Thanks so much to all of you who've shown such great love and support during this difficult time. We appreciate it so much! We felt that the services turned out very nicely and we know mom was pleased. We love her and miss her!

For those of you who would like to keep updated on our family, here are some blog addresses: :)

hainiandkrystal.blogspot.com

lukeandmakayle.blogspot.com

almost4forus.blogspot.com

Change of address

So sorry - we just discovered that the address for the church for the viewing and funeral on Monday is wrong.

Here is the correct address:
1867 Washington Fields Road, Washington, UT 84780

For those of you who are familiar with the area, there are 2 churches right next to each other on that road. It is the south one.

Please help us spread the word to get everyone to the right chapel.

Funeral Arrangements

Just wanted to let you all know the information for the funeral arrangements.

The funeral will be held Monday, May 18, 2009, at 10:00 a.m. at the Washington Fields 11th Ward Chapel, 115 W. 2000 S., Washington, Utah.

A viewing will be held on Sunday evening (May 17) from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Spilsbury Mortuary, 110 S. Bluff Street, St. George, Utah. Another viewing will be held on Monday morning (May 18), from 9 to 10 a.m. at the LDS Chapel at 115 W. 2000 S., Washington, Utah.

She will be buried in the Kingston Utah Cemetery on Monday afternoon.

Her obituary will appear in the St. George Spectrum Friday, Saturday and Sunday, and will also be published in the Richfield Reaper and Garfield County News.

We are encouraging expressions of love and sympathy to be made through donations to the Huntsman Cancer Institute, 801-584-5800, or Primary Children's Medical Center, 801-662-5959, or donate online, in her honor.

Friends and family may also offer their condolences at www.spilsburymortuary.com by clicking on the dove.

Home Sweet Home (for real this time)

Once again, these posts are not easy to make. It's been an emotional week (or 6 months rather) for us. This time I'm writing to let you all know that our beloved Phyllis has passed away. She joined her father and other loved ones in Heavenly Father's presence at 8:13 p.m. this evening. We love her dearly and she will be greatly missed. We find comfort in the Great Plan of Salvation and knowing that we will see her again and be with her forever. We are so grateful for her love and wonderful example. She truly is an angel and we know she'll be doing some great work on the other side.

Funeral services are currently planned for Monday, with a viewing Sunday evening. We'll post the location and time in a future post.

Thanks again for all of your support and love. We've felt your prayers, and it has touched us to see how much Phyllis is loved.

We're home

These posts aren't easy to make these days....

Just wanted to let everyone know that we've finally brought mom home. It's good to have her home, we just wish it were in better circumstances.

All of us girls are here to help take care of her, and she is receiving great care from Rocky Mountain Home Care and Hospice. We're just doing all we can to keep her as comfortable as we can as she prepares to go to her home above.

An End in Sight

When I made this blog I put Krystal in charge of the updates because I'm just plain bad at it! But I have been asked to update everyone on the PET scan results and can't say that I'm happy to do so. I don't know the best way to tell it so I guess I'll just say it how it is.

Our parents received the news Tuesday evening that the cancer has now spread to the bones (pelvic/hip, upper back and ribs) and liver. The nodules on her lungs have gotten bigger and same with the tumors in her leg and lymph nodes. They have decided not to go forward with chemo and to just let the cancer run its course. They are looking into taking her home but will probably stay where they're at until the insurance kicks them out. The doctor didn't dare say how long she has but said it could be anywhere from weeks to months.

Mom's been in quite a bit more pain lately (which is now explainable) and they've been switching her pain meds around to try and control it but not totally snow her. They haven't gotten it figured out yet so she's pretty sleepy and out of it a lot so they are asking for no visitors at this time. We know there are lots of you out there that would like to stop by and share your love and we appreciate it very much. We want you to know how grateful we are for all your love and concern, it sure makes this journey easier.

I know that our Heavenly Father is in control and know he's watching over us and will uphold us through our trials. And I am grateful for the knowledge I have that we will all be together again someday.

