So A few weeks back I headed out to Boise to gather up my kids, cause they had been shipped out due to their mother being radioactive and all. I drove to Boise and spent the night there then the next morning we headed to Kaysville to see the Grandparents and some family, as there was an impromptu gathering of Nielsens going on. It was fun, the boys especially liked it cause Uncle Josh had brought his Wii.








We spent one morning taking an excursion up some nearby canyon and found some pretty sights.



And pretty much just hanging out with Uncle Joey and Joshy.





Finally we had to go home so we headed back up to Boise and got in late and crashed at G and G Bishops. The next morning we headed out to the lake for an hour or so to see some other Uncles and Aunts on the Bishop side. Here he is driving the boat with Uncle Brett.




Then it was back to Oregon through some pretty country. It was good to get home and let Bethany see her boys for the first time in a week and a half.




Here is one for fun.



And finally Boys will be boys.

Last Friday after work we took off to the coast. We stayed till sunset, and it couldn't have been a nicer day for it. Before we hit the ocean though, we stopped at camp 18 (a restaurant on the road to the coast kindof in the middle of nowhere) and had dinner. It was a great way to end the workweek.

So Evan and I are home alone as Bethany and Dallin are in Southern Nevada visiting her Grandparents. We decided to go out and hike a bit as the day was going to be beautiful. We went to hike Saddle Mountain. Evan did awesome and I hated to tell him that we were only half way done with the hike even though we had reached the top. He did great though and getting down was easier than getting up especially because he had a packaged cupcake waiting for him when we reached the car. Oh the things that keep us going. It was a good hike and I am still a bit sore.

First off I just want to say thank you to everyone for all your thoughts, prayers, well wishes, phone calls, emails, flowers and gifts. I have felt so loved through all of this. Thank you so much!

It's been a few weeks since I've given any sort of update about my happenings. I have plenty of time now since I have been quarantined to my room. I took the "Magic pill" yesterday so 24 hours down and 10 more days to go. I'm just grateful we've finally started. They had me scheduled to start on Thursday if everything came back within the ranges they wanted from my blood test and scans. So, I said goodbye to my boys and watched them drive away to Idaho Thursday morning.

I called before going in and they said I couldn't do it. There was too much of the thyroid/cancer cells and there would have to be some 3 way communication between the Surgeon, Endocrinologist and Nuclear Med Dr. to see what the next step would be. Should the surgeon go back in and try and clean it up some more or should they treat with a higher dose of radioactive iodine (RAI). Needless to say I lost it on the phone. Why didn't anybody notify me of this? I just shipped my boys off, I can't wait until Monday to meet with the Dr. and begin this process of re-evaluation. I have stayed off the replacement thyroid meds so we could do the procedure as soon as possible which means I'm extremely hypo which to my boys means a very tired and cranky Mom. That's why we've been calling it the "Magic Pill" because it's going to magically bring back their old mom that was fun and energetic.

Back to the story. I was an emotional wreck and trying to get a hold of the Dr.'s myself to expidite the process as much as possible all the while bawling my eyes out. I'm not much of a crier so it kind of piles up and then when those flood gates open I'm a mess. My Nuclear Med Dr. felt awful for me she is a mother and understood how hard it was going to be for me to be away from my boys for so long and to extend that by 5 more days is pure torture. So she managed to hunt them down and the consensus was to up the dosage and get it done.

That is where I am at now. Sitting in my room drinking and voiding to get it through my system as quick as possible. The thyroid cells soak it up, committing suicide as the Dr. put it because they don't know the iodine will kill them. I've done a couple of puzzles and watched a few movies and slept for about 12 hours straight, but I'm bored out of my gourd. Matthew has been a sweetie dropping off dinner and Pina' Colada's at my door and talking to me by yelling from the downstairs. We just have to be pretty careful for the first 72 hours which is on the more extreme end, but better safe then sorry. We got him a HAZMAT suit to wear whenever he is home.



Hah, that would be pretty funny, but it's not true. We just keep our distance and I'm careful about what I touch. I can't wait to get through all this and start the replacement pills so I can get back to life with my family and being a good mom again. The boys have been so patient and forgiving. They are having a blast in Idaho and although I miss them like crazy they deserve some fun times since it's been a pretty rough summer for them.

Thanks again for all your love and support. It really brightens my days. I hope everyone is doing super and I'll have time to get caught up on all of your lives now that mine is under control.

We went camping this weekend and it was fun. We are pretty sure we got the last spot on the mountain as we only found one spot in the 3rd campground we checked. Friday night late is no time to find campsites. We were all fogged in the next day but found some nice waterfalls and managed to get above the clouds on Mt Hood.

On this hike to the waterfall we found some food left over in the backpack from a previous adventure. Score! Evan didn’t think so.

The Next day we

hiked a total of 8 miles. Poor kids. Well actually poor me as my shins still are sore and the kids were fine the next morning. However Dallin let us know that his legs “didn’t work” anymore at the end of our 3rd excursion that day.

The first one was to Mirror Lake. 1.5 miles up and up and up. A good view at the top made it worth it.

Next we went to Little Crater Lake. A 45 foot deep “pond” created by water welling up through a crack in the earth. It was a deep blue and so clear.

