Komen Salt Lake City Race for the Cure

Chandy's sister Angie has created a team to run/walk/gimp along at the Komen Salt Lake city Race for the Cure on May 9th at the Gateway.

Many of you may have received an invitation to join the team and walk or run a 5k or to make a donation on behalf of Chandy. If you have not then you should consider this your invite.

Don't be concerned if you're not in the best shape. My entire family is doing the walk. My knees do little more than hold my shins to my thighs, Matt is only 5 and you may have heard that Chandy has breast cancer. If we can motor through it then I'm certain you can as well.

The entrance fee for an adult is $25.00 and $15.00 for seniors and youths 12 and under. This also covers a t-shirt you receive from the race.

You probably already know that this race is mainly a fundraising event used primarily to fund under served women and families dealing with breast cancer and it helps to fund research to find a cure. All participants and teams are encouraged to fund raise as part of their participation. Chandy has certainly been a recipient of the hard work done by those who have preceded us in this situation and we'd like to help continue the work they began.

Here is a link to Chandy's team page that Angie set up:

http://race.komenslc.org/site/TR/Race/General?team_id=3200&pg=team&fr_id=1000&s_tafId=1000

You'll probably need to copy and paste this into your browser and it takes you right there.

On the top of the box where you'll see the names of the participants who have already registered you'll see a "join team" link. Click this and you're on your way.

You are welcome to make a donation there in the name of one of the participants or Chandy's name if you're unable to join us for the run/walk. Just look to the left of the team page and you'll see a link "donate to a participant" or something like that. Type in the name of the participant, "Chandy Bronson" would be a good one, and it's simple from there.

We've decided that our fundraising project will both support Chandy and raise money. We are having t-shirts produced with "Chandy's Crew" displayed proudly on the front. We'd love to have everyone participating in the event to wear this t-shirt while they run/walk. Could you imagine the number of us with the Horman and Bronson clans along with all our friends? It would be a huge boost for Chandy and a wonderful experience for the rest of us.

The cost of the t-shirt will be around $7.00. We would encourage you to give anything in addition to that $7.00 that you are able to or feel comfortable with. Please understand that I would rather have you buy the t-shirt and participate in the race without an additional contribution than to have this be too expensive and have you not join us at all.

I am probably too selfish a person but my main goal here is to buoy up my wife and make this a fantastic experience for her. The other fundraising and such is something good to do as well.

I need to have the final count for the t-shirt order by the end of April. Please register under our team by that date so that you can be included.

The cost for the "Chandy's Crew" t-shirt and any additional donation needs to be payable to me, Gary Bronson or to Angie Spendlove. You are also welcome to have one of these t-shirts made even though you are unable to participate in the race.

Chandy is doing well and is resting now after receiving her last chemo dose on Tuesday. We're glad to turn the page on that experience. Stay tuned. She plans on blogging in the next day or two.

Thanks for everything,

G

Latest update.

Chandy's third treatment was a little over a week ago and she's doing well.

It was a little more difficult on her than the other two. The first couple of days weren't bad at all and we thought that maybe she was going to breeze through it. It hit her a little later than usual and she was pretty sick and achy over the weekend. Thankfully she weathered the storm well and now she's feeling a lot better.

We even went to the gym on Monday together and got in a good workout.

She has been having more trouble with the seroma in her right armpit where her lymph nodes were extracted. You may remember that she's had it drained a number of times. The last time she had it drained was before Christmas and so we thought we were out of the woods. The lump has never gone away but it wasn't causing her much discomfort or pain so the plan was to wait until her next reconstructive surgery in a few months and have it taken out then.

The past couple of days it has bothered her. Her fingers go numb and her arm feels "congested", or kind of "heavy". She's not sure how to exactly describe it. Last night it started to bother her even more and she didn't get a wink of sleep.

She had her NADIR appointment today so I called Dr. Ferguson this morning as soon as his office opened and made arrangements to take her to see him before her other appointment. Dr. Ferguson drained the seroma again and was encouraged to see that the amount of fluid has been dramatically less. It looks like the problem is improving.

Chandy's arm felt better almost immediately.

Her NADIR appointment went great. Her blood was tested again and it all looked good. She continues to tolerate the treatment well.

