Reederclan

New year and new growth

2012-01-08T19:16:00.000-08:00

I decided it was time to share some of the things I have learned since my sweetheart was called home a little over a year ago. In some ways I feel I have been without him for so long, and then I realize the amount of time that has gone by and think,"Wow, I can't believe it's been over a year already." Time does soften the blow of loss, even when you don't want to hear those words, when it's still so fresh and raw. Nothing is comforting to you at that stage.

I have learned, firsthand, just how much my Heavenly Father loves me and is mindful of me. He has brought me along, a step at a time, and helped boost my self-confidence in my own abilities to do things. He has sent angels, mortal and immortal, to comfort me and lift me up when I was feeling so lost, alone, and wanting to hide from the pain I was feeling. I'm finding out I can do more than I thought I could. I have a saying posted in my kitchen which reads: "I'm STRONG, I'm SMART, I can do HARD things!" That's my new motto--to remind me I can do those things I thought may be impossible for me to tackle. With the help of the Lord and exercising faith, I can do what I need to do. We all can!
I've also learned that the veil is very thin and I have been blessed to feel Ford with me often. I feel very connected to him and know he is watching over me and his family. We were and still are, very important to him and he is nearby making sure we're doing well. We feel him at those special family moments and events when something significant happens to a child or grandchild. We know he's with us and celebrating with us. It's a wonderful thing to have this relationship with him beyond the veil.
I've been called to work as an ordinance worker in the Jordan River Temple and that has been very healing for me. I feel the spirit so strong when I'm there, and I've been promised I would also feel Ford with me, and I have! I have gained strength, insight, and knowledge with the things of eternity, just helping me realize I can and must go on. I am being prepared to be a worthy companion to my sweetheart so we can accomplish great and marvelous things together on the other side, when I finally get to be reunited with him. That definitely helps me stay focused and keep moving forward! My love for him continues to grow and I truly appreciate him and all he went through while here, to be able to stay just a little longer with his family & other loved ones. He is an amazing man! I feel so blessed to be his wife, not only for this life, but for all eternity!
I've learned what awesome children we have raised! They continue to inspire me, love me, care about me, advise me, listen to me, and just be there for me. The Lord has sent us the best of the best when it comes to our children! My love for them also continues to grow and I'm eternally grateful for their unyielding love and support of their mother. They have helped to make this transition without my husband, easier to manage. They can't take the pain away, but they help to ease the burden by their unconditional love and understanding.
My grandchildren have the ability to make me smile through my tears and make me feel so loved by them. I don't know what I'd do without them. They have been my salvation on many occasions. I'm sure they are not even aware when they have come to my rescue by showing me love, giving me a hug, sending me a letter, a text, an email, or giving me a call for whatever the reason may be, but during some of those incidents, I really needed to hear from them or to feel loved by them and they were there!
This journey is long and hard, but also enriching and spiritual. I've learned much and have much more to learn, but will continue doing the best I can because the reward at the end of this mortal life is worth all the pain and struggles I have endured. Being with the ones you love for eternity is the best reward of all! The saying,"I never said it would be easy, I only said it would be worth it!" is true indeed!
For now I'm content with where I'm at and what I'm doing with my life. I love and treasure time spent with my family, making memories together, I absolutely love working in the temple, and I so appreciate and love my friends who keep their loving arms around me as well. I am being watched over by those who are the most important to me; my Heavenly Father & Jesus Christ, my wonderful family, dear friends, and my eteranl companion, Ford! What more could I ask for, I'm truly blessed!

My life without Ford

2011-02-28T23:04:00.000-08:00

It has been well over a year since I last posted on my blog. I started this blog to keep people updated on the health status of my husband, Ford. I obviously haven't been very good at doing this.
Ford's health took a turn for the worse in 2010. Towards the end of May our chemotherapy doctor determined that chemo was no longer helping keep the cancer at bay but was causing him more health issues. He was constantly in pain and very ill most of the time. We stopped chemo and he continued to sprial downward. It was very hard to watch him slowly lose momentum and decline in not only his health, but his physical body as well. The cancer was eating him away to nothing.
I wrote a book about his battle with cancer these past 11 years entitled, "Our Journey of Hope." I was able to finish it and get it printed for him to see the finished product and read it before he left us. I'm grateful for that experience and that I have his story written for our posterity and anyone else who may benefit from reading our book. I have a website that tells about the book, comments from some who have read it, and also a place to purchase it if one desires. My website is www.reederjourneyofhope.com for anyone who reads this and is interested in learning more. It was a labor of love and our whole family participated by sharing with the reader important lessons they have learned with their father and grandfather's cancer.

