Lots of visitors

This has been a busy two and a half weeks. My sister Eva and her husband Jim arrived on the 9th of October. They drove out from West Virginia. They wanted to come to Kent funeral but we decided that it would be better for all of us if they came this fall when they could spend some time with me. They were here for 15 days. I really enjoyed having them. We spent a lot of time at home just being together. I felt sorry for Jim as I know that he had to of gotten bored with the two of us. He kept saying that he wasn't bored and if he had of been bored he would went and done something. We did go to Yuma to visit with Ali and family while they were here. Ali just had to many things going on to come up here. We spent time at Nicole's, too. Eva wanted us to spend her birthday together. It had been fifty-two years since we had been together for either of our birthdays. Her birthday was on the 23th and they left on the 24th. Chris, one of Kent's sons, flew in the morning that they left. I went to the airport and picked him up. I did manage to get the sheets washed and back on the bed before I went to the airport to pick him up. He came down from Utah to run in a "Half Ironman". He did the competition today. He didn't do as well as he had hoped but that is ok. It was great having him here. He reminds me so much of his dad. I took him to the airport this evening. He has to go to work in the morning. Hope he feels up to it. Now I have an empty house. (Sad)

Been to Yuma

I went to Yuma on the 2nd of October and spent a few days with Alison and her family. We had a great time working on PTO stuff, setting at Sam's Club on a floor model sofa, having lunch together and just spend time together. MaKenzie became my hair dresser while I was there. She brushed and combed my hair and put all shapes and sizes of barrettes in it. She had fun and I enjoyed having my hair messed with. I returned home on the 6th and started getting things ready for my sister and husband's visited. They will be here either tomorrow night or early in the day on Thursday. I am excited for their visit. I haven't seen them since Kent and I left their place last August, after she was released from the re-hab center. I have been spending a part of every day with my daughter, Nicole, that lives here in Queen Creek. She had a baby on the 8th of September. She has four little ones. The oldest turned six on the 29th of September. I love feeling that I am needeed.

Back from Alaska and have a new grandson

I spent nine days in Alaska the last of August with my son Randy and his family. They live in Soldotna. We did a lot of the Alaska things. We floated a couple of rivers. On one of the float trips we shared the waters with a grizzly bear. That was a first for me even after living in Alaska for 18 years. We picked Alaskan berries two days and made jams and jelly. It was a very enjoyable trip. It was good to get home. I had one day and then some friends from Mesquite, NV came and spent four days. Nicole, my daughter, kept telling me that she would wait to have her baby until I got back from Alaska and my friends went home. They left Sunday and she had her baby on Monday. She was true to her word. Wish Kent could of been there for the birth of this grandson. It is awesome to see a baby enter this world. He is a cutie. I have gone to Nicole's house every day to hold the baby so that she can get things done. Nicole now has four under six years of age. She is doing well. I am proud of her. Hopefully, she will get to enjoy this baby. With all of her other babies she has either been working or building a home. I am doing ok. It is lonely but I am doing the best that I can.

On the road again!!!

Thought I better let people know what is going on at the Biddulph household. I spent this last weekend with my daughter, Nicole, in Queen Creek. Her husband was out of town for the weekend and she is expecting next month and she is noted for delivering early. No baby, thank goodness. We had a nice time. Things are going good. I still need to sale the motor home and Kent's motorcycle. A friend is working on selling the bike and I have put the motor home on a consignment lot in Sun City. I have done all that I know how to do. Hopefully, the Lord will step in and help. If I could get these two things taken care of, I would feel pretty good about where I am at in this process of taking care of business. The next couple of weeks will be busy.

Taking care of business!!!

Another week has come and gone. I have spent a lot of time with my daughter, Nicole, that lives here in Queen Creek. It is so good to have her near by. I am still trying to take care of business. I have placed the motorcoach on an e-bay auction site. Hopefully, this will assist me in selling it. I am dealing with all of the medical bills that are coming in. There is a lots of tracking that has to be done to be sure that everything is being paid. So far so good!!! I did get out last week and do my visiting teaching. It is nice to have some sisters that I feel responsible for. Life is good but "lonely". I know that Heavenly Father is aware of me and my situation.

Back with blogging!!!!

