Recap #1

To the many of you who read this I am going to try and recap what has been going on since my last chemo infusion, which was March 24th. It was probably the hardest one. They say it gets progressively worse, and it does. After number four all I did was sleep, eat and go to the bathroom! I am not exaggerating in the least. Going down one flight of stairs would take my breath away and I am a pretty in shape gal and so it was a truly frustrating thing when you cannot do a whole lot of stuff. I don't think I could every say thank you enough to all those around me who have helped carry my load. Especially my sweet husband, my boys, my mom, sisters, dear friends and relief society, who every week bring me and my family dinner, no matter what. For a mom of 4 boys, just the dinners alone is a HUGE relief to me.

A few weeks after my last infusion I was really starting to feel better. I slowly got my energy back and that of course lifted my spirits. I was surprised at how I struggled with not being able to do anything. I know that at times everyone just wishes they could take a break from it all and sit and do nothing. Well "nothing" is not all it is cracked up to be. It is actually boring and I felt very helpless. My sweet boys would come into my room just to sit and be with me. It was hard for me to just sit there, I wanted to get up and go do something. But slowly I have become more of my old self. I don't feel like I am quite there but every week I get closer.

Just after my last infusion, G and I went to Grand Junction, CO, with our oldest son Cody. The Alta varsity Lax team was playing in a tournament. It was a nice get away, and thank you mom for taking my other boys. I tried to get Matt and D to come with us, but they never turn down the chance to stay with Gma and Gpa Horman! Anyway, the tournament was great and Cody played great. He plays for the varsity B team. On this trip I learned a valuable lesson from Cody. During their last game they were playing an A team from CO which beat our A team. We were playing incredibly well and through most of the game the score went back and forth. Towards the end of the game our goalie who they call mini, because he is around 5'1" and weighs in around 90 pounds, came out of the crease. When a goalie is in the crease he cannot be touched, but if he comes out and has the ball he can be. Anyway he came out with the ball and successfully cleared the ball to another teammate. All the while a player from the other team barreling down on him and he was twice the size as our goalie. After he cleared the ball the player on the opposing team continued coming at mini and with his stick held high smacked right into him. He was decleated and his head was the first thing to hit the ground! This of course is completely illegal so we looked to make sure the ball was cleared and then watch the ref throw the yellow flag for the foul.



Mini's mom wrote about the story and she tells the rest so much better than me so here is the rest of the story from her. Thanks L!



The ref called a penalty on the thug, as he should, but I missed Mini’s buddy, we’ll call him “Buddy,” who is Cody. Mini’s friend and teammate, completely take this kid out. I only saw the two of them tumbling on the ground after-the-fact.
This is what happened: Buddy was near the opposing team’s bench, (making this a major gutsy move), when he saw the thug hit Mini. Without hesitation and without even thinking about it, Buddy dropped his stick, took a ten-yard run at this kid, hit him squarely in the chest, picked up the kid’s legs and pile-drived the kid into the ground, breaking the punk’s collarbone. Buddy stood up, the kid tried to stand up, and Buddy just stood over the kid in a very intimidating way, sending the message: Uh, no. No you don’t.
At this point you should know that Buddy is not that big, either. This kid outweighed Buddy by 50 pounds.
Buddy’s mom and I felt sorry that the kid’s collarbone was broken. We really did. But then we heard that this kid had been especially cheap-shotting our boys the entire game, so it eased our tender mercies a little bit.
But I just couldn’t help but feel a sense of gratitude for the kid who had my son’s back. And you know what? There’s not a boy on that team who wouldn’t have done the same thing if they were in the same situation. The message was sent: You don’t mess around with our goalie. And especially Mini. That team loves him. They protect him. Not just because he’s the goalie, but because he works really hard, he’s good at what he does, and yes, because he’s just so small. It is his team who has nick-named him “Mini.” Very affectionately.
Is it wrong that I kind of tear up at the thought of all these boys having my son’s back? The message is a good one. The execution of the message might not have been appropriate, but I still love the way it was sent. I’m grateful to Buddy. I’m grateful to all of the team for having Mini’s back.
Wouldn’t it be nice if all of us had someone who had our back like this? In a way, I guess we all do. I’m grateful for that.



Thanks mini's mom for the rest of the story. I feel the same way. It was interesting talking about this incident with other parents and the coaches, who told Cody that on the record he should never do that again! But off the record it was the coolest thing they had ever seen. So in hindsight I am grateful that Cody is a true friend which I have always known. I have called him the "little protector" since his younger brothers have been born. He is always watching out for them. Thanks Cody for the great lesson.

I am going to post this much and then get back to the rest. My son Dusty has a baseball tournament this weekend so I need to stop blogging and go cheer him on. I will finish my recap soon.

Hugs and kisses all around!
Chandy