To Infinity and Beyond....or at least to NASA and Camping

 Earlier this year Brendan joined a local Trail Life troop and got to go camping a couple of times.  Even though the active year was ending, we were invited to join one of the other families for a camp out at the Space Center in Houston. Since this was not an official event, it was open to the whole family.  Dinner, activities and one-day admission was included, and we were able to camp under the 747 used to transport the space shuttle. 

We had signed up for this camp back in March, but the event was not scheduled to occur until Memorial Day weekend. With Michelle's passing, we were not sure we would be able to go on this trip. However, after talking it over with Brendan and Zaira, we decided that we should go.  Not only that, we found out that our eldest daughter, Amanda, would be flying into San Antonio that Sunday, and that we would be able to pick her up at the airport on our return from Houston.  We did not tell Zaira, because we wanted it to be a surprise, as Zaira had been praying that Amanda would visit us for months.

Life Goes on

I've been meaning to add more to this blog, because it really is about all of our other stuff, and our stuff is still happening. It has taken me awhile to be able to sit down here and write something, but here I am. And our adventures have continued. 

 Since the last post, we have gone camping twice, been to NASA in Houston, been to a birthday party, had a broken arm, enlisted in the Navy and generally have kept living. So...I will be writing about those, in the next few posts. 

 Right now, I just want to say THANK YOU to everyone that has held us up in their thoughts and prayers. I know that they kept me vertical most days, and have really helped us to make it through. God bless! Michael

Obituary for Michelle Reynolds

 Michelle Reynolds came into this world with three great loves. Her love of God and family were always forefront in her life. Her third love was teaching, which she did for her dolls, toys, brothers, and anyone else that would stand still for more than a moment. She was born to Patrick and Jean Edmundson on February 2, 1973. When she was young, her family moved to Marietta, Texas, a place that she always considered to be her home. She followed two of her older brothers to Texas A&M, and it was there that she met her husband, Michael. Despite being married and having a baby, Michelle still met her goal of graduating college in 4 years. From there she taught at a succession of small schools as she followed Michael as he went into the Army. 

In Germany, she started two of her passions that would remain with her the rest of her life: Religious Education and homeschooling. Before that, she and Michael had taught some RE classes, but in Germany Michelle was asked to become the Director of Religious Education (DRE) for their military parish, more than just teaching, Michelle wanted to make sure that the children in her programs were being taught correctly. The same applied to homeschooling.  As her eldest daughter came of age to start Kindergarten in the DOD schools, Michelle took the opportunity to examine the curriculum and decided she could do better than that; and so she did, and continued to do so to the last.  

Together they celebrated the birth of 6 children, the tragedy of two miscarriages, and the joy of adopting. Michelle was able to be with their adopted daughter for the birth of both of her granddaughters, with whom she shared her love of making biscuits (in the shape of butterflies!). 

Michelle also had a love of travel, especially to State and National Parks, no trip could truly be complete unless it included one or more. In 2014, Michelle introduced the family to Geocaching (aka the art of using multi-million-dollar satellites to find Tupperware in the woods). Not only did she love the adventure of finding the caches, but she also came to love all the people that shared in this hobby. She especially loved the fact that Geocaching strives to give back to the community through park and trail clean-up events. 

In April 2020, Michelle was diagnosed with Stage 4 cancer in her liver. Despite the pain of the cancer, and the hardships of her treatments, she continued to homeschool her children, teach classes for the Archdiocese and travel for Geocaches. 

On May 10, 2021, surrounded by her mother, brothers, husband, children and grandchildren, Michelle passed into the arms of her Lord while receiving a final blessing. She was 48 years old. She was preceded in death by her father, Patrick Edmundson. 

Michelle will live on in the hearts of her husband, children, grandchildren, mother, and brothers and sister. But her presence will be felt in the lives of all those people whose lives she touched. 

Public visitation will be at the Angelus Funeral Home (1119 N. St. Marys)  from 4:00 to 6:00 PM on Monday, May 31st, followed by a Rosary.  

The funeral will be held at St. Anthony Mary Claret Catholic Church (6150 Roft Rd) at 9:30 AM on Tuesday, June 1st.   

