Today's Activities Include....

Today's activities include absolutely nothing....ohhh how I wish but it was a great thought for a brief moment.  However, for the first time all summer I did sleep in. 

At the beginning of the summer my 16 year old son Brandon took a paper route   The requirements for the job was you had to be 16 years old and have a car that was insured.  Since his car is great on gas he took the job.  HOWEVER, what they didn't tell him was the job really is a two person job and the route was fairly difficult.  It really was not just driving down the street and throwing the paper out the window.

Anyway, after 3 days he really wanted to throw in the towel (or should I say throw in the paper-LOL).  We encouraged that he can't quite.  More than anything we wanted him to learn the following life lessons from this.

1)  Life can be difficult at times and not every job you are going to love, but you have to stick it out.

2)  Remember your family is always there to help you in a time of need.

3)  Apply yourself and set high goals now to go to college or potentially this in the kind of job you will have for a lifetime.

So he did stick it out.  Brandon and I got up every morning at 2:15am to go do his paper route.  He ended up making pretty good money and the best part of it all I saw him grow so much this summer.

Yesterday was our last day so today I plan on doing nothing (not really) but it has been great to rest and relax.  I for sure need a pedicure after I am done here in the Jacuzzi tub...

Have a great day.

Recovery Time

Well I need to update all of you on the latest at our house. It's been a long and difficult couple of weeks as we have made many decisions.

We met with a rectal surgeon about one month ago to further investigate the rectal pain Fred was still experiencing. I was very impressed by Dr. Kim. He is not a big fan of putting patients through pain so we decided to do an internal ultrasound of the rectum to see what is going on.

What we discovered was a hole in Fred's tale bone and the tumor was wrapped around the nerves that cross over the tailbone. So taking out the tumor is not an option or you would have to take out the tailbone and that is something I would not wish on anyone not to mention the mortality rate is VERY high.

So why is there a hole you may ask? Well it is very rare for this to happen. I have been asking all of you to keep us in your prayers and well it worked. I testify that prayers are answered. Fred responded so well to the chemo treatments that it left a hole. What we don't know is if the tumor was already in the tailbone and with chemo it killed the tumor and left a hole or if the chemo was targeting the tumor that is laying on top of the tailbone and weakened the bone to the point that now we have a hole.

We actually are very blessed that the tumor is on the posterior side of the rectum. If it had been on the anterior side it would have been near the stomach and bladder and those are sterile areas and if there would have been a hole created there and then the chemo infused into that area it would have killed him. So thanks for the prayers because I feel very blessed and this could have been so much worse than it is.

Therefore Fred had surgery on 6-30-11. To protect Fred's privacy I am not going to go into details of the surgery, but we just had to reroute things to prevent sepsis (full body infection) in the future and hopefully relieve some of his pain.

Surgery went well and he is recovering well. We still welcome many many prayers. We were discharged from the hospital today.  Hopefully recovery will be very quick and back to regular activities very soon.

Thanks to all of you for your support, love and friendship.  It means everything to us.  Have a great day.

Returned from Neverland

Yes I am still alive.  Just very short on time these days.

I am back from our much needed vacation in Florida.  Trying to get caught up on life, unpack and I am exhausted.  However, we had such a wonderful time together it was all worth it. 

We did just about everything you can possibly do in the state of Florida.  Just a couple of photos to share with you.

Have a great day.

The Good, The Bad The Ugly, and the Blessed

WOW it's been a wild week here at the Kankamp home.  We tend to have a motto here at our house.  "If you are going to do something do a good job or don't do it at all"  hahahah.  Here are a few updates from the wild week.

THE GOOD:  Well other than Fred still having lots of pain it's been so nice to have a month break.  The month long break came and went very quickly and it was time for that break to come to an end.  We did another PET scan to see how things were looking in order to determine the next treatment plan.

Have I mentioned my heart STOPS every time he has a PET scan.  Waiting for the results and knowing what the Dr is going to tell us just makes my heart stop and my stomach turn.  This time Rachael and Alyssa wanted to come to the appointment to view the PET.  I was very nervous having them there to possibly hear really bad news and wondering how they would handle hearing it from the doctor instead of me,  but they wanted to come and see pictures.  Since they are both pursuing medical degree's it was very educational for them.  Anyway we were very pleased with the results.  Still not super fantastic put we will take any bit of improvement we can get.

Basically the rectal tumor still glows on PET meaning it wants to be active.  Be it is not as bright as it has been and has decreased in size.  The liver and lungs did not light up at all. You could still see a few  tiny "spots"  but they were not glowing and definitely decreased in size and some of them have melted away-possibly.  So that was very good news.  We are going to meet with a surgeon.  We are hoping to not do surgery but think it's a good idea to get connected with one in the event that a blockage does occur due to the fact that his bowels are sluggish right now.  So next week we will meet with a surgeon. 

