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.