Ford went home on October 25, 2010 around 11:25 pm. All of his children were surrounding his bed and I was next to him. It was heartbreaking for each of us, yet, there came a calm feeling in our bedroom after we had sobbed our hearts out for our great loss. We could feel the spirit so strong and knew we were not alone, but had angels, family members from the other side, there to comfort us in our time of need. It was a very sacred experience and one none of us will ever forget. Our children really stepped up to the plate to help take care of things after his passing and lovingly watch over me to make sure I was doing okay. I know Ford was so pleased with each one of them! I certainly was! His funeral was on the 29th and again, our children stepped up and did a marvelous job. Each one of them participated in some way as well as our "other" children, their spouses. It was a very beautiful and fitting tribute to a "Man among Men" who lived a good life and meant so much to so many! He has touched more lives than even he can imagine. We all miss him dearly and I struggle every day to try and move on without him by my side. This is a very new and uncomfortable situation I find myself in now, but I know I want to be with him again. I will strive to be the very best person I can be so I will be worthy of that celestial blessing. I know he is close and is watching over his family. I have felt his sweet spirit at different times which brings peace and comfort to my soul. I'm grateful for the good days I can get through without a lot of tears and sadness. When the bad days come, I just have to give myself permission to grieve and then pray for the light of a better day to follow. The Lord has been very mindful of me and blessed me in so many ways. I feel His love for me and know He is carrying me at this time. I love Him, I love my family and many friends who are helping me get through this one day at a time. Without them I couldn't do it, not with much success anyway. You definitely need a strong support group to be there for you when you go through a major loss such as this. I'm extremely grateful for mine and love them very much!

So now I try to keep moving forward, baby steps right now, but hopefully even that will improve and I'll be able to take larger steps in the near future. I'm thankful for the gospel and the reassurance it brings that our family is eternal and this life is not the end. We have eternity to enjoy with each other, never to be separated again! I look forward to that time when my sweetheart and love of my life and I will be reunited. What a glorious day that will be! For now I'll just keep on keeping on because that is what Ford would want me to do. He has made me a better person with the life we have shared in mortality and I know there is much more for me to learn and be taught here and in the next life. Ford gets a headstart so he can teach me the things I need to know there when I join him. Thank you Ford, for being the wonderful husband, father, and grandfather you have been in this life. Keep watching over us and guiding us so we can all make it back home and be together throughout all eternity. My heart is yours and my love is forever!

This was the day we left our island to fly back to the main island & then fly home.

2009-07-21T19:13:00.000-07:00

Ford & I in a 2-man kyak on the ocean close to our beach near our resort. You could see the fish very clearly in the water below the surface.

2009-07-21T19:11:00.000-07:00

Jeff & I went down a natural rock/water slide in the jungle. We hiked close to the top of the rock falls & slid down-talk about fun!

2009-07-21T19:07:00.000-07:00

This is what our island looked like-white sandy beaches & crystal clear, blue waters. The beaches are pretty much undisturbed as you can.

2009-07-21T19:03:00.000-07:00

Beautiful waterfall we hiked to-this is our group in the foreground

2009-07-21T19:01:00.000-07:00

We got 2 cakes-one was for my birthday & the other one was for our Anniversary

2009-07-21T19:00:00.000-07:00

This was our house gecko-they bring good luck & more importantly, eat the bugs in your room!