Kent has been gone for two and a half months and it seems like forever. This has been a difficult time. I don't know how people deal with death when they don't have the gospel and know that they can see their love ones again. I am trying to get the business end of things taken care of and health insurance for myself. Hopefully, tomorrow I can get the insurance taken care of. I am trying to sell Kent's motorcycle and our motorhome. It will be hard to see the motorhome go as that was our home for seven plus years. We lived in the motorhome longer than we did in any of our homes. We went to lots of great places and served our mission while living in the coach. I just got back from Idaho and Utah. I went up to Island Park and spent time with Kent's sisters and then spent time in Utah with the children. I felt that I needed to go and spend time where Kent and I spent our summers. I knew the longer I waited the harder it would be to go. I got back home, just yesterday, the 26th of July. I visited with a couple of our missiionaries, Elders Jacobson and Layne, while I was gone. It was fun to see them and hear what is going on in their lives. I can't believe it will soon be five years since we came home from our mission. How time flies "sometimes"!!!! I will try to update this on a regular bases.

Kent's Obituary, his picture wouldn't post, but there was a very nice picture of him in the paper along with this.

Obituary

Kent F. Biddulph
(December 21, 1940 - May 16, 2008)

Our beloved husband, father, grandfather, brother, and friend returned to his Heavenly Father on May 16, 2008 surrounded by his family after a short, but courageous battle with leukemia. Kent F. Biddulph was born on Dec. 21, 1940 as the fourth child of Floyd and Melba Biddulph in Coalville, UT. In his early life, he lived in South Eastern Idaho and was the football quarterback at Idaho Falls High School. On August 8, 1961, he married Karen Grover in the Mesa, Arizona LDS Temple. They were blessed with eight children. They later divorced.
He had a love of the outdoors and a particular love of Island Park and Targhee National Forest. This led him to pursue a degree in Landscape Architecture and he served twenty years in the U.S. Forest Service and then in the Bureau of Land Management. He designed many of the campgrounds in Logan Canyon and many other public areas in use today. He enjoyed skiing, snowmobiling, and long motorcycle rides in the mountains. He was an Eagle Scout and remained active as a Scout leader throughout his life.

On Jan. 25, 1992, Kent married Sharon Dobbs in Gig Harbor, WA and gained another four children. He became as much a father to them as his own children. They moved to Yuma, AZ where he retired and began to enjoy life as a full-time RV and motorcycle enthusiast. He loved summers in Mack’s Inn and enjoyed being with his grandchildren.

He was proud of his children and grandchildren and always encouraged them to do their best in life. As a grandfather, he learned to crochet and used this skill to bless his grandchildren with handmade afghans.

Kent and Sharon served an LDS mission in the Illinois Peoria Mission and Kent served as a Branch President. The Nauvoo Illinois temple dedication was a highlight of their time there.

Kent is preceded in death by his father, mother, and one brother who died in infancy. He is survived by his wife, Sharon; two sisters, Jerrie (Richard) Madison and Lyn Metcalf. He is also survived by his twelve children: Teresa (Scott) Deru, Glen (Genette) Biddulph, Kari (David) Smedley, Jodi (Dustin) Goodwin, Bret (Hillary) Biddulph, James Randall (Jessica) Dobbs, Samuel Dobbs, Chris Biddulph, Nicole (Joel) Anderson, Lisa (Scott) Ray, Becki Biddulph, and Alison (Jeremy) Devey, 40 grandchildren, 1 great-grandchild, many close friends, and his puppy, Kenai.

A viewing will be held at the Combe Road LDS Church (6350 S. Combe Road, Ogden) on May 18, 2008 from 6-8 pm and again Monday, May 19, 2008 from 1-1:45 pm. Funeral services will be held on May 19, 2008 at the same location at 2:00 pm. Internment will follow at the Coalville, Utah Cemetery.

Funeral directors, Walker Mortuary, Morgan and Coalville, UT.

Some pictures of our journey the past five weeks

Funeral Services

Kent's funeral will be held on Monday, May 19, 2008 at 2:00pm at the Combe Road LDSChurch (6350 S. Combe Road, Ogden, Utah). There will be a viewing on Sunday evening at the same location from 6:00 -8:00pm. There will also be a viewing before the services from 1:00pm to 1:45pm. The funeral arrangements have been taken care of and now it is time to spend time with the family. It is so hard and my heart is so so heavy. Thank goodness for the knowledge that we have of eternal life. We love you all and thanks for all of the prayers and support through this difficult time. Thanks to my daughter, Alison, that there was an entry on the blog last night. She rubbed my feet and put me to bed and then undated the blog. Thanks Ali!!!!

