Silent Night on New Year's Eve

All is quiet in the house. Each of the kids are sleeping over at friends for New Years. The illuminated Leg Lamp in our home front window beckons Carla to come home. In due time that will happen. But for now, she is resting in her soft pink jammies that her mom gave her, so soft against her skin giving her some comfort. As much as I want to stay and ring in the new year with her, she was getting tired and told me to go home. This will be the first time in 17 years that we have not been together when the clock struck midnight, banging pots or fast asleep.

Although the beginning of this new year has challenges for us, it will also have new courage and strength, appreciation, and most of all triumph. Be sure to tell your loved ones that you love them. We wish everyone the best in this new year. We thank you all for everything.

Jeff, Carla, McCall, Callie, and Bindi

Visitors...such a misnomer.

When I hear the word "visitor" I think of a family driving thru our state of Utah, stopping specifically for a couple things. What could those things be? "Dad, stop I have to pee." "I'm hungry, stop." "Oh crap, I'm lost. Let's get a map." These are things that she or I don't expect from any of you when you come up.

Hospitals need a new word to describe people that drop by to see our loved ones. If you are planning to stop by simply to use the bathroom and run, then you are a "visitor". Lisa is non-visitor, she is an angel. Not only did she not ask to use the bathroom, she took Carla for a stroll around the track. Apollo Ono would consider this a short track, possibly a dwarf track that its so small. Carla's lovely ensemble of protective wear you see here will be feartured at the next New York fashion show catwalk, coming to a Macy's or Kohls this spring.

Family and friends caring and supporting our loved ones deserve such a better word. So if you have one, suggest it here with Reply to this Post as well as any other comments you want to give.

Status: Carla is doing well. She's starting to show some signs of the blood counts starting to fall which is the desired result. Brought her a Crown Burger and shake today, which could cause the cholesteral count to spike. :) But no ones counting that. :)

Kids are planning to spend New Year's with some friends with sleepovers, and I will stay with Carla as long as she can stand me. "Take your Pills!"

A bag of this, syringe of that, pill for this, rinse for that...

Meet one of our "drug" pushers. Just when you get to know your "dealer", their shift ends. Nan pictured here can do it all. She will even taste test the mouthwash. One of the side effects could be mouth sores, so they encourage mouth rinsing daily. Carla said the standard issue in a clear body labeled Sodium Chloride irrigation did not have the making of a good tasting wash...she was right. She told Nan it was nasty. Bam! A different bottle showed up with the suggestion that it might be better. Carla said you try it to Nan. She did, and said it wasn't bad, then we all tried it. Watered down Scope flavor, not bad. She respectfully denied the sampling of the other meds. :)

We got bags for chemo, anti fungals, antibiotics, antinausea, potasium, water, etc, syringes for clotting, more chemo, pills for appetite, blood stuff, anti virals, multi vitamins, etc. a drug pushers dream, so many drugs, too short of a shift. Let's just say the RNs and CNAs on the 8th floor are amazing. No matter how she feels, they are accomodating, comforting, and darn right special. Go 8th floor Girls!! (haven't seen any dudes)

Status: We have started 3 day of chemotherapy. Yesterday she felt great, remained very active, no napping, very alert so that she could have a more restful sleep. Didn't help. The body is so unpredictable. So today she getting some naps and fighting the nausea monster. Just go with the flow.
Kids are spending the day with their Uncle Jason. Going to Old Navy to spend the Xmas gift card, Smash Burger lunch and home to watch Despicable Me on Blu-Ray. I guess Blu-Ray is big. Still have not seen a Blu-Ray movie. As for me, I spend as much time with her as possible..."take your pills" is my daily line to her. Love you all, keep the positive thoughts and well wishes coming.

Make sure you stop by the house and get your picture taken with the Leg Lamp!

Let's get this party started!