2009-07-21T18:58:00.000-07:00

The 3 of us dressed up in our sulus (skirts)

2009-07-21T18:48:00.000-07:00

Our trip to Fiji

2009-07-21T18:03:00.000-07:00

On March 19, 2009, our 39th wedding anniversary, the miracles happened for us to take our vacation to Fiji. Jeff went w/us along w/Ford's sister, her family & a couple of her husband's siblings w/their families. We had quite the adventure! The most important thing was that we did have a very enjoyable time. We really loved the people of Fiji! They were very giving, hospitable people, eager to do what they could to make you happy & comfortable. Fiji is a very lush, tropical jungle type area, anyway, the island we stayed on was that way. It is also pretty remote and is not as modernized as one would think. There was no electricity on the island, the power source were diesel generators. A lot of the Fijians didn't even own those because of the expense to run one. The resort we stayed at had 2 generators & they ran 24/7 for which we were very grateful because it was terribly HOT & HUMID!!!! We felt we needed to take a shower as soon as we stepped out of our bure (bungalow) each day & we had just showered before leaving it. Ford was able to cope with his pain, he didn't get his pain pump installed before we left, but did get it taken care of in April after we returned home. He didn't do a lot of sightseeing because of his situation, but he rested a lot which was something he needed to do so it worked out for him. This island, called Tavenui, was pretty impoverished, but the people were a very happy group. Their poor circumstances didn't bother them. We were there for 8 days. I have posted some pictures of some of the things we did and saw while there. Hope you enjoy them! Bula! (their greeting for "hello or good-bye", but its real meaning is "happy life"!)