So I was feeling so good  and so blessed and feeling every prayer out there and a huge load of bricks lifted a few inches off my shoulders for a moment and then the bad came.

THE BAD:  So after the PET Alyssa and a friend decided to go on a bike ride.  She is training for her annual cycling tour where she rides from SLC to ST. George (approx 300 miles) in three days.  So that evening she was cycling around 25-30 MPH and went around a round-about and the tire somehow slipped sideways and she flipped off the bike.  She suffered a major fracture to her clavicle (collar bone).  So you can see below (only if you want) that Alyssa is keeping with the family motto and if you are going to break a bone break it really well.

So we met with an outstanding Orthopedic surgeon and we went in for surgery today.  I hate that she had to have surgery and be held together with a metal plate and screws, but I am so very grateful that she didn't suffer a head injury.  Her helmet was cracked and smashed.  Once again we were being watched over and very blessed that this was not more serious.

THE UGLY:  With permission here is her fractured clavical scroll on by if you don't like to look at bones.

THE BLESSED:  The surgeon squeezed her into the schedule today at a nearby hospital that I don't work at.  I was a bit nervous about having surgery elsewhere, because I would not know the medical staff and especially would not know the anesologist  I know I am a little picky,  What many don't realize is how vital the anesologist is to the case.  The anesologist can make the difference on how stable the patient is coming out of the operating room as well as how the patient recovers. 

Anyway, when we got there this morning and got her back in the room I asked the nurse if she likes the anesologist and she assured me he was fantastic and comes highly recommended.  Well when the anesologist walked in it was one that I work with all the time and he is excellent.  I didn't realize he also did shifts at this hospital.  You have no idea how happy I was to see him and was feeling very blessed.  Of course he took excellent care of Alyssa and kept me well informed.  Other than a little nausea she is doing great and recovering well. So I feel super blessed that all went well and that we had a wonderful anesologist.  Hopefully we can keep the pain under control.



Minutes before going to surgery. 
She was not to thrilled with the blue hospital socks.



Photo Challenge-Wind

Today I got a wild hair and decided to participate in a photo challenge over at I Heart Faces just for the heck of it all.  The challenge is "wind".  It reminded me of the day Lauren and I were at the lake taking photos and all she wanted to do was get in the car and come home to a nice warm house.

http://www.iheartfaces.com/

Thanks for stopping by and enjoy your day in whatever weather condition you might have.



Taking a Break

You are truly witnessing history here.  Fred and Shilo taking a nap. 

Actually there is more to the story than just taking a nap.  We are truly taking a BREAK from all treatments and we feel completely at peace with our decision and so does our doctor. 

The chemo treatments have really broken Fred's body down.  He needs time to heal both physically and mentally.  He needs time to rebuild his resources, catch up on lots of sleep and the pain to go away.  However while we are doing this we need those darn cancer cells to behave themselves and go to sleep or better yet die.

The plan is to take a break for one month and then we will repeat a PET scan and see where we are and if the chemo is doing what we need it to do.  So we plan to enjoy this next month.  I am hoping for some great weather so we can get outside for some fresh air and nature.

In the mean time thanks for all your thoughts and prayers.  I completely believe that all prayers are answered and miracles happen but at the right time.  Your prayers are truly what we need right now and it is what keeps us going everyday and the reason I get out of bed.  Trust me it has crossed my mind many times to just pull the covers over my head and go back to sleep.  HAHAHA.  Well I hope that we will learn what we need to learn from this trial very soon and then move on.  However, until then we feel very blessed for wonderful friends, family and faith.

Love you all.  Have a great day.

Lifestyle Photography: Thematic/Self-Portrait Shooting

Well another week has quickly passed me by.  I took some photos of Brandon this past weekend.  I was trying to create the story with just one photo.  I took several shots and I just could not decide which one photo to share with you.  So I narrowed it down to two.  Let me know which one you like best.

Thematic:

 Concept/Theme:  Adventures into music



Click on images to enlarge

Self Portrait Challenge:
Brace yourself because I have taken another challenge for myself.  The challenge is to commit to putting yourself in the photo at least once a week.  I love to be behind the camera and find it so rewarding when I get that perfect shot.  However, as I go through family photos I have very few photos of my mother.  WHY-because she was always behind the camera.  So I challenged myself to do better.  I am not sure I can bring myself to post them, but at least I will take them just so my kids and future grand kids will know that I actually did exist.