Let me tell you, I truly expected a bit more fanfare with the commencement of Carla's first chemotherapy treatment...maybe an announcement to the 8th floor, a countdown clock, a soft drumroll which builds to a frenzy, then an all of sudden door bursting moment with the doctor entering, yelling "LET'S GET READY TO RUMBLLLLLLLLLLE!" Nope, not at all. We were visiting with Carla's parents, her aunt Sandy, and our friend Jay, when our nurse, Nan, entered with her normal cordialness and let us continue to visit. In a break of the conversation, she simply mentions that she is going to start the chemotherapy, a 15 minute push of Idarubicin and the Cytorabine drip. Uh, ok. I was astonished, no dancing ladies, no loud horns, just a bit of silence as we watched her start. And just like that, Carla started her Induction phase of chemotherapy today at 2:10pm. I stared, marveling in her bravery, unflinching acceptance of what was happening before us. The road to recovery had just begun, and she's meeting it head on. I love her.

Status: Carla’s day began a bit like it ended yesterday, food not agreeing with her, little sleep, constant interruption. Visits from dietician, radiologist, nurses, doctors, housekeeping and me, all before 10am. She actually had her first chemotherapy treatment with the spinal fluid check procedure, which they did around 1pm, before the main juice was introduced. Carla got her appetite back and was getting back to her normal self. She got some rest, walked around, visited with the physical therapist and PA, then rested for a bit before I woke her to have some dinner before it got too late. She’s a champ! Oh yeah, I think we found out she’s allergic to the glue on the surgical tape, ARRGH! Our funny number is "400", maybe she will tell you what it means. :)

Thank you for all the support. Some people may not realize they need support until they accept the support, experience the relief, and feel the love that comes with it. Thank you Sue for feeding my family tonight, I truly feel the love.

Jason shuttled the kids to thier friends today, while I was at the hospital. The kids then went to the zoo with Carla's parents, and came home for some normalcy. I will bring them up to the hospital for a visit in the morning before the storm is supposed to hit.

Surrealism meets Reality

Our conscious dreamscape has ended. Today, Carla was admitted into the hospital. If the 4th breast biopsy in the last 17 days wasn’t enough (we think a Guinness World Record), the discussion of the lumbar puncture procedure was enough reality to make “The Situation” lose half a six pack. Actually watching my wife sign the treatment consent form was my reality. She has given consent to allow her body to be filled with things called Idarubicin and Cytosine Arabinoside, with an understanding that the treatment is not guaranteed to be successful and could cause her demise. That is reality looking at me.

“Why is this happening to me? What am I supposed to learn from this?” The answers to these questions will shape Carla’s future and each of us involved in her life. However, right now fear is winning the day. Any motherly fear you can imagine creeps into your soul, questions your worth. Fear will not win. Fear is just another reality check to show you what is important and why your inner resolve and strength will prevail.

Status: Overall a busy day for Carla. Breast biopsy this morning to gather additional leukemia cells to help determine the sub type of the AML. Admitted into hospital, met staff, and had discussion with doctors. Then had the tri-lineal port implanted in her upper right chest to allow fluids from 3 different ports directly into the main vein. All these procedures put off food until after 5pm, she was starving, and the anesthesia meds didn’t make eating much fun. Although tomorrow is a spinal fluid test and the beginning of chemotherapy, her meal plan will now be more regular.

You can drop off any type of correspondence at our house for us to delivery to Carla, you can send directly to LDS Hospital or leave a message on the blog to her. Everyone loves to get real mail.

LDS Hospital
8th Floor – Bone Marrow Transplant
Room E806 - Carla Hennessy
8th Avenue & C Street
Salt Lake City, UT 84143

Learn more about Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML) and it subtypes at www.lls.org

With all our love,
Carla and family

This post created by Jeff.

Merry Christmas!

I was so thankful to be home for Christmas. I would have been so upset if I wasn’t able to watch the girls open their presents and see the excitement in their eyes. With everything going on we made it an extra special day. Hope all of you had a fantastic holiday too.

We loved having Grandma Rose spend the day with us.
(a utensil holder I found for her)

Olive Garden dressing....McCall's favorite! :)

A gag gift for Jeff. (a UTES Snuggie)

Cancer Sucks!!

I got this button the first day I met with my oncologist. I think it says it all. Most of you know about my cancer diagnosis so I am going to start to blog about my new lifestyle and how it is about to change. I think this will help me not only get the word out to everyone so I am not answering the phone so much but help me cope with the thousands of emotions going through my brain.

