Allen and Laura's Blog

People are crazy

Allen — Thu, 14 Jul 2011 21:27:11 +0000

So funny thing happened to me on my lunch break today. I pulled a motorcycle off of a guy at a stop sign. I pulled up and he was laying there with his leg pinned under his new bike. So naturally I jumped out and helped lift the bike up so he could get his leg free. He didn’t really seem to want to talk about what happened. I think is was more embarassed than anything else. So what did you do today on your lunch break?

Happy # 4

Allen — Sun, 10 Jul 2011 20:48:39 +0000

As our anniversary gifts this year we picked out new cellphones. It was something we both needed so now we both have HTC EVO phones. In fact this post is actually being done via phone. So here we go………………..

new blogness

Allen — Tue, 05 Jul 2011 00:25:41 +0000

So I’ve had the urge to blog lately but I have also had the urge to revamp this thing. The urge to revamp is stronger than my little word offering for now so change is coming. I’ve been looking at other loyal readers blogs and I’m getting ideas. Look for changes over the next week.

Happy Cinco de Mayo

Allen — Fri, 06 May 2011 02:39:10 +0000

I know not many of you read this, but doesn’t matter I still like you anyways. I’ve been busy this month trying to wrap up school, cure cancer, and travel to see my wounded grandmother. All is well with school, just trucking on into the final two weeks. Cancer treatments are going well, for the first time I have a primary care doctor. I’ve gone most of my life never really establishing my self with a primary care doctor, due to recent circumstances I choose life and signed up. But with all the doctors how do you know? Luckily for me I have an Oncologist and when I asked him who to continue to follow up with he gave me the best reference. After he gave me a name to go with I did ask “why him?” His response was “well he’s my doctor”, in my book good enough for me…………. So remember when I said something about my wounded grandmother??? Well it’s true she fell last month and broke her hip and wrist. Once she got out of the hospital I finally got off from work to go pay her a visit. It just so happened that the same weekend I was able to participate in the Jonathan Mcdonald Memorial Golf Tournament while in town.

So how are you my few and faithful readers????

Pretty Cool

Allen — Sat, 12 Mar 2011 17:53:05 +0000

I worked out with the Team In Training crew this morning and walked a 10k. I didn’t know that a 10k is actually 6.2miles. I just thought I was walking 6miles so I feel like I accomplished more know because it sounds cooler to say 10k. I’ve been thinking through a lot of things and I’ve come to realize how important quality of life is. With all the wonders I’ve been through in the last year it’s really taken a toll on the priorities in life schedule. I found myself saying over and over “I’ll just take care of that when I can” instead of “let’s go do it now”. A great example of this is my school pursuit to finish my degree. I’ve been close for years but haven’t actually gotten into much of a groove to finish. Now it’s on, I started this semester taking two classes and all going well take one more this summer and then the last class in the fall. If we through a party, consider yourself invited. As for now finishing school is on the high priority on my list followed closely by trying to buy a house. It sounds scary but it’s something that Laura and I both have wanted for many years we just haven’t been able to really go for it. After that well the rest of the list is top secret, very hush hush for now. So anyways I appreciate the birthday wishes and wish you all well. As always thanks for reading…

Birthday Post

Allen — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 14:53:05 +0000

As many of you know it’s been a rough year for me. Things are finally turning up and I’m starting to see a light in the tunnel. I’ve been off the drugs for almost 2 months and currently readjusting to life. I started back to work about a month ago and have been doing really well. I was worried about side effects and weakness overall but I can honestly say I haven’t had any issues. My personal goal was to be done with all my treatments by the time I hit my birthday ( the big 28). So here I am coming to you alive and done with treatments. My wife picked out the perfect gift for me this year a Kindle ebook reader. I can’t wait to get really cracking into that thing so I can get my inner reader on. Just wanted to say thank you to all who have been supporting me through my entire life and really stepped in this last year. Know that all is well and that together we can all beat cancer.

As always thanks for reading…………..

