A Letter from Emilie

Dear Friends and Family,  I'm finally getting around to writing about Abrams engagement story! The wedding will be held September 21st at our house. His fiancée is Alyvia Croxford. We could not be more excited! We love her so much and feel lucky to officially welcome her to the family. I will post the details of the engagement below these super cute pictures. Abrahm and Alyvia picked out the ring together. The ring was not supposed to be done being sized until Wednesday July 3rd. Abrahm and Alyvia decided to go and surprise Abby in Jackson Hole on Tuesday. The ring got done early, and Abrahm enlisted his sister-in-law McKenzie to pick it up and bring it to Blackfoot for him. (Thank you Kenzie!) Alyiva's parents were in on the plan and they told her that they would pick up the ring for her while she was in Jackson.  Abrahm could not call Abby and tell her that he was going to propose to Alyvia because their visit was a surprise. Abrahm decided to write a not...

Dear friends and family This is just a quick update from my last doctor's visit on Monday. We met with Dr. Hale. He showed us that the numbers were going up and that my last scan showed an increase in the number of granulomas in my lungs. He explained that our current regimen of chemo had lost its effectiveness. Basically, the cancer has begun to outsmart my current chemo. We will change to a new kind of chemo. It's nickname is Reggo. We will start this new regimen as soon as the insurance is authorized. The good news: [1] I don't have to go get an infusion every two weeks. The new chemo is simply a pill. [2] This new chemo can cross the blood brain barrier. This means that has a chance and working on my tumor in my brain. The Braftovi was unable to do that. [3] The side effects of the Reggo did not seem too bad. He said it can cause a rash and it can effect my bowels. The bad news: [1] Like the Braftovi, the Reggo has a chance of losing its effectiveness quite quickly. [2]...

Dear friends and family, We spoke with the brain surgeon from the University of Utah a few weeks ago. Her name is Doctor Menacho. She reviewed my most recent MRI of my brain that was taken June 24 th . The mass appears to have returned to its original size. I did not ask her for measurements, but she showed me the pictures and it appeared the same size as before surgery, if not a little bigger. As you can imagine, this was very discouraging news. Why am I so good at growing things?? I was really hoping all this extra pain was a good sign! (That is the story that I told myself... and it kept me going for quite a while!) I was really hoping that my nerves were trying to regenerate and reconnect. It was really frustrating to learn that the pain and numbness is being caused by the tumor pushing on things in the motor strip again. It does explain, however, why things did not get better after the surgery. I have been experiencing a significant amount of pain in the last few weeks. The numb...

 Dear friends and family, I have some good news! I am so excited to share.  Monday, I went to my doctor's appointment to do my infusion. The infusion is a part of my new chemo treatment. I also take daily chemo pills. One of the lab tests that they do is called the CEA. It is also nicknamed “tumor marker.” This test just gives the doctors a general idea how well the treatment is working. They tell you not to get too excited or take too much stock in this number as it just gives them a general idea.  My CEA has been very high. A month ago, it was at 135. On Monday I got the results from my test two weeks ago---it had dropped to 29! I was hesitant to believe it. Could it have really dropped that far?  I was anxious to find out what my CEA would be this week. The doctor called me Tuesday to report that my CEA from Monday had dropped to 9! It is so exciting! I really think we are headed in the right direction!  Thank you for your faith and prayers. In...

Dear friends and family, I realize it has been over a month since my last update. It has been almost two months since we had the surgery. Please forgive me for being distant. I wish I could report that all is well. That is part of the reason for my lack of reports. There is not much to report. I have not had much improvement with the numbness on my right side. It has steadily increased. I think we have finally hit bottom. I don't think we can get much more numb than this! The good news is that I am learning to navigate better with my numbness. My physical therapist says that I am getting more coordinated and stronger with every session. I hope so! Another good thing is that I am experiencing significantly less pain. We went through a season when I was using pain pills several times a day just to survive. I'm able to just use one every other day or so when I'm having really rough time. This feels like the greatest blessing. The pain was really causing me to suffer and ...

Dear Family and Friends, This week has been harder than I thought it would be. I was SO encouraged by my progress in the hospital and the initial improvement that I was able to see. I was able to move my toe slightly more than before and had more strength without my brace! It was exciting. I believe I will see progress again soon.  We did get the word we could leave the hospital at 3;33 pm. This is my favorite number. I thought it was significant enoough that I screenshoted it! I heard Grace Freeman from Don't Miss This call this a "God Wink." Just a little hello from God that shows that He sees you.   I have had a few setbacks this week. My numbness has increased, and my leg and arm strength decreased. I fell, unexpectantly, a few times. (This really made me feel discouraged and a bit scared to try things by myself.) Everything seemed to be harder than before and took more time and energy to complete. I have also been struggling with back pain. It is not the pain that I ...