Kent's Peaceful Passing

After posting last nights blog, Dad said to my mom, "Hun, come here." She hurried to him and I listened as he told her he knew what he wanted done at his funeral. He then proceeded to tell her every detail from the hymns, to the speakers, to the Pall Bearers. She wrote it all down and then he settled in for the night; it was well after midnight by this time. I went to bed and I thought Mom was going to bed too, but she just wanted to stay up and be awake in case Kent needed anything. She has lovingly cared for his every need during this journey. A little after 4am, mom came in and shook me and said "hurry go stay with Dad, I need to go get Glen." Glen is not only his son, but he is also his wonderful Doctor. I went to sit with dad and was completely shocked by what I saw, he was breathing rapidly and just couldn't seem to get enough air. His tongue had more than doubled in size. Glen checked him and hurried to his office to get some steroids to see if that would help. By this time he seemed to be slipping fast, all the children were called to hurry over, we really didn't think they would make it in time. Once they were all here the steroid must have kicked in because his breathing quickened again and he was more conscious. They gave him morphine to help with the pain, he had a pretty rough time until about 7:45 when his breathing slowed and finally stopped. My mom told him she loved him, that she would be OK, and that he could go. Upstairs at about the same time his grandson Matthew was blessing his food and asked that Grandpa could go live with Jesus, a few moments later he was gone. He left this life to be with God at 7:47 this morning. As badly as we were all hurting, it was almost a relief when he was finally at rest, he fought so hard, but he was needed more on the other side. He will be missed by all, but we know this separation is but a temporary thing. Please keep our family in your prayers, we appreciate all the love and support. ~Alison

A more comfortable surrounding!!

This is our first day at Glen and Genette's home. It has been a full day. Annette, the hospice nurse, came about 9:00 and drew blood to have a CBC. She then went and picked up the platelets and came back to the house and administrated them. She will be coming back every day to give platelets plus blood when ever he needs it. He opted to continue platelets because if he doesn't it would be a very painful way "to go." We want him to be as comfortable as possible, in the little time that he has left. He is doing a good job handling the situation. He has had a lot of visitors today. Jerrie, his sister, and her husband were here for the day. Our best friends Nila and Phil Panter were here for a while this afternoon. They are so supportive through all of this. Nicole and Alison, my two daughters, flew out from Arizona. Nicole was just here for the day. Alison will be here a couple of days. Most of Kent's children were here this evening for a dinner, so the girls could meet all of them. Some of the grandchildren were able to come and see their grandpa and say good-bye. It is kind of hard for the kids to see him. He looks so different than when they last saw him. It is hard to know whether it is good for them to see him or to remember how he was. I am staying very busy caring for him. When things get where I am not able to take care of him, he will have a full time hospice nurse. I hope that I am able to take care of his needs and that he will have a peaceful passing. He truly deserves the world. I wish I could help him and give him some of my energy, I think that is what is the hardest for him right now, feeling so weak and feeling like he is not getting enough oxygen. It breaks my heart, but I am also very grateful that his pain isn't out of control, I know we are very blessed because this could be so much worse. I am glad that he is still able to visit with me and his friends and family. I know it is hard on him to visit for too long, but it sure helps lift my spirits when we have loved ones around. Thank you all for your love and support through this time in our lives. We love you all!

Moved from the hospital!!

Today was a day of getting ready to move to Kent's son, Glen's, home. Glen is a doctor and has been involved, from the first, in this leukemia thing. Yesterday we made the decision to move home after Kent elected to have no more treatment. Kent received platelets this morning before he left the hospital. His sister Jerrie and husband, came to visit this morning. They are from Saint George. We made the move about 2:00 pm. It is amazing to see how much "stuff" a person can collect over a period of four weeks. Today was our four week marker of being in the hospital. The move home was uneventful. A hospice nurse came with oxygen and rode home with us. She will be very closely involved in Kent home care. She is very nice and has been involved in the care of the kids maternal grandparent's care this last year. They past away three months a part. Needless to say, the kids have gotten to know her very well. We're still waiting for the side rails for the hospital bed to get here so that we can get Kent's bed ready for him to get into. Chris has gone to the airport to pick up my daughter, Alison, from Arizona. She is bringing our dog back so Kent can have him here with us. She will be here until Friday. Another daughter, Nicole, will be coming in tomorrow just for the day. She wants to see Kent while he is still able to enjoy having company. Guess that is about it for the day. I didn't get much sleep the last two nights. Hopefully, I will sleep better tonight. Just knowing that I am not in the hospital, in a room with Kent, all by myself will be a comfort. Keep praying for us.

Our journey is coming to an end!!