Next we decided to try the Bagby

Hot Springs. This was another 1.5 miles in and was fun. Kindof like the showers at Red’s Meadows but here they were log baths that you let hot water into by unstopping a hole plugged up with a piece of wood. The water was super hot and so needed to be tempered with cold water from a nearby cistern. Very cool. But ours leaked and so it was not as relaxing as we had hoped. Tired boys didn’t help either.

Finally we came home and our adventure was over.

Dallin has two big bumps (swellings) on him now cause he got bit by a mosquito. He is pretty “allergic” to them. By the way, he let us know that he, “(doesn’t) like camping!” He does love hot chocolate though

Finally one for fun. MUSCLES!! (Can you see the bumps on Dallin?)

Boat 1: Boy 0

We were up on the Oregon coast yesterday and of course as soon as we hit the beach Evan and Dallin started rolling in the sand and running away from waves. Two problems with this. We had somehow left the backpack of spare clothes at home and it was a cold rainy day. That didn't stop the boys. Especially Dallin who after a few seconds was wet up to his armpits. That was soon to change as he would soon to be wet up past his dome.


You see he likes to run away from things while keeping an eye on them at the same time. So he runs from waves with his head toward the ocean. This is usually ok on a beach. However when said beach has the rusted metal skeleton of a shipwrecked boat protruding from the sand it can be a problem. And it was. Poor kid turns around just as he is about to hit a big piece of metal and down he went. And then the wave caught him. Insult to injury literally. It was the saddest thing. We took him up to the van and stripped him down and I took a nap with him while the others kept running from the waves. He is doing fine as of one day later. Take that mister meanie boat.

I was not intentionally taking my time to do a follow up post for dramatic effect. I am just really out of the habit of blogging. So here's the story:

During an annual checkup with the OB/GYN he noticed I had an enlarged thyroid which was not really surprising because Matthew and I had as much as diagnosed me with some type of thyroid issue. So, I kept an eye on the ol' bugger until I noticed that it did seem to be increasing in size. I scooted myself on down to our new GP Doc with my list of ailments including suspicious moles, an annoying wart, seasonal allergies, and -oh yah- a lump in my neck (the enlarged thyroid). He was quite intrigued with my medical history as most Dr.'s are. I'm a medical mystery I tell ya! The lump was a concern and so we started the process of the blood draw, then some scans, and an ultrasound which led to a biopsy which of course resulted in cancerous cells. I wasn't too surprised when he said it was cancer because if there is a 3-5% chance you better believe that I'm special enough to fall in that number.

I have thyroid papillary carcinoma (aka cancer). Everybody seems to know a family member, a friend, a co-worker or some step-sister's, old college roommates, twin brothers, dog trainer who has it too so I guess I'm not as unique as I believe myself to be. But there it is. Some like to call it the "good" cancer but who can really call cancer good. It does however have a 97% cure rate which is fantastic and since it is the thyroid the treatment is not as debilitating as others.

You've all witnessed the 1st step. The removal of that blasted thyroid. My parents, bless their sweet little souls, fresh off their mission to Africa for 2 years came over and watched the boys while Matthew and I went in to take care of this on July 24th. I had a fantastic surgeon and everything went really well. There are a couple of risks and I luckily still have my voice and only experienced a little hiccup with my calcium levels dropping. I spent 1 night relaxing in those "comfortable" hospital beds before I was back home with my boys. Who, by the way are so terribly sweet and caring of their mother. My parents stayed a whole week helping me out and running the boys to swim lessons and such, allowing me to make a pretty speedy recovery. It's day 10 now and I'm feeling pretty great, but I know these days won't last at least for the time being.

The next step is radiation, which again since it's the thyroid is not as bad as the other stuff. I go on a very low iodine diet which shouldn't be too hard with all the glorious fresh fruit and veggies around. Then I swallow a radioactive iodine pill and glow for about 2 weeks. It requires isolation (at home) for at least the first 48 hours and then very minimal for at least a week and up to two. After that it's periodic scans and thyroid replacement pills for the rest of this earthly life.

That's the story. That's why the boys like to run and scream, "Watch out, the Zombie is coming." Wild huh!

I feel like I've been missing for a few months, like my face should be on the milk carton. I've been here but not really here, you know. Matthew finally gave up and started to post on the ol' blog. Let's see if you can guess what's new about me. If you can find what is wrong with this picture then you can probably guess what some of the new nicknames the boys have been calling me lately. Family members already know but the few readers we have left out there, here's a little challenge for ya.

We’ve been going to the pool every day lately as the weather has been nice and warm and sunny.  Evan and Dallin are in a swim class and wonder of wonders Evan can now swim all by himself.  (Over short distances).  Dallin loves being “so brave” (he says so himself) by putting his head under water.  They both love the pool.

   

We also recently went out picking berries.  Neither Evan nor Dallin followed any bears home but we did have a good time nonetheless.

Evan and Dallin loved setting off some little fireworks.  They had more fun doing this than going and watching a real show.  Shrieks of delight and fear were not hard to come by as we celebrated the birth of the USA. 

Earlier that day we saw the town Parade.  Fun times.

So Bethany got me (us) a new camera for Fathers (Mothers) Day.  It is fun.  I figure that this world is very beautiful if we look in the right places, so I want to pick up photography as a hobby as a way to appreciate the world a bit more. 

Here are a couple of pictures of two of the most beautiful things in the world.