Me Being Sick!

By Saturday night on August 6th I was feeling absolutely terrible. I went to bed early hoping I'd feel better in the morning. Before I went to bed I told Richard how bad I felt. I was having a hard time climbing our stairs. By the time I'd get to the top of the stairs I was dizzy, out of breath and my heart was racing, plus my limbs felt like led. Not a good feeling. I think I kind of freaked him out. We are not used to me being really sick. I just kept pushing it aside thinking I'd feel better the next day. But really, I was getting worse.

So I woke up Sunday morning still feeling terrible. Richard called his mom to have her come over right away so he could take me to the hospital. I kept telling him that that was silly. But luckily, he didn't listen to me. So away we went to Raymond Emergency. They took me very seriously and did a whole bunch of tests on me. A ECG, a chest x-ray a bunch of blood tests and more. Then we waited for the doctor. It was Dr. Greg Smith. He came in and told us that my hemoglobin (so my blood) was own to 92. Normal is 120 or above. I found out that I'm normally at 150. So that explains why I felt so terrible. He said that I was bleeding internally. He said he wasn't too concerned that it was probably just a stomach ulcer. But the puzzling piece was that I was experiencing no pain in my stomach area, which is odd if I had an ulcer. None the less, he gave me medicine to help with that and told me to take it easy for a while and not do anything strenuous so my body could rebuild it's blood.

So we came home and I had a nap. Shelly had taken the kids to Cardston, so that made it nice and quiet at home. I ended up with a really weird but very painful headache later in the afternoon. So bad that I was in tears. We called the hospital and I talked to the ER nurse and she told me to come back in. Richard was getting very worried and asked if I wanted a healing blessing and I said yes. So he called our neighbour, Rod Foggin to come over and help with the blessing.

It was a very comforting blessing and in it I was promised that I would fully heal, but that it was going to be a long road. I wasn't sure what that meant and neither was Richard but we both felt very peaceful after the blessing.

Went back to the hospital and they ended up giving me a shot of morphine to help with the headache which it did. We came home and I went to bed. Woke up the next day and just took it easy. My family rallied together and came up with a plan that would help me with my kids. Mikah and Shaylee phoned and asked if they could both come back with Chase and stay at our house and they would take care of the kids. Of course, we said yes. They got here on Wednesday morning. Loved having them here. Plus Mikah has her licence so she was driving everywhere. I ended up sending them all to Lethbridge that day to get groceries. They were a HUGE help! Plus they kept the kids busy and happy!

I couldn't lay flat because of my headaches, so Richard came home with a new recliner. He's so sweet!

Mikah and Shaylee taking all my kids and going shopping!

They got a bunch of candy for a movie night! Ha ha! Crazy kids!

Well on Thursday I was feeling worse. So much so that I was in tears that afternoon. I just felt terrible. Richard came home and took me into Raymond. They did my blood test and found I had dropped down to 82. That made them concerned. So I ended up going in the ambulance (Richard rode with me) to Lethbridge, where a specialist met us in the ER. By this time I had a horrible headache again. They gave me morphine through an IV. The specialist admitted me into the hospital and told me I was going to have a scope done the next morning.

They took me up to my room and got me situated. Richard stayed for a bit, but I just kept falling asleep cause I was kind of out of it with the morphine. So he ended up going home. My dad had to come in and give him a ride home.

The next morning I was still in a lot of pain with this piercing headache. They wouldn't give me anything because I was going for the scope. Luckily I was one of the first patients with the scope. They got me and the nurses felt bad cause I was crying. So as we were waiting for me to go in, they got me cold wash cloths and put them around me head. It felt better and I was able to close my eyes and almost fall asleep (I had a terrible sleep that night).

They did the scope and took me back upstairs to my room, where Richard was waiting for me. The dr had told me that he'd be right up to explain what was going on. Well we waited and waited and nothing. The nurse came in and asked me to drink this special water because they were taking me down for a CAT Scan in an hour and a half.

To make a very long story a bit shorter, they found in the CAT Scan that I have a tumor in my stomach and also a tumor behind my stomach surrounded by swollen lymph nodes. Kind of shocking. Especially when the Dr is explaining this to us and how he took a biopsy of the tumor in my stomach and sent it off to be analyzed. Both Richard and I were very shocked. The Dr. said that I needed to clear my calender for the rest of the summer and all of fall because this was not going to be a short road we were headed on. He didn't know if it was cancerous or not but he suspected that it is. We were both pretty devastated. It took a few days for it to really hit me. Not the news that we were expecting, that's for sure.

