Meeting the family!

What an awesome getaway!  Kevin and I went over to Dads house to spend a few days with him, his wife Kim and my sweet sweet Grama.  The weather was beautiful and the food was overwhelming! :) 

We got there really late Friday night so got to visit for a little bit. Saturday we took a drive around the area and it was so beautiful!  I thought Colorado was gorgeous!?

Kim made us Smamut...now if you aren't familiar with Norwegians or my family in general you won't have a clue what that is.  Basically a side pork soup with dumplings....I was in heaven. 

Sunday...well we won't talk about the first part of the day (football game, what football game??).  My Dad is really famous for deep frying turkeys so when we got to town and heard there was no turkey frying planned...I asked him with a bat of the eyes if he would reconsider.  He was stoked!  I guess everyone there is tired of fried turkey so he had to pack his frying stuff away...until we got there.  That will be our next purchase so we can start a tradition here also. 

Dad later dug out a helicopter that my sister and I gave him a couple years ago...holy! They were like little boys and it was sooo much fun to watch!!!

Our visit was drawing to an end so we decided to take a bunch of family photos to remember the visit.  Speaking of remembering, those of you that know my Grama and her state, will be happy to know she did really good while we were there! She was able to remember Kevin's name (although she thought he was my husband) and she knew we were there the whole time!  He also taught her how to play a puzzle game on his iPad.

A HUGE thank you to Gramma Kim for watching lil Noell!  They have such a cute relationship...you would think Noell is human.  We say "want to spend the weekend with Gramma" and she completely freaks out!   We love and appreciate you so so so much Kim!! 

We go in next week to get some of Kevins test results back and find out what holistic approaches can be started.  Please keep him in your prayers as we step into this new field...its a whole new world with a whole lot of possibilities!!

Love, Us! :)

THRIVE

CANCER SURVIVOR: You are a survivor from the day of diagnosis.  You must do the thing you think you can not do.

We spent the day Saturday at an amazing event called THRIVE, put on by Swedish Medical Center. We met many cancer survivors and caregivers. Five cancer survivors shared their  amazing stories of surviving AND thriving! Oncologists from Swedish Medical Center spoke about new advances in cancer detection and therapies.  We participated in yoga and guided meditation demonstrations, and learned about nutrition and super foods. It was an emotional day to say the least but Kim and I were so happy that Kevin wanted to go to this event.  To be in a room full of cancer survivors and their families was an amazing step.  It is empowering to see others, many of whom are the same age as Kevin, thriving, despite their diagnosis. Many of us have been touched by cancer in one way or another. On Saturday we learned that not only do cancer survivors survive but they THRIVE!

Kevin's neuro-oncologist was one of the speakers. It was good to hear his perspective and his speech gave us insight to what he thinks and feels as a physician.  Here is a poem he wrote. For those of us never having been diagnosed, it rang loud throughout the crowd.
Picture the patient's stress on MRI day. Immediately following the MRI they sit in the doctor's office, on a bench, behind the doctor, looking at the computer images of the MRI.
I hope you are able to read this. The picture was taken on my phone. I made it extra large so it would come through clearer.

There was an amazing young woman who was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer at age 24. Here is something she shared with us and I wanted to share it here also.  Whether you know someone with cancer, have cancer or stumble upon it in your lifetime...please keep this list in mind.  We are always open to gifts as well!  :)

We all felt so good when we left there Saturday...not only were our hearts uplifted we got onto the main road to this...

Sunday was a fun day with friends and neighbors helping Kevin work on his truck and watching the Broncos...I kinda feel sorry for Raider fans, NOT! :)

Monday was quite the day! We were on our way to Boulder to see his holistic doctor...cruising west on Highway 7, about a mile west of I25 (the wind was seriously out of control).  Kevin mentioned how strange the clouds looked and as I was watching the sky, all of a sudden a mini tornado appeared in the field to our right. (maybe I am a bit dramatic but it was for real)  Debris, garbage and dust were swirling around...I immediately put my head into my hands as if taking cover when off the side of the road a huge road construction sign came blowing towards us and hit the truck!  RIGHT BESIDE ME!! It hit the right front fender, took the right side mirror off and scratched the whole passenger side of the truck.  Crazy??  Yes, but we are so grateful we were not in my car...things could have been so much worse. 

I believe this is God's way of saying it's not Kevin's time yet. Amen to that! God is good, always!

We are so blessed with all the donations to the gofundme account and want to thank everyone!  We are nowhere near our goal...holistic care is very expensive and it's a shame it isn't covered by insurance.  We took a large chunk out this week for some testing so we find ourselves in the humble position of reaching out for additional help. We hope you can find it in your hearts to assist us in reaching our goals. With the holidays right around the corner, we are thankful for anything you are able to give. 

Blessing to all.

Cheri, Kevin  and Kim

My how times flies...

This past week has been such a beautiful week...have I mentioned that I love Colorado? :)

Kevin is starting to get his energy back now that he has been off chemo for a couple months.  Starting a new approach to healing, isn't exciting, as you can imagine...getting off chemo after a year and a half...only to have to go into more "treatment".  We are hearing such interesting and inspiring things about the holistic care world though!  Please if you have any positive stories for us in that regard, email me at cherisellshomes@gmail.com.

We ask that you share this blog wherever you can to spread the word for positive healing stories.


This week we got to spend some good quality time with his guy friends, at the shop and in their homes.  It's always great to see him with his old friends!   I even got to do some 4th grade homework!

We had a blast carving pumpkins!  I hadn't done that in a grip of time.
             

 Any that knows us...knows whos is whos here! :)

We went to church Saturday night with his mother and we all agreed it felt so good to be in the community again.

As always thank you so much for your time in following our blog!

www.gofundme.com/holistic4kevin