2009-02-07T17:44:00.000-08:00

It has been awhile since I last updated my blog. Actually, I have had trouble remembering how to access my blog, that's how long it has been since I wrote. Yikes! I am going to write down my info this time so I can remember it a little sooner. Jaren, I hope you keep checking my blog, because I finally am able to update it. Thanks for checking on it for me.
Ford's cancer has now spread to both lungs, which has been a shock to us all! Surgery is not an option, so our only choice is to do chemo. In the past, chemo has been ineffective in shrinking or destroying the cancerous tumors, but our oncologist told us that there is a new chemo drug, just 7-8 months old that has been proven to be very effective in treating tumors in areas where they can't be surgically removed. We are hopeful this drug may help to kill/maintain the tumors located in Ford's lungs. The problem is Ford still has an open wound from his cancer surgery last April when they removed his tailbone & all else they could find. Yes, it has been almost a year since that surgery & he still is trying to heal from it. Unbelievable I know, but he had so much radiation from the surgery done in that area the first time, that the damage has really taken a toll on the healing process. We just got him approved for hyperbaric treatments, where he goes into a pressurized chamber, does a dive(as if he were scuba diving under water only there is no water involved, just the pressure) & pure oxygen flows into the chamber for him to breathe. He has to wear this big plastic type hood that seals around his neck & they pump the oxygen into his hood. He takes little breaks about every 30 minutes, where they remove the hood & he can breathe regular air, then back under the hood he goes. He is in the chamber for 2 hours. He goes for these treatments 5 days a week-Mon.-Fri. for 30 treatments or 6 weeks, unless the wound happens to close before the 6 weeks are up. We are praying that is what will happen with Ford. We have a trip pending on the wound healing, getting his chronic pain under control, & hoping to have a pain pump surgically inserted in his back which would numb the pain in that area. It will take several miracles to make this all come to pass before March 19th, our 39th Anniversary & our take-off date to fly to Fiji with some family members & their friends. What do you think the odds are for this all coming to pass? Probably slim, but I'm a firm believer in miracles! Ford has had a lot of pain due to the fact that his body has, we believe, become tolerant to the pain meds he is on. That is normal when you are on the same pain meds & the same dose over a long period of time, which is the case with him. We are hoping to get that resolved with our next visit to our pain management Drs. They really haven't listened to what we've been trying to tell them about Ford's pain, but this next time, I will make sure they understand just how bad the pain has been & if they refuse to do anything about it, we will be looking for another pain management group to help us! I will not continue to see my husband suffer because of his pain that should be better controlled than it has been!
Moving on: We had a wonderful experience on the 16th of December. We had been to see the Kurt Bestor concert, which is one of our Christmas traditions in December, & lo & behold, who should be seated directly in front of us on row 8(we were obviously on row 9 right in the center of Abravenel Hall) but President Dietier F. Uchtdorf of the First Presidency of our church! That's not all, behind us & down a few seats were seated Elder Dallin H. Oaks & his wife. Directly behind us was Kurt Bestor's parents, & seated right next to Ford was Kurt Bestor's pregnant wife. Did we have good seats or what?! Anyway, that was on the 10th of Dec. & during intermission we visited with Pres. Uchtdorf & his lovely wife. They were very warm & easy to speak to. The next morning our phone rang & the voice on the other end of the telephone identified herself as Elaine, Pres. Uchtdorf's secretary. I nearly keeled over. She chatted w/me for a few minutes about the performance the evening before & then told me that Pres. Uchtdorf would like to visit w/Ford & me in his office downtown. I said: "Why?" She then told me that our son, Jeff, who had also been w/us the night before w/one of his friends, had slipped a note to the Uchtdorf's briefly explaining what his dad had been through & what he was continuing to go through, asking them to please pray for his father, Ford Reeder. Well, Pres. Uchtdorf put his name on her desk the following morning & told her to find him, give him a call, & make an appointment for us to visit w/him, which she did. We made the appointment for the following Tuesday at 11:00, on the 16th. That is a day I shall never forget! We were able to spend 30 uninterrupted minutes talking with an apostle of the Lord! He was very warm & caring, wanting to know Ford's history w/colon cancer & wanting to know about our family, church callings, how we were dealing with the disease & all we have been through. There wasn't enough time to tell him everything we have been through with cancer, but I think he got the point of the extent of our challenge. It has been long, overwhelming at times, a lot of pain & suffering has been involved & still is, & yet, it has also been a spiritual journey for us because of all the miracles that have taken place to keep Ford here & the loving tender mercies sent to us by a very loving & understanding Father who knows what we are up against. He lets us know that we are never alone! He is always near, watching over us & blessing us with what we need. If it hadn't been for cancer, we wouldn't have experienced all the spiritual extras that we have had in our life since Ford was diagnosed in Oct. of 1999. We do have much to be grateful for! Our visit with Pres. Uchtdorf was the highlight of the whole year of 2008, not to mention a wonderful Christmas gift to us both, another tender mercy from our Heavenly Father!
I think that about sums things up for me to this point. I hope I can keep my blog updated a little better from now on. Things are still uncertain, but thanks to the love & support of our family & friends & the power of the Priesthood righteously administered by our sons on their father's behalf, we know that even though tough times are ahead, we will make it through & the Lord will determine the outcome of it all! We place our faith & trust in Him!!

Update on Ford

2008-10-19T19:03:00.000-07:00

I felt it was time to do a little update on Ford's progress. His wound is continuing to heal, which is still amazing to everyone who has worked w/him. The wound is very small now, but still has some depth to it. The pain is the bigger issue. The longer he goes having severe pain to deal with makes it more possible that it will end up being the chronic pain I mentioned in my post about his cancer history. We are seeing a pain management Dr. tomorrow morning to see what he has to offer to better help Ford control his pain. Since my last posting, Ford has also been to sleep labs to determine if he indeed has sleep apnea, which has proven positive, a mild case of it, but they still want him to use the Cpap machine at night to help him have more oxygen & be able to breathe & sleep better during the night. He has been using the machine for more than a week now, & he still is not real happy about wearing the mask at night. He wakes up at night w/different problems that interrupt his sleep, so I'm not sure that he is resting any better since being on the machine. They did warn him that it would take a little while for him to get used to it, but once he did, he wouldn't want to be w/out it. Right now I think he would beg to differ w/them about that one! We have visited w/our Oncologist, Dr. Nibley, & he is monitoring Ford's CEA count. It has been slowly going up again, which gives us some cause for concern. The number is still in the single digits, so the Dr. is not overly concerned, but w/Ford, his CEA count has never been very high, even when he had full blown cancer. When his count starts moving up we take notice & try to decide what we should be doing to prevent another large tumor from showing up & then it taking almost a year to recover from that surgery, which is what has happened this go around. We have questions, we are trying to find the right answers to them, but so far it has been slow going. Ford is in pretty good spirits, he continues to work every chance he gets, inspite of his pain, & he is determined to do whatever he needs to to beat this cancer. I'm grateful for his attitude & wanting to continue the fight, because this one has been tough on him & at times he's not so sure he can keep going, but then he does! He is a strong man & the Lord has blessed him beyond measure, for which we are all very grateful for!
Well, that is my update on my sweet husband & again, we are very thankful for all the prayers that continue to be said in his behalf- thank you so much!!! Will write more when there is more news to be shared!

