11/22/2010

"Hi Everyone...it has already been 5 weeks since Kim went into St. Joseph's for gall bladder surgery and was found to have lung and liver cancer...! I feel as though we walking through a thick haze and time has come to a slow grind. We sure have made some progress over the last few days, since Kim was released from the hospital after a one month stay there (did I ever mention that Kim actually enjoyed the food there? Her surgeon, Dr. Atkinson, once turned to me and said 'you know, she doesn't have to eat that...you can bring her food from the outside...I wouldn't eat that'). Kim's oxygen flow, which had been as high as 5 liters while she was in ICU, is now down to 1 1/2 liters! She still gets exhausted and cannot walk on her own, but seems stronger and happier everyday.

Big day tomorrow, as Kim will have her PT scan in the a.m. - not sure how long it takes to get the results, but we will know what she is up against.

Today, I grabbed Tonio and Autumn (who stayed after school with her teacher, Mrs. Rudzena, and completely finished her book report that is due Wednesday!! Thanks Mrs. Rudzena!!) and we went down to In & Out Burger (Jodi and Kyle, you will be pleased to know they opened a new one on the east side of Tucson!). The kids love the burgers and I was showing them, how on the bottom of their cups, it says 'John 3:16'...one of my favorites...today, I noticed on the burger wrappers, was a Revelations verse #...I tore it off to check what it said, but alas, lost it in transit.

 Thank you all for following along with Kim's progress. And thanks for the ongoing support, love and powerful prayers! Through Him, all things are possible!!

    Here's the blog where I will do a couple of posts, as we hear things... conca5.blogspot.com - it's a little rough right now, my first attempt and thank you Jen Corbelli, our good friend all the way up there in Iowa, who gave me guidance on setting this up. I hope this helps all of you that want to continue to follow along as Kim takes her stand - she has been amazing through all of this! The blog can not do justice her positive attitude and how she continues to touch the lives of others, even in her time of need! If I've left anybody out, please pass on the blog address (if I've included anybody by accident...sorry!).

Thanks for the inspiration,

                        Love, Dave"

             Today, last year, marked the launch of Kimmy's Blog!!  With the help of Jen Corbelli and Ami Bunch, Kim and I worked on its creation together...Kim giggling the whole time, somehow flattered that I would go to the 'trouble' of building a blog for her and to keep those who needed to know how she was doing informed.  The time we worked on it, our heads together, Kim dictating feelings, expectations, symptoms, etc, were close knit times.  It is small irony that her blog has become cathartic for me...and yet, an important vehicle for me to be able to share all of the wonderful memories that Kim and I shared, and that I now cherish.

              If you were to have asked Kim what her five favorite places in Tucson were, I would bet that the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum would be one of the top two positions.  I know I've written about our visits there.  There were so many, having been members since 1994.  And you could break it down into segments of memories; Before Marriage.  Married.  Married with one child.  Married with two children.  Married with three children.  And, I suppose, Visiting the Desert Museum with friends/family.

           Today, I was honored to accompany Tonio's class field trip there, as I had for Cody and Autumn when they were in third grade (despite the now famous 'ice cream incident', of which I was playfully reminded over the last few weeks).    Here is our group...

            Lupe was also going, so her group and my group of children walked the grounds together, enthusiastically led by Antonio, making his 470billionth visit in his short 8 year life, he knows that place like a Sonic cheeseburger!  Right away, he led us to the cave, pictured above, (Kim and I used to call it the 'Cave of Wonders' after the Disney Aladdin movie).  He knew all of the little back tunnels, crawl spaces and features (like the giant bat ear exhibit) and showed our group each one.  And I would turn and tell Lupe a Kim story, as we passed different places - and, it seems, I could have easily told one at nearly every exhibit along the way and some for between exhibits, as well!

Monsi and Tonio work to free a fossil from this block of something really hard...

                               Lupe marveled over the beauty of the wooden bridge that transitions from roughly the wolf/owl exhibits and leads you to a desert path to javelina and coyotes.  I told her, that last October, I had taken Kim's picture with my Dad and Stepmom...KIm thought that bridge was incredible, too, and liked to take pictures from it.

                       I wanted to show Lupe this beautiful plant (obscured in this photo by this beautiful woman!), the Crimson Star Addenium - Kim's all time favorite plant/flower.  It had been just west of the art gallery entrance since we moved here in 1994...and just not there today...

                    We had a great time with the kids, who all loved seeing the animals and being outdoors on another stunning day here in Tucson.

bambini up, we came home to try to conquer another of Kim's famous recipes...Pumpkin Roll! 

                         The bambini worked together to mix all of the ingredients.  Here, they are coating the cake with the cream cheese filling.

Ready to roll!  There were pretty excited...this was actually their second attempt.  They helped make and bake one cake for the roll, and, while it was on the counter cooling, the nefarious Bella, decided she should 'taste test' it!!  So, we made a second one.

                                   The kids were excited to help bake.  Especially their favorite Thanksgiving food.  I told them how their Mama cooked a full out banquet, pretty much by herself, every year since 1993, except for two years...last year being one of them...They felt good about the way the pumpkin roll came out and Tonio did not want to wait until Thursday to try his baked goods out!

                                  In the end they waited...

                                  And then, due to lack of stairs, Cody and I set off with Bella on a run through the desert...

                                      Love,

                                         Dave