Today has been a day of decision making. Kent decided that he didn't want any more treatment. He feels like he gave it his best. There were just so many things that were against him. The last thing was that he has a fungus growing in the blood and probably in the lungs as he has had so many problems with his lungs. We decided that we would stay here at the hospital until he passed but by evening I told him that I didn't want to stay here in this little dark room any longer. It was ok as long as we were fighting, but once we decided not to fight anymore I wanted to go some place where we have windows to look out of and lots of light. A place where all of the kids can come visit. Glen and Genette had opened their home to us along with Jodi and Chris. Glen has the most room. As soon as we decided we wanted to leave, Glen was on the phone making arrangements for hospice to come in. He is a hospice doctor but will have one of his partners take care of Kent. Kent will continue to get platelets daily so that he doesn't bleed out and they will keep him comfortable. It will probably not be a long process. I am not ready to let him go but it is his decision. I will support him the best I can. That was a hard decision for me to come to, but because I love him I need to let go when the time comes. Kent's children have all rallied around us. I am so glad we came up here for treatment so he could be near his children. We have had a wonderful sixteen years together. I am so glad we retired when we did and were able to enjoy almost nine years doing the things that we wanted to do. Two years ago Kent felt very strongly that we needed to buy a home and have a home base for the winters and then come north in the summer to be around the children up here. He felt that home base should be somewhere close to the girls in Arizona because he knew that I would want to be near them if something happened to him. There are so many other things that have happened to prepare us for this experience. At the time we didn't realize what was happening but now as we look back we know it was the hand of the Lord guiding us. I hope he can hang on till at least Thursday. Both of the girls are coming from Arizona. Alison will be here tomorrow night and Nicole will be here Thursday morning. They are just staying a short time but they both want to see him before he goes. They will come back with their families for the funeral. Sam is flying in from Denver, on Saturday, for the weekend. Hopefully he will hold on until then. Randy is going to come for the funeral and then go to Arizona with me for a few days. It makes me so sad that our children have not all met each other. Nicole kept telling us that we needed to have a family reunion so that everyone could meet each other because she didn't want to do it at a funeral. I guess she was right. I thought we would have more time. It just goes to show that we don't know when something like this is going to happen. So make the best of each day. I will continue to post the blog until the end. Keep us in your prayers.

Just another day!!

This has been a day of infusion of platelets, along with two units of whole blood. Hopefully, tomorrow he will have more energy after getting the blood. He has had a fever on and off all day plus his blood pressure has been up. They did a chest ex-ray this morning but we haven't heard the results. He did go for a walk after the chest ex-ray while he still had on his protective clothing. He is still on a clear liquid diet. He says nothing has any taste. I guess that is one of the side affects of chemo. At times he seems to be getting discouraged but keeps saying that he is hanging in there. Chris was here this afternoon for a while. I think they need each other as they both are going through a difficult time.

Another day!!

This hasn't been to bad of a day. I think we are entitled to a good day, once in a while. Kent is still very weak but was up and showered today and went for a walk. Hopefully, in a few more days he will start to get his strength back. He received two units of platelets today. His blood pressure was up this evening. He is taking blood pressure medication by mouth but they had to give him some through his IV to bring it down quickly. He has a fever this evening, too. They are doing a culture on one of his lines that he receives his medications through. They have done this several times but have to keep checking to make sure everything is ok. Better safe than sorry!! I heard from all of my kids today plus several of Kent's kids, for Mother's Day. I sure miss going to church. We are lucky enough to have the sacrament brought to us every Sunday.

A bad night!

Just about midnight last night they hooked up a potassium rider as Kent was low on potassium, which isn't anything new. He has been getting potassium several times a day. Well, last night the IV pump didn't work right and he received in an hour the potassium that should of taken four hours to receive. Needless to say it turned into a long night. They were concerned with the side affects that could happen, one of which was a problem with his heart. We spent several hours keeping a close watch on him. I finally laid down about 4:00 o'clock. Thank goodness there weren't any side affects. Today has been a good day, considering the night that we had. Kent did get up and go for a walk this morning. He is still struggling with diarrhea. The chemo that he received yesterday didn't help with the problem, so they started him on medication for the problem, plus he is on a clear diet for the time being. Hopefully it will soon be under control. He did get on the computer today for a while. I think he was checking the news out. We did watch part of a basketball game this evening. Our days seem to run together. The first thing that I do every morning is write the day of the week and the date on the white board that is in our room. A couple of the kids were here today. One of our grandsons was baptised this evening. Wish we could of been there. We are hoping for a better night. So far so good!!! I think starting on Wednesday, Kent will be receiving steroids by mouth for four days and then they will do another bone marrow biopsy. Keep praying that the biopsy will come back with no leukemia cells.

A bettter day!!

