A very exciting and thrilling Christmas!

Lish, Ave

Shalee, Avalan, Me

Monday and Tuesday it snowed a whole bunch and it was so exciting because we were going to have a white Christmas. Something i haven't had for a very long time. It was so awesome!

On Christmas Eve my mom's whole family (Harman side) except for my dear aunt Tammy's family was not able to make it because of the storm, came to our house and we ate a ton of food and then exchanged gifts.

All the kids opening their presents

This was such an enjoyable time. I was able to sit down with my Grandpa Bud and bond with him quite a bit. We talked a lot about my Grandma Carol and all of the many trials that she went through during her life. I thought this would be a great opportunity to tell him that I did my research paper on her and colon cancer. I didn't quite know how he would take it, but he was so thrilled and he asked to read my papers. He enjoyed them and I think it made him feel good to see how her trial had made such a great impact on my life. The girls that are around my age decided to take a picture with Grandpa Bud to always remember this night.

Me, Lish, Grandpa Bud, Averi, Shalee

Christmas Day was awesome! The first present I opened was a digital camera. I busted out laughing because two days earlier I had exchanged gifts with Josh and he had given me a digital camera for Christmas also, so my mom got a new camera. She was absolutely thrilled. (haha!)

AJ and Summer decided to come to our house and about 30 minutes after they had traveled here they called and said they were stuck just a little ways in front of our house. Although it was not very fun for them. It was worth a picture because the drift was clear up to the hood of his pickup. In this picture I really do promise that his pickup is out there.

AJ and Summer are really out there!

We were completely drifted in and housebond for the day, but we decided to make the treck to Declo to go to Gregg and Allison's house for our Christmas Day party. That was so much fun. My grandpa made this amazing caramel popcron that was delicious!

On our way home we got stuck at the corner of our road. It was a complete blizzard outside it was 9:00 PM. It was freezing cold. We all got out of the pickup and footed the 1/2 mile back to our house. Let me tell you that there is a reason that I was born in this century and not with the pioneers because I would not have made it.

We woke up this morning to the road grader trying to plow our road. They couldn't make it pass the five foot drift in front of our house. The walls of snow was like walking in a tunnel. There is so much snow on the roads that the Oakley Highway has been closed all day. It is CRAZY!!!

The tunnel in front of our house

My mom standing inside of the tunnel and by the
drift that is blocking our road.

Grandma Carol's Last Dance

This is my final research paper. I am sorry if this may bore some of you and I don't expect you to read it anyways, but those that do read it I hope that it will change your life for the better. Sorry it is really long!!!

