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Hi, this is Carla again.

Steve has thought about doing another post, but life has been so crazy lately, I decided I'd better step in. So here is an update.

The good news on Steve's health is that he finally had a painless bowel movement last week! That may sound like a funny thing to say, but since his reversal surgery, having anything go passing through his sphincter has not been fun. He had started to think that poop and pain were going to be the new norm. Now there is hope for the future.

The next piece of news is that Steve and I ran away on a week long cruise to Alaska with my parents and all but one of my siblings. (My brother's wife was due to have a baby and that is a really bad time to disappear for a week.) I am the oldest of seven children so it was quite the miracle to pull off. It was knowing the cruise was coming that kept Steve focused during the last few rounds of his chemo. If there had been any delays, he would have been unable to make the trip. It was wonderful to leave the heat of summer in Utah and go north where the highest temperatures were in the 60's. Alaska is an amazing and beautiful place to visit. Doing it on a cruise ship spoils you rotten.

After we got back from Alaska, school started up for Steve and the kids. Steve was down to his last year of school when he was diagnosed with cancer. It was really hard for him to put his education on hold while he dealt with his cancer. Fortunately, one of the classes he was required to take in order to graduate was available this fall. So he is in class every Tuesday and Thursday night. He has also been putting in overtime at work at the request of his employer. It brings in some extra money, but means we don't see a whole lot of him during the week.

What is nice to see is that his brain is fully functioning again and his stamina is increasing. Chemo took so much out of him! There is no way to explain how much it affects you and in so many different ways. I'm just glad he was willing to go through it all. Hopefully we will get to have him for years to come.

As for me, I'm taking the year off from working at the elementary school. This last year was the hardest year of my life to date. (I wouldn't mind keeping it that way.) This year is also the last year that I will probably have all my children at home together. Nathan is a senior in high school and will be leaving home next year. I want to enjoy this last year with my family all together. It is hard to do that if you still have all the washing, cleaning, shopping and cooking to do when your kids get home from school. Maybe, I can finally stop feeling tired all the time if my life is less complicated. Thanks for all your thoughts and prayers. You are in ours as well.