The burial will be at Ft. Sam Houston National Cemetery, but due to restrictions at the cemetery, the graveside service will be for immediate family only. 

In lieu of flowers, the family gratefully requests that you consider making a donation to some of the causes that Michelle supported: 

Pro-Life 

Women’s shelters 

The Food Bank 

Religious Education 

Etc. 

Not the Post I Wanted to Make

 I apologize for the gap in posts here, and I should have put something up sooner.  As most of you might already know, Michelle passed away shortly after midnight on May 10th.  After my last post, all of Michelle's brothers were able to come into town and they all go to see her.  It was such a blessing for her, as well as for them to see and speak to her. Our priest, Father Martin Leopold was able to get to her side to administer the Last Rights, and as he was anointing her, she breathed her last.

The next post will be Michelle's Obituary.

I want to thank all of you for all of your prayers and support, they helped her on her way, and have been keeping the rest of us going.

May God bless and keep you all,

Michael

Third Time's a Charm?

It’s me again, Michael the Guest Blogger. I’m back with another update. So, Michelle went in on Monday to get a CT scan and markers for the next round of radiation. However, after that they have not called to set up a time to start the radiation treatments, so we are waiting on the radiologist to make a final determination.

On Tuesday, Dr. Drengler called and asked if Michelle could come in on Wednesday to start the new chemo treatment. The chemo treatment is very aggressive. One of the chemicals will not even let Michelle put her hand in the refrigerator without causing her great pain. The treatment includes three chemicals on the first day, and is administered at the clinic, then it is continued with a portable pump at home for the next two days. This treatment will be repeated every other week for a total of 12 sessions.

One side affect has been diarrhea, but she has also been very tired. Her pain continues, especially in her liver and ribs. Because of the weakness of her ribs, Michelle signed a DNR. The concern is that if she passes out, the EMTs might attempt CPR. Between her weakened ribs and the tumors, that would not be good.

We have been blessed by several visits this week. Several of our friends from the Brazos Valley have come to visit to spend time with Michelle. First Bette and Heidi came in on Sunday. Heidi brought some books for the children and Bette brought some things to brighten up the house. On Tuesday, Christopher and Kimberly came and spent the evening. We have known Chris and Kimberly since shortly after our marriage and have watched each other’s children grow up.

We also got to celebrate our favorite movie-based holiday on Tuesday. Our May the 4^th brought us Star Wars themed masks, a new iteration of Blue Milk (that actually looked blue and tasted good!), Leia buns and frozen light sabers.  We were all glad that we can still find fun and celebrate together.

We will have more updates on Monday.  We wish you all a Happy Mother’s Day and ask God’s blessings on you and your families!

The Feast of St. Joseph the Worker

 

Hello again! Since today is May 1^st, the Feast of St. Joseph, the Worker, and we had forgotten to tell you what we, as a church, had done for his feast day on March 19^th. An Italian tradition to honor St. Joseph on his feast day is
with a bread altar. We have always wanted to thank St. Joseph for all the times that he has interceded for us throughout our many moves and changes in employment. So we talked with Fr. Martin, and he agreed to let us create and altar as long as we able to purchase items to give directly from a store or bakery. With the help of another (thankfully more artistically inclined) family, we were able to set up an altar at all five of our parish Masses over the weekend. We spoke with a local bakery (Haby’s Bakery in Castroville) which just happens to be run by a Catholic family. The owner was very excited to help us with this tradition, which was unknown to her but fit well with her Catholic faith. The idea is to honor St. Joseph and to give to the needy of the parish. Michelle was determined to make sure that every family received some gift of food. Along with the bread, we created fruit baskets, jars of soup mix, candles and flowers. Everyone was so grateful to have a new tradition and looking forward to participating more in this next year.

Liver Don’t Fail Me Now!!!

Well, here we are a week later and I am still the guest blogger.

Since our last post Michelle spent the week looking forward to the surgery, hoping that it would bring her some relief from the pain and nausea. On Monday, she met with Dr. Jude and it was hoped that she would have back surgery within two weeks. They also discussed her headaches and he told her that he was concerned and would move the MRI to be completed before the back surgery.

