Daughter With Cancer

Cancer. Never thought I would hear this word spoken in relationship to one of my children. My daughter Aubri found a large lump under her arm near the middle of the bicep. After antibotics for what the doctors thought was infection, anti-inflamatory medication for the swelling, an ultrasound, and several doctors visits they decided to take it out. After it was removed and sent away for pathology work the results came back inconclusive. They said is was an "Atypical Spindle Cell Neoplasm". That's doctor speak for an unusual growth made of spindle cells. After further stain testing they determined it was fast growing and nondiferentiate (what ever that means), but still could not determine where it came from, what is was made from, or whether is was benign or malignant. It has now been sent to the Mayo Clinic and to the Huntsman Cancer Institute for genetic testing to determine it's origin. We also visited a specialist at Primary Children's Hospital in Salt Lake City and they performed some tests and took an MRI of the arm.

I know the statistics both good and bad, but not knowing what this is and what we can do about it drives me nuts. So now we sit and wait for a couple of weeks.

Season of Life - Building Men and Women for Others

I read a book recently that I wish to share. Not very often does a book reach deep into my soul and touch something that seems so familiar to me, yet so foreign to what we are taught each day by the world. Please read "Season of Life: a football star, a boy, a journey to manhood"by Jeffrey Marx. Hopefully all of us will look to Build Men and Women for Others through increased selflessness instead of the self-centeredness that society teaches.

More than a quarter-century after they first knew each other as a professional football star and a ballboy for the Baltimore Colts, Joe Ehrmann and Jeffrey Marx once again crossed paths. The outcome was a remarkable journey through the greatest football season of all. It was really a season of life more than anything else.Joe was now a white-haired minister who also coached high school football and ran a program called Building Men for Others. He was changing lives by teaching boys how to be men of substance and impact by focusing on relationships and a cause beyond themselves.

Jeffrey quickly realized there was much to learn from his old friend. But he never could have foreseen the gift of his own transformative experience. He never could have imagined that Joe would ultimately help him open doors to his own dad.