He told us that he's keeping me in the hospital until my blood levels start to go up. So I was in the hospital for 5 days. It's not very fun staying in the hospital. Being poked all the time, and woken up from a dead sleep in the middle of the nights!!

I always had a cold cloth or an ice pack on my head. Really helped!

I was freezing in the hospital, until Richard brought me these awesome, bacon and egg slippers!

Yay I finally get to eat something solid!

As you can see, I was very happy!

And there I am with the ice pack on my head! Ha ha!

My kids were pretty worried about me. They came and visited me on Saturday. Poor DJ wouldn't even come close to me. He was upset and worried and his whole body was shaking. I finally got him to come give me a hug. Then he warmed up to me. Makes me sad to see my kids so worried an upset over me. I loved having them visit me and we had fun laughing and telling stories! Then they had to go! Our families have been amazing in taking care of our kids. I haven't had to worry about them. I knew they were being taken care of. They've had a lot of fun with cousins and grandparents! I'm so very grateful to everyone!

Jill and Mikah taking my kids bridge jumping!

David jumping with Mikah and Shaylee!

I loved getting all these awesome pictures from everyone! My kids had so much fun!

I had lots of visitors on Sunday too and then on Monday DJ and Jill came over and hung out with me for a bit. Oh on Sunday my kids came again and brought me some yummy salads to eat! That made me very happy! I was finally able to eat something.

Brianna and Abbi, when they visited me on Sunday! Love my kids!!

DJ being so goofy on my hospital bed, with my stuffy!! ha ha!

Peek a boo! Loved hearing him laugh!!

So I came home Monday evening. My girls had gone to Cardston to spend time with Shaylee and Mikah at the Stewart Farm. They had so much fun out there! I loved hearing all their crazy things that they did! Crazy girls! Ha ha!

We came to pick up DJ after I got out of the hospital. He was having fun playing basketball with his Uncle David!

My ward has been amazing. Really, I'm blown away with how much people have stepped up and helped us. I've had people message me and send me uplifting posts and texts. Its really been amazing! Plus I haven't had to worry about meals at all. So that helps a lot too. Makes it possible for me to rest and take it easy. Cause that's what I needed to do. I had to call and quit the Handi Bus and then I had to find a full time sub for my school bus and get it OKd by Westwinds Division. Which they did, so that's good. Now it's just taking it day by day and waiting for our next step.

First Week in August!

Not a very exciting title for my post. Wasn't sure what to call it! I have to say that August was a super crazy month for us. A lot of unexpected things came up that we didn't see at all. Anyways, before we get to all that I thought I'd write about what we did in that first week. I was trying to do fun things with the kids whenever I could.

I drove the handi-bus a few times that first week. The kids usually jumped on with me and came for the ride. One time we dropped a guy off at the hospital with his daughter. We ran and did our shopping at Walmart and then grabbed some lunch and ate at a new park we found. Oh we had Jasmine with us that day too. We had fun in the store. The kids were a little bit crazy!! Funny to see them have so much fun with their cousins.

We all grabbed McDonalds and I told them to be patient and we'd go eat at the park. It was only 5 minutes away. So away we went. We ate our lunch and the kids ran around and had so much fun. It had exercise equipment that they had fun playing on too! Then I got the call to go pick up the people from the hospital. We were only 5 minutes away. So away we went.

She really wanted to treat the kids to ice cream. So we stopped at Dairy Queen and all my kids ran in to the restaurant with the lady. She was super nice. I just reminded them as they were going out to use their manners. They did very well! They came running back with these huge ice cream cones. They were happy kids!

This whole week I wasn't feeling a 100% at all. I kept thinking that I was fighting off a nasty cold or something. I just had no energy at all! Plus if I had a chance I'd fall asleep for a nap whenever I could. Which isn't normal for me. I did a bunch of driving so I always made sure I had lots of gum to chew to keep me awake plus the kids would chat with me too. That helped too!

I got a call from Lisa on Wednesday asking if they could come camping at our place. I told her that was fine. I also said that she could use our trailer. We'd just pull it over beside Justin's trailer. They made it so we can plug our trailers in, which is super nice. Then she asked if they could bring some friends with them. They have a motor home that they were driving down. They'd be here in 3 hrs. I said that was fine.

