A Prescott Get- Away!

Hello everyone, Hannah here! I am at the end of my two week break from the dreaded Arsenic and boy am I not wanting to go back to the clinic on Monday. This week us Cobley girls ventured up to Prescott with two of the Outcalt girls! It was a fun, quick trip that I desperately needed. We did some shopping, some walking, and a lot of eating. On the downside though, Mary and I both got some pretty bad colds. Last night when we got back I had a very sore throat and low fever. I am not allowed to take any cold medicine or anything because it's a bad combination with the arsenic and could cause heart irregularities. So I just need plenty of rest, cough drops, and my mom is at the store right now getting supplies to make chicken noodle soup!

Here are some pictures from our trip!

 Sarah made a friend!

 Bethanne's delicious apple pie!

Mary and Jessie

We met up with Sarah's friend Danielle and this is her ADORABLE Henry! 

Check out her blog here.

Hanz Made.

Sarah here! I got into town on Saturday and we've had a heck of a time crafting over here. Hannah is in the second week of her break from Arsenic therapy and we're taking a little road trip to Prescott on Wednesday with the Outcalt girls to enjoy a little fresh air and real Fall weather. Hannah's feeling good and is tolerating the Arsenic really well. She's quite the popular gal at the clinic and the nurses miss her when she's not there, even though it's not her favorite place to be. Now for some fun news...

We've opened up shop over here at the Cobley house! Hanz Made, an Etsy shop showcasing vintage inspired hair pins and other fun accessories. Everything is handmade and one of a kind! Since Hannah is unable to work, a little e-commerce shop is keeping her busy and is a great creative outlet. So follow the link and get to shoppin'! 

Click to shop!

Grateful.

Hello all! It's me, Hannah! I decided it was finally time for me to do a post. Let me just start off by saying that I am truly overwhelmed and humbled by all the love and support my family and I have received over these past few months. I don't know how I would get through all of this with out all of you. I started going through the literally hundreds of cards I received while in the hospital and can't even begin to express how grateful I am to have all of this love and support. I also cannot express my gratitude toward my family enough. My parents have given me everything and I don't know how to thank them.

Growing up in a home like mine, I have learned to trust in myself, live faithfully, equip myself to serve not only myself but those around me, and reflect good graces on one person at a time. But none of us knew how to handle this. I thought that this stuff doesn't happen to us, it's only things we hear about. We learned take it one day at a time, some days easier than others. Everything happened so fast, I still don't think it has really hit me yet that my life is forever changed because of this cancer.

I am in the middle of my fifth week of arsenic and after Friday I get two weeks off! After those two weeks, I start another five weeks of arsenic. We found out last week that I will not be home for Christmas, which I am very upset about because Christmas at the Cobley house is quite the ordeal! I go back in the hospital the Wednesday after Thanksgiving and am there for another 30 days. Sarah is also coming home for November, December, and half of January which I am very excited about because I will have BOTH my sisters here! Woo hoo!

I will write again soon about the very interesting and entertaining things one sees at the clinic every day. Boy do I have some stories :)

Here is a link to a video that Sarah's good friend Jared sent me. While I do not have the same type of leukemia the man in the video has, it sort of put things in perspective.

Day 61...a soap box..

Hi all, been a little over a week since my last update, so time to bring you up to speed. Hannah is doing well. Two weeks of arsenic done, 3 more to go, then 2 weeks off, followed by another 5 week cycle. Hannah is venturing out more, even went to a talent show over the weekend to watch friends preform.

She has grown bored with Netflix and DVD's so she has decided to start some craft projects for the church boutique.

Over the last several months, I have watched Hannah go from a lifetime high point (high school graduation, a staring roll in a show that she loves, getting ready to go to college) to seemingly having the rug pulled out from under her with a diagnosis of leukemia. While physically she my not have faced death because of the type of cancer she has, she has faced death mentally. I feel secure in saying that the vast majority have never faced death, so we really have no idea of knowing where she has been. I know where she is going though. On with her life. She has told death to get out of her way.

She chooses to get up daily go to clinic and have poison pumped into her, knowing full well that she has to go back into the hospital in two more months to hit rock bottom again. I do not know if I could do that. Fortunately at this time of my life, I do not have to make those choices.

I am also continually amazed at how she does not seem to care about going out in public with a bald head, and a mask. People do stare, but it does not seem to bother her.

How does she do it? I have an idea, her faith, the strength and support from Sharon, Jessie and Sarah, our entire family, and you her friends and support group.

That being said, it is my turn....