On Tuesday Michelle got a call from the radiologist saying that they would complete a CT scan the following Monday (before beginning the next course of radiation treatments). Pain relief was on its way and Michelle was very excited that it was all going to happen so quickly.

As planned, I took her to the hospital bright and early on Thursday for the liver treatment.  She was feeling very sick but very happy to get the procedure completed so that it would bring her some relief. As soon as she got to the nurse, there was concern about her hydration. So she was given an IV fluids while waiting for surgery. Halfway through the hydration, Dr. Childers arrived to tell her that the surgery was not going to be possible.

Her bilirubin levels were too high. You might have heard that term if you have had a baby, because it is one of the first tests a baby is given to ensure the liver is functioning correctly. This is what they mean when they talk about a baby having jaundice. Elevated levels of bilirubin indicate that the liver is not functioning properly. In Michelle’s case this meant that the liver tumors were too large and we would need to find a way to reduce the masses in order for treatment to take place. Performing the procedure would be too dangerous and could cause more issues that would not help her liver.

Dr. Drengler was contacted and determined that we would need to meet again soon to discuss options. Michelle only had a planned hydration treatment planned for Friday, so Dr. Drengler agreed to meet with her outside of his clinic hours. Later that afternoon, Nurse Cindy from the treatment room called to let Michelle know that she was welcome to come in for hydration at any time of the day, which made it much easier for Michelle to come in first thing in the morning.

Mom took Michelle to the appointment and planned for her stay in the parking lot. However, Nurse Monica asked if she had been vaccinated and allowed her to come in to the appointment. Dr. Drengler said that he was very upset that the procedure could not happen the day before, but it got him to thinking of other approaches to reduce the tumors. He told Michelle that he was already working with the insurance to change the chemotherapy. He will be checking in with our insurance every day, and the day that he gets approval I will start my new treatment. Due to the bilirubin issue the back surgery has also been postponed and we will decide on Monday about the radiation treatments for her ribs.

Of course Michelle is very disappointed that her pain and nausea will continue through this waiting period. But she is very grateful for all her friends and family that are supporting her through this time. Through all this, Michelle remains confident in God’s love and protection in her life. 

Last night during family prayers, Michelle was reading from Psalm 49: “For no man can buy his own ransom, or pay a price to God for his life. The ransom of his soul is beyond him. He cannot buy life without end, nor avoid coming to the grave.” We then read from 1 Peter: “Jesus was known before the foundation of the world but revealed in the final time for you, who through him believe in God who raised Him from the dead and gave Him glory, so that your faith and hope are in God.” 

May God bless you all abundantly!

-Michael

Well This is a First

 I am not normally a blogger, but Michelle gave me permission to write this because she is unable to focus on the computer. Since she last posted things have progressively gotten worse, especially her nausea and pain. Last weekend was very rough, and by Tuesday Michelle felt dehydrated enough to go into the clinic for hydrations. While she was there, she spoke with Dr. Drengler and he let her know that the MRI had found more lesions on her spine. On Wednesday Michelle met with Dr. Zubyk.  The doctor brought her all the way to her office just to tell her that she did not know what to do for Michelle. Dr. Zubyk is concerned that the areas affected have already been radiated and that additional treatments would be too much. 

On Thursday, Michelle went back into the clinic for hydration, she got there early enough that she was there before they started clinic. She asked to see Dr. Drengler’s nurse to discuss what Dr. Zubyk had told her. After hydration, Michelle came back home.  That afternoon, Dr. Zubyk called back to let Michelle know that she would schedule 10 sessions of treatment to radiate the spots on her ribs. After that is when Dr. Childers called to discuss the treatment for her liver. Because the last embolization procedure used radiation, simply repeating the procedure would be an over-exposure. This time, the beads they use will be treated with chemo. Dr. Childers was able to set up this procedure quickly, it will be done next Thursday. Hopefully, this will help relieve Michelle of discomfort. After she got off the phone with Dr. Childers, Dr. Jude called to set up a tele-med appointment for Monday to discuss her spinal surgery.