The camel riders

2008-08-28T07:32:00.000-07:00

I had to post pictures of us riding the camels-that was a highlight for us-Jeff would have shipped one home if he could have figured out a way to do it! Jeff @ Gaza on his camel.
This was also at Gaza. I was just getting ready to go up on my camel- we also rode camels at Petra in front of the treasury building. They really weren't that uncomfortable to ride.

Jeff & I continue on to Jordan & Egypt

2008-08-28T07:07:00.001-07:00

This is the treasury at Petra-these buildings were carved out of the rocks in this canyon-This place was incredible! A whole civilization lived down in these rocks thousands of yrs. ago!
This is the area on Indiana Jones-"The Last Crusade", where they ride the horses out of Petra-
Jeff & I all dressed up for Egyptian night on our cruise ship gliding down the Nile River-
These are the 3 pyramids of Gaza, just outside the city limits of Cairo. They were very impressive!
Jeff & I posing in front of the Mosque of Mohammad Ali in Cairo-no, not the boxer!

Our trip to Israel in October of 2007

2008-08-27T18:01:00.001-07:00

Ford & I in Caesarea next to the Mediterranean Sea-it was lovely there!
Floating in the Dead Sea w/friends Tammy & Tara from our tour group-
This is what a manger looks like-Christ was laid in this type of manger when he was born-
This is the Dome of the Rock on Temple Square in Old Jerusalem-Ford's wearing his hat-
Jeff, me, & Ford on the Mount of Olives in the place they call Gethsemane-

Baby Ducks are hatched

2008-08-25T18:33:00.000-07:00

I found this nest by our front porch on April 21, '08
This mallard "momma" had 12 baby ducklings on May 23, '08

We kept a vigilant watch over her nest whenever she was gone feeding.

