20 Weeks & Counting....

Cute little baby belly! Ky & Mom

Jared can hardly wait!! Mitch with Bo & WinstonHalle, Ky & BrooklynKylie and her other baby Winston

Kylie is now half way!! She has had a pretty rough start with being sick..but hopefully the worst is behind her. She has the cutest little belly! We have really missed seeing them. Jared and the kids especally, (I try and see her every week or so) so we decided since they are soo busy with Kylie's school and both their jobs, we would go see them and take them dinner. It was a fun night. We took our dog BoBo with us, to meet their new puppy dog Winston. They were soo funny with eachother, at first they didnt like each other much..mostly beacuse they both wanted Steve's attention, but by the end of they night they were buddies! Me and the girls had crocheted some burp cloths and a blanket for baby Jack. The girls were soo excited to show Ky their surprise. Its soo fun to hear them talk about Jack and how excited they are for him to come. Im sure he will be here before we know it and our family will never be the same again! Cant wait!!

The Day A Mother Never Forgets!

It was Sunday October 23rd, we had invited Kylie & Steve over for dinner, nothing out of the norm...Steve says the prayer on the food....and during his prayer he says, "and please bless the baby inside Kylie's belly" What the heck? It took me a second to register what he had just said...that prayer could not end fast enough. I dont even think I said Amen.. At first I was in shock..then I cried. I was gonna be a grandma!!! The best day ever! - a day I will never forget!! She is due June 5th! Perfect because she graduates with her bachelors degree from the Uof U May 5th, and summer babies are the best! Steve also will be done and graduates in December of this year. Jared & I are sooo happy and can hardly wait! Jared talks about it all the time - he LOVES babies! And when Jared was first diagnosed with his brain tumor, his uncle Hal gave him a special blessing and promised him he would live long enough to have children & grandchildren, so for him, it's extra special! We love you Ky & Steve - Congrats!!!

Another trip to Huntsman....

Jared and I went up to Huntsman this morning for his every other month checkup. I felt like I had'nt been up their forever! At his last appt in December, Jared ended up cancelling it because he was too busy with work..(ha ha too busy to see if the tumor in your head has changed?) anyways he still had his MRI and Dr. Coleman called to confirm that everything looked great. And the appt before that Halle had broke her arm the night before, so I missed that one too! Anyways, soo it was great for me to go today and get the scoop! Again they said everything looks great. Dr C says it looks a little smaller here and there...but basically not any significant changes. Which is ok..he feels great and Chemo is still going good for him. He hardly ever gets sick, which is a blessing! So the plan is to keep him on the Chemo and go back in 2 months. I did talk to the doctor about my concerns with his short-term memory. He said its probably a side effect of the Radiation, bummer! But did suggest he carries a notebook around (because he hates electronic gagets), to jot down notes and things he needs to remember. Which is what Ive been telling him forever, but maybe he will listen to the dr!

Update on Jared...

Again I apoligize for not updating our blog more often! Soo many of you have come to our blog to check on Jareds progress and..I guess no news is good news? Jareds progress has stayed pretty much the same. He still takes Chemotherapy/Temodar every month. He is getting ready to start another round tomorrow (monday) and will take it each night through the week til friday. He is still tollerating it soo well. He has really been lucky with not getting sick from it! He has been on Temodar now for a year. WOW! Next month (Feb 3rd) when we go to Huntsman the doctors will discuss with us the pros and cons for continuing to stay on it. In the beginning they said if he tolerates it well he can be on it up to 2 years. Jared worries that his mind is getting worse. He still does great with long-term memory but his short-term memory is, well short! Im just grateful he remembers the important stuff - he is a wonderful husband and father, and we feel very blessed that he has continued to amaze the doctors and us all!

Halle's Broken Arm....

By the next day it was pretty swollen! Dr. Bean wanted to take her picture... putting on the partial cast - she was very nervous! her moral support with Brooklyn, Grace, and Randa and blankie! All better!