The worst part of all this is that Michelle has been in a lot of pain, and the pain is making her nauseous. So, she has not been able to eat very much. She has previously able to control the pain with regular Tylenol and Alleve, but over the last few days she has had to use the Tylenol 4 and Vicodin. We are hoping that the surgeries on her back and liver will help to relieve her of the pain. This is why Dr. Drengler is so amazing. He had to have called all of those other doctors to get them moving so quickly. We have been very blessed that he took on Michelle’s case.

My sister Sherry also called with a book that discusses a homeopathic treatment that has helped others living with cancer. Maybe it is a cure, maybe not, but it won’t hurt to look at it.

For Michelle the hardest thing in all of this is that she has been teaching a class for the Diocese, and there were two more sessions (the next two Saturdays) but she had to call and cancel. On the plus side, she will get to rest this weekend. She has also had to cancel a trip to Kansas and Colorado that she and a friend have been planning for over a year. That might be all for the best, as some of the mountain roads that they would be travelling are still closed due to snow.

The children have been helping out, getting things for Michelle, and doing her chores for her. We are all praying that we will be open to God’s will and that He will continue to protect us.

We are all very grateful for all the people that have been bringing meals for us. Michelle has been too sick to make a grocery list, much less to go to the store. All of those meals have been a blessing, and we thank God for all of the those that are helping us.

God bless you all! He hears your prayers, so keep ‘em coming!

No News is Not Always Good News

Sorry, folks!  I have had a long week of second guessing everything!  I have also spent most of my week being sick from one end or the other...I know, lovely thought!  Mainly, I have been resting in between doctor visits and scans. I am still going to one more set of scans tomorrow. 

Dr. Drengler did not have any new information for me on Monday. I continued with my second round of immunotherapy and my Zometa (bone strengthening medication) infusions. He determined a full bone scan was needed to determine the pain I was having in my right side. He could not see any reason for the pain from the previous scans. 

So off to the scan room again on Wednesday. No problems with that scan as I was able to go to my favorite location with the newest technology and great staff. I even had time in between contrast injection and scan to enjoy the cooler weather. Granted it was done while sitting in the parking lot because even small trips in the vehicle causes my nausea to increase out of control. I used the time to study my class notes for my upcoming class on liturgy. Yeah... I am a little crazy but I love teaching the faith and look forward to teaching this class. I just pray my nausea does not cause me issues this Saturday morning. 

Today, I heard back from Dr. Drengler that the bone scan showed new areas of bone lesions. I now have cancer in my ribs on both sides. I also have cancer in my right hip and two new areas on the left side of my neck. I think I have now covered all the bones in my upper body and a few spots in the lower areas too. What fun this cancer is having!!!  

I will now have more radiation treatments scheduled for the near future. I am sure it will take more meetings with doctors and authorization from insurance. It will take a few days to organize this plan. I also am waiting to hear back from radiologist for my liver treatment. I am not sure when this will happen. 

Tomorrow I will have a new MRI of my spine. I think Dr. Drengler is concerned that the cancer is still an issue in my spine and spinal fluid. I will find out these results on Monday. After the MRI, I am supposed to race over in time for a hydration boost in hopes it relieves some of the nausea and diarrhea. 

I will tell you... I am tired. The weariness is getting to me and not having the ability to get up  and do things. I know the best option is to let my body rest but it is not in my nature. 

Please pray for me to be patient with my body. Pray for healing.  

Fr. Martin was so kind and anointed me on Tuesday when I went to Mass. Such a blessing!  He also told me that we should focus on one person who is thought to be a saint in need of a miracle attributed to their cause for canonization. So our family sat down and read about several options. We choice to ask Ruth Pakaluk to intercede in my behalf for complete healing of my cancer. Just a quick click on her name will take you to an information page and an intercessory prayer. I hope you will join our family in prayer for this cause. 

God bless you all!!!  

A Day with the Horses

Today I was really not feeling well, but it was not about me today. It was all about Zaira living the dream that all little girls seem to enjoy!  She was going to get to ride a horse today!  She had been counting down the days for over a month and the day had finally arrived!  She was so excited she even  slept in her boots the night before!  

I was determined to be there for this special day. So we got into the car and took the 60-minute drive to the horse ranch. Thankfully, after breathing in the fresh country’s economy  air, I was able to enjoy the giggles and ear-to-ear grins throughout the morning lessons. 

