Lake City, CO

Visiting, sermon preparation, radiation treatments, walking in the beautiful fall colors, racquetball; these are just a few of the things filling up our calendars these days! Last weekend we took off in different directions- Emrys to Lake City and Sara to Phoenix to get stuff out of storage. It was a grueling weekend but good. Sara was able to visit with family during her short trip and Emrys did some more “settling in” to the manse.

Radiation is going well. Sara isn’t experiencing any of the side effects yet and we’re half way through! Praise God!! In addition, she’s taken on racquetball twice a week while she’s in Durango and walking on the off days. Her energy is back and better than when we started!
Last night we had rain and thunderstorms all night. It was the first time in a long time and so in spite of the cold air that came with the storms we slept with the windows open. It was great! And this morning we’re back to Colorado blue skies.

Have a great day!
~sjt

Cruising Into Fall

With radiation treatments underway, Sara’s still off and running. Although we’ve been warned that her energy may fade near the end of the treatments… we’ll see! Emrys is in Hebrew texts up to his elbows as he prepares sermons for Lake City and thoroughly enjoyed his stay so far in the small town. Last Sunday he preached for a full house as the regular end of summer crowd was in attendance – about 90- and then a women’s retreat that was in the area from Kansas City showed up adding another 40 to the numbers. It was standing room only!!

This we’ll split in separate directions, Sara heading to Phoenix to empty out the storage unit into her parents new garage with lots of help and Emrys off to Presbytery Meetings in Allison, CO and then to Lake City.

The fall colors are beginning to paint the landscape in Durango with rust, orange and gold peaking through the summer greens. Fall is such a beautiful season that was truly missed during our time in California.

Emrys has received his official acceptance to the University of Otago in Dunedin, New Zealand which cements our plans to head off in January. He has to be in Dunedin by January 15th so we will most likely begin our jet-setting soon after New Years. Now that things are cementing this adventure is becoming more real and we’re getting excited again!

Hope all is well with you- our family and friends!!
God Bless!

Sharing SW Colorado

We’ve arrived back in Durango and are having fun showing Ginger & Sophie our little corner of paradise. Yesterday we drove north to Andrew’s Lake, Animas Forks- a ghost town, and Silverton. It was a beautiful day and fall was definitely in the air. It was only about 50°. (Link to photos ->). Our outing included Ginger rock climbing, hiding in abandoned mine shafts, gorgeous mountain views, amazing blue water at Baker’s Bridge, exploring houses that remained standing in Animas Forks and wandering through the gift shops in Silverton. It was a packed day and everyone slept well last night!

Today we will meet with the radiation oncologist to schedule out Sara’s treatments. We’re aiming to be done by October 7th so that Sara can move out to Lake City too and the driving back and forth will be finished-for the most part. Emrys will begin preaching at Community Presbyterian on Sunday- so the commuting begins. He’ll drive out, spend the weekend and then come back to Durango.

On the Road Again

We spent the weekend with Emrys’ family as they gathered to remember his dad. It was a good time of visiting under the circumstances but also difficult as well. We left on Monday and made it safe and sound to Branson, MO and are enjoying some down time with Sara’s family.
For those who haven’t been to Branson, it can only be described as a tacky Las Vegas of the Midwest. But there are outlet malls which are pretty fun! On a mission shopping trip we were able to get some dinnerware. (Ours was hand-me-down stuff that we handed down to someone else when we moved from Pasadena.) We now have dishes to eat off of when we get to Lake City- which is a good thing.
We will hang out here through Friday or Saturday when we will start our trip back to Durango. We will get back into town late on Sunday. Sara’s Mom will be with us next week as well as our good friend Sophie. It will be a good time.

The Roller Coaster Continues

Better safe than repeating this summer again in 5 years. That was our decision after meeting with Dr. Bush- the radiation oncologist. The good news is that the treatments will only be 3 weeks in duration and won’t start until the middle of September. This allows Sara 3 weeks of energy regaining time before the radiation starts and it seems that the radiation treatments will cause a fraction of the side effects that the chemotherapy did. So, for the next three weeks, we enjoy - no doctor’s appointments, prodding, poking, sticking etc. Sara’s looking forward to this!

Emrys spent last week battling a cold, and also getting some rest and relaxation, although a little less than originally planned. He preached at Community Presbyterian Church in Lake City, CO on Sunday. Lake City is a warm community and it looks as if he may be filling their pulpit through the middle of December. (Yup, that’s right- moving again!)

It’s with sadness that we share that we found out that Emrys’s dad, George Tyler, passed away on Saturday. So this week will bring some zig-zagging around the country to make it to PA for memorial services and back to the Midwest for the Wheat family reunion. Please keep Emrys’ family in your prayers as they mourn this sudden and unexpected loss and for us as we travel that our health will be sustained and protected. (Sara’s been given the OK by her doc to fly but we all know about airplanes and germs etc!)