Well I had to drive handi-bus in the morning and get some things in Lethbridge after. Then we came back around 4pm and I had to hurry and clean our trailer. By this time I was exhausted, a little sick to my stomach and very weak. I called Richard but he was not around, he was busy working in a different town. So then I noticed that Eric and Justin were there building on David's place (That's another story to tell!!). I pulled up and went and talked to them. They were more then happy to help me. The kids unloaded the escalade and put things away in the house. I got the trailer ready and hooked it up. Justin grabbed the water hose and filled it up with water. Then I pulled it over and I let them unhook it and set it up. I was going to be sick by that point. I hurried back home and layed down for a bit. Then I made an easy supper for my kids and I.

We went out to see everyone out there camping. My kids had so much fun playing with their cousins and making new friends. They ran around like crazy till 10pm. We sat by the fire and visited while the kids played! Then we headed inside to bed.

Thursday the kids and I had to do a quick bus run in the morning. We were able to get new shoes for all of them for school. Then we headed back. It was a super hot day out so we decided to go bridge jumping with everyone. They wanted to float down first. DJ was not for that. So he and I drove up to the bridge and waited. He likes playing in the water under the bridge. Everyone had fun floating and then took turns jumping!

There goes our big group down the canal!

There's my girls and Jasmine floating down together.

DJ thought it was cool to ride in Uncle Brian's Jeep!

My crazy group on the way home!

It was so hot out that we decided to try and make a water slide down our hill. Brian helped me set things up an we got it going. We had to dump a lot of dish soap on the plastic to make it work. The kids played on it for hours. It was a huge hit. I had to go inside and rest because I was so done!

After the slide we went into town to get snowbobs to help cool us down. Yummy!

That evening we set up the archery stuff and everyone had fun taking turns shooting the bows and arrows. I was in charge and had to get kind of strict about the boys shooting the bows straight up in the air. I actually told one of the boys (Lisa's friend boy) if he did it one more time he was done. Well his mom didn't like that but I didn't care. I had already told them all not to do it! But over all it was fun. My kids were super tired and we had a complete melt down with Brianna and DJ. So much so that I had to basically drag him into the house screaming. Then Brianna and him started screaming horrible names to each other and she hit him. So needless to say it was bed time! I was ready to wash Brianna's mouth out with soap cause I was so upset about the things she called her brother. But we had a really good talk and she had a good cry and so did DJ and they hugged each other and me and apologized. Oh fun times!

Brianna, DJ and Cadence doing archery!

Friday I decided we needed a little break from the other kids. So I took my kids into Lethbridge and did some shopping and then took them to the movie, "Finding Dory"! It was a huge hit. They all loved it. We went with my mom and met David and Jill there. It was a lot of fun!

We came home and my kids wanted to do the waterslide after supper. So we got the water going and they had a blast going down and getting all muddy! Then we went down to the creek so they could clean off. Over all it was a very fun day. I love hanging out with my family!

Cadence flying down the slide and DJ ready to catch her!

Oops he missed her! Ha ha! She was so muddy!

The kids had so much fun going up and down again!

Cadence flying down the slip and slide!

Abbi's turn! So happy!

DJ liked the slow approach! But still had so much fun!

Brianna spraying water everywhere!

The kids would fill the pool up a bit and then hold the side down of the pool and a gush of water comes out! Worked out so good!

Cadence playing and cleaning off in the creek!

DJ floating down the creek!

Cool picture of our house and sky!

Having so much fun playing together in the creek1

My two crazy red heads! Love them to death!! Ha ha!

Saturday morning we woke up and got ready to go into Cardston for the Cardston Parade! We got there just in time for it to start. The kids had so much fun catching candy and cheering for all the floats. Then after we went over to Spencer's for a BBQ! It was a little crazy and by the time we ate, I was so done. I wasn't feeling good AT ALL. So we helped clean up and then headed for home. We got home and I had a 2hr nap. It felt good! Then I took the kids into town so they could swim. I still wasn't feeling the greatest, so I just watched the kids! They had a blast. It was a fun day!

Aunt Lisa went in the parade with her friend and all their kids!

My kids watching the parade!

Running to get a balloon animal!

DJ showing me some tricks off the diving board!

The scissor jump!

Splash! He's gotten so much braver in the water. He swims to the edge all by himself! Even tho his eyes are closed the whole time! Ha ha!

August Long Weekend in Waterton!!

