Cure Kevin

I could not let the Thanksgiving Holiday go by without saying something about this significant holiday. I love Thanksgiving because all you do is get together with family and eat which is something that I love to do. My siblings are wonderful cooks so Thanksgiving in my family is a real treat. Each of us made a part of the dinner and I brought the sweet potato souffle which is a recipe given to me by my mother-in-law. This recipe has become a family favorite. My parents house was full with family and guests and we had enough food and then some.

Kevin was tired and rested most of the day. He ate real well because who can turn down the deliciousness. He got a short nap.

My blessings have been hard to list because we have experienced generosity beyond our expectations. I have been counting my blessings that I have Kev each day. That my children, their spouses, and granddaughter are healthy and happy. That my parents and siblings, Kevin’s parents and siblings have been so loving and supportive to us. That our friends are truly friends in everyway. That our church friends have really been examples of what the gospel is all about. 

I have so much to be thankful for.–Melanee

When my Aunt Rachel was home for Thanksgiving we decided to go for a 5-mile run together. It was fine except she has been training at much faster speeds than I had been. I realized just how much I really do need to train to keep up with her and so I’m a’runnin. I ran 3 miles today in just under 30 min. Not good, not bad, it all depends on your perspective. Oh and running on busier streets really puts a thrill in the run, you know..dodging cars here and there, trying not to get hit. The basics. (just kidding)

Every saturday I’ll be running a longer distance than during the week. Like this saturday I’ll be running 5 or 6 miles outside(which is much different and I think more difficult than on the treadmill) then 6 or 7 the next week. Soon enough I’ll be up to 13. Let’s all hope that I don’t die from the Miami heat..that should be interesting….

~Marlene

How many times have you thought “I should call my friend.”? Just listening to people around me, my guess is that people have these kinds of conversations with themselves on a fairly regular basis. Then, if you’re like me, things get in the way, we forget to call, and a couple of weeks later we’re having the same “I should call … ” conversation again.

One of the things that I’ve learned from having my cancer is that there really is no longer any time, or reason to put stuff off. If I feel like calling someone, then I do it, right then. When Melanee says “I should call so-and-so”, I tell her “Do it!” and encourage her to pick up the phone and make the call. Invariably, we’re glad we made the call and feel so much better afterward.

My family is pretty much scattered across the country side and in the past phone calls had been few and far between; we usually relied on my Mom to be the central “Information Distributor”… get the news to Mom and she’d get it to everyone else. Not so any more. With my cancer and my brother-in-law struggling with kidney cancer, it seems we’re on the phone with each other a lot more than we used to be.

With today’s cell phone technology, it’s so much easier to make those calls whenever we have the urge; you never know if its a time that your friend or family member needs to hear from you, or that you may not get a chance to have that chat at a later time. Life is so fragile and time moves so fast that we need to take advantage of those “urges” to pick up the phone and make that call. So, don’t wait; call. No matter what the urge, just dial the number and renew that old friendship… come on, you can do it.

One thing I must share with you that has sustained me through our trial is the feeling of constant comfort. Since we got the news in June I have felt strong comfort as we have moved through this new experience in our life. It also comes in waves. When I am feeling any despair the feeling of comfort comes stronger. I am sure those who have experienced a similar situation can relate.

Kevin and I talk about how much we appreciate each other more each day. I said that we have been sustained by the power of love, the power of prayer, and the power of faith. We believe that.

“…..No matter what trials or tribulations we may be called to go through, the hand of God will be with us and sustain us.”-Wilford Woodruff

As we move through this journey there is a lot for Kevin and I to learn, but one thing I know is the sustaining comfort we have received.–Melanee

Well, it’s been 10 days since we open our fund raising site for the Miami Marathon that Marlene and Rachel are going to run in and I am AMAZED at the response we’ve gotten! Wow! In this short period of time, we’ve gotten nearly half of our goal. I had no idea that we would get such an amazing response in such a short period of time.

To those of you who have already contributed, Thank You! Your generosity has touched all of us here. Please continue to spread the word and encourage others to help out with a contribution.

To those of you who have not had a chance to contribute yet, its very easy and any amount will help get Marlene and Rachel to the marathon and, more importantly, will help with finding a cure for Pancreatic Cancer. They are working really hard training and building up their stamina and your contribution will make all of that effort worthwhile for them.

Again, Thank You for your help, both financial and through your thoughts and prayers. If we all work together, our contributions will help us win the fight for Pancreatic Cancer.

Yesterday was a chemo day for Kevin. Everything went smoothly including getting attached to his “new friend” (5FU portable pack) He has been able to tolerate this chemo mix better than the other two flavors. We are just hoping that it’s working.

Our friend Dave came out here on business and treated us to dinner last night.  Dave misses a good Chinese meal where he lives and he took us out to his favorite small Chinese restaurant he used to go to when he and his family lived here. At the end of the meal we were given fortune cookies so I asked everyone to open them up to see what fortune they got. I found the messages to be very appropriate.