Our sweet little Halle broke her arm! I was with the girls and Miranda at parent teacher confrences. Halle and Randa stayed and played outside while Brooklyn and I went to visit with her teacher. A little while later Halle came running in crying and Randa told us how she had fallen off the Monkey Bars...how many millions of times a day does that happen! I made her sit on my lap and tried to calm her down while I finished (I know...bad mom!) but it didnt look broken? By the time we were finished, I knew something was wrong. Halle is my tough little girl (she takes after me) and she was still sad and wimpering. So whenever my kids get hurt I always call my next door neighbor Alisa, she can deal with all the blood and stuff much better than me! She convinced me that something was wrong, so I took her in. The doctor who saw her that first night didnt see anything on the xray, but by the next morning they were calling me back to tell me it was broken just below her elbow. So we took her to Dr. Bean at Layton Tanner Clinic, who is not only a great orthopedic doctor, but just a great, great guy! He came walking out into the waiting room and said, "Wheres my little Halle with the hurt arm?" He was sooo cute with her and made her feel right at ease. He took us all back into his office where his desk was. He gave all the girls bone suckers and told us he went around to different schools and talked to kids about being safe on the playground. He asked Halle if he could take a picture of her because she was just about the prettiest thing he could ever show the kids. Her arm was too swollen to cast so she will have to wear a partial cast for a week before they can put a real cast on it. Which is a good thing, because she will need a week to decide what color cast she will choose!

Fletcher Family Pics!

The Fletcher Bunch!

Mom & Dad with all the grandkids

Mom & Dad with all us kids

Our Family

Halle Jo & Brooklyn

Shelly & Jared

Brooklyn, Jared & Halle

Mitch & Mom

Kylie & Steve

For those of you that know, I come from a big family with 8 siblings. My mom has wanted to do another (or final) family picture for awhile now. Weve got 2 nephews on their missions and another, Deven leaving in just 2 weeks, and Kylie & Steve just getting back from a summer internship in New York City, so our time was growing short, but we mamaged to pull it off the day of Devens farewell. We all went out to Thanksgiving Point. It was very fun and soo beautiful, exactly what my mom wanted. Soo to spite my dads discontent (and most of the other guys)..here are a few pics of my sweet family!

Update on the Family....

Its already summer...amazing how time flies! Kylie & Steve are doing another internship back east this summer. Last year Steve worked in New York City right in Time Square, for the Time Square Alliance. They lived on the NY University campus. It was an amazing experience for both of them. I also got to go visit them in August. It was soo Great! This summer Steve's internship is working with the New Jersey Nets. He has really loved it! They are living in New Jersey, just across the Jersey River from NYC. They are having lots of fun..but we miss them. Mitch is 16 now and got a job working at Lagoon this summer. It has been such a great experience for him! He operates some of the rides, like Hydro Luge, Flying Aces, Sky Ride, Rocket, Odysea, Jumping Dragon, and The New Bombora. They Love him and work him alot. But I keep telling him its good for him! Mitch is such a happy kid, he has met alot of great people and whenever we go to Lagoon, everyone that works there seems to know him! Dillon his cousin also works there in Games. We have Season passes again this summer, so we see him alot! He will be starting his Junior year of high school. WOW! I cant believe he is almost done with High School! Brooklyn & Halle are out of school for the summer (3 weeks) we are still on year round school :(. But they dont know any different, so they dont mind it too much. They both have June birthdays, Brooklyn turned 9 on the 8th, and Halle turned 7 on the 23rd, so we did another big birthday party for them this year. It was a swimming party with Cotton candy, Sno-cones, and Popcorn. We had over 40 kids here...it was a little crazy...but very fun!

St George trip with the Fletcher Family!

This past weekend we went to St. George with all the Fletcher Family. For Christmas grandma and grandpa bought everyone tickets to go to the Tuachan theater and see the plays, The Little Mermaid and Grease. They were alot of fun to watch, and all of us had a really great time! All the families stayed in hotel rooms. That was fun! The kids loved the outdoor pool! We also spent an afternoon just off main street at this park with a river for the kids to play in.

But the kids favorite thing was this little candy store "Thomas Juds Store Co." just off main street. It was this little old store with the old penny candy and fun bottles of pop. It was nice and hot in St. George...which was a change from all the wet rainy weather weve had at home! Thanks Grandma & Grandpa..we love you!!

Jared's Tumor Update...