Little Miss was so happy to learn about horses and the equipment. Then it was on to grooming the horse to prep for the ride. I think she would have done just about anything to ride that horse!  She was paired with a sweet horse named Riley. A teen assistant helped make sure Little Miss was learning all the skills to care for a horse. 

Then they put the bareback padding on Riley along with the bridle. The director came to check on all the riders. When asked if Little Miss had put in the equipment by herself the teen said no.  All of it had to come back off for Little Miss to do by herself. I was glad to see this because when we worked with horse therapy in the past, this was always the rule. Little Miss had learned quickly and had no problem with the task. 


Little Miss was leading Riley out of the stall in no time. She was so eager to hop on Riley and take a ride. Slow down missy!  All the girls were doing this together!  So Little Miss had to wait for everyone to be ready. 

It did not take long to have them up on their horses and ready to try the first round with their hands on the horn led by their assistant. You could tell Little Miss was getting impatient because as soon as the leader asked if they were ready, her hands were up in the air and ready to take the bridle!  

She did a great job leading Riley through the obstacles!  Of course, the time went by too quickly. She was convinced the leader invited them back the next day. It turned the older girls in the troop were camping that night and had a planned trail ride the next morning. Oh how disappointing for our Little Miss!  

I promised to look for a place more local and see if she could go more often. I am so glad it was fun for her. A beautiful day and beautiful memories!  

Somehow We Start Back at the Beginning

If you have been reading my updates, you all know that I try to praise my medical professionals as much as possible. However, I was very disappointed in the medical staff over the last three weeks. 

As many could tell from my last post, things were not going well the last few weeks. I tried to get help and became frustrated with the lack of understanding from medical staff who did not know me and were not listening. They spent a lot of time minimizing the issue or coming up with reasons for my pain that were not accurate. Mainly their solution was to push stronger pain medication and antibiotics, neither of which were needed (I did not have an infection according to blood work).  I tried to explain where my pain was located, but the NP insisted the pain was radiating from my back which was just a side effect from my recent radiation. When I told her that I knew the difference between back pain and kidney pain, she ignored me. I am convinced she wrote in my chart that I had back pain. 

When I called back on Monday (April 5), I was once again speaking to a secondary nurse. She asked if I had taken pain medication. I told her I finally started taking Tylenol 4 for pain on Saturday. She asked where I had gotten Tylenol 4...what?...Dr Drengler had prescribed it to me last June!!  I only take as needed so I had some and it seemed to help for short periods of time. Since she acted as if I was abusing pain medication or obtaining medicine from an unknown source, I was surprised by her next response. Why didn’t I take the stronger pain medication prescribed to me?   I told her I really did not want to cover up the pain without knowing what was causing it. So she told me she would speak to Dr. Drengler and get back with me. Several hours later, she called to tell me I would be scheduled for an MRI later in the week. 

So when I had not heard back by Wednesday, I called again. Lo and behold!!...I got Monica on the phone!!!  She told me that she did not even know about the MRI and I would need to talk to scheduling. I was transferred and was told that all was in place for the next day for an MRI of my lower spine. Nope...nope...nope!!!  That is when I knew the correct information was not getting to Dr. Drengler.  I asked to be transferred back to Monica because the wrong scan was being ordered. After a talk with Monica, I waited for a response. I was then directed to come in the next day for a CT scan of my abdominal and pelvic area. 

This scan was completed Thursday with no difficulties and I would have the results back in time for my scheduled appointment on April 12. 

However, I got a surprise phone call from Dr. Drengler early afternoon on Friday. As much as I was glad to hear his voice, I knew he could only be calling with bad news. The basic information I have now is that there are new masses in my liver. There is also cancer spread in other areas. The option to repeat the treatment I had last summer is not going to be available in fear that adding more radiation to my body would risk shutting down my organs. We are now looking into chemo-infused embolization. We will continue with the immunotherapy for now. We will discuss future plans in more detail at the Monday appointment. 

I was given a new prescription for the Tylenol 4. I am taking it more frequently and trying to rest this weekend. God continues to show us the way, even if we do not understand which direction the tracks of this ride will take me. Please continue to pray!!  I am so blessed to have you all with me.