She's crashed now trying to make up for losing an entire nights worth of sleep.

G

Dusty's Letter

Hi, my name is Dustin Bronson. For short Dusty, and that's what I would like you to call me at church and when ever you see me. I am 9 years old I live with Mom, Dad, Cody, Brett, and Matt. I have born my testimony 5 times in a row in sacrament the last 5 months. I recently won a basketball game against the Jordan Bulldogs. We will play them on SATURDAY which will be our 9th time playing them. We have beat them almost every time we play them. I would just like to thank all of the people who have brought us dinner. I know my mom will get better, and so do you. My mom is a strong woman and you all know that. Please keep my mom in your prayers. My basketball team ALTA HAVOC is an awesome team. Our record is 18-6. We are automatically in the STATE CHAMPIONSHIP, we will most likely play the Bingham Miners. In a couple of weeks my mom will get her last chemotherapy #4. I thank you all and wish you good days.

Matthew's Letter!

Hi! This is Matt. I am 5 years old and in kindergarten. My mom has breast cancer. I have 3 brothers, Cody, Brett and Dustin. I like to go to school and play with my friends, Mason and Ben. My best friends are Lexee and Carman and their big brother Ethan is also my best friend. I like to play with my brothers. I like to play board games and the wii. A few things about me: my favorite movie is Rugrats, favorite color is green and pink, favorite food is ramen noodles, favorite books are Pokemon, favorite candy is Peppermint candy, favorite sport is soccer, favorite thing to do is go to my grandma Jackie's and play, favorite subject in school is recess, My favorite game is Sly Cooper on the PS2. When I grow up I want to be a Race Car Driver.

The scariest thing that ever happened to me was when I was 16 months old. We had just moved into our house with Grandma and Grandpa Horman. It was 7:00 in the morning and my brother Brett was awake with me. He picked me up and put me on a bar stool in the kitchen. I grabbed the ball point pen that was on the counter to draw on the pad of paper. The bar stool swiveled and I slipped and fell off. My head landed on top of the pen and it jammed 3 inches into the side of my head just in front of my ear, by the jaw joint. I screamed really loud and when Brett picked me up he started to scream even louder. I rode in the firetruck to the hospital. The took an xray and said I needed to go up to Primary Children's hospital. They operated and took the pen out and fixed my dislocated jaw. I had to get a couple of stitches and I went home the next day. Out new ward had a special fast for me so that I would get all better and I did!

The End!

Three down and one to go...

This is Chandy today as she gets her treatment.

Chandy relaxing and eating her yogurt and fruit.

Chandy's last post was on the day of her second chemotherapy treatment. She was feeling pretty well and she showed a number of the photos from the "hair buzzing party" we had. It was a good day for her and a good day for our family and friends.

The second dose went much as the first. We are usually in and out of the cancer center in 3-4 hours. Not too bad. Thankfully, she has never had any issues with allergic reactions to any of the drugs and while she is being treated, it seems more like a time of quiet reading and talking in an EZ chair than it does a health care procedure.

During her second dose she even went to a "look good, feel good" class across the hall. We just took her iv pole and wheeled her right in. There were a number of women in there who were in a similar situation and it was nice to see some of the things that are provided for these women to help keep their spirits up. They were putting on make up and talking about cosmetics and wigs and scarves. Any self respecting man would have excused himself but I had nowhere to go. I decided that to make sure I wasn't noticed in a "make up" class I would just kind of hunker down in the corner and bury my face in my book and give the impression that I just kind of ended up there by happenstance.

Chandy has learned that if she chews ice and drinks a diet coke during the treatment that it seems to help with her mouth issues afterwards. She hasn't gotten mouth sores like some do but she says her mouth feels like she's scalded it on some hot chocolate all over the inside. She hasn't experienced any major side affects from any of the drugs she has taken. She is achy and tired for the next few days and a little bit nauseous and that seems to be the extent of it.

We've been expecting the fatigue and the nausea to get a little more pronounced with each treatment and it certainly did after the second. It seemed to last a few additional days and she relaxed on the couch and took her medicine and got through it just fine.

