A.J. Paulsen

Friday, January 14, 2011

New Year

These past few weeks have been full of ups and downs. We had our first Christmas together as a family! It was fun even though A.J. probably didn’t care too much. My work CVU4 did Christmas for us, and they went way over the top! It really made us feel so special at a time that has been really difficult for us. They are great and wonderful people.

We got to spend some time back in St. George! I miss the weather there, even with the flooding, which was pretty amazing to see all the damage! JonAaron and I walked a Golf Course that had been right next to the river. The riverbanks were torn away and the golf course was flooded at areas. It was nice to get some time away from the snow!

The holidays were great. We got to spend time with lots of friends and family. We made up a game for JonAaron’s family based on the show Minute to Win It! It was a lot of fun!

JonAaron has started up school again; I don’t think the break was long enough! He has also joined the dodge ball and basketball leagues. We are looking forward to going to the games.

A.J. is still wonderful! He started to sleep through the night, and it has been great. He can laugh now, and it is the best sound in the world. I can’t believe that he is going to be 5 months old! He is also starting to eat foods. He likes sweet potatoes, but he is not so fond of the rice cereal.

Treatment is going good, I am now halfway done! The last treatment was the hardest. The chemo IV came out of my arm and it burned me. It caused me to get a fever that lasted for a few days. The Chemo also was burning my kidneys, so I had to drink lots of water! Thanks to mom and Sarah for coming to the rescue last week. JonAaron really got me through this last one too, even though it was his first week back at school. It seems like I always throw something on him at the start of the semester! (last semester A.J. was born the first weeks!)

To be honest, I wanted to get on here and complain about how awful cancer is, and how hard it is, but there are a few lessons that I think I need to learn. I have had the opportunity these past weeks to meet some wonderful people who have been diagnosed as well, One of them does not know if she will make it, and the other one I met will not make it. It really put me back to when I first found out I had cancer. I was wondering what my life would be like if I only had so much longer to live. What would I want my family to know? How would A.J. ever know me? I am truly grateful that my cancer can be cured, and my prayers go out to those that are fighting even in the unknown, and that they will find a cure!

On the positive side! I am looking for ideas to celebrate when I am cancer free! If you have any ideas let me know! It will give me something else great to look forward to!