Toni Jackson, cousin,

Re: Toni Jackson (me), read the bottom one first... just sharing, and wishing it all were not true.....I've cried for hours & hours & know I need to think positive, but that is easier said than done....

This actually IS the clinical trial, at OHSU, for women with metastatic breast cancer whose hormone therapy has quit working & who have never had any chemo. They are only taking 7 women at OHSU & already have 3 others.  I may get rejected due to my kidneys, but if accepted I will have a 'port' surgically implanted in my chest & will go to OHSU every 3 weeks for the rest of my life (a 7 hr. drive roundtrip) or for as long as the chemo works (meaning it is shrinking tumors on my bones).  If it doesn't work, they try a different kind of chemo, but are starting with the "big guns" heavy-duty chemo since I have so many tumors.  It will also make me the 'sickest'.

He said people don't die from having 'bone only' cancer but it usually will spread.  However if the bones don't start mending, there is real danger that my whole body will just break & collapse.  ("Like the framework of a house being full of termites") Every single bone in my back has both holes in them & tumors on them.  Plus my skull, neck, shoulders, hips, pelvis, etc.  People tell me I look wonderful, not visibly 'sick' or anything.... yet. That will change with the chemo.  Guess I should look for a wig.... maybe a purple one!

The doc also said I most likely already DO have cancer elsewhere in my body, it just hasn't been visible on the tests yet : - (. 

Sorry to be so grim.... Please keep up the prayers.

We're off to Bend today for the weekend & try for some pool time & fun.  We'll be home Sunday so I can finish my radiation all of next week.

Love & hugs to all, Toni

---

From: Kristen.Burks@edwards.af.mil
To: karaokekelly1@yahoo.com, rcjackal36@yahoo.com, kimb_1268@msn.com, Donald.Burks@edwards.af.mil, mjones@antelecom.net
CC: OrCutter@aol.com
Sent: 9/22/2011 2:30:29 P.M. Pacific Daylight Time
Subj: Moms News

Hi All,

Mom just called and asked me to email everyone (if you have Craig’s kids email addresses you can pass this along, I didn’t have them) because she is rushing back to Roseburg for her radiation treatment then packing to head out for Bend for the weekend so she didn’t think she would have time to contact everyone. She went to her appt at OHSU and they want to start chemotherapy. She has to finish the radiation first (done next Th.) and then may have a waiting period before she can start chemo, after lots of tests. They are going to be giving her the strongest they have for treatment once every three weeks for the rest of her life, then after 2 treatments they will test again and see if it is working…if not, they will switch to something else. This chemo will make her sick and lose her hair. She may also be participating in a clinical trial, if her kidneys are in good enough shape. That’s about all the details I can remember.

Love you all,

Kristen

Excitment

We had another exciting Friday night at Manti Temple. We have had quite a few since I was called to be an assistant coordinator. I have been serving as the person in charge of the special dressing room. We had two own endowments on the 7:30 p.m. session. Those 7:30 p.m. own endowments are not in a hurry to leave. They are, officially, done at 9:15 p.m. but they like to visit with family before coming back to the dressing room to change from their whites into their street clothes and leave. It was  10 p.m. as I went through the front doors which were set to lock behind me and the cleaning crew was already manning vacuums and dust cloths as I exited. When I left, there was this little Russian-speaking woman trying to get back in. She had a language card at the veil. Her English is quite poor. She has lived here three years. She has one daughter in high school in Richfield and one at BYU. She had car trouble. You cannot believe where she had parked--way up on top of the wall. Yes, there is a parking lot there reserved for visiting authorities. She could not read English. A sign says: "No unauthorized vehicles beyond this point." She said the regular lots were all full and she just followed the road that indicated there was parking ahead. She had tried to go down the hill to the back parking lot and found the gate locked. Then she had tried to turn around and got stuck in the dirt at the side of the hill. LHT got her unstuck but then her car would not go into gear--drive or back. We knocked on the front doors and a security guard came. He got in the truck and unlocked the gate. As her car was rolling forward in neutral, driven by the security guard, it somehow popped into gear and she was able to drive home to Richfield. Earlier, she had tried to call her insurance company on our cell phone. They even had a Russian interpreter but they had no idea where she was so they could send a towing truck. I finally got on the phone and explained to them where the tow truck would be needed. But then, we didn't need it. I had been praying that the silly car would just work. After all the excitement, we got home and we went to right to bed at 1 a.m.!!!!!!