Home Sweet Home. Sort of.

Oh man. Again it has been a really long time since I've posted an update! Sorry! My excuse this time is that I went to California this weekend to watch Haini play with BYU for the Rugby National Championship. And they won! It was awesome!!

So anyways, I know you're all wondering about my mom and probably all calling my dad, so I better write an update. She's now at Coral Desert Rehabilitation in St. George! I know I'd be happy if I could look out my window and see those beautiful red rocks! :) From what I hear, so far it's been going good. Good to have some good ol' Southern Utah care. And food.

The insurance wouldn't approve the PET CT scan, so the appointment with her oncologist at Huntsman was cancelled last week, so we don't have any new information. I think the plan now is for her to do the scan there in St. George (of course the insurance approved it AFTER she'd already been moved) and continue to meet with her oncologist there to determine when chemo can be resumed. And she's still getting a lot of physical therapy and just working on getting that movement back. Still not a whole lot of movement in the left leg. From what I hear she's pretty tired, and they're still working on getting her pain under control, so they've been trying to get her pain meds regulated, which has also made her tired and groggy. So, we know you all love her and want to support her, but we just ask you to try and limit visits, or at least check in with my dad before going to make sure it's a good time.

Thanks again for all your love and support. Keep sending those prayers upward! :)

Oopsy

Oopsy. It's been awhile since I've posted an update. Sorry about that. Must be something about having to plan a wedding in 2 months. ;)

So, mom had radiation on Tuesday. They pinned (yes pinned. actual pins through her skin (but not all the way to the skull)) a 3 pound "halo" to her head and then did 5 direct shots of radiation into the spot where the tumor was. They said that it was possible for swelling to occur around the pin sites (sometimes so bad the eyes would be swollen shut!), but she has had hardly any swelling! They also warned us that it could cause swelling in the brain and she might experience some loss of movement again. She was fine and had all movement right after the radiation Tuesday, but today was a little weaker in her right side than she has been. She still has no movement in the left leg. Although we were talking about it tonight that she can feel pain in her leg, knows when you're tickling her feet, etc. but just has no movement. Come on brain, work!

So next week she'll have a full PET CT scan of her body to see how the rest of her body is doing as far as the cancer goes, and we'll meet with her oncologist at Huntsman next week as well. Then maybe she'll get to move to a facility in St. George. We'll see!

Here's a picture of the halo:

Can I post a little something about me?

So I don't have a blog......So I hope it's okay with all of you if I borrow this blog to post some exciting news! I'm engaged! :) His name is Sosaia Haini Leaaetoa and we've been dating for 2 years now. We're getting married on June 20th in the Salt Lake Temple. Exciting!
Here's some pictures of us:




And at the Provo temple the night he proposed

Time for another update I suppose....

Hi again everyone. Does anyone else think someone besides me should write a few of these posts? ;)
Anyways, to give you all another update, mom is now in Aspen Ridge Transitional Rehab. We've heard good things about this center, and hope that it is a good stay for her. She continues to do rehab, and is slowly getting more strength back. My dad said she moved her left knee yesterday! She also continues to be very tired and sleeps a lot. Or "plays possum" as my dad puts it - she'll lay there with her eyes closed, and we can't tell if she's sleeping or not. :) It is good to see her sleep since she hasn't slept much since all of this started.

I can't remember if I mentioned it before, but she was scheduled to have radiation to the brain today. However, she had an appointment yesterday with Dr. Hazard, a radiation oncologist from Huntsman, and it was determined that she was not in good enough condition to do the radiation treatment this week, so it has been postponed until next week.

She has an appointment with her principle oncologist, Dr. Chen, at Huntsman tomorrow, and we'll probably have some more information after that. It's been over a month since her last chemo treatment, so we're curious as to what needs to happen there.

Your continued prayers are needed as we all continue this journey......Thanks so much for your love and support!