The End is Near

The last days are upon us. The end is near. Radiation shall be conquered! VICTORY IS OURS!!

Well, almost ours :) We have been counting down the days to Greg's final radiation appointment (set for Saturday the 20th @ 8:30am) for quite some time, and are down to our final two days. Wow!

Our final week in Rochester has been full of to-dos that we promised we would accomplish while we were up here (*alas, the Spam Museum has not been, nor will be, graced with our presence*. bummer). Our list included:
-Take the kids out for an evening [X]
*this really means take them on a secret adventure with their eyes blindfolded & bounce around in giant inflatables for 2 hours

Greg barely made the height limit for being able to enjoy the fun. (and in case you didn't notice, his hair is g-o-n-e. shaved. buzzed. zippo. zero. zilcho. but growingo backo soono.) ------------>

-Stay in for an evening while the parents enjoy a night out [X]


*this translates to: eat 3 boxes of macaroni & cheese with hot dogs, pretend to be 8 again, and read gobs of Junie B. Jones.





-Confiscate a hospital wheelchair [X]
*Moms, you can stop reading here.

**it just so happens that hospitals have a lot of wheelchairs and so many of them need exercise. Honestly, they are practically screaming, "Use me! I was made to assist people, not stay folded up here in the corner!". The only problem is that neither Greg or myself fit the stereotype of someone needing the assistance of a wheelchair. We still thought it would be best if we kept one of them from rusting away in the corner, and headed to an area we knew was loaded with them. When the coast was clear, Greg sneakishly hopped in. We enjoyed touring the hospital and getting a combination of looks of sympathy and looks of "why are YOU in that chair?!". Kerrie also had lots of practice getting Greg into packed elevators. People were very accommodating. (Keep in mind the next time someone wheels into an elevator with you that they might not need the chair at all. They may just be testing your accommodation skills. Better practice those skills now so you'll be prepared).

As we prepare for the remaining two treatments, it will be hard to part with our home in Rochester and the wonderful family we have been able to spend so much time with. However, seasons come and go and it is time for the next one to begin :) Thanks for your prayers. Please keep them coming.

Picture This: (insert picture)

Here's a little challenge to keep you guessing as to what we've been up to this week. You get ten points for each correct guess of what the following pictures are, without peeking ahead at the answers!

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

 6.

Answers:
 1. If you guessed "Greg's mouth", congrats! You're off to a good start. Chalk up ten points for yourself.

2. The bacon in the bottom right corner may have made you think, "I bet this is a picture of Greg holding a plate of bacon, eggs, and pancakes at Denny's Free Grand Slam Tuesday!" Close, but no cigar. It's a picture of Kerrie at the Grand Slam Tuesday. Why am I always in pictures with food?!?! Whatev.

 3. This is Greg holding his beard trimmer we were going to use to cut his hair (we found a real buzzer). He started losing it last week, and as the days passed it began coming out in handfuls. We officially knew he needed to trim it down when he was at a friend's place and he told Greg, "It looks like a cat slept here." Goodbye, Long Locks.

4. Ta-da! These are Greg's smiling eyes that have a great attitude about sporting his new hairstyle. Blawgsome.
------------>

5. These shiny metal blades are the culprits of destroying Long Locks. If you have correctly guessed each picture so far, you are at 50 points and win a hug from Greg.

6. Hat shopping took up a nice span of time one afternoon. This is the chosen masterpiece. Go Cubs! :)







*If you correctly won all 60 points, let us know and Greg will sneakishly (habit, sorry) throw in another hug when you least expect it.

After tomorrow, we have 6 treatments left! Time has gone so quickly and we cannot believe we only have one week left in Rochester. After the last day of radiation they will send Greg home for about a month until he will come back for more chemotherapy (the dosage can change from month to month, so we will be coming up about every 4 weeks for a while). Doctors will take an MRI in a few months to determine how much damage (the good kind of damage) radiation did to destroy the tumor.

Tune in next time, for more Adventures of G & K!
(I feel like we should have a theme song or something. Any good ideas will earn an additional ten points). 

Awesome + Blog = Blawgsome. Put that in the Math books.

We began blogging with the determination to make it blawgsome. I don't know if we have met that standard for you, but it is a work in blogress.

We had the opportunity last week to take Jacob and Emma bowling after they were done with school. After combing through Rochester for bowling alleys that didn't have League Night, we found one. It started out great, with Emma closing out the first frame with a strike!

Even though we don't have a date set, we decided to get a jump on wedding stuff by spending an afternoon filling our wedding registry. Don't be fooled--it takes MUCH longer than expected. Greg got excited, thinking we were done.....he then saw the 6 additional aisles of kitchen stuff we hadn't gone through. Morale was a little low at that point :S

As you see above, we were able to persevere. Ninja style.

The nurses who see Greg everyday for radiation are great. This week they asked if I would like to come back and see what he does everyday. It definitely helped understand the whole process.

1. Greg goes and stands outside the radiation room door for a few minutes until they call his name. A map of the world is provided, in case patients feel the need to brush up on their geography skills.

2. They take him into a room with a door that is 3 feet thick and have him climb on a bed. After strapping his feet together, they put a mask over him that has been molded to fit his face. It has little holes all over, which makes for a good picture when bits and pieces of his beard are sticking out.

3. When he is secure, the nurses leave the room and let the radiation machine go to work. It is similar to a giant upside down "J" and rotates around him to target different areas of the tumor.

4. The nurses go in and adjust the bed a few times, but the whole process is pretty quick. It only lasts 15-20 minutes, AND you get to improve your knowledge of global geography. What a deal! We had no idea radiation would enhance so many life-long skills :) Feel free to quiz Greg's geography next time you talk to him. Asking him the capital of Kazakhstan is a good place to start.

A Life of Prayer

Last weekend Greg had the privilege to meet the fam. Not just "Mom, Dad, Sisters, Grandparents"... kind of thing. He cleared that hurdle a long time ago. We're talking about the whole humongo bunch of 91 Thompsons. He handled it well and has everyone's name, relation, home address, and favorite color memorized. I am quite impressed.

We all got together to say good-bye to my grandma and have a service honoring her 92 years of life. What an incredible thing to live for 92 years! Being one of the youngest of her grandchildren, and since my dad is the youngest of 8 kids, I did not know her as many of my cousins and aunts and uncles did. It was so neat to hear testimony after testimony of how she led a life of humility, service to others, and prayer.

I am extremely challenged by her life, and am disappointed I did not realize what a treasure & resource to living a godly life she was when she was here. She was always the sweetest, kindest, and post patient woman. I thought that was how all grandmas were, yet I didn't think about her life before being a grandma. Raising eight children and spending nearly her entire life on a farm had to bring its ups and downs, but remaining faithful in her relationship with the Lord and putting herself last by offering her services and consistent prayer she earned the respect of hundreds of people.

What a challenge it is to follow in the footsteps she left behind. I have thought about Grandma Thompson a lot in the last week and what it would take to make small steps toward such an incredible life lived for the Lord. Thinking about her a lot has led to a lot more prayer. Prayer for friends, family, world leaders, fiances :), doctors, even people I don't know (like when you hear an ambulance siren... it's a pretty good indicator that someone, somewhere is in pain, stuck in a tree, hopefully not prank calling, etc.).

Updates on Greg: He finished treatment #13 today! He has had some fatigue, but has managed to stay well rested during the day to store up his energy for intense PS3 football games against his 11 yr old cousin, and even more intense basement basketball (well, a beach ball has to be substituted) games. We are continuing to stay fairly active and are on the hunt for jobs when this is all finished. We are confident everything will work out well. Thanks for your continuous prayers!