Kevin’s read: You are contemplating some action which will bring credit upon you.

Mine read: You will have many friends when you need them.

Marlene’s read: You are an exciting and inspiring person.

Dave’s read: Your family is very important to you.

I’ll let you think and decide how appropriate these fortune cookies are.  Sometimes all it takes a fortune cookie to see where we are in our world.

Going out to dinner on chemo day tells you how well Kevin is doing. He still a bit tired and seems to sweat a lot and get cold at times. He rests some, but not like it was before where he would sleep two days straight. So it’s good seeing his energy level a little higher than chemo normal–Melanee

When I got into the car to go to work today a song came on the radio after I started the car. This song is sung by Tim McGraw called Live Like You Were Dying. I started to listen to the words closely and found the song struck a similar cord to what we are living. The chorus lists the events that he is accomplishing…. “Skydiving, rocky mountain climbing, rode 2.7 seconds on the bull named FuManchu”.

Kevin and I had a hard discussion about what we want to do as a family if we only had 3 months, 6 months, or a year from now to be together. Next year at this time, we’ll take a look at our life and go through the process again.  The girls gave us their thoughts and there are some really good ideas. But, the main theme has been just being together as a family whatever we decide to do. When there is the perspective of living like you are dying it really changes your values, choices, and priorities.

Kev and I are making our list and we love each other deeper and speak to each other sweeter. Each tomorrow has been a gift to us. And we are given the chance to live like we were dying.—Melanee

Well I ran 5 miles today and I am pretty sure that I will feel it tomorrow. I’m already feeling it tonight. I guess that’s what I get for not running for a while then jumping into it. It always feels good to get a good run in though, no matter how sore you are the next day. I’ll be building to longer and longer distances each week, and I just cannot wait until I can say that I ran 13 miles at one time-or even 10 for that matter.

It has amazed me just how much we have raised on the fundraising website in such a short amount of time. You all have been greatly generous and every little bit gives me that much more hope. It helps me to know that I’m running for a reason and that you guys all are supporting me through this. If it weren’t for you I’d probably be on the couch getting uber fat and barely moving. Thank you for giving me reason to run. Thank you for helping me get/stay in shape. Thank you for making the future that much brighter.

~Marlene

This past weekend, Melanee, Marlene, and I met up with some friends here in CT and drove to NH to spend the weekend with our friends Bill and Cathy. It was a much needed trip for all of us; it got us away from the phone calls here at home; it got me out of the house; it got Marlene away from the hassles of school; it just got us away from all the dull day-to-day stuff we’ve been dealing with over the past several weeks.

Our other friends, Jeff and Cheryl, joined us as well and just added a whole layer of icing to the trip. We’ve been good friends for a long time with them, but with the way our schedules are, its hard to find any extended period of time we can spend with each other. Having all six of us together made this trip that much more special.

Bill and Cathy are the perfect hosts, and I say that in all honesty. I’ve never met anyone who can make you feel so comfortable so quickly; its an art that they have truly perfected. Their home in New Hampshire has the perfect “warm and cozy” feel to it and they are such good friends that just being with them is amazingly therapeutic. We’ve already started plotting and planning our next trip.

The amazing thing about all this is how much energy it seems to have given me. I’m not sure if it was the weekend (and the anticipation leading up to it) or just my new chemo mix, but being with friends, away from cell phone coverage and internet access has given me a pretty good energy boost. Melanee says she hasn’t seen me feel this good in quite a while. And I have to admit that I haven’t felt this good in quite a while either! I’ll just have to take advantage of it while I can; another dose of chemo comes up this Thurs, so we’ll be back to the “tired and sleepy” part of the cycle again.

So, if you’re feeling dull and tired, don’t pass off how powerful getting away from the normal grind with good friends is in bringing you back around; at least it did for me. I just can’t wait for my next “friendship treatment” when we’re all able to get together again and recharge the way we did this weekend.

Well, I guess now that the word is out that I’m doing this half marathon I should probably keep you updated. I’m actually really nervous about how well I’m going to do. The longest I’ve ever run at one time was about 6 miles for cross country and that’s only about half of what I need to be able to do. Although I am a bit nervous, I am excited about the marathon. I know that I need to be running because it makes my life that much easier to deal with and gives me something good to run for. Many of you are probably wondering how in the world running can make life easier for me, but think of it this way. When I’m having a horrible day whether it’s because of Dad or the rest of the world rebelling against me and there’s all this extra energy built up, what better way to get rid of it than going on a theraputic run? There had been many days during cross country that I just didn’t want to do anything but it really gave me a sense of satisfaction(not to mention all those loverly endorphins) to know that I worked my butt off even when it hurt…a lot.

I hope that I can make all of you proud and that I can perform waht you expect of me(and better) I’m not planning on being amazing beyond belief, but I am doing this not only for Dad, but for all of you.

Thank you for your support.

~Marlene