History of Ford & his fight w/colon cancer

2008-08-22T19:07:00.000-07:00

On October 28, 1999 Ford was diagnosed w/colon cancer. He went into surgery on Nov. 3rd to have it removed. During the surgery Dr. Clark Rasmussen found that the cancer had spread through the colon wall into the lymph nodes, then in the blood stream to the liver. His cancer was a level 4, the highest stage for this type of cancer. He was given 12-18 months to live. That was very difficult to hear when the Dr. gave us the news. We all cried together! He did almost 7 months of chemotherapy after he recovered from that first surgery. He finished chemo the end of June, in July he went back in for another colonoscopy only to find out the cancer had come back in his colon. He went back to surgery in August of 2000 to have that tumor removed. Dr. Rasmussen performed that surgery as well. It was decided that Ford wouldn't need to do anymore chemo at that time since the last round of chemo did very little or nothing to prevent the cancer from reappearing. It was obviously growing while he was on chemo. After that surgery he developed an incisional hernia from surgery #2, so he had to do surgery again to repair the hernia. It was a same-day surgery so he wasn't in the hospital overnight. He rebuilt his strength & was feeling pretty good when he went in for a Petscan. It showed 3 "hotspots" on his liver. Each spot was in a different place. One was at the top of his liver w/a small part of it lapping over onto the 2nd lobe, that was the largest spot. Then the next one was located mid-way on his liver on the edge. The last one was the smallest & it was located at the bottom tip of his liver. Dr. Rasmussen told us that these tumors on his liver were out of his league. He didn't feel confident enough to operate on all 3 areas where the tumors were located. He recommended Dr. Brent Christensen to do that surgery. We went & visited w/him about Ford's situation & after looking at the Petscan he said he felt he could safely remove all 3 tumors w/out causing major damage to the liver. The liver does regenerate itself, so as long as he didn't have to remove tissue from both lobes of the liver it should be all right. Ford went in for cancer surgery #3 in August of 2001. The Dr. was able to remove all 3 tumors, the one at the top being the hardest one because it did overlap a little onto the other lobe, but all went well. We met w/a radiologist oncologist when he was healed to see if he thought radiation might be an option. He didn't feel that was the right thing to do at this time, so we were very happy NOT to do any radiation. Ford had a reprieve from surgeries for 2 years, but then in October of 2003 he had more cancer in his colon & questionable spots in his abdomen area. Again Dr. Christensen was consulted. He said since we knew the cancer was back in his colon, that would need to be taken out & while he was in there he would check out the spots in his abdomen & see what they were. If they turned out to be cancer, then he was going to close him back up after he took out the cancer in his colon, if it proved not to be cancer, then he would be with us a while longer. He also decided to do interoperative radiation in the pelvic & colon area, while Ford was still opened up, then follow up w/more radiation after he had healed. This surgery, #4, was the most difficult one for me to handle.
When they had wheeled Ford away into surgery, the Dr. came to see me & told me to pray for a long surgery, otherwise, it meant that the spots on his abdomen were cancer & there would be nothing he could do to save Ford. I was a nervous wreck as we waited for the outcome. My children had always been w/me during the other surgeries, but this time our daughter Natalie was at Disneyland w/her family and in-laws. She was willing to come home for the surgery but we told her not to, that we would be just fine. Our other daughter, Tina, had just had a baby & wasn't up to traveling that distance, 10 hours or more, w/a brand new baby & her other 4 children. We told her to stay home & take care of her family. Our 3 sons were w/me plus an adopted son, Nick Frost, & some dear friends, Mike & Jan Weiss. I think my brother, Doug, may have come for part of the wait, but I'm not sure. If he did, he wasn't able to stay the whole time. That was probably the last surgery. It's hard to keep track of all the details when you continue to go through this again & again.
Anyway, it was around 7:00 pm when they took Ford to surgery. At about 2:00 or 3:00 am the Dr. sought us out, we were the only ones in the waiting room at this point, & told us that he wasn't able to close him because he was bleeding so badly. The surgery had gone well, the spots were NOT cancer after all, & they had taken him to the radiology department to do the radiation after the cancer in his colon had been removed. They found out that the cancer had orginated in the pelvic area this time & grown into the colon. They had him on a breathing machine & kept him out until the Dr. could finish the surgery the next day. It had been one of the longest days of my life! I was totally wiped out, but so very grateful that the surgery had indeed been a long one. Prayers had been answered one more time! He was in the hospital for 18 days that time. Both of our daughters did come see their dad in the hospital, much to our surprise. Natalie came by on their way home from California & Tina came w/her family because she couldn't stand not