Leukemia & Lymphoma Society Marathon- Support Sarah R!

I found out this week that my dear friend Sarah R. is planning on walking a marathon in January on the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society team to raise money for cures for these cancers. As my prognosis is good due to the research and development of these treatments, not all lymphomas and leukemias have reached this point in successful treatments. To the right is the link to Sarah's fundraising page. If you are so led I would encourage you to support her in her trek!
Thanks!!
~sjt

Halleluiah, NO MORE CHEMO!!

Chemo is over- Praise God! After my doctor consulted with the pediatric oncologists at University of New Mexico, we found out last night that the 3 cycles of chemotherapy I have completed will be sufficient and I will have to complete 3 weeks of radiation therapy as icing on the cake to make sure that any little cancer cells that may be hanging out get eradicated as well. But for now, I take great joy in knowing that when I am done with feeling yucky this time around, I get to continue getting better. Its my understanding that the radiation treatments are a little less jarring on the body than the chemotherapy was. Here's for hoping!

So this morning after my Neulasta shot all the nurses, staff and my Doctor were there to share in our rejoicing! It was a wonderful moment that I cherish in the small clinic that has truly cared about me/us and oujourneyny towards the cure. I also found out that another friend of mine is planning owalkingng a marathon in January with the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Look for a link to her website coming soon.

So this means that the trip to Branson, MO for a family reunion for the Wheats will be a much better weekend. We will be moving into the apartment today and I'm so looking forward to the space again.

Thanks to all who have supported us in so many ways through this summer journey! All too numerous to thank personally but know that I there was a way I'd love to have the opportunity to personally thank everyone. For now I'll continue in getting as far as I can.
Love to you all! More info on our Lake City opportunity next time- still in the air on that but should have information next week.

Moving again!

Camp has finished out for the summer and most of the summer staff has headed off in the general direction of their homes. We are hanging out at Sonlight for a couple more nights. Tomorrow we will make a day trip out to Lake City, Colorado, a small town about 2 ½ hours north of Pagosa Springs. We’re scouting in a sense as we may have an opportunity to spend some time in this area this fall. More info as things develop.

Spending the summer at Sonlight has been a great experience for us. The staff was wonderfully supportive and the environment can’t be beat! It will be sad to leave but we are ready to move on. We will stay with friends in Durango this week as Sara takes on Chemo Round 6 and hopefully by next weekend the apartment we will be using will be ready for us. We will welcome our own space again as we’ve done the “community living” thing and stayed with wonderfully hospitable friends and family since we left Pasadena in May. Having some time and space to reconnect with each other will be great!

So Cute!!

Camp is full of 3rd and 4th graders this week and they are so cute! Check out the Sonlight site for pictures! The little ones are so much fun as they learn their way around camp; something we take for granted with our older groups. One little guy checked in on Sunday and promptly went to show his buddies the mud pit- up close and knee deep before we caught up with them! No signs, nobody said they couldn’t go out there, who knew!

Camp is over the end of this week we will be moving back to Durango. If you need to send anything our way via Snail Mail, please do not use the Pagosa Springs address; e-mail us and we’ll pass along our current mailing address.

While modern medicine has many good things, it seems you can’t always have them all at once. Sara’s faring much better this go of chemo than the last, but at the price of quality sleep. It’s a sacrifice chosen over 10 days of upset stomach. We hope and pray that her sleep will be back in sync in the next couple of nights.

Thank you all for your continued prayers, cards, calls and support during this summer. The chemo journey is just over half way done and we’re praising God for the success of the treatments thus far. We are forever grateful that this is not something that we had to face on our own.
~sj&et

Awesome News... and not so awesome details...

The CT scan went well on Tuesday and I have had a couple good days before returning for chemo today. Before the chemo came the results of the CT scan: CLEAR! No evidence of any enlarged lymph nodes at all- anywhere! So the good news is that the chemo is doing its job.

The bad news is that I still have to finish out the 3 remaining treatments and my doctor is still talking about radiation. I’d prefer to skip the radiation portion of this show and move on to the “cancer-free” status waiting for me but I’d also like to have my doctor’s endorsement on that. So please pray that the radiation is not necessary and I can move on to regaining my health at the end of September.

Thank you for all of your thoughts and prayers during this time. I appreciate your continued prayers as I continue through the remainder of the chemo. It’s especially frustrating knowing that I’m going through the chemo but all the enlarged lymph nodes, scar tissue and all, are gone. The recovery time after the treatments seems to have gotten longer with this last treatment and it is becoming wearing on me overall. Thanks so much and love to you all!
~sjt