Well, it is time for an update and all that crazy stuff. Life has been a real roller coaster for Candi and I over the last year and a half. And we are on a down slope right now that doesn’t look like it has a curve up anywhere in sight. Let me start with last year. The best thing that happened last year was that Candi and I got married. Also, I found God, or should I say He finally came to me. So those were the two positive points last year.

Now, for the drama, first, Candi’s mom, Dori was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2007. It runs in family. Every female on Dori’s side of the family except for one aunt has had breast cancer. The only reason why the aunt hasn’t is because she takes the preventative for it. So Dori had a double mastectomy and they removed some of the lymph nodes as well around the area to make sure that they got all of the cancer. But before the operation one of the mammary glands that was involved with cancer burst. Well, Dori, went back three months later for a blood test and was told that she was in the clear. So we figured everything was fine now. More on this later.

The next thing that happened was one of our dogs, Maggie, was diagnosed with lymphoma. The vet put her on prednisone and told us that she had maybe a year. Well, about four months after the diagnosis we had to have her put down. That was October of last year.

Then came Candi’s dad, Hal. He was ill, but no doctor could figure out with what. First he was diagnosed with Parkinson. But they later figured out that it wasn’t that because none of the medicine for Parkinson’s helped him. So then the doctors said that it was MSA, which is multiple system atrophy, which is all of the systems of the body slowly begin to shut down. He passed away in November of last year. Ronna, Candi’s step mom didn’t have an autopsy done because she figured he died of the MSA. She talked with a doctor in New York where they used to live and found out that one of the first signs of MSA is dementia. Hal never had that, in fact he was sharp as tack right up until the day he died. He wanted to be cremated, so he was. So we will never know what he died of until we get to heaven and ask him.

So the end of 2008 came and went and everything seemed to be looking up again. Things were running along smoothly. We were in our second house because the first one we had lived in got foreclosed on. So were renting another one through a realtor this time. Then things went down hill again. When we first rented the house the realtor told us that it was owned. Well, in March we got a letter from the owner telling us that the house was going to be foreclosed on. So, in April we were moving again. We were in the second house for seven months. So we are in our third house. We rented this one through the realtor also and for the most part is owned by the owner. He is currently refinancing so we believe that the house won’t be foreclosed on underneath us.

Well, that is now the least of our worries. Back to Dori, she called a couple of weeks ago and said that the cancer may be back. The whole right side of her neck was swollen, which was the side that the breast cancer was on. She had gone in for a CAT scan and they said that she had spots on her larynx. The doctors sent her to and ears, nose and throat doctor to see if he could tell her what was going on. Of course, he couldn’t tell her anything. She had a biopsy done on her lymph nodes and called last night with the results. She has vascular lymphatic adenocarcinoma. It is a secondary cancer to the breast cancer. Dori goes in for a PET scan on Wednesday, July 22 so that the doctors can see how far the cancer has progressed into her body, what stage the cancer is in and what chemotherapy treatment they will do.

So, Candi and I will be moving to Washington to be with her mom. Candi wasn’t there when her father died and we don’t want to be far away if and when Dori passes. That is one reason why we will be moving there. The other reason is Candi’s older brother has Asperger’s Disease or condition. It is basically the inability to interact with most people. He is unable to live on his own and Dori takes care of him. Well, when she starts her chemo she won’t be able to care for him as well so we are going there to help take care of him and if and when Dori passes away, we will be taking him in.

Since Dori called and told us that she has cancer again I started thinking and asking God why is this happening. It is the devils doing, testing our Faith. It is also, Gods way of answering Candi’s request to go home again. She hasn’t lived around her mom for over 18 years. So it is time for her to go home. Candi’s Faith right now is wearing thin, but God has not left her and He is there for Dori.

I have also been doing a lot more praying lately. If you took time to read this thank you and I ask you. If you are a Christian, a Catholic, a Jew or just a believer please pray for us. Pray for Dori to get better. Pray for us to have things work out for our move to Washington to be a smooth one. Pray for Candi to get a good job transfer. Pray that when she talks to Troy about us taking Aubrey and Zachary to Washington that he understands and lets his boys go and that it won’t be forever. Pray for Candi to have the strength to get through what is ahead of her and for her to not lose Faith. Last of all, Pray for me, that I will have the strength to stand by my wife and help her through this. Pray that I have the strength to leave my mom and dad once again to go where my spouse needs to go. Thank you.