We decided to go camping with Megan and Chris for the August Long Weekend. We were having a hard time finding any place to camp. But then I found us some spot at Waterton Springs. It's the campground just outside of the gates. We've camped there before and had a lot of fun. So we left on Friday. It was so hot out that day too. I spent all day packing and getting ready to go. It didn't help that I wasn't feeling that great......at all. Richard had to work late. So we he was going to meet us up there later. Megan called and said they were leaving Lethbridge, so I got the kids in the truck and away we went into town. We grabbed a snow bob, cause we were dying of heat. Then we pulled out on the highway just behind Megan and Chris.

We followed each other up there and pulled in at the same time. We helped each other set up and then Megan and Chris headed into Waterton for supper. I was exhausted by this time. I was going to take the kids in for supper too, but the thought made me more tired. So I made an easy supper and we ate in the trailer. It started to rain a bit. After we walked around a bit and the kids rode their bikes. I was so tired, I sat on a chair and watched them play. I put them to bed at a decent time and sat outside reading my book waiting for Richard to come. He didn't get their till 10:30pm. Then I went straight to bed. So tired!!

We got up at a good time and got ready to go. We were going on a hike together as a family and with Megan and Chris. We had to be at the Tamarack before 10am. Well Waterton was insanely busy. So we made it there just after 10am. We missed the first shuttle bus but were one of the first to get on the 2nd. We all sat in the two back rows! The bus took us to our trail head along the Cameron Lake Road. It was closed to all other vehicles. We were going on the Forum Falls Hike.

We got to our trail head and away we went. We picked this one because it's not too hard. I think it's about 4km both ways. So it's a ways but very doable! The kids were loving the hike. I'm glad we went with Megan and Chris it made it fun too! We passed quite a few people. We stopped a few times to take a breather.....then we kept going.

This was just as we were starting to hike!

Loved the lighting in this picture. Abbi looking at Brianna (her hair looks so cute)!

Our cute little family on one of our breaks!!

Walking into BC!!

Just as the kids were starting to ask how much longer we made it to the sign where it said Forum Falls 250m. They were so excited. On the way there we found an out house. So we all took a turn using it before we got to the Falls.

Richard and Brinna!

Abbi and Cadence waiting by the out house!! Ha ha!!

Chris and Megan!

Then we made it to the Falls.  I had promised all the kids a chocolate bar once we got there. We enjoyed seeing the Falls and eating our treat. A few crossed the water and made their way behind the Falls. I kept telling the kids not too, cause then their feet would be all went. But Abbi and Cadence decided to do it anyways. We had a few complaints about their wet feet on the way down. Silly Girls! It was so pretty there.

We made it to Forum Falls!!

So pretty with the sun shining through the trees!

Abbi made it behind the Falls.

DJ beside the Falls.

DJ and Cadence both beside the falls.

Cadence ran over there and went behind the Falls too!

Seriously so pretty!

Then we started heading back to the main trail. We got there and I remembered that there was kind of a picnic area a little bit more  up the trail. So we walked there and found and it and sat down to have our lunch. It was relaxing and our lunch was delicious! Ha ha!

Hiking to our picnic spot.

Cadence and DJ eating their lunch.

Everyone sitting around eating our picnic lunch!

Then we parted ways with Megan and Chris. They were continuing on to Wall Lake. We decided to go back on down. The kids were getting tired.....well so was I!! So away we went. We only had a few incidents on the way back. Kids crying about wet feet and their wet socks bugging them! Cadence fell and scraped herself. Richard just picked her up and kept walking. Which she thought was kind of funny! Then kids whining about being hot and tired. Oh and all of the sudden, Richard told us to start singing. So I started singing and song and everyone sang with me including Richard. I thought it was so cool. We were making fun family memories. Then to find out later, he saw a fresh bear paw in the mud on the trail. It freaked him out and he decided we needed to be loud. Ha ha ha!!!! It worked though, we sang quite a few fun songs. The kids loved it!

And we were ready to start back!

Abbi and Cadence by a cute little tree!

Cadence's wet socks and shoes were really bothering her. So her dad was helping her out.

DJ ad I on one of our rest stops!

Cadence fell and her dad picked her up and carried her!

Then we found a cool bridge and decided to take a little break. We were all really tired by this time. So it was perfect timing. The kids had fun throwing rocks off the bridge into the water. We sat there for a bit and then continued on our way. We finally made it back to the trail head. Where we had to sit and wait for our bus. About 10 minutes later, Megan and Chris came walking out of the trail. They were tired too and decided to come back with us!

Having a little break on the bridge.

Waiting for our bus to take us back.

Richard took a little nap!