Thanks to all of you who have stepped up to lend a hand wherever we need it. You never really know how much you are loved until something like this takes over your whole world. I am truly blessed for all the outpour of love from everyone we know. I love you all and appreciate the cards, kind words, treats, dinners and hugs!


I found a lump in my breast a few weeks ago. After a few mammograms, ultrasounds and a biopsy it was discovered that I have AML (Acute Myeloid Leukemia) which is a hard mass tumor with leukemia cells. We have been floored by the news and completely blindsided by the results. I have stumped the whole oncology department because I am so healthy and showing no symptoms of the cancer. The bone marrow biopsy, MRI, and blood work all came back clean. However the CT scan did show another small tumor in my liver and on a small lymphoid on my chest.

No more worrying about carpools, work schedules, laundry (that will be nice), dinners to prepare or paying the bills. Now I will be thinking better thoughts of counting down days of chemotherapy treatments and getting my blood counts back to normal. I am looking at 6 months of treatments.

Right now I am feeling healthy and strong and glad to be home for Christmas. I will be staying at the Bone Marrow Transplant wing at LDS hospital starting Monday. I am hoping for only a 2 weeks stay but it may be longer. (Please remember I can not have live flowers or latex balloons.) I will be highly sensitive to germs so no small children or anyone with a sniffle, cough or cold.

I am ready to fight and get my life back on track!!

Angel's on top of the tree. :)

From my cute friend Megan....I had to share! :)

When four of Santa’s elves got sick, the trainee elves did not produce toys as fast as the regular ones, and Santa began to feel the Pre-Christmas pressure.
Then Mrs. Claus told Santa her Mother was coming to visit, which stressed Santa even more.
When he went to harness the reindeer, he found that three of them were about to give birth and two others had jumped the fence and were out, Heaven knows where.
Then when he began to load the sleigh, one of the floorboards cracked, the toy bag fell to the ground and all the toys were scattered.
Frustrated, Santa went in the house for a cup of apple cider and a shot of rum. When he went to the cupboard, he discovered the elves had drunk all the cider and hidden the liquor.. In his frustration, he accidentally dropped the cider jug, and it broke into hundreds of little glass pieces all over the kitchen floor. He went to get the broom and found the mice had eaten all the straw off the end of the broom.
Just then the doorbell rang, and an irritated Santa marched to the door, yanked it open, and there stood a little angel with a great big Christmas tree.
The angel said very cheerfully, ‘Merry Christmas, Santa. Isn’t this a lovely day? I have a beautiful tree for you. Where would you like me to stick it?’
And thus began the tradition of the little angel on top of the Christmas tree.
Not very many people know this.

POOLTABLE!!

After a few weeks Jeff finally found the pool table he wanted.

I love the red felt rather than the traditional

green most people have.

We are excited to play some games and

enjoy it with family and friends.

Thanksgiving 2010

Thanksgiving is always a crazy time at our house and this year was no exception. Wednesday day we got to have Monica and Marisa spend the night. We don’t get to see them as much as we’d like therefore we take advantage of the time we can with them. The girls played in the snow much of the time. They played the Wii, did hair, watched movies and enjoyed each other. Later that night we ordered Chinese, made brownies and played Five Crown’s. I sure love my girls and nieces. :)

Thursday morning Jeff had the house smelling good and Monica helped me with the decorations and preparing the table. I loved it!! Overall we had 21 people over to eat with a super great surprise from my BFF Daniella. She is moving from Florida to California and had training this week in Salt Lake. Her boss let her sneak out a few days early and she came to stay with us. The food was fantastic (great job again hunny-buns) and we were all stuffed to our hearts content.

Thanksgiving really does bring families and friends together and we would not have it any other way.

Hope your day was awesome too.

Marisa-Callie-McCall-Monica
Carla and Monica
Carla and McCall
Callie and Carla

Marisa and Carla

SURPRISE--- Carla and Daniella

YUMMY!!

Is it ready?

My bro-in-law Dave

Daniella and Callie

GO UTES!!!!

UTAH 17 BYU 16

Happy Birthday Julie!