being there for her dad knowing he had gone through so much & wasn't out of the woods yet. In the process of the surgery, his uterer tube had been cut, so the Dr. could get down into the pelvis to remove the cancer that was there. The urologist was called in to sew the tube back together. A few days later we realized that the tube had broken in the middle & urine was flowing into his other cavities, which was not a good thing. They had to take him down to the radiation department again, & this time they put a drain tube coming out of his back, going into the kidney that had been affected by the tube breaking. He came home with that tube in his back. We'd have to go back to the hospital once a month to replace the tube so the skin wouldn't grow over it. We did that twice. When he had healed from the surgery, 2 months later he was back in the hospital to have that kidney removed completely. It was the week before Christmas. Dr. Deckett was the urologist who performed that surgery. He was able to do it by taking the kidney out through a few small incisions in his back instead of having to be cut open & doing major surgery. We were in the hospital only 3 days. I was afraid we would end up there for Christmas, but again we were blessed & able to be home w/our family for the holidays. In January Ford did radiation for 6 weeks, Mon.-Fri.. The side effects were minimal, compared to the side effects he experienced doing chemo after the first surgery.
He got another 2 year break from cancer. In 2005 he went in for another scan & they found a spot on the bottom tip of his liver, close to where the other tumor had been. In October of that same year Dr. Christensen again did surgery to remove it. That was probably our easiest cancer surgery. He was in the hospital for only a week & recovered fairly quickly. This was surgery #5 for cancer removal. In March of 2007 Ford's CEA count started to elevate. The CEA count is what measures abnormal cell growth in your body which may indicate there is cancer. Cancer patients have their blood drawn every few months or so to check their CEA counts. When Ford's started going up, Dr. Christensen ordered a Petscan for him, which showed a couple of small spots in the pelvic area once again. He couldn't be sure it was cancer & there was no way to test the spots to find out, so we took a "wait & see" approach. His CEA count continued to go up but the spots remained the same size, not changing at all. We were all pretty frustrated because we were getting mixed signals of what was going on. By this time we were back in touch w/our oncologist, Dr. Nibley, at the Huntsman Cancer Clinic. By the end of Oct. Ford was experiencing sharp pain in his pelvic area & he felt ill, which has never been the case w/him before when we knew the cancer was back. Something was terribly wrong! Ford suggested they do an MRI instead of a Petscan to see if that showed anything different. Our oncologist finally agreed & it revealed a tumor, oblong in shape about the size of an egg, located on the base of his tailbone, not the area where the small spots had been, but close to it. Dr. Nibley felt Ford should do some chemotherapy to try & shrink the tumor before he opted for surgery. Our surgeon, Dr. Christensen, wasn't even sure he could safely remove the tumor because of its location. So he agreed to do more chemo. He started the day after Christmas. This was an altogether different type of chemo from the first go around. There were 2 new drugs added to the old drugs he had used before. One of the drugs caused neuropathy which could become permanent if it was used too long. Both new drugs were supposed to speed up the shrinking process of the tumor & had been successful in most of the patients who had used that drug combination. This chemotherapy was the hardest thing on Ford. He was so sick! It's hard to even describe how bad it was. After the 2nd treatment, I was worried that if he continued doing this & at the same drug dosage each time, that it would end up killing Ford, literally! The neuropathy was pretty intense. It didn't help matters that we were experiencing a colder than normal winter. The cold is what triggered the neuropathy & caused him to get shocked, have sharp stabbing pains in his feet, tingling sensations in his finger tips to the point of not being able to feel the tips of his fingers & so on. It was brutal!! He lost his appetite, started losing weight, had no energy at all, but still he kept trying to work. We had to buy him new coats, gloves, warm shirts, the very best we could find that would keep him warm when he was outside since his work required him to be outside measuring homes. Jeff stepped up to help him out & did the house measuring outside for Ford. He got some fast lessons in putting appraisals together & doing whatever else he could to help his dad out. Ford was just too sick to be able to do it all himself. I kept notes of all Ford's side effects & when we went to see the oncologist again, I read him all that Ford had gone through. He was shocked to find out how sick Ford had been. He cut the one drug out for 4 weeks, the neuropathy causing one, & reduced the other drugs to 50% strength. After that happened he was able to tolerate the treatments better. They wanted Ford to try & make at least 8 treatments before he quit. After treatment #4 they did another MRI only to find out that the tumor had not shrunk! We were devastated! The pain he had been experiencing prior to the