Kent has had a better day today. He is very weak and doesn't feel like doing much walking; but he sure has to get up a lot and go to the bathroom. That takes a lot out of him. He has been having diarrhea for days now. The chemo that he got today should take care of that problem if it affect him the way it does other patients. They have been giving him lots of fluids because of the diarrhea. His feet have been swelling and they give him medicine to keep the fluid down which means more trips to the bathroom. I feel so bad for him. He is on lots of medication. Seems he gets one medicine and then they have to give him something else because of the side affects from the first medicine. Like they say they are practicing medicine. The staff here is wonderful. They are going to be doing a chest ex-ray every Monday so that they can keep tabs on what is going on there. He is breathing a lot easier and isn't as short of breath. He got platelets again today. We did watch the Jazz game tonight. It is the first time that he has had his glasses on for several days. He doesn't look as sick when he has them on. Chris came today just before the chemo and gave his dad a blessing. It was very comforting. Keep us in your prayers.

Some more bumps in the road!

Today was a day of some more not so good news, but we don't want to dwell on that. We just have to keep plugging along. Kent is really exhausted. Hopefully, he will soon have some good days so that he doesn't getting to thinking whether this is all worth it. He didn't get platelets today so I am sure that he will be getting them tomorrow. His blood presssure was high tonight so they gave him a shot to bring it down. He also had a temperature and they did cultures on all of his lines (3) that run from the Hickman in his chest. He has been gettinng potassium all day. Some of Kent's daughters and daughter-in-laws came, this afternoon, and took me out to lunch, for "Mother's Day". We went to the Joseph Smith Memorial Building and went to the top floor to the Garden Room. It was very nice. I was sure ready to get back to the hospital. Chris came and stayed with Kent while we were gone. I sure appreciated him coming because if he hadn't come I would probably not of gone. Well, that about covers our day.

A rest day!!

Just the usual things going on today. Kent was given platelets this morning. It was a much larger infusion than usual but still not enough to get his platelet count up above 75,000, so he will be getting another infusion this evening. They added another anti-biotic to his list of medications. The culture that they did on the lungs yesterday came back negative. That is sure a piece of good news. This evening he had his first nausea. They gave him some medicine to help with it. Hope that it was the first and the last. The two Scotts, two son-in-laws, were here to visit this afternoon, at the same time. Chris and Becki were here this evening. Chris had dinner with us. Kent is sleeping and I am going to watch the Jazz and Lakers game. I have the TV muted so that I don't disturb Kent. Hopefully, we will have a good night.

Kent is resting. It has been a big day for him. They came about 9:20am and took him down for the scoping of his lungs. No results yet! They should be in tomorrow morning. He did well during the precedure. Chris came to be with me while it was being done. Lyn, her daugher and grandaughter were here while the precedure was being done, also. They thought they would kidnap me and take me to breakfast but the actual precedure only took about twenty minutes and I didn't want to be gone when they were finished. He is such a patient man. This is really hard on him. He had never been sick before, to speak of. Genette came this afternoon and brought our mail and some fresh dinner rolls. She makes the best rolls. Chris came back this evening and spent time with us. It is so good to have him here. Kent has received platelets today. Seems like that is happening on a daily bases. We are still hoping for a miracle. Keep us in your prayers.

Just another day of the same.!!

Kent has felt some better today. He got up and went for a walk around the floor here on the ward. He has had a chest ex-ray and a CT scan of the lungs. They are trying to find out what is going on in the lungs so that they can decide how to treat it. Tomorrow they are going to sedate him and use a scope to go into the lungs and get some tissue so they willl know for sure what is going on. Today he got a unit each of blood and platelets, Hopefully, tomorrow he will have more energy. Kent's, sister Lyn, her daughter and grandaughter came this afternoon from Idaho Falls. I called her this morning and told her that I thought that she should come and see Kent. This afternoon Chris came and stayed with his dad while Becki and I went and got our nails done. I couldn't keep my eyes open. Guess I was relaxed for awhile. Nila and Phil Panter will here again this afternoon. We enjoy everyone visits. I have told Kent if it gets to much for him just to put his head back and take a nap. Thanks for coming.

Another day in our journey!

Kent was given two more units of platelets today along with two units of blood. Hopefully, the infusions will give him some of his energy back. Things are not looking to good at this point. We are hoping and praying that things will turn around for us. We both feel we need some more time. He is sleeping right now. He slept most of the day, even when some of the children were here visiting. He is just exhausted. We are hoping for a better day tomorrow.

Just another day!!