About a week ago, we came back here for her NADIR appointment where her blood is tested to see how she is doing and how her white blood cells are holding up. Her white blood cell count was off the charts high! Great news. She gets a shot after each chemo that boosts her bone marrow into producing more white blood cells. Either that shot really works or her body is so good at it that she has little need for the shot. We were hoping the latter because that shot alone costs $6k. We're waiting for the blood results right now to see if she'll need it....Oh, just found out that she will need it. Her white blood cell count is good but not high enough to save six grand. Thank goodness for insurance.

I'm sitting with her right now while she is getting her third dose. She is doing great.
She wanted to make sure I mentioned a few things and with me being her "yes man" and all, here they are.

Dustin's super league basketball team is pretty darn good. They won the President's Day tournament! This Saturday they begin play in the AAU State Championship Basketball Tournament. He says if they win they could go to Florida so if any of you are hiring 9 year olds he may be looking for a job to help fund the trip. Right now he is doing double duty. Basketball games and practices 2-3 times each week and he has also been having 2 baseball practices during the week as well preparing for the upcoming season.

Matthew spends his time rubbing mom's head. He used to play with her hair almost every night now he just massages and rubs her head...he is one little mama's boy. He's doing great in school and he plays baseball on the wii. He says he's preparing and practicing for the important upcoming tee ball season.

Brett is gearing up for the lacrosse season to start. He's been involved in the Sport Fit program at the Dimple Dell Rec Center trying to stay in shape. He looks like he's getting taller, stronger and leaner. I'm pretty sure he's getting smarter but it's hard to tell with his grades the way they are.

Cody just played in the first lacrosse scrimmage for the Alta High Varsity Lacrosse team. Even though he's just a sophomore he seems to be getting an awful lot of playing time. They routed American Fork and he played well. He won a face off and put a nasty move on the defender and took it to the goal and scored. He also had a shot bounce off the goal post. My proudest moment though was when he "decleated" his opponent. He's a bit smaller than the others but he put a good Bronson hit on the boy. I told Cody afterwards that he should've said something cool like "How does that grass taste?" or "I got more where that came from" or even "can you remember your name?". It's just unfortunate that, like his brother Brett, he doesn't attack his schoolwork with the same intensity that he attacks the goal.

Nothing new with me. Living and working. I have been getting kind compliments from my wife about my ability to do the wash, dishes, dinner, getting kids off to school, general pick up, yelling at kids, taxi service, etc. I'm pretty sure that when this is all over I'm going to make somebody a pretty good wife.

This whole situation is messing up the home situation for me. I married Chandy when she was relatively young (19) and have been able to convince her over the years that real men don't do the dishes, laundry, etc. because I figured she didn't know any better. We had our little traditional roles worked out nicely. Now that she sees I have developed some proficiency in these areas, I'm doomed for the duration of our lives. Damn that cancer.

Chandy is about done so I've got to finish up.

Nice to realize that she has only one more dose and she's done with chemo. Three weeks from now on her last dose, we're going to have a small party here. They have kind of a break room with a big bell where you can have a few family members and friends come and you get to gong the bell and have a little celebration. We'll probably check the boys out of school and have them come for at least the last part of her treatment and the party.

This past Fast Sunday Chandy bore her testimony for the first time since her diagnosis. As you would imagine, she was pretty emotional and thanked everyone for everything. She talked about the whole losing her hair situation and how tough it was. She talked about how she has become closer with Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ over the last few months. She mentioned that she's certain that we were led to this area by Heavenly Father who knew full well what lay in store for her. The ward has been incredible, she is a couple blocks away from her parents and within a couple miles of a number of her siblings.

She shared again how much she loves her primary children and how much their smiling faces and faith have buoyed her up. By the way, Dustin bore a great testimony and I think he set a Bronson family record for bearing his testimony for the fifth month in a row.

Chandy also mentioned in her testimony that she has the best husband in the world and is so impressed by his strength and good looks and his abs, and how he is her rock and she couldn't live without him and that he buzzes hair really well, and that he doesn't look like he's old enough to be her father, and that he's a great father who only yells when necessary and is always thrifty, brave, clean and reverent....I may have added a few items that she should have said but didn't.

She just finished the treatment and we are heading out of here.

Thank you so much again for all the love, support, food, flowers, cards, etc, etc. It's a huge boost for the family and especially to Chandy.

G