Well good news...his hair is back! Jared has gone through 5 rounds of Chemotherapy (Temodar), including his 33 day cycle. After his March cycle, he was sooooo tired. We were really worried it would be the start of something bad. But after we went to the Huntsman and talked with Dr. Coleman, he said that was unusual, especally after he tollerated the 33 days so well. So we decited to try just the 300mg for 5 days again in April, and he did just fine. I was soo glad. He was a little tired by day 5, but nothing like the month before. The doctor wondered if maybe he had a virus or something. Then for May and June he bumped him up to 400mg for 5 days. He did just fine. He usually starts on a Monday night, and ends on a Friday night. He is usually a little tired friday, saturday, and sunday and takes a little nap, but its great he can rest on the weekend. Other than that he really has no other side effects.
Our last appointment at the Huntsman was yesterday, June 21st. We went each month, but he only had an MRI every other month. At this last appointment we found that his tumor hadnt really changed much, which was a disappointment. Each time we go Jared will always say, wouldnt it be great if they looked at the MRI and the tumor was completly gone! Yes would be a miracle..but not reality unfortunatly :(. So he was a little bummed.
As we talked with the doctors, they said he could be on Chemo anywhere from 6 months up to 2 years, as long as the patient can tolerate it. But the down side is that with this Chemo, they dont have any studies that prove that it is still effective after the first 6 months. Also another down side, is that if he stays on the Chemo for too long, he can contract another form of Cancer from taking the Chemo, like Leukemia. Wow who would have thought you could get cancer, from taking Chemo?
Soo we left last time, a little bummed. But I keep telling Jared, the Lord is in complete control!! And you will be on this earth, as long as he needs you! Im soo greatful we know what we do. Its gives us alot of peace.
We will now go to Huntsman, every other month. And he will have bloodwork done here at Davis hospital after the chemo treatment the months he dosent go to Huntsman. But so far his bloodwork has looked great! They say that his levels look just like a health man. So thats great!

Jared turns 40!!

On the 11th of June, Jared finally turned 40!!! I say that because he is 3 years younger than me! I wasnt gonna have it be a surprise, but Jareds friend Justin convinced me that if Jared knew, he would suck all the fun out of doing a party for him...which is true! So Justin and Jared took 7 little kids to the movies while I got everything all ready. Everyone was soo great to help me and bring food...All my family came, and lots of our neighbors & friends. It was such a great night..and yes Jared was very surprised!! Happy Birthday Jared :)

Update on my sweet Jared.....

Sorry its been soo long since my last update...my how time flies! So Jared had another round of Chemotherapy. He started monday March 7th, it was only a 5 day cycle, finishing on friday..but instead of 170mg of Temodar a day (which is what he took the first round), they doubled it to 300mg of Temodar. We were thinking no big deal...he flew through the chemo & radiation like it was nothing. But we were in for a surprise...and not the good kind! By thursday he started tasting a metal flavor in his mouth. It got worse over the next days and weeks, til he pretty much just stopped eating all together....I think he's lost almost 10 pounds.
But even worse he has been sooooo tired. Tired like when you havent sleep all night and cant think straight. But for Jared he was sleeping all the time! The worst days were probably the end of last week. thursday, friday and saturday I think he was asleep longer than he was awake. It was killing him. And I worried about him driving to work and stuff. It made me really stop and think about how you always hear people say....if the cancer dosent kill them, the chemotherapy will. It literally zapped the life right out of him. It was soo hard to see him go from doing soo well, happy & motivated, to soo tired that he was a zombie, not functioning and when he was awake, he was down about how tired he felt all the time.
Then on saturday night, he started feeling itchy all over. His head, his back, his arms, everything itched. He started putting anti-itch cream on, but that only locked in the heat and made it worse. By sunday morning we were calling the pharmacy, he said its probably a reaction to the Temodar, so they had him take Zyrtec and it helped.
So fast-forward to today, tuesday...I think I finally have my husband back YEA! Although he says his food still tastes weird, he is eating again. And even better, he only slept for about an hour today!
We will go back to Huntsman next tuesday, March 29th, have more blood drawn, and get a prescription for another month of Chemotherapy. Yuck! Dr. Coleman wants to up his dose again, this time to 400mg per day, but I say no way!! Hopefully he will let him take a lower dose for more days or something. At least until his body can adjust to the posion he's putting in it! Another option is to reduce the anti-sezure medicine he's on. That slows your brain down too and can make you tired. Its a double edged sword! Hopefully we can get some answers next week when we go!

Great News....Its Shrinking!