It was a brisk autumn night at about 10:30 PM on November 28, 1997, when the phone woke me up in my sleep. My two siblings and I were hurried into the car to go to the neighbor’s house. The dark and evil spirit of colon cancer took my Grandma Carol from our family. Experiencing this horrific incident at nine years old made a lasting impact on my life, I feel it is important that every woman go to her doctor and visit with their physician about getting a colonoscopy. Not only did I have to deal with my Grandma’s death as a child, I am now dealing with the fact that my mother refuses to get a colonoscopy, even though she is highly at risk since her mom died at the young age of fifty-nine years old (OsmoPrep, What puts you at risk…, 2008).
As I turned nine years old, I was not able to see Grandma Carol on my birthday for our regular “Birthday Lunch” at Al’s Pizza. I had to wait one whole week because she was in the ICU and I was not allowed to go in there. When she was finally well enough, I was able to go and see her in her very own white and blue room with no decorations. The aroma of the room was very stale. Mainly what I can remember about that birthday was how frail and pale she was. That is the last time I ever saw her. What a way to remember the hippest grandma in town. I try to block out all of those painful memories of the last year and a half of her life, but remembering them is what keeps me trying to persuade young and elderly women to go and get a colonoscopy.
A colonoscopy is a procedure that doctors use to discover colon cancer inside an individual. When the screening is being done if tumors are found inside the rectum they can be cancerous or may not be cancerous. If the tumors are malignant, then that means they are cancerous. If the tumors happen to be malignant, they can quickly spread throughout the rectum and sometimes throughout the whole body. If this happens, recovery from the cancer is very unlikely (Lee, 2007).
A colonoscopy is done by sticking a flexible tube the size of your finger up into your rectum. These screenings can either be viewed through the instrument or on a TV screen. The rectum must be completely clear of any waste, and so patients are usually given specific instructions before they get a colonoscopy (Lee, 2005). Sometimes they are given certain medications or are unable to eat for a certain amount of time before the screening is done.
If people are worried about the pain and misery that may come after the screening is done, they should not be. The bloating and gas only last for a few hours after the exam is done (Siegelbaum, 2006). Ladies, what is different from this experience than giving birth to a child? Yes, when you are giving birth, the child is exiting and not entering your body, but I am sure that the few minutes it takes to get a colonoscopy is a lot less painful than the nine months of pregnancy and then the several hours of labor on top of that. The scope they use is much smaller than a child too, and now they even have a thin optical fiber light that shines in your rectum rather than a scope that goes clear up inside (Science Daily, 2008).
A testimonial by a young high school age girl proved that a person does not have to be old to get colon cancer; they can also be very young. She overcame the horrific disease of colon cancer to attend her junior prom, like any other teenage high school girl dreams of doing (Lessons from a…). I had been trying to convince my mom that she needed to get a colonoscopy, but I now realize that it is time for both of us to suck it up and go in and get screened. If my mom is at risk, so am I.
The cost of a colonoscopy needs to be put behind us. I am sure the young teenage girl mentioned above would have paid anything to have her life back to normal. Some insurance companies help pay for colonoscopies. A colonoscopy test can run anywhere from $800-$2,000 (Myers, 2008). Even though the insurance will not totally cover all of it, it may cover a fraction of it. Catching colon cancer early is more successful than if it is caught later in your life. If you go in early you could possibly become part of the 90% of Americans that put an extra five years of survival onto their lives (OsmoPrep, How can you prevent…, 2008). The screening is worth every penny that a person could possibly pay for it.
People may not think that life has a price, but think of all of their children’s weddings, the grandbabies they will miss seeing grow up, and growing old with their true love. Last year my little brother was able to play in the 1A Idaho State Football Championship Game, but Grandma Carol was not there sitting by my mom and me because she was taken away too early. None of you want to have to watch such a grand event from heaven. I know everybody would much rather be right there in those bleachers cheering for everything they are worth.
Many people fear going and getting a colonoscopy because they are afraid they may actually have colon cancer. They feel they will be ripped away from their family and friends and have absolutely nothing left to live for in their lives (Science Daily, 2008). The last year and a half of Grandma Carol’s life was probably the most adventurous out of the fifty-nine years she was alive. My grandpa wanted to make it something she would never forget. Even though she would grow tired really quick from all of the chemotherapy and radiation, she would just keep trucking along because she knew she didn’t have long to live.
I mainly remember Grandma Carol having huge problems with fatigue and nausea. There were times when she couldn’t even get out of bed because she was so nauseated from the chemotherapy and radiation. The American Cancer Society says that the two most common side effects of chemotherapy and radiation are being nauseous and dealing with being tired all the time. Another common side effect of chemotherapy and radiation is the loss of hair. A side effect that I never really thought about and isn’t discussed very often is if women are over the age of thirty and are diagnosed with colon cancer it will affect their ovaries in such a severe way that it will cause them to go into menopause (American Cancer Society, 2008).
One of the many adventures that my grandparents went on that has great meaning to the rest of the family is their trip to Branson, Missouri. On this trip they got to attend a concert. Out of the whole audience, the lady picked my very own Grandma and Grandpa to dance on the stage while she sang Could I Have This Dance For the Rest of My Life. Nobody knew that that particular dance would be the last dance my grandma and grandpa shared together for the rest of their lives.
How quickly a person’s life can be taken away is up to only that particular person. Nobody’s family doesn’t want to spend their upcoming Thanksgiving in the cafeteria eating without them. I know from experience that it is the worst thing that a person could ever do. It wasn’t that the food was bad because we got to bring our own food, but Grandma Carol wasn’t there. My dad was also not there because he told everyone to go and eat and he would stay with his mother-in-law. How special that was to Grandma Carol to know that a person she hadn’t even given birth to would give up his Thanksgiving feast to not let her be alone in the ICU.
My grandmother’s death didn’t just affect my life; it affected everyone’s around her. I have been to quite a few funerals in my life, but I have never seen a church house be so full before in my life. There were people there that she had talked to just once, but she had such an impact on their life that they were trying to give our family back what she had given them. Even though it affected us all emotionally, it has affected her family even more physically. She has five children that now have to continue on with their lives without her, but even more they need to go and get a colonoscopy so they don’t end up down the same tragic road she did.
I encourage every one of you young and elderly ladies out there to go and visit with your doctors about a colonoscopy screening. It could prolong your life a little bit longer if your screening does come out positive. Don’t wait any longer it is something that needs to be done NOW and not put on the back burner. Don’t make your grandchildren and children base their life song on what I have learned to base mine on. Before every major thing I have ever done in my life, I listen to Steve Wariner’s song Holes in the Floor of Heaven. The chorus will forever stick in my mind as my theme song of how I get through my life:
There’s holes in the floor of Heaven
And her tears are pouring down.
That’s how you know she’s watching,
Wishing she could be here now.
An’ sometimes when I’m lonely,
I just remember she can see.
Yes, there’s holes in the floor of Heaven,
And she’s watching over you and me.
There isn’t a day that goes go by that I don’t miss Grandma Carol and wish she was here with me, but through this tragic experience it has given me the courage to get a colonoscopy in the next couple of years and possibly take my mom with me if she will allow it.