The Last Treatment

Allen — Wed, 12 Jan 2011 20:57:35 +0000

Today I did my last radiation treatment WOO HOO!!!!! In case you are wondering they gave me a certificate and everything. I believe I only have follow up appointments to go to in the future but as far as treatment goes I am done. I can’t even describe to you how it feels to know that I am done with this whole cancer business. It has been a huge burden on Laura and I and we are just so very thankful that it is over.
In other news I was distracted by a package that came in last week and was able to install new step rails on the jeep. It was something I felt I could do (being a guy) so I purchased them online and installed them. It probably should have taken me 45min to an hour tops but I didn’t couldn’t figure out something in the directions so it took me 2.5 hrs. Doesn’t matter though because I enjoyed getting all my wrenches out and working with my hands. For now I’ll leave you with a picture of my certificate (because I think it’s hilarious), and as always thanks for reading………..

New Year

Allen — Wed, 05 Jan 2011 17:22:54 +0000

As you can already tell I wanted to change up the blog a bit. Nothing major just went with a little brighter theme. Laura and I are doing great now that all the holiday shenanigans are over we can start settling down and get the ball rolling on a few projects we have planned. I started a program at the YMCA this week called LIVESTRONG based of course on Lance Armstrong’s foundation. It ‘s supposed to be a health and wellness program that will allow me to regain some control after this whole cancer mess. So far it looks incredible because it offers a lot of resources and programs from the “Y” that will help return my strength and energy. For a long time now we have been saying we need a new year because of all the craziness of this year and how we really didn’t feel like we could catch a break. Well it’s here and we got to enjoy ringing in the new year by meeting up some old friends and playing phase 10 until the weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee hours of the morning. Hope your new year is rockin! As always thanks for reading……………….

Holidays

Allen — Thu, 23 Dec 2010 17:11:03 +0000

I hope as you read this that your holiday planning is going full steam ahead. Around here we have all our gifts wrapped and are about ready to hit the road for the family explosion that is the holidays. A lot has been going on here for us that I am super excited to share about.
My treatments have been going well, I finished my chemo 2 treatments early due to some lung and heart issues I was having as a side effect. That puts my last chemo at November 10. I was supposed to do a treatment the week of thanksgiving but due to the issues my doctor recommended that I discontinue and just prep for the next phase……….radiation. With that we got to enjoy a very unexpected holiday with our families giving them a lot of hope for my recovery. I’m now in my second week of radiation and doing well. As Laura will tell you that as I get better my “honey do list” is growing longer and longer. With this treatment I am allowed to travel and enjoy another holiday experience with more family.
My gift this year came a little early because my 95 for pickup that I have been driving for several years decided to have some issues. I was very nervous at first because I had no idea what was wrong but my instincts told me it was either the battery or the alternator. Both of these problems may seem minor to some but we really expected this to be the pouring money process due to the age of my truck. I was able to take it to autozone where they tested it and confirmed it was the alternator. So I began calling around trying to get an estimate which on average of the 15 places I called was $450. Lucky for me I have a friend who is pretty handy with the mechanics of vehicles (that’s you Doug) and he helped me replace it at cost for $150 (and it took 15 min). However we knew it was still time to start vehicle shopping so I began looking for a jeep wrangler. I’ve wanted a jeep again since high school when I learned to drive on a 77′ CJ7 jeep. Let me just tell you how awesome it is to keep the same ruggedness that is a jeep with the benefits of locking doors and radio. So my new ride is an Red 07′ Jeep Wrangler. I’ll post pictures later because I have a plan for how I want and it’s a little cold right now to be messing around outside.

So Happy Festivus, Merry Christmas, and Happy Holidays!!!
As always thanks for reading…………….

team in training

Allen — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 15:28:38 +0000

I’ve learned a lot about this whole cancer business and have lot of hope in regards to a cure. I was told early on in my diagnosis that I would have an 80 to 95% cure rate. That’s pretty amazing because you really don’t hear about things like that. I give credit to a long line of supporters who raised the money to help find the resources necessary to make my cure rate possible. I have found several organizations that have pledged their allegiances to raise money to fight cancer, which is fantastic. I’m getting involved with Leukemia & Lymphoma Society’s Team In Training (TNT). I was contacted through a friend who is training on the team and was asked to be an honored hero. A hero to the LLS is someone who is fighting the cancer battle and helps motivate the trainees to help raise support for research. It’s pretty amazing to me that these people were here all along and I didn’t even notice but when the time came and I needed all that research it was waiting for me. One thing that I haven’t been able to do is really work out, in fact I was just released to do so but believe me I have to choose my days because some are tougher than others. However I’m seriously considering signing up for the team when I’m done and be one of those crazy people that runs a marathon or something. As always thanks for reading……