Were the rolls reversed, and I was in Russia, I would not be able to even say one word in Russian and, late at night, I would have been terrified. I kept thinking how I would react. She kept saying: "I'm afraid. Do not leave me!" It was cold and I gave her our car blanket and told her to keep it.

When she finally got back in her car, she had a terribly worried daughter call her on her cell. She had the police out looking for her mother. I had asked her several times if she needed to call her daughters so they would not worry. She always said that it was OK. Now that I think about it, I think she had no idea what I was asking her. Where were Kirsten and Julie when I needed them? Even though they say they have rusty Russian-language skills, it would have been better than my non-existent skill.

I certainly continue to admire the Danes. They speak several languages and can slip into English or Danish easily as the need demands. Most of them also speak German. However, even at that, a lot of the Danish language signs are easily understood by Americans because they also post symbols.

Request from Jason Trauntvein

Jason wrote:

dear grandma

i am doing a power point in history at ucas. We were able to choose an ancestor of significant importantce. I chose great grandpa pitts so if you could send me some pics and so cool stories about him that i could tell in class i would apreciate it. You can call me at 801-400-3420 or you can just call the home phone. If you let me know about it that would be great. Excuse the grammar.


Myrna wrote: Your Dad should have an entire CD with photos of Great-Grandpa Pitts. Let me know if you can find it or not. If not, then I will just send one to you.

Jason wrote: my dad has them except they are now on the computer that crashed so i cant get them and he cant find the cds.

Myrna wrote: OK, I will do a new one for you. Are you getting the stories I am sending you?


Jason wrote: I just recently asked my dad about it and he said he actually does have them but they dont have titles but instead they have numbers and thinks like for example; 400 a or 400 b. So if you could give us the cd numbers that would be awesome.

Myrna wrote: The CD is named "4 Folders."

Jason wrote: Hey do you have any pics of great grandpa's business or where he worked because I would love to have some pics for my power point. Thanks.

Myrna wrote: One addition to the information I sent--Elaine and Howard were married in Huntington, UT. Edna and Howard were married in Reno, NV.

Toni's Cancer

Hi All,
Mom just called and asked me to email everyone (if you have Craig’s kids email addresses you can pass this along, I didn’t have them) because she is rushing back to Roseburg for her radiation treatment then packing to head out for Bend for the weekend so she didn’t think she would have time to contact everyone. She went to her appt at OHSU and they want to start chemotherapy. She has to finish the radiation first (done next Th.) and then may have a waiting period before she can start chemo, after lots of tests. They are going to be giving her the strongest they have for treatment once every three weeks for the rest of her life, then after 2 treatments they will test again and see if it is working…if not, they will switch to something else. This chemo will make her sick and lose her hair. She may also be participating in a clinical trial, if her kidneys are in good enough shape. That’s about all the details I can remember.
Love you all,

Kristen Burks


Toni wrote:
Toni Jackson (me), read the bottom one first... just sharing, and wishing it all were not true.....I've cried for hours & hours & know I need to think positive, but that is easier said than done....

This actually IS the clinical trial, at OHSU, for women with metastatic breast cancer whose hormone therapy has quit working & who have never had any chemo. They are only taking 7 women at OHSU & already have 3 others.  I may get rejected due to my kidneys, but if accepted I will have a 'port' surgically implanted in my chest & will go to OHSU every 3 weeks for the rest of my life (a 7 hr. drive roundtrip) or for as long as the chemo works (meaning it is shrinking tumors on my bones).  If it doesn't work, they try a different kind of chemo, but are starting with the "big guns" heavy-duty chemo since I have so many tumors.  It will also make me the 'sickest'.

He said people don't die from having 'bone only' cancer but it usually will spread.  However if the bones don't start mending, there is real danger that my whole body will just break & collapse.  ("Like the framework of a house being full of termites") Every single bone in my back has both holes in them & tumors on them.  Plus my skull, neck, shoulders, hips, pelvis, etc.  People tell me I look wonderful, not visibly 'sick' or anything.... yet. That will change with the chemo.  Guess I should look for a wig.... maybe a purple one!