Kent has been laying pretty low today. He has been given two units of platelets and is pretty exhausted They can't keep his levels up. They want to keep them up above 75,000 so that he won't bleed. There is so many things that they have to control to make this all work. Hopefully, they can come up with a receipe that will work for us. This next week he will get chemo on Friday and it will only be one kind of medicine. Then four day later he will start a four day treatment of a totally different chemo, then they will do another bone marrow biopsy to see where we stand. Hopefully, the news will be good. We have had lots of visitors today. Kent's sister Jerrie came to visit this morning. She and her husband will be back to visit in a week or two. Kent's temperature went down about midnight last night. Thank goodness!

More bad news!

Today was Kent's day for chemo. He was scheduled for two different chemoes. Just before they started giving him the chemo the results came in from the bone marrow biposy, from yesterday. It wasn't good. There are still blast cells in the marrow so they had to give him a third kind of chemo. It was a long afternoon; but he did well. Since then his temperture has spiked. It was a 104 the last time they took it. I just gave him some more medicine. Hopefully it will bring it down. He is doing much better with the lung/rib situtation. He is breathing a lot deeper and easier. Our spirits are still good. We are determined to give it all that we have. Hopefully, we come out the winner. Chris and Becki were here this afternoon and evening. Also our friends Nila and Phil Panter were here for a while. I did get out this afternoon and get a few groceries. Kent received "Get Well" balloons from Jodi and family today. She has been sick and hasn't been able to get down and see her dad, this week. Thanks for everything that is being done for us. We love you guys.

Not a good day!!

Kent has had a bad day. They finally did an ex-ray of his lungs because of the pain in his left rib area. They said that he has some fluid building up in the lung. We will know more tomorrow. The doctor came in and gave us the grim finding on the orginal bone marrow biopsy. Seems as though he has lost eleven of his chromosomes and two others have structral abnormalities plus one extra chromosome. Those findings will make it hard for cure. We will continue to fight the battle. Hopefully, he will have a better day tomorrow. Nicole, our daughter from Arizona, was here when the doctor came in and gave us the findings. Once she left, Nicole looked at Kent and shoke her finger at him and told him in no uncertain terms that he was not to give up. She is expecting a baby in September and she told him that he had an afghan to make for this new baby. He has made afghans for lots of the grandchildren when they were born. Some of our dear friends from Alaska, that have moved to the lower forty eight were here this afternoon. Also Kent's youngest son, Chris, spent the evening with us. Another of Kent's boys took the car and had some work done it this evening. A new battery was put in it on Friday and today I went out to drive it around to make sure the battery was kept charged up. When I tried to start it, it wouldn't start. I now have a car that will run. Thank goodness. I really don't need it for anything except for running to the grocery store. Keep those prayers coming our way. We can feel them. At times the going gets rough but I know that I have to be the tough one right now.

A better day!!

Kent had a better night last night. When I laid down with him this morning, he took my hand and ran it over his head. Sometime during the night he had gotten up and shaved which included his head. It had been a couple of days since he felt like shaving. The pain that he was having in his chest yesterday is much improved. It isn't so difficult for him to get in and out of bed. He has been given blood plus platelets today. Hopefully, he will have more energy. He is exhausted. The blood in the urine has cleared up. Guess it must of been from his platelets getting so slow. Tomorrow, they are going to do a bone marrow biospy to see how it compares to what it was when they did it two weeks ago, before chemo. Nicole, my daughter from Arizona, came today. She came up for Women's Conference. She is skipping tomorrow session and coming to spend the day with us. Teresa and Scott, Kent's oldest daughter and husband, came and visited today. I can't believe that there were snow flurries this afternoon. We received a package from the Primary children in our ward, today. They made get well cards for Kent. They were so sweet. If anyone is reading this blog, that is connected with the Primary in our ward, a big thank you to you and the children. It brightened our day. Thanks for all of the prayers.

Another rough day!!!

Kent had a really bad night and it didn't get better until about 4:00 this afternoon. He is having problems with the muscles in his chest and the pain goes around into his back. He has been taking pain medicine, using Icy Hot and a heating pad. He is finally asleep for the night. Hopefully he has a better night. He did get a platelet infusion this afternoon. The blood in the urine is better. They think that keeping his platelets up higher will help with the bleeding. It seems to be working. Chris, Becki and Becki's boss Charlie came to visit this afternoon. Genette was here also. She brought our mail to us plus some clothes and medicine for me. Thank goodness for kids. Our dear friends Nila and Phil Panter came to visit this evening. It was great seeing them. Kent seems to do better when there is someone here visiting. I think it gives him something to focus on besides the pain that he is feeling. He is so concerned about me. He is always wanting me to get out and go do something. I just want to be here with him. If I was gone for any length of time I would worry myself silly about him. I guess that pretty much covers the day.

Rough day!

