their class reunion weekend. We had a nice trip in the motor home and saw lots of countryside. I picked up a new pet in Kansas (as he was crossing the road) an ornate box turtle; I’ve named Sergei. He is the cutest and he loves to eat earthworms, mealworms, crickets, strawberries and bananas.
When I have spare time I’m either collecting bugs, practicing my photography or reading books such as “War & Peace”, “The Harry Potter” series, Dan Brown’s “The DaVinci Code” and “Angels & Demons” a few Agatha Christie murder mysteries and “The Chronicles of Narnia” series and most recently I finished the first book “Twilight” of Stephenie Meyer’s series.
My health is well and I hope yours is to. Merry Christmas and have a Happy New Year.
With Love,
Rachelle
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