References

American Cancer Society, (2008, August 8). What are the possible side effects of colon cancer?. Retrieved November 4, 2008, from American Cancer Society Web site: http://www.cancer.org/docroot/ETO/content/ETO_1_4X_What_Are_The_Side_Effects_of_Chemotherapy.asp

Lee, D (2007, August 27). Colon cancer (colorectal cancer). Retrieved November 4, 2008, from MedicineNet.com Web site: http://www.medicinenet.com/colon_cancer/article.htm

Lee, E (2005, May 17). Colonoscopy. Retrieved November 4, 2008, from MedicineNet.com Web site: http://www.medicinenet.com/colonoscopy/article.htm

Lessons from a teen colon cancer survivor. Retrieved October 13, 2008, from WebMD Web site: http://www.webmd.com/video/kids-with-colon-cancer

OsmoPrep, (2008). How can you prevent colon cancer?. Retrieved October 27, 2008, from OsmoPrep Web site: http://www.tabletprep.com/colon-cancer/prevent-colon-cancer.aspx

OsmoPrep, (2008). What puts you at risk for colon cancer?. Retrieved October 27, 2008, from OsmoPrep Web site: http://www.tabletprep.com/colon-cancer/colon-cancer-risk-factors.aspx

Science Daily, (2008, July 1). Shedding light on colon cancer. Retrieved October 13, 2008, from Science Daily Web Web site: http://www.sciencedaily.com/videos/2008/0111-shedding_light_on_colon_cancer.htm

Siegelbaum, Jaxson (2006). Colonoscopy. Retrieved October 13, 2008, from Jaxson Siegelbaum Gastroenterology Web site: http://www.gicare.com/pated/epdgs19.htm

Wariner, Steve. “Holes in the Floor of Heaven.” Burnin’ the Roadhouse Down. Steve Wariner, 1998

In Loving Memory of Grandma Carol!