The doc also said I most likely already DO have cancer elsewhere in my body, it just hasn't been visible on the tests yet : - (. 
Sorry to be so grim.... Please keep up the prayers.
We're off to Bend today for the weekend & try for some pool time & fun.  We'll be home Sunday so I can finish my radiation all of next week.
Love & hugs to all, Toni


Toni,

Stacy wrote: Prayers coming your way . . . and when you are accepted into the trial after the tests, etc., please know I am available to drive you to and from Portland for a treatment if you ever need a driver. 

In fact, I am replying to allin this post so we can put folks on notice for setting up a transportation schedule for those interested, if Craig cannot get away on a particular day. I will be happy to coordinate dates and drivers and also meal schedules and anything else you will need.

Toni, this is your journey and I know there are many of us who are willing to walk along side and help you take the necessary steps .  .but you have to be the one to say yes or no - so those of us who want to help are actually helping and not hindering in any way. Sometimes the hardest thing to ask for is help and support - so now you are relieved of that responsibility as it has been offered! Now all you have to do is call and say what you need.  

From what I hear from a close friend in heavy duty treatment in California she has a bad week after treatment and then it gets better for the next two weeks. . .and then the cycle starts again. She lost her hair after the second treatment and they have loaned her some really cute wigs - she opted for her same blond but I can definitely see you in purple , maybe even a nice shade similar to old vine zinfandel!

I will be mixing up a special batch of my organic ginger sparkle (almost tastes like champagne) to help with the tummy upsets that might occur and get it to you - if you'll send along your schedule once you are established at OHSU I'll make sure you always have some on hand.

Please let me know what else I can help with. Healing blessings and caring love are sent to you . . .

Stacey

P. S.  Once Toni sends out the word to "organize," If anyone is interested in helping with transportation or food preparation or errand schedules for Toni and Craig give me a call, Stacey McLaughlin @ 541.860.8307, or email creekmyrtle@yahoo.com and we can start our engines!


Becky wrote; I'm up for a few meals… let me know when and where.
I also added the Optimist Club list as well, as I'm sure that many of them will want to be along side.

Becky Holm, Editor/Publisher
Douglas County News


Hi Ray Hilts from Albany wrote:..... If someone can't drive all the way to Portland... then maybe as far as Albany ... then I can take her the rest of the way and back .... Let me know... my schedule is very flexible... My first wife had cancer and I know how difficult it can be....

Shirley and I will keep you in our prayers

Myrna wrote: Did I ever mention that I pray daily for a cure for cancer? I think our family must have a weakness for cancer because there are certainly enough of us who have struggled with the disease!!! Our prayers continue to be with you. I love you!!!!!

The Atheist and the Little Girls

An  atheist was seated next to a little girl on an airplane and he turned to her  and said, "Do you want to talk?

Flights go quicker if  you strike up a conversation with your fellow passenger."

    
The little girl, who had just started to read her book, replied to the total stranger, "What would you want to talk about?"

"Oh, I don't know," said the atheist.  "How about why there is no God, or no Heaven or Hell, or no life after death?" And he smiled smugly. 
     
"OK,"  she said.  "Those could be interesting topics but let me ask you a question first.  A horse, a cow, and a deer all eat the same stuff - grass. Yet a deer excretes little pellets, while a cow turns out a flat patty, but a horse produces clumps.  Why do you suppose that is?" 
  
The atheist, visibly surprised by the little girl's intelligence, thinks about it and says, "Hmmm, I have no idea." 
    
To  which the little girl replies, "Do you really feel qualified to discuss why there is no God, or no Heaven or Hell, or no life after death, when you don't know crap?"

And then she went back to reading her book. 

Greetings

Hello, Elder, Gramps and I are back home after spending the last two weeks with Auntie Kirsten and Uncle Jared. We had a lot of fun helping at their home! Your new little baby cousin is quite a doll. In addition to being sweet and cuddly, she is a really good baby. She will stay awake for an hour and just look all around and will then eat and go to sleep once again. About the only time she cries is when she gets her diaper changed. She doesn't like that at all.