treatments had gone away, so the chemo must have helped to eliminate that, but the tumor hadn't changed . They took his case to the Cancer Tumor Board & presented it to the other Cancer Drs. & Radiologists, all who had a lot of experience with different types of cancer. The board opted for Ford to stop the chemotherapy & get ready for surgery. In the meantime, Ford had gone through 2 more treatments making a total of 6. He was only too happy to stop the treatments & prepare for surgery. We visited w/Dr. Christensen again & this time he thought he could take the tumor out, but he would need to remove Ford's tailbone to do it. It took 6 weeks before they could do surgery so the drugs could get out of his system & allow the blood flow back to the cancer site. That was necessary to help with the healing process after the surgery. The other new drug used on Ford stopped the flow of blood to the tumor enabling it to shrink from lack of blood supply. Only it didn't seem to have quite the same effect on Ford's tumor. Finally on April 21st of this year, 2008, Ford went in for his 6th cancer surgery. The Dr. ended up taking not only his tailbone, but the bottom 2 vertabraes on his sacrum, & all the surrounding tissue around the tumor. There was cancer in everything they took out. They couldn't get clear margins this time, since everything was taken out that could be removed & all that was left were the important body parts that Ford needed to still function like his bladder, back bone, & nerves. During the surgery some of his nerves were cut & damaged which is still causing him some problems even now. We don't know if the damage is permanent or is the nerve endings will heal in time. We are desparately hoping for the latter.
Since his surgery in April, his wound which is located on his backside(bottom area) got infected. I was irrigating the wound out twice a day for a while. The Dr. realized it wasn't getting any better, so he took Ford back to surgery again, reopened him, cleaned out the infection & put a wound VAC in the wound. He had to carry a pump around w/him 24/7 for almost 6 weeks, trying to heal the wound. The cavity was so large when I saw it after the second surgery, that I was fearful that it would take forever to heal it shut. That was not an exaggeration! The wound tech & our surgeon thought it would NEVER heal because of the extensive tissue damage done from the radiation he received after surgery #4 in his pelvic area. They were just putting the wound VAC on to keep it from getting larger. We found that out after week #4 w/the VAC. But, once again, prayers were heard & answered because his wound did respond to the VAC & started healing faster than they ever imagined it would. They also put him on oxygen at night to improve the healing process since they discovered he had a little sleep apnea going on. This pretty much brings me up to date with Ford. Two weeks ago he was able to have the wound VAC taken off because the wound was too small for it & now I'm back to taking care of it, changing the bandages twice a day & keeping the area as clean as possible. We were going into LDS hospital 3 times a week, Mon., Wed., & Fri., & now we only have to go once a week to have them clean it thoroughly, measure it to see how the healing is going, & make sure progress is still being made. What a journey this surgery has been! Ford was only in the hospital for 4 days after the surgery, which has been the shortest stay for a cancer surgery, but the recovery has been terrible! He still has severe pain that has not lessened any in the last 4 months from the surgery in April. He is still on pain meds to help him tolerate the pain & function as much as he can. If the nerve damage ends up being permanent, he may end up with chronic pain because of it. Not a pleasant or happy thought!! He still has problems being able to sit for any length of time. It hurts after about 15 minutes or more, depending on how much pain medication he has in him. He is far from being over the surgery & recovery. I have faith that the Lord will help him to heal completely, it may just take more time. He has blessed Ford so much in these past 9 years that he has fought cancer & we have witnessed miracle after miracle in his behalf. The Lord is the reason Ford is still w/us!!! I thank Him every day for my husband! We are so grateful for all the prayers that have been said for him & for our family as well. It means more than people will ever know! We love you all!
Now that I have brought everyone up to speed on how Ford is doing, I will try to continue to give new updates on his condition as things change. Whew! This was quite the epistle! I'll try not to be so long-winded from now on! I didn't even share all the details of the past 9 years. That would make a book! Bye for now!

2008-08-22T19:01:00.000-07:00

These are our 2 grandsons born after our family photo-top: Wyatt Reeder & bottom: Nate Beus

Our lovely family minus 2 grandchildren

2008-08-22T18:11:00.000-07:00

Let me introduce our family:

Top row-l to r: Jaren Ashby, Kassy Reeder, Jason Reeder, Dianne, Ford, Jesse Beus, Jeff Reeder, & Jordan Beus

Middle row: Amber Ashby, Travis Ashby, Cohlton Reeder, Porter Reeder, Duane Beus, & Nick Beus

Seated on the ground: Ethan Ashby, Natalie Ashby, Ashley Reeder, Justin Reeder, Tina Beus, Cassidee Beus, & Chrissy Beus

Since that picture was taken we have added 2 more grandsons- Wyatt Reeder, son of Jason & Kassy, & Nate Beus, son of Tina & Duane