Today has been rough. About 5:00 this morning blood started showing up in Kent's urine. They don't know if it from his platelets being to low or if it is from the tumor that is in his bladder. His platelets were at 16,000. They normally do an infusion at 15,000. They have now decided to keep his platelet count at 75,000 to see if they can stop the bleeding. Normal platelet count is anywhere from 140,000 to 440,000. So you can see that his count is very low. It was down to 9,000 before we came into the hospital. We met with the transplant group today. The odds for someone Kent's age aren't very good. We have some tough decisions to make here in a few days. I am so afraid that Kent is throwing in the towel. He just isn't use to being weak and not feeling good. His sons all came tonight and buzzed his hair. We noticed today that some was starting to fall out on his pillow. So it was time. He doesn't look to bad being bald. I would love him whether he had hair or not. Glen says that it will probably come back in white. Wouldn't that look nice!!! Pray for a better day tomorrow.

Another good day!!!

Kent has rested a lot today. He was really weak when he got up this morning. They gave him two units of blood this afternoon. It has perked him up. He has been up and gone for a couple of walks around the ward. Becki, Chris, Bret and Hillary, and Glen and Genette were all here to visit today. Genette brought Kent some of her famous homemade dinner roills. He had me go right to the microwave and warm him up one. He hasn't lost his appetite as of yet, thank goodness. He really enjoys eating. He says the hospital food isn't to bad. Glen and Genette brought in some posters to put on the wall of our room. They were from some friends, the Muellers, that we know that live near them "You can do it Kent!" (adidas) "Kent Biddulph gives 100% " (Livestrong) and "Go Kent" (adidas). They also sent us each a "Livestrong" wrist band and a Livestrong dew rag for Kent to wear when he looses his hair. Actually, that will be tomorrow evening. Kent is giving his boys the chance to get even with him. He use to buzz their heads when they were little now he is going to let them buzz his head. Tomorrow is the big day when we meet with the stem cell transplant broad. Hopefully, one of his sisters will be a match for him. Keep your fingers crossed.

Better Day!!

Kent has had a much better day today. He still has some headache but is being able to control it will Icy Hot on the neck and a heating pad. He has gone for a couple of walks around the ward today. This was a day of rest from all treatments. He actually doesn't even have an IV at this time. This is the first time for nine days. They will start it again tomorrow. Today I went out to the car to go to the grocery store and the battery was died in the car. Chris and Becki, two of the kids, came with a battery and got the car going again. They are certainly appreciated. Glen and Genette visited this evening. Genette took the laundry home. We appreciate all that the kids are doing to make this easier on us. My best friend's daughter came to visit this afternoon. It was fun to see her. She and Nicole have been best friends forever. Kent has a little fever this evening. They are running some test to make sure nothing is going on. Guess that is about it for today. We are watching the Jazz and Houston game. Keep praying for us.

Not so good a day!!

Kent has had a pretty rough day. He had a headache when he woke up this morning. Actually, he has had it a couple of days. Well, today it got out of control. He was scheduled for an ultra sound and wasn't allowed anything by mouth for four hours. It got so bad they finally had to give him something anyway. On a scale of one to ten, he said it was a fifteen. He tried to get out of bed to go to the bathroom but couldn't do it on his own. Once the medicine kicked in he started feeling better. He had a round of chemo this afternoon plus his platelets were low and they gave him an infusion. Lisa, one of his daughters, came a few minutes ago. She just stayed a minute. I don't know if he realized she was here or not. He is probably out for the night. Chris came this afternoon for a while. Actually, he visited with Kent while he was getting the platelets and the chemo. I am sure it helped to pass the time. I make my daily trip to the grocery store to buy things for my lunch and dinner. Chris has a small refrigerator that he is going to bring in and put in the room so that I don't have to go out every day if I don't want to go. Hopefully, tomorrow will be a better day. Keep us in your prayers.

All in all it has been a good day!

It was another quite day. Jodi, Kent's daughter, came and visited this morning. He enjoys having the kids around him. Hopefully, they can get caught up on some of the lost time. Chris, one of Kent's sons, came to visited this afternoon after he got off work. Kent has done alot of sleeping today. He says that he is feeling weaker, that is expected with the chemo. He has another chemo round tomorrow. Just one of the three that he got earlier in the week. There are still no new leukemia cells in the blood steam. Hopefully, when they do the next bone marrow bisopy it will show improvement. Kent has had a headache most of the day. The nurses here are awesome. It sure makes the stay a little easier. I went out to the grocery store this afternoon and got stuff for my lunch and dinner. It is only four blocks to the store. Kent is still not allowed to have water to drink or anything that is water based. The reason for that is that they are having a problem getting his soduim under control. Not enough sodium. It snowed here today. It was hard to talk to Nicole, in Arizona, this morning and hear her tell her daughter to hurry and shut the door because it would make the air conditioning come on if she didn't. All in all it has been a good day.

