It's CHILLY!

So I'm coming at ya from very chilly Salt Lake City, I have been used to 60 and 70 degree days in Las Vegas for pretty much all of January and here its more like 30 to 40 degrees. It's cold!!! BUT just like I said I think the cold is scaring my Dads Myeloma away :). We met with one of his transplant doctors ( Dr. Hodja ) and went over all my Dads number from diagnosis to today. When he was originally diagnosed in April 2010 he has a bone biopsy and his plasma cells or Myeloma cells we about 60% of his cells running through his blood as of yesterday we are down to 15%!! Also when he was originally diagnosed his M-spike was 6.9 and as of yesterday it is 1.04!! I am very confident that the transplant will kick both those numbers to 0 and we will have no trace of Myeloma existing :). So far the process is going pretty smoothly my dad goes for shots 2 times a day to boost his stem cells and he starts his collection process on Monday. When we originally met with the doctors they told us their goal is to collect enough stem cells for 2 transplants and we told them with my dads age we want them to collect enough for 3 transplants. Our first doctor we met with a few months ago didn't really give us a okay on that but the doctor yesterday wrote down that they are to collect 15 million stem cells which would be enough for 3 transplants so that was awesome!!

Other than that we are just spending time together and getting them all settled in their apartment. We are on the 10th floor at the Gateway, the apartment is really nice. Lugging up a few weeks worth of groceries 10 floors ( even in a elevator) is not that fun though lol

I'll be coming home tomorrow and then we will see what the doctors next steps are and when I'll be coming back.

It's working peopple, keep the prayers coming!!!

SLC BOUND!!!

Well the time has finally come my dad is ready to DOMINATE and DEFEAT cancer!  After getting his diagnosis in April 2010 he has been steadily winning against Myeloma every month his numbers have continued to drop and they got the call a few weeks ago that we are ready to rock and roll! 

This has to be weird for my dad,  he has gotten so used to his routine of taking his pills or shots of low dose chemo for going on 8 months,  all the while he has been able to continue to work and live his life for the most part I'm not saying he loved the pills and shots but he got used to it and now we are entering a whole new phase.  We will drive up on Wednesday, January 27th and my dad will not be coming back to Vegas for probably 8-9 weeks until his WBC and Platelets are high enough that the doctors let him come home.  

But look he is a cool dude and ready for this!

My dad will start treatment Friday, January 29th.  He will receive shots a few times a day that will boost his stem cells ( kind of like when you are going through invitro and you are trying to boost your eggs) he will do this for I believe 10 days,  then he will have a stem cell collection where he will be hooked up to a machine for a few hours at a time and it will filter the blood in his body and separate out the good and the bad cells.  We are told this can take 3-5 days.  None of this first part hurts, in fact my dad has given blood every couple months for years so I doubt he even notices most of it. Then comes the not so fun part.  In order to receive his good cells back and to hopefully kick cancers ass he has to receive the highest form of chemo a person's body can handle to kill everything in his body both bad and good,  he does this for a few days and then once his body is ready he receives the good stem cells back and we wait for his WBC and his Platelets to rise high enough that they will kick him out of the hospital.  From there he has to stay in SLC for a few more weeks just to be close for his doctors appointments.   You do not normally find out your true new numbers for about 60-90 days after your SCT. 

My mom and dad will obviously be up in SLC the entire time, they  have rented a nice furnished apartment at the Gateway and it has a pull out sofa and a air mattress perfect for family to stay.  My dad will be a IN patient for about 4 weeks out of the 9 and will be at the apartment for the remainder of the time.

Once we come home we are not out of the woods yet,   in the process of getting the Melaphan (the high dose chemo)  it basically wipes away all the years of vaccines my dad has had and he will not be able to be vaccinated for a year after his SCT,  so we are not going to put him in a bubble but we will be VERY careful about who he sees and if he needs to wear a mask etc.  He is going to hate it and probably us too but oh well!

I know my mom and dad will try to blog as much as they can but if you do not find a update from him jump over here and I will try to fill in the gaps.   My plan is to be up there to get them settled in,  for his high dose chemo and anything in between I think I need to be a part of.  I am lucky to have an amazing boss and company who basically said to me whatever time I need off I can have.  I am thankful for an amazing husband who realizes how important this is to me and is just letting me do my thing. And also for friends and family who have told me anything we need they are there to help out.  There is NOTHING I wouldn't do for my parents and if I am just up there to make them laugh and fetch food then that's what I will do.  :)

So tonight I am packing up my boots and my heavy jackets and my next blog will be coming to you from SALT LAKE CITY!

Thanks again to everyone for all your good thoughts/vibes and prayers.  They are powerful and we feel them.

ReCiPes!

I love to cook.  I love to experiment with new dishes.  I love to watch the Food Network, Top Chef and any others cooking/baking show I can. I'm a junkie I know....  My experiments do not always turn out and unforunately for my little brother Matt who lived with me and Ryan who has been with me for almost 2 years their has been some not so great dinners. :)  But overall I don't think I am a bad cook,  in fact sometimes I make a meal and it's really good.   Those are the days I love when I make a meal or a dessert that people really like.  So here is a few recipes I have made that I really like.