Cute little lake with Cadence!!

Pretty flowers with a bee on it!

The bus came a little early. He took us to the end of the road where there was a 5 minute hike to a cool little lake. So Cadence and I decided to go on it with Megan and Chris. It was so pretty. Glad we did it! Then it was time to get back to the bus and head back down the road. It was a fun hike, but we were all pretty hot and tired by the time we got back.

When we got back to town, it was so busy. We had parked our vehicle right by Emerald Bay. So we decided to stay right there and play in the lake. The girls all changed into their swim suits and played in the water. I just waded in, up to my knees. It felt so good. We had fun sitting in the shade and cooling off. Lisa and Shelly met us there with Lisa's kids. Then my parents met us there too. It was a fun way to visit and stay cool!

Cadence swimming in the cold lake!

Hanging out with cousins and Grandma Spencer!

Megan and Chris relaxing!

DJ and Grandpa Paxman looking for cool rocks!

And he found one!

Cool rock DJ, it matches your hair!

Grandpa and Abbi both swam out in the lake and ducked their heads under. Now they are warming up!!

Before we headed back to the trailer, DJ kept asking over and over if he could go inside the haunted hotel......aka the Prince Of Wales! Ha ha!! He's always wanted to go inside. So we stopped and went in. He thought it was so cool. We took a few pictures too!

My 4 cute kids in the lobby of the Prince of Wales!

Dark shadows of my kids but you can see the cool view out the windows!

Leaving the hotel!

We then headed back to our trailer. Megan had offered to watch our kids that night so Richard and I could go on a date. But we were so tired that we just felt like staying at the camp. So we all cooked supper together of pancakes, eggs and bacon. It was delicious!

Megan was making the pancakes!

Then the kids played some card games with Grandma and Grandpa Paxman. They stayed the night with us in Megan and Chris' trailer. It was fun having them there with us! Then we roasted marshmellows and had smores. I had all my kids go have a shower and get clean before they went off to bed! We all fell asleep quickly that night. It was a good day!

Sunday morning we got all ready for church. Mom and dad left early to save us some spots. I was taking a while to get ready. We got there 10 minutes early, but luckily mom and dad had some spots for us near the front. The church was packed. Then they had speakers outside and chairs set up all around the church outside. They had over 500 people there. So crazy!! We came back to the trailers after sacrament meeting. Then mom and dad took off for Kalispel. I had a nap. I was exhausted. After my nap we went for a drive up to Red Rock Canyon.

It was really packed up there. But we found some parking spots and went for a little walk. We just walked around in the water. That's what the kids like. I was tired and didn't want to walk far. The kids had fun splashing and then they all ended up getting all wet! We had some very grumpy and tired kids. So we came back to the trailer after. We just hung out and enjoyed ourselves!

Taking shoes off and trying to decide if they were going to get wet!

Abbi went down the little slide!

There goes Cadence!

Brianna's, "ITS COLD" Face!! ha ha!!

DJ had to find cool rocks! His favorite thing to do!

Cadence ducked her head under the cold water!

Brianna went down!

Cute kids looking down at the water.

Such a pretty view! I love it!

Richard and the kids!

There's Megan and Chris too!

For supper we had taco potatoes. The kids and I got the potatoes wrapped in tin foil and put them in the fire pit. It worked out perfect. It was a delicious supper. I love taco potatoes and so does my whole family. Then we just had a relaxing evening and we put the kids to bed early. I went to bed early too. I was planning on getting up just after 5am to go hike Bears Hump with Chris and Megan to watch the sun rise. Not sure what I was thinking but I've wanted to do this for a while. This was the perfect opportunity. Wake up then a 5min drive and then hike.

I woke up and got ready and went outside. Away we went. We started hiking and it was a little spooky. So we told Chris to be loud!! I was having a hard time talking because I was puffing so hard. Seriously I was having a really hard time going up. Didn't help that I felt like I was getting sick. We took lots of breaks. But we finally made it! Yay!!

 Sat there and took lots of pictures and watched the sun rise. It was so pretty up there. Plus there wasn't very many people around at all. I'm so glad I decided to go with them. It was so cool. Now I can say I've hiked Bears Hump and watched the sun rise! Ha ha!

We were probably up there for almost an  hour. Then we headed down. It was a lot quicker going down. We got back to our trailers just after 7. I crawled back into bed and went back to sleep till after 8. Then we had breakfast and packed up and away we went. It was a fun time camping with Chris and Megan!!