I did send a couple of photos of her to you. I hope that you could see them.

Little Jacob is Grammy's special friend. He likes to have Grammy tickle his back. He also likes Gramps, of course.

He asked us if we could move in with his family and always be there to play with him and read him stories.

While we were there, Gramps made garden boxes for Kirsten so that she can grow vegetables and herbs.

While we were in Colorado, Julie had an Erma Bombeck day. One of Mary's little friends called and asked to come and play. When her mother brought her over, a bee kept buzzing around the little girl's head. It finally landed on her hair. Bees HATE human hair. So the bee started to get angry. Julie flicked it with her finger and the bee landed in the little girl's ponytail. Julie reached out to grab it so that it could not sting the little girl and it stung Julie on her thumb. Jim happened to be home and it was a good thing because Julie began to had trouble breathing. They had to call a neighbor to come and watch the children so that she could go to the emergency ward. Julie was bottling green beans and had beens on her shirt and was wearing older clothes. She had to go to the emergency ward that way. They treated her and she went home and finished canning beans. The only problem was that the mother of the little girl had come to pick her up by then and found a baby sitter at their house. She mother and father are not active in the church. The father was excommunicated because of his beliefs. Julie could not think of the woman's first name and ended up calling her "Sister" Allen when she called to explain what had happened. You can imagine how that went over.

As we were driving to Colorado, we traveled much of the way in a rainstorm. As we neared the long tunnel, we saw a double rainbow with a smaller one to the side and coming back up toward the other two. It was so beautiful. I am thankful that we have rainbows. Then again Thursday, two weeks later, on the way back home, it rained all the while we were in Colorado. When we hit the border, Utah weather was clear and sunny. It stayed that way until we went to work at the temple on Friday. It rained and rained. We even traveled home in the rain. Do you think the rain followed us home?

On Thursday morning, we went to grandparent's day and Whitney and Emma's school. That was so fun. We don't often get to do things like that. We had a program, then visited classes where they showed off for us and then we ate lunch with them.

While we were gone, little Rachel had to have oral surgery. She needed it because her upper teeth were growing in in back of the front teeth and they were not even getting loose. She did not fair well. The anesthetic made her so very ill. They did not just pull the teeth, they had to go in and cut them out. Maddie also had surgery on her feet but she is doing very well.

David and family are moving back to St. George. We are so happy!!!!! His former boss contacted him in Texas and offered him a job. He said he wanted David back because he was such an excellent tech. He will match the salary and benefits he is getting from Time-Warner. They are moving back at the end of the month.

We went over to Julie and Jim's today and listened to the girls perform in the Primary program. They did an excellent job. Christene also sang a musical number with five other girls, of mixed ages. She was the youngest. She has an excellent voice. She likes to sing and Jim has taught her a Primary song that he sings with her. They are actually quite good.

We are very proud of the work you are doing as a missionary. It is also wonderful that you are so thoughtful of others. We pray for you and for your companion daily. We also pray that you will find the people who are searching for the truth. Always remember how very much we love you!!!! 

Grammy and Gramps

Sorina Chorus Winter Concert‏

Kimberly wrote:

When: Tuesday, December 20, 2011, 5:00PM to 6:00PM
Where: Canyon View Jr High (right across street from our house) call time 5:30

When: Wednesday, December 7, 2011, 5:00PM to 6:00PM
Where: Orem City Library (Call time 5pm)

Myrna wrote: We can't say that we didn't have ample notice, can we?

Rainy Days and Boils

On Tuesday night my boil popped! I was so excited to be able to walk again. Now I just have to be careful with my leg. It seems that the prophecy is true though, as many people told me to be careful because when you get one you get another. I think I am. Oh fun. Hahaha. More experiences! :)

This week was just so crazy because of the medications I had to take any how I had to care for my leg. I was limited in the amout of visits I was capable of doing daily. But I did help other missionaries in the zone with their families! That is sometimes stressful, yet it is everso rewarding to know that I was able to help another area or the zone as a whole. I didn't baptize this week because some of the families that I am teaching need a little bit more time, so this week we might be seeing a few baptisms. I am little bit nervuous becuase some of my recent converts are having problems and need a little bit more care than others. It's a little tough to do that when you already have 90 other people in the same situation plus investiagators and members that need help. I do enjoy a challenege though. Those of you who know me know that. So, let's see where this one carries me this week! :)

I have enjoyed reading more Conference Addresses this week in my death-bed repentance cram to finish this copy of the Ensign before the next conference comes. I am learning to love the words of the living prophets. I now know what it means to treasure up their words. I can't get enough of them. I love it! 