Those of you that know me, know that I very rarely get on my soap box. Why you ask? I have very few opinions about anything, and do not like to speak my mind (serious sarcasm)

While I do not think that this blog is the proper medium to climb up on on a soapbox, I will indulge myself.

We live in a society where it has become very easy to whine, complain or quit. We see it everyday. Someone is blaming someone else for their condition. People whine about not having material things. A few that I see everyday, "my son did not get a scholarship because the coach did not like him", or "coach did not give me a chance so I quit."

As a society we no longer seem to take responsibilty for our own actions, it is someone else's fault. It is sad, but also dangerous for us as a society.

There are a few things that I have always believed;
Our perception becomes our reality
We can not choose what happens to us, we can only choose how we react to it.

I know that I am in many ways preaching to the choir here, but maybe, just maybe we should all take a lesson from an 18 year old young lady, and stop complaining and just get on with life.

At the risk of being knocked off this soap box, I will now step down, thank you for allowing me this rant.

Eucaristia

Day 53....life moves along

Hi all....Life is moving right along. It has been a week since the last update, and it does not seem like a week has gone by. We have really gotten the normal routine of life with cancer. Daily trips to the clinic for treatments, and life in between.

As I sat down to blog tonight, Hannah looked over at me from the sofa and said "if I hold my nose up like this, to I look like Voldemort? I think I will be Voldemort for Halloween because I'm bald."

As you might have gathered, she is doing great. She has finished one week of arsenic, and really has not had too many side affects. A couple of headaches and nausea at the beginning of the week, but that has been managed. She is now enjoying the second of three days away from the clinic do to the holiday weekend.

She also had a few outings this week, dinner party at Jessie's house, Old Navy, and she even made it to Church today.

Thank you for your continued support and prayer, it is greatly appreciated.

Eucaristia

P.S. Hannah has been watching "Bridesmaids" while I have been blogging. Highly inappropriate.

Day 46...the little things

Today's picture is wishful thinking. It is brutally hot here in Arizona, and we are tired of it. What I wouldn't give for nice cool days, in the 90's.

Hannah is great, she went to a jewlery party with Sharon and then even to the mall (mask and all) for a bit yesterday with 2 friends. She is ready for the arsenic starting tomorrow.

Now for a little personal reflection.

To say that this experience has been life changing would be an understatement. In many ways, it has been polar opposites. The fastest and slowest 46 days of my life at the same time. The most heart wrenching and joyful period of my life. The blessings and tears have been too many to count.

The motto of the the coaching staff that I work with is "do the little things" If you do the little things right, the big things will take care of themselves. So many times we as people take the little things for granted. The mundane, the things that we have to do. The things that I really don't want to do, but need to do.

Over the last 46 days, I have come to enjoy the little things. They can mean so much. A smile, a knowing touch, laughter, the wink of an eye. Little things that we do everyday that we do not think about, now affect me greatly and mean a great deal to me.

Now looking back at my 52 years, I feel that I have missed a lot of the little things. I think maybe that I was trained or conditioned to go for the big things. The mountain top experiences, the destination. I don't know, maybe it is a "guy thing"

The journey is filled with the little things.

The little things may not bring the memories, but in many ways they fulfill us. Sharon posted a Facebook status this week of "I have wonderful beautiful friends, my heart is full"

Sharon understands the little things.

I am learning to.

Eucaristia

Day 42... Back at the Clinic

Been a few days since the last update, so I thought that it was time to bring you up to speed. Hannah has been home since Sunday, and things are getting back to normal. Sharon and I are both back to work, and Hannah is hanging out during the day getting healthy.

She had not been to the clinic since last Friday, but today she had to go in to have a bone marrow aspiration. Loads of fun. Since she is being treated at PCH, they actually put her out with general anesthesia. If she was being treated as an "adult" at another hospital, she would be awake for the procedure, but as PCH it is nighty night.

She did great and is back home tonight. Her test results are good! Blood work came back strong, and the marrow tests were good as well! So back home for a few more days until she starts going to clinic Monday through Friday for 12 straight weeks.

Monday starts the second phase of the protocol, which will feature the drug ARSENIC. Yes, boys and girls you heard me correctly she will be treated with Rat poison. Sharon and I considered going to Home Depot to pick up some DCon because it would be cheaper, but thought better of it. We can thank the Chinese for this part of the protocol, they came up with it.

When we asked about side affects, we were told that there are very few, and this better tolerated than the nuclear stuff they pumped into her last month.

Thank you for your continued prayer and support. Again, words cannot express how thankful and blessed we are.

As a side note, I will probably get in trouble for using the picture that I choose for this update, but I really don't care. I like it.

Eucaristia.