This is the Radiation department gals...they LOVED Jared! After his 33 treatments they gave him a blanket and a certificate and LOTS of hugs! He wanted to bring them in some donuts to say thanks! Jared was able to touch a lot of peoples lives, also having radiation. He was an inspiration!

I decided to take you on a journey of what we do and see each time we go to the Huntsman Center. Outside we drive up to the front and guys are waiting to valet park our car. They are college boys, and they are not allowed to take tips of any kind. Above there's a shot of the main entrance. The Radiation department is straight ahead. The Neuro-oncology department is up the stairs on the second floor. Once were upstairs we got to Clinic E. We check in and then go to Clinic Lab (blood drawn) first, just down the hall.

Then a nurse takes Jared's weight, blood pressure, and temperature...what a good sport!

Here is the Clinic E waiting room. Its NEVER this empty. Its usually CHUCK FULL of people waiting! Our appointment was at 8:00 am so we were the first appointment of the day.

Here we are waiting.....I guess even when your first, you still have to wait!

K so Jared's MRI from November is on the left (before his biopsy) and the MRI on the right is from yesterday. The tumor is the whitish cloudy-lookin' stuff. Its kinda hard to tell, because the brain slices don't always match up exactly, but his tumor is smaller on the right. The big black dot at the bottom is from his original biopsy in 1999. its a pocket of fluid. The doctors aren't worried about it, its not harming him and its just brain fluid.

This is Barbie, one of the nurses. She is soo fun! We love to see her. She always teases Jared and gives him a hard time!

This is John Conley, PhD. Licensed Clinical Social Worker. He is such a great guy! He has been their for Jared since the beginning...11 years ago. A really sweet guy! He asked Jared and I if we would consider being in a group with other people with Brain Tumors. He thinks Jared's story would help inspire others. He isn't a member of the church, but he always tells us that their is something different about us. He says its a feeling we carry with us. But we know its the gospel and our Eternal Perspective on life!

Jared with Sean Strope PA-C. He works alongside Dr. Coleman as his assistant. He has been really helpful. Always takes the time to find out how we are doing.

Jared with Dr. Howard Coleman MD PhD. He is Jared's Neuro-Oncologist. This guy is soo smart. He came to Huntsman last summer from Texas. We like to think of him as a Scientist. Just brilliant! A really great guy!
We know that we are soo blessed to be at the Huntsman Center and associated with these amazing people who have blessed our lives. They truly are wonderful!

This saying sits on the front counter in Clinic E. I LOVE what it says. Basically Cancer is just a thing...it cant control us!

We went back to the Huntsman Center this morning to find out the results of Jared's MRI taken yesterday. As we met with Dr. Coleman He delivered the Great News! Jared's Tumor is shrinking! We were actually really surprised (and soo was the doctor) that you could see it shrinking. Usually it takes a full month or two after ending Radiation before you can start to see a difference. He also said that Jared's blood levels were that of a normal person. Ha Ha! I mean, they weren't low at all, right where they needed to be. We were soo Happy & Grateful!
Jared will have a little bit of a break, and start Chemo again on Monday March 7th. And then we will go back to see Dr. Coleman at the end of the month on March 29th. So until then Jared can have a normal life for awhile!

All Done!

Yea! Jared had his last Radiation treatment this morning! I cant believe he is done! The nurses up at Huntsman were soo cute to him! They gave him a blanket and a certificate of completing his 33 treatments along with lots of hugs! I told him I think a few of them had the hots for him and his bald head! He also got to bring home his scary mask that he wore every day during radiation. I still think its creepy! Every time I went to treatments with him (which was just a few times) other patients would talk to Jared like they were long lost friends. It was amazing to see the effect that Jared had made on these other patients. He was always soo positive and happy to see everyone. And because he felt soo great, Im sure he was an inspiration to others who were struggling. There was one cute older guy, Jared would tease him because they were at about the same place in their treatments, but this older guy hadnt lost any of his hair, and here Jared was completely bald. ha ha! Jared was just a great sport, about all of it, and so he could joke about it! Hopefully his hair will grow back..it might take a few months...we'll see!
We go next monday..Valentines day, for his MRI. Then on tuesday we meet with Dr. Coleman for the results from his MRI. We are very Hopeful, that it will be good news! We will keep you posted!
Thanks again for all the Love & Prayers!