April Azalea's

Cannot believe that we are half way through April already! Everything is in full bloom and we are right in the middle of spring. Jarod had a check up in mid march and all of his test came back clean. A very good report, one so good in fact that the doctors moved us to every 3 months and we don't go back to the doctor until July 1 which will also be the one year anniversary of his MAJOR and LAST surgery. We will have that appointment followed by one in October, and if things continue to go as planned then we will have one in January 2012 and then April and finally ending year 2 July 1, 2012. I will keep you posted as we continue to have medical reports and updates. The good news is that in March they told us that they had done additional analysis of the tissue removed in July and that there were no malignant cells found at all which is great, and that they think based on their findings that he was considered in remission May 24, 2010 as opposed to July 1, 2010 which we had be thinking. As you know his cancer moved fast and developed quickly which when we were going through treatment made for a very fast paced and speedy process. Just as quickly as it came on, this particular cancer has an increased speed for remission. Doctors believe that it is such a fast progression type of cancer that if it is going to come back usually it does within the first year, which would be May 24, 2011. So our next appointment in July is a very important one for us because if it's clean it marks the passing of the first year. This however doesn't mean we are totally out of the woods. Although the chances of recurrence decrease there is a chance through year 2, so we will need to get to next July before the odds decrease enough for us not to be tested so frequently. And the reason I say next July is because thats the first appointment we have post May 24, 2012 unless they change something. Most cancers are slower in growth time and speed and that is why once remission is achieved it's usually 5 years before most people feel like they have truly moved forward, for Jarod's type that 5 year number is 2 years so lets pray things continue to come back clean and we have good reports over these next 5 visits, and 15 months. But other than just making sure we attend the appointments, health wise Jarod is feeling GREAT!!! He was released to start working out some in January and was told to go as hard as he likes in March so we have been hiking, working out, and being very active. Both of us are really enjoying life. We are saying yes to invitations and packing the most we can into each and every day. Georgia is great she is still our baby- doggie and just as playful and wonderful as ever! The weather has been warm and pollen filled for most of the last few weeks and looks like it will be a hot summer. Our pool is open and we were enjoying that last weekend so all in all things are going well. We work really hard and play really hard making up for time last year, but soon our schedules will calm down a bit and we will relax by enjoy the braves play during the season and relaxing on the couch or a the pool on a warm summer Sunday. Hope everyone is doing well, and after all the hard posts last year this one is very enjoyable to write :) xoxo Lindsey & Jarod

Children, Children, Children...

Hi! I know it's been a overly long time since I last updated Jarod and my's personal blog. After his treatment ended we really just needed time to heal and recharge and figure out our life. Over the last 5 months of the year Jarod I traveled to St.Thomas in August, NYC in September, Seattle in late September/early October and then had a few weddings to attend in November and before we new it the holidays were here and gone in a flash!

Over the those 5 month we saw a lot of old friends, family members, and people that we we just hadn't see in a while, I was shocked and flattered with how many people had been reading our blog! I think I have like 5 actual followers.. which is what made it even more surprising haha!

Several people said how much it helped them understand the disease, what we were going through and also helped them know just what was going on, because they just didn't know what to do, or what to say, or what to ask, and then when I quit posting many people wanted to know what was going on so here is where we we are.. moving through the every changing roller coaster of life!

We did a lot during the last 5 months mostly based around our appreciation for Jarod's life and reaching out to others who are in need. The Young Realtors council I am on, hosts a bowl a thon for the Make a Wish foundation, Jarod and his friends formed a team to join in the fun of the event that myself and the other members of the YRC put on last November. We also did a food drive for Atlanta Shelters in late November.

In December we filled the month with fun events, of festive parties and also made time for real spirit of the season. Clark Howard a local radio celebrity has a charity that is called Clark's Christmas kids, they set up at various walmarts around Atlanta and they encourage Atlanta citizens to sponsor a foster child's Christmas. The children do not receive any Christmas gifts without the help of outside support because there is no money in the organization to pay for it. Jarod and I chose 2 children this past year a young boy who was 2 and a 13 year old girl. We had the best time shopping for them and to know that Santa made sure they had gifts on Christmas morning!

We also bought gifts for the collection my Harry Norman office does for the Atlanta women's and children shelter, when I was younger I did a mission trip to this organization and have seen first hand the benefit of this organization. We were thrilled to be help support it and even more thrilled it's the chosen charity for my office.

But the highlight had to be when Jarod dressed up as Santa for our friend's neighborhood cookie exchange! There were over a dozen kids who all took turns on "Santa's" lap expressing what they wanted for Christmas, I went along as as Santa' helper, an elf and we the best time!

Then to start the year Jarod's Dad Cleo received a kidney from Jarod's Mom, Marcy here in Atlanta so we spent most of the month of January assisting as best we could with arrangements and being there to help. I'm glad to say that they both are doing great 1 month out and it's finally looking like the medical trauma is behind us!

Jarod will continue to have 8 week check ups for a long time, and it will always be part of our life, but it will not define our life or consume our life rather it helps us enjoy our life to the fullest because we were taken to the edge and made it back!

So we have continued our pattern of Child assistance, - we are sponsoring 2 kids we refer to as the Cheney Children! This mission/sponsorship program is through our Church PRUMC, they live in the country of Georgia, both children are deaf and their parent's can't afford the medical and nutritional supplies and they need. Their names are Lana Asanidze and Dimitri Sakhvadze. If you would like to check out the organization you can visit this website
http://georgiamissions.org

All in all, things are going well! So far the check ups are great, we are both working full time and really enjoying life! We are looking forward to many weddings coming up for friends, visiting with family, summer at the pool and several other volunteer events that are up coming such as our March Habitat build and save the date for the BOWL-A-THON benefiting make -a-wish on Jarod's 3oth birthday Thursday 11/3!

So thanks for all the support! We hope everyone is doing well and if anyone is ever in Atlanta give us a call! :)

XOXO
LC & JC