It was eleven years ago on Friday that my sweet Grandma Carol passed away due to colon cancer. She was the most amazing lady ever. Words can't even explain her because she was such an amazing person. I may have only been nine years old, but the memories I had with her will never fade away. Grandma Carol did the most amazing things for her grandchildren and made the most amazing gifts for each of us to have. Not only were they amazing, but she handmade everything she gave us from a ceramic tea-set to a porcelain doll with the blessing dresses that she made for each one of the girls. One day I hope I can be half the person she was. I love you Grandma Carol!!!!

Final Paper in Progress!!

Sorry that I haven't posted in a while, but I am in the final works of putting together my final research paper. I will be posting it so you can read it. Hopefully it doesn't bore too many of you away from my blog. I will most likely put my final paper on here after December 2nd. It is due on the 2nd and I am a very big Procrastinator. haha!!

Why Would I Get A Colonoscopy?

At the age of twenty years old, why should I get a colonoscopy? I am way too young to be even thinking about cancer. What’s the point in having a doctor perform an insanely expensive and painful screening to look for something that probably isn’t there? Just because my grandma died of colon cancer doesn’t mean that I will or that I have a legitimate chance of getting it. My risk of getting it may be higher than most, but the disease is rare enough that my elevated risk doesn’t make a difference. I am still very young and only old, wrinkly people get any type of cancer.

Not that I would know, but having a scope inserted into my rectum doesn’t sound like a pleasant experience. Not only is it dreadfully uncomfortable during the procedure, pain and bloating will follow you around for the next few hours or even days (Siegelbaum, 2006). Colonoscopy supporters argue that alternative tests are available that are less painful, but in reality, they are all still excruciatingly uncomfortable (2008, July 1). I have enough things to worry about at this point in my life and the last thing I want holding me back is the unnecessary pain that is associated with getting a pointless colonoscopy.

Along with being extremely painful, this procedure is also terribly embarrassing. I can’t even imagine being alone in a room with a male doctor having him insert objects into my rectum to find something that really isn’t going to be in there. I don’t even want to know what is inside of me and I really don’t want anybody else seeing how disgusting my colon is. Sometimes there may be more than just a doctor in the room, there could possibly be nurses and that would be even more people seeing me lying on the table helpless and in lots of pain.

I am a poor college student and these colonoscopies are not cheap by any means. They can range anywhere from $800-$2,000 (Myers, 2008). I could pay for one semester of my college with that money in the minutes it takes to perform this simple screening. This one semester of schooling will be so much more useful and helpful to me than getting this colonoscopy to look for something that is not there. I am insured, but my insurance still doesn’t cover all of the costs for this screening. They may only cover a quarter of the costs depending on how much it is. There are approximately 47 million people in the United States who are uninsured and definitely can’t afford a colonoscopy because they don’t have an insurance company to pay for the bulk of the cost (Myers, 2008).

Even if by some chance I did have colon cancer, why would I want to know about it? I would just have to accept the fact that I have cancer and would most likely die an early, painful death (2008, July 1). I would rather be happy with my life thinking that I was perfectly healthy and when the cancer finally starts to take its toll on my body, I would have lived a full and happy life. This alternative would be more favorable to discovering the cancer and having to live with the inevitable case of depression that would follow me for the rest of my life.

Not only would I be depressed due to the fact that I have cancer, I would also deprive myself of many of the things that people seek for true happiness. I would never let myself get married because I would just end up having to leave my husband when I died. Why would I want to have children and have them go through the traumatic experience of their mother dying? As you can see, the shock of discovering cancer would only cause me to lose all of the happy experiences I would have gained had I not been suffering from the depression of discovering cancer within the body that I thought was invincible.

It’s easy to see that getting a colonoscopy causes more bad than it does good, regardless of the results. Any one of these reasons alone would be enough to keep me from receiving a colonoscopy, but with all of them combined, there is absolutely no way that anyone could convince me to get this unreasonable procedure. It doesn’t make any sense for any twenty year old college student to get a screening to see if they have colon cancer. I would strongly advise anyone considering getting a colonoscopy to re-think it and not waste their time, money, and embarrassment getting this done.