Lion House Chicken



Ingredients:

• 10 to 12 8-ounce boneless, skinless chicken breast (I pounded with a mallet a little to make it easier to fold)
• 2 cups ground bread crumbs
• 4 cups favorite stuffing mix (I had a box ot stove top around and it worked just fine)
• 1 cup mushrooms, sliced
• 1 cup butter, melted (I only used 1/2 cup of butter)
• 1/2 cup honey
• 2 cups mayonnaise
• 1/3 cup Dijon mustard

Method:

Lay whole chicken breast flat on baking sheet. Coat with bread crumbs. Prepare your favorite stuffing with mushrooms and butter. Portion stuffing mixture into 10 to 12 equal parts. Put Stuffing on one half of each chicken breast; fold over and secure with toothpicks. Bake 375 degrees for 30 minutes. Makes 10 to 12 servings. To make sause, mix honey, mayonnaise, and mustard together in a small saucepan and heat over medium heat warmed through. Top each cooked chicken breast with sauce before serving.  ( I only poured about 1/4 of the sauce over the chicken and then put the rest in a gravy boat and let people pour more if they wanted)

 

I made the Lion House rolls to go along with it and some green beans. 

 

IT WAS SO GOOD!!!!

 

The next recipe I wish I had a picture of,  I received it from our friend Staci and we made a few batches for Christmas gifts for our primary class, neighbors etc. 

 

PEANUT BUTTER POPCORN

1/2 C. Popcorn unpopped(or 2 bags of microwave popcorn)
1 C. Light corn syrup
1 C. Sugar
1 C. Peanut butter
1 tsp vanilla
Pop popcorn. Bring sugar and syrup to a boil, and boil for 2 min. Remove from heat and add peanut butter. Stir until melted. Add vanilla. Pour over popped popcorn and mix.

Kids, adults, pretty much anyone who likes peanut butter or popcorn will love this.  Ryan and I added mini Reeses Peices to the recipe for the kids.  It was a big hit!  One of our kids called and asked for the yummy deliciousness we gave her at church :)

The last recipe for today I got off a website from a woman who decided to use her crockpot for 365 days straight.  I LOVE THE CROCKPOT.  Especially when I had 1:00pm church or when I know I am working late.  No one wants to come home after a long day and spend the next hour making dinner.  Coming home to a meal already made, it doesn't get any better than that.

CROCKPOT "FRIED" CHICKEN

(Its not fried and the ingredients are not bad for you)

--18 thawed drumsticks (I dont thaw them all the way when i am cooking for 8-10 hours.  It makes them still really moist but not fall apart so easily)

--1/4 cup butter

--1/4 cup flour

--2 tsp seasoned salt

--1 TBL  Italian seasoning

--1 TBL onion powder

-- 1 t paprika

--1/2 t black pepper

 

The Directions.

 

--combine all the spices and the flour in a freezer bag or in a shallow dish. Dredge each chicken piece well, and plop into your crockpot. I used the shallow dish method, because we were out of freezer bags.

--when all the chicken is in the crock, pour 1/4 cup of melted butter over it.

--cook on high for 6 hours or on low for 8-10.

 

Something I do sometimes also is take them out of the crockpot 15 minutes before I am ready to eat and pop them in a over heated to 375 on a baking sheet.  Makes the skin a little crispy.

 

I love these,  I have made them at least 10-15 times, for parties for family dinner.   They heat up well if you have extras also!

 

Happy cooking!!



Happy Birthday to my MOMMA!

It's my momma's birthday today! Yeah!  I love that woman to death,  if I could go back to my highschool years when I made her life a living nightmare I would and I would take it all back and realize she was right..shhh dont tell her that :) 

She is an amazing woman,  she always thinks of others and doesn't think about herself far enough. She is stronger than she thinks and through all the adversatity she has had this year,  she just smiles and hangs in there.  She is definitely my role model for how to be the best wife and mom I can be.

I love her so much and can't wait to celebrate her birthday tonight!  We are going to Cheesecake Factory and even though Ryan and I have been trying to watch what we eat I'm getting a peice of cheesecake for sure :)

Happy Birthday Mom!

Its a NEW Year!!

HAPPY 2011 EVERYONE!!!

It is so hard to believe that it is 2011 already,  I'm old enough I still remember Y2K and now that's been 11 years ago and the world is somewhat still here.  :)   I am really hoping for a blessed 2011 for my family and friends.   I do not make New Years Resolutions,  I break them.  Ryan is going back on no soda and that just will not happen for me and I admit it.

  All I want for 2011 is for my dad to complete his Stem Cell Transplant and acheive complete remission and be back to golfing every week! And maybe for me to find my self expecting later in the year, but I'll take my dad this year and me next year if I only get one choice :)  Other than that I am just looking forward to another year having memorable times with our families and our friends.  We are very lucky to be able to spend so much time with our families,  we definitely cherish them and the memories we make.

To wrap up 2010 we went up to St George for the annual Dalton Family after Christmas party.   We had about 30 people there and celebrated a new engagement for my cousin Kristalynn.  She will be getting married in SLC in March and if we are not already up there for dad's SCT we will definitely be going up there for the wedding.  We also celebrated the newest addition to the Dalton side of the family,  my cousin Kim had her 2nd baby girl Jessie Rebekah she was born a little early and her lungs still need to develop so she will be int he NICU for a few weeks.   

And on the Stewart side of the family Ryan's uncle Darren had his 5th child a little boy named Steven who was born almost 10 weeks early weighing in a little over 3 lbs and will be in the NICU for a month probably developing.  Both babies are doing well and we can't wait to meet them!

Here is to a healthy and happy 2011 to all our family and friends!!  We love you all.