So here is my attempt at a self portrait:



ATTEMPT 1:  FAILED-That dang dog was making this project impossible.  He was in my face, my lap and driving me crazy.  So I locked him on the deck.  Problem is he STILL appeared in the photo and this time it looks like his tail is growing out of my head.  UUGGHHH

 

Attempt 2:  So I locked the dog off the deck this time and finally got a photo without him in it.



Lifestyle Photography: 1st Day of Spring-NOT

This weekend I was hoping for warm weather.  There is a very fun lake not too far from my house that I like to walk around.  It's very peaceful and gives me time to think and ponder.  So I took my camera and my daughter Lauren with me and had great visions of capturing some wonderful photos.  However it was so cold and miserable the only thing I captured was my daughter wondering why we were doing this.

Conceptual Contrast:
Here I was trying to capture the contrast of man vs nature.

Click on images to enlarge if desired

Well the compositions were not as cute as I was hoping but Lauren did agree to do  another photo shoot on a WARM day.

Decisive Moment:
Back at home Lauren was teaching Shilo some tricks with the help of a few treats.  They were on the move around the deck so it was hard to compose them just right.

Thanks for stopping by and sharing my life through my lens.

Lifestyle Photography-License to Drive and Yardwork

WOW where did this last week go.  My lifestyle photos of the week were not my favorite photos I have ever taken so I guess I will just have to take some more.    So if you are wondering what I did all weekend here ya go.

Well I like this photo.  Since I am a mountain girl I love anytime I can get the mountains in the background.

My son Brandon gets his license in 7 days and he is not letting me forget it.  So every Sunday evening we go for a ride.  We drive and drive and drive in order to get all his hours in.  So this week I made him pull off the road and I had a little fun taking some photos using a different point of view. 

You have all been warned.  Come March 22nd I suggest you stay OFF the road because here comes Brandon.  Haha-just kidding.

LESS IS MORE:
So speaking of "Less is More"  we have too many fruit trees and I am very tired of the mess in the summer.  So here we are giving the tree's a little trim and will spray them this weekend.  Brandon and Fred were on a roll trimming these trees.  Unfortunately there were only able to get one tree done.  Those darn trees are lots of work.

Have a great week and wish us luck that we will get all those trees trimmed.

Lifestyle Photography: Swimming

This last weekend I was given an assignment to present part of the lesson at church.  So as I was thinking what I could say that perhaps would be inspirational I immediately thought of my grandmother.  When I was a small child I would climb upon her lap and listen to the amazing stories she had to tell me and trust me she had some amazing stories.

I am sure my grandmother kept a journal but I have not idea where it's at and she has very few photos.  Therefore I immediately thought of my future heritage.  To me it seems that I live a very boring life, but generations down the road I am sure it will be amazing how we did things, what the prices were, trends ect.   I want to leave a legacy behind to document time for my family ect.......  Therefore documenting life through photography is a very high goal of mine.

So I will start by sharing just a typical weekend activity.  The activity is my daughter Lauren taking  private swim lessons.  My goal is to have the photos tell the entire story, but I am adding some journaling to complete the story.


I stated the photo shoot by taking some detail shots.  I love detail shots.  Here we have the many supplies and equipment you will find at the pool.

Next I photographed my subject.  Here we have Lauren trying to master the breast stroke kick.

Finally I shot a couple conflict shots.  Conflict meaning emotion or response.  I love the third photo in this sequence.  Lauren is so tired she is trying to talk the teacher out of doing another lap.

Thanks for stopping by and taking a peek at my "Lifestyle" photos for the week.  You will all probably see these photo's again when  I scrapbook them.

Please Pick It Up!!!

Actually I think I usually say something more like "PICK YOUR CRAP UP"  I think those words come out of my mouth more than anything.  I love my teenagers.  They are so fun and would not trade them for the world.  However, some days I am over the edge picking up after them.  One of these days I will have a clean house, but that will probably be a sad day because that means the kids have all moved out and in the grand scheme of life a lived in house comes with lots of memories and good times.

I have been telling my son to pick up his shoes and his things and put them away for days.  He usually says something like "OOOOOKKKKKKK I will take them upstairs next time I go up"  Yea right.  So today I decided to put those dang shoes outside in the tree.  Any guesses how long it will take him to notice they are there? Trust me I would have put his church shoes out there as well, but they don't have laces.




F1.8
1/400
ISO 100


Well the good thing is that it gave me a chance to grab my camera and have a little fun.  Well I guess I better get back to my cleaning.  Maybe by the end of the day this tree will be filled with pants, shirts, ipod, basketball, football and many other things.

Have a great day.