Works Cited

(2008, July 1). Shedding light on colon cancer. Retrieved October 13, 2008, from Science Daily Web site: http://www.sciencedaily.com/videos/2008/0111-shedding_light_on_colon_cancer.htm

Myers, Donna (2008, July 5). Colon cancer screening for the uninsured. Retrieved October 13, 2008, from About.com:Colon Cancer Web site: http://coloncancer.about.com/od/screening/a/Uninsured.htm

Siegelbaum, Jaxson (2006). Colonoscopy. Retrieved October 13, 2008, from Jaxson Siegelbaum Gastroenterology Web site: http://www.gicare.com/pated/epdgs19.htm

***My assignment was to represent the opposition these are not my feelings or beliefs about colon cancer or receiving a colonoscopy.***

Colon Cancer: Why Take the Chance?

As the month of November is approaching, I begin to think of all the things I am thankful for. One of the things I am thankful for is the gift of life that each one of us is blessed with and also how quickly and easily our lives can be taken away from us. It will be eleven years on November 28th that my Grandma Carol passed away due to colorectal cancer, also known as colon cancer, at the age of fifty-nine years old. This was a very hard point in my life for me to try and overcome and try to realize that she was better now that her body wasn’t suffering anymore. This is the main reason why I have chosen to try and persuade women to get screened for colon cancer between the ages of thirty-five and sixty.
As I am approaching the “old” age of twenty, I am beginning to see how important it is to take care of your health and see why doctors are constantly telling my mother to get a colonoscopy. I always thought she needed to get one because my grandma had cancer and there always might be that slight, one in a million chance she could have it too, but as I have done a little bit of research and seen how at risk my mom is, it scares me. I don’t want my mother to be taken away from me at such a young age. My grandma wasn’t able to ever see her three youngest grandchildren or meet all of the new spouses and great-grandchildren she has now because of this horrific disease. I have seen my mom go through so many things in her life where that twinkle just isn’t in her eye because her mom isn’t right by her side. Even though my family has very strong religious views that there is life after death, it is still hard sometimes to be playing in the state championship game and know that she could have been sitting right next to my family cheering for me if she would have gone in and gotten a colonoscopy sooner.
I do know that cancer survivors are hard to come by, but I do feel that if women will get this colonoscopy at a younger age, doctors may be able to prolong their life a little bit or catch it soon enough that they can live their life to the fullest. I have tried to explain this to my mom and she always explains how expensive and how painful it will be. I know it may be painful, but if it might give you a few more years to cuddle those new grandbabies of yours, see your daughter in her wedding dress, or see your son marry the woman of his dreams, the thirty minutes and couple of days pain is a small price to pay for all of the good times that you will gain in the few extra years of life it could potentially grant you.
Getting a colonoscopy seems almost priceless to me just so that I will know if there is even the slightest chance of me getting colon cancer. Spending Thanksgiving in the cafeteria of the hospital at nine years old with my whole family minus my grandma and my father was the hardest thing I ever had to endure. My dad insisted he stay with my grandma who wasn’t even his mother just so the rest of my grandma’s family could try and enjoy this great holiday. There are many trials that life gives us, but I don’t want to lose my mom to the same thing that my grandma had just because she is too stubborn and won’t go and get screened. I am sure that none of you want to miss out on the prime years of your life watching your grandchildren because you made the mistake of not going and getting a screening so doctors can help you sooner, rather than later. A colonoscopy won’t just affect your life, but those that you love and those that are closest to you. It will even affect the people you have just said hi to in your life. Don’t wait until you are so sick that you are on your deathbed, like my grandma to wait and see if you really have colon cancer. Start now, learn the symptoms, and research it into more depth. See if anybody in your family has ever had colon cancer specifically and, if so, take a stand and go get a colonoscopy. Just to be on the safe side, I would go and get screened, even if there weren’t any traces in my family. Do it earlier, rather then later when you might have more of it in your body.