Tender Mercies

     The weekend before Chris ended up in the hospital happened to be LDS Conference weekend.   I had been prompted to pack for a hospital stay, and so listened while I packed.   There were a few talks that I really enjoyed and wanted to read again.   One talk was by Elder Ronald A Rasband, called "Divine Design"  about how God is involved in the small and large milestones in our life.  Little did I know that day how much our lives would change, but in all our challenges, we can see the Lord's hand.

       We've been home from the hospital about a month now, and we're settling into more of a routine.   The good news this week is that they decided to try changing him from 3 days a week of dialysis to 2.   His kidney's seem to be doing better so this will be a good test.    They dropped his Wednesday session, and only having Chemo on Wednesday this week was a nice change.   Since we don't have to go up to the main UoU for dialysis, they were able to arrange to have his chemo done here in Daybreak.   We're so grateful that so far we haven't had to battle snow storms to make it to treatments, and are sure the warmer weather won't hold out much longer so having chemo close these next few months will be a huge blessing.   

      Tuesday he also had another biopsy, this one called a fat pad biopsy.  We were a bit concerned that it was more major than his other biopsies because it was scheduled in the surgery area of Huntsman.  Apparently a miscommunication.   Instead of the message being passed along that he wanted to avoid anesthesia, they were told that he was insistent that he wanted to be put under.   Luckily we were able to talk to the doctor before they even put the IV in and she said it could be done in the room.   The biopsy is to check for a condition called Amlyoidosis.  From my research Amlyoidosis sounds very similar to myeloma and even is often treated the same.   I'm not quite sure how it's different or what being positive would mean, so for now we'll just have to wait for the results to come back and to hear from Dr Sborov.  

    As we've adapted to being at home, we've been very mindful of the small miracles of people following a prompting to bless our lives.   The timing many times has been too perfect for it to be just a random chance. 





     One particularly tough day, I left for work in tears.  I can't remember why, just a tough morning.   When I got to work our backroom was packed with boxes, a pretty common occurrence this time of year but still very overwhelming sometimes.   The first box I opened made me smile,    Instead of being filled with shipment to work on, instead a treat.   The people involved in making such a package arrive could not have timed it better.   It turned my day around.  


     For Thanksgiving last week, we decided to have a nice quiet meal at home.   Being the day after chemo and dialysis, Thursday's are usually one of the toughest day's of the week for Chris.   It just so happened that some good family friends came up from St George and stopped by in the afternoon for a visit. 
     Over the summer they were so kind and generous and did a fundraiser with LuLaRoe to help us with our medical bills.   During an open house, their sweet daughter, Ellsie came up with idea of doing a lemonade stand to help raise money.  She sat outside in the hot St. George sun.  This picture just melts my heart, look at how hot she was and she never complained!   What a sweetheart!  We've been wanting to make it to St. George to be able to accept her hard earned money in person, but haven't been able too.   We are so grateful that they were able to visit.  The jar now rests on our mantle as a daily reminder not only of the Tichenor's generosity but the love and support of all of our family and friends. 

    So many times this month, we've been blessed by tender mercies.  Friends, family, ward members or co-workers who include us in their prayers and follow the promptings to reach out have made our lives easier, brought smiles to our faces, tears to our eyes and replaced sorrow and heartache with moments of joy.  We are grateful for all of you.