Another great day!!!!

This has been a great day. The doctor was in this evening and reported that this is the third day that there has been no leukemia cells present in the blood stream. Keep those prayers going up. We have a meeting at 3:00pm on Monday with the doctor and the stem cell transplant team. Things sound like if all continue to go well that Kent will be getting a stem cell transplant in the future. Kent has two sisters that we hope will be a match, if not we will go to the donor bank. Hopefully, we can find a match. The doctors are very please will his progress, as we are. Time is passing rapidly. We are doing well in our small quarters. I am doing some crossing stitching of Christmas ornaments it certainly helps pass the time. First on my list of things to do daily is to see to Kent's needs. Today while one of his girls was here, I made a run to the grocery store and picked up a few things. That's the first time I had been out of the hospital for six days. It wasn't a very nice day so I hurried and got back. We have had several visitors today. It is nice to see faces from the outside of these walls. We have gone for three walks around the ward where we are spending our time. Will update you tomorrow. We are enjoying the comments.

A day of rest!!!!!!

Today has been a quite day. No chemo. Kent did receive a blood transfusion along with other medications to get everything working the way their suppose to. Lots of changes take place during chemo that has to be checked on night and day. Kent didn't sleep well last night; but wasn't in pain. I finally got up about 3:30, when he went to the bathroom, and laid down with him. It was nice just to snuggle. We spent about an hour and half that way. As said in an earlier blog that it is really diffcult to be alone, in the dark, when you can't sleep. Genette, our daughter-in-law, came to visit this afternoon. She brought our laundry back. The kids are being awesome. Kent is certainly enjoying spending time with them. They are always checking to see what we need before they come to visit. They have decorated the room with family pictures and pictures that the grandchildren have made for their grandpa. We did get some good news today. When they did the spinal tap on Thursday there were no leukemia cells in the spinal fluid. Yea, Yea!!!!! Things are going better than expected. Thanks for all of the prays. Keep remembering us. We need all of the prayers that we can get. We know that they are helping, we can feel it.

Another good report

Kent had a better night last night. He still didn't sleep well but at least he wasn't in pain. You know how it is being in the hospital. You never get a good nights sleep because they are always coming in to check on you. They are in and out a lot drawing blood and checking his urine. They are doing a great job keeping every thing in check. We have had awesome nurses. Today we received the news that all of the Leukemia cells are out of the blood stream at this moment. There was no chemo today. The next treatment will be on the 25th. He is holding up well. There has been no nausea so far. Thank goodness!!!! Kent has to contact his sisters tonight about being a candidate for stem cell transplant. They will have to be tested to see if they are a match with him. The test is just a blood test. They can come down to LDS Hospital to be tested or be tested at a lab where they live and UPS the blood to the hospital here in Salt Lake City. Alison, my daughter, and her husband Jeremy came this weekend and picked up our dog "Kenai". He will be living with them until we are able to come home to Arizona. It sounds like he is adjusting to his new home pretty well. He hasn't been around kids alot and they have two children that will give him a lot of love. I can't think of a better place for him to be at this time. I made her promise that we could have our dog back when this is finished. She said that she didn't want a dog, she wanted a baby. I think after having Kenai for a few days she is deciding that it isn't to bad having a dog again, especially one that is already trained. Kent's eight children at here in the area. We really enjoy having them come to visit. It certainly is the highlight of our day. Also the phone calls are appreciated. Keep in touch!!!!

5thday of hospital stay

This is our 5th day in the hospital and Kent's 3rd day of Chemo. He is doing well but has his bad times. Last night was a bad night for him but he didn't wake me. I am sleeping at the foot of his bed in a rollaway bed furnished by the hospital. He is feeling better at this time. We will see how this night goes. I told him there is nothing worse than feeling like you are by yourself, in the dark and being in pain. I think he is concerned if I don't get my rest I will get sick. I am trying to eat good so that I don't get sick and will be able to take care of him. We will be here for several weeks depending on how the treatment goes. The doctor was in this morning and the report was very postive. The blood work showed that there was only 1/20th of the cancer cells today of what there were yesterday. We realize that we have a long way to go but we are on the journey together. I guess the living in the motorhome have trained us to live in small quarters. Being in the hospital room 24 - 7 isn't getting to me.

1st day of many to come!!!!

Today was the first day of a long road ahead. Kent has received his first day of chemotherapy. So far there has been no adverse side affects.