Seems like the last few years all of us have turned 40 which means we have to celebrate. Friday night was no exception...our good friend Julie had her 40th birthday party.

The weather was perfect for outdoors so I helped Bill (Julie's husband) set things up to celebrate.

What a fun night with fantastic people.

Happy Birthday Julie! (Welcome to the crowd!!)

Carla and Bill
Carla and Jefff
The birthday girl Julie!!
Open bar for all to share. YUM!

Jeff and Mark mixing up drinks for all to share.
(they took the job very serious. ha)

I still love our UTES!!!

TCU 47 UTES 7

Tough game to watch today. However, win or lose today.....
I still love our UTES.

Meeting Danny Trejo

Jeff helped the owner of Castle of Chaos this year with glow sticks for the haunted house. Later he asked us to come to a meet n’ greet with the star of the show Danny Trejo. I didn’t really know much about him but was informed he has starred in a few horror movies with George Clooney, Harrison Ford and more. He was also in Spy Kids (which I have never seen…but the girls said it was good). His newest movie Machete comes out September 3rd in theatres . Jeff had some DVD’s autographed and we also got a photo with him. He was very nice!

For over two decades, casting agents looking for an actor who could convincingly portray the baddest of the bad went to one man - Danny Trejo, whose muscular, tattooed frame and leathery face bespoke volumes about violence and vice in films including "Heat" (1995), "Desperado" (1995) and "Machete" (2010). The conviction behind his performances was due in part to his own life, which was spent partly behind bars; after his release, a chance encounter with a fellow ex-con on the set of "Runaway Train" (1985) led to a long list of bit parts as crooks and killers. His ubiquity and unquestionable authenticity made him a favorite of moviegoers and directors alike, including Michael Mann, Allison Anders and his cousin, Robert Rodriguez, who cast him in nearly all of his films, including a comic turn in his lighthearted "Spy Kids" franchise. In 2010, Rodriguez paid Trejo the ultimate compliment by making him an action hero in "Machete," a gore-soaked tribute to '70s-era grindhouse films. The picture only solidified Trejo's status as one of the toughest talents on the planet.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN

It's Halloween! It's Halloween! The moon is full and bright. And we shall see what can't be seen on any other night. Skeletons, ghosts and ghouls, grinning goblins fighting duels, werewolves rising from their tombs. There will be witches on their magic brooms in masks and gowns they haunt the street. Knock on doors for... trick or treat. Tonight we are the king and queen, for oh tonight it's Halloween!

---Jack PrelutskySee More

Happy 20th Jeff!

Last night we had an awesome dinner at Rice Eccles to congratulate Jeff for 20 years at Fidelity Investments. (Others were there to celebrate their 10 and 15 years.) Not only was the food amazing but we got a tour of the stadium (Jeff ran the field), saw the new locker rooms, press box and more. I got to see some old co-workers and catch up with them.

Here we are with Abby Johnson. She will soon be the CEO/president of Fidelity.

What a fun night!!

Happy Halloween

During the torrential downpour yesterday I was driving to McCall’s soccer tournament. I see a garage sale sign and slowed down to see what they were selling. A young gentleman was rushing to bring items in from out of the rain. I see in his hands the “Christmas Story” leg lamp. I stop right in the middle of the street asking if that is for sale and if it works. He tells me yes and I pull in to grab it. He asks me how much I’d like to pay. I thought for a minute and almost said $30. He came back with “How about $5?” OMG….I was so excited and wanted it so bad I simply said “I’ll give you $10 because you are so awesome!!” He must have thought I was crazy since I was beyond giddy! I paid him and drove to the soccer game with the biggest smile on my face. Later in the day I brought it home, dried it off, put in a new light bulb….and wa-la…..I now have the “Fragile Leg Lamp” I have always wanted. It will be up in our window after Halloween and stay there until the first of the year. Drive or stop by if you want!!!

Later that night we had a Halloween party. What great friends we have. Everyone really came through with their costumes and food. We all laughed and enjoyed catching up with each other. Everyone was aw-struck by my $10.00 purchase and wanted to have their picture taken with it. Here are some photos that I took.