Another interesting thing that I noticed this week was the fulfillment of blessings in my Patriarchal Blessing. I noticed lately that lines of my blessing would go scrolling through my mind when I was faced with certain trials or expereices and I started to notice all of the things that have already been fulfilled! Since then I have read it again and I was astounded at how many things have been passed and how many other things are being fulfilled or I am learning in the current time. It makes me feel good that such miracles are happening in my area, my life and my eternal progression.

P.S. Exciting news. Elder Bolton was the first missionary to find, in the entire mission mind you, that two members of the Seventy are coming out here to this zone for a District Conference at the end of October. I am SO excited to see what will happen. Good news. Fast progression.

Well, have a great week and do something fun! Break the norm! Hahahaha.

Love you all so much,

Elder B

The Old Folks At Home

 Heard It On the Trauntvein

Volume 2 Issue 2 June 19, 2006

The Old Folks at Home

Well, this is the summer for babies! Dad and I are so thankful for the new additions coming to our family. We are also thankful for the ones who are already here. We enjoy our children and grandchildren. I may even get my new job right someday. I have decided that much of what the doctors had me do for all of you must have been the wrong thing. The new up-to-date doctors have

all sorts of new ideas. For example, I used lots of sunlight to lower Billirubin (except for a couple who still needed the lights). Now they have decided that the sun really doesn’t work quickly enough. So I have revised my saying: “Now that grandma knows everything, nobody listens.” It now goes: “Now that grandma thinks she knows everything, nobody dares listen because she is

wrong.”

As you can see from her photos, Christene is a doll! We are glad she is healthy and growing. At her two-week check she had grown an inch and gained one pound.

Kirsten is still waiting, as of this writing.

What fun! I just remember that Eric went a full two weeks over due date and the doctors wouldn’t start me because he was transverse (sideways). They turned him just before delivery. At nine plus pounds, he was stuck.

It has been a joke between Dad and me for years that, whenever we had a new baby, he would leave us at the hospital and go buy a new car. He has changed his tune. With the new grandchildren, he made a step up in the buying chain. He got a new trailer. It is a 29-foot long

bunkhouse style. That means that, in addition to a bedroom, like our current trailer, it has a couch-bed, a table-bed, a bunk bed and a lower bed, beneath the bunk. He did this, he said, so that he will have room for his family (kids and grandkids, one family at a time, to go on a vacation with him). He used to tell me, when we had a new baby, that we now needed a bigger car. I guess this time, we needed a bigger trailer. I went with him trailer-looking but I left the dickering up to him. So now you know, Dad celebrates by buying things. Poor Rachel, she only got Grandpa to buy a new ride-on mower when she was born. We are paying for the beast (trailer) on the good old credit union payment plan. Dad tells me that it will not take the rest of my life (depending on how long Ilive) to pay for the new family addition.

Dad has good news to share. He got his hearing-aids (not for Father’s Day but just because). You can barely see them. There is a little thin line on the ear side and a tiny little aid on the back of the ear. His ears fit closely to his head so they are barely noticeable. They are wonderful! I can actually talk to him in a normal voice and he can hear. It is so good!!!!! He is learning to adjust them. One adjustment filters out the background noise and he is learning where that works the best. The specialist who fit him said that the sooner you get help the better the hearing. Much of the hearing takes place in the brain and, if you have been without certain sounds, like “s” for a while, the harder it is for the brain to interpret that sound. So the sooner you get help the better the brain is able to decipher the sound.

I am still Myrna. Good and bad. Except, that I think I am becoming senile. When I need to be put in the rest home, remember that you all promised to take turns coming to read me children’s books. You can just read he same story over and over because I will not remember the beginning by the time you get to the end.

Payson Temple

They handed this out to use on Sunday at church.  It's fun to see that it is finally happening. Amy