PAUSE!

If only life had a pause button....At this time many wonder what happened to the blog....well it has not been forgotten.  I have been writing but the post is a long one...Its one that consists of 10 WEEKS as of today of Cody's Journey since transplant. 

YES!

June 29th, 2012

Was the start of a new life for us!

Cody is doing so Good its hard to keep him home and grounded.  He can not remember the last time he has felt this good!  He really thinks he has been sick since we met 10+ years!  It is fabulous!  Cody is doing things with his kids he has NEVER EVER been able to do with his kids before, since he has not felt the greatest.  They are loving it!

Don't worry will get our story posted soon...well cant promise anything...when life is good you don't want to slow down.

One last thing is we are truly blessed!  I can not believe this huge mountain we had to climb.  But as we are at the top now looking at where we just came from we cant do anything else besides get on our knees and thank the Lord for our many blessings and also for our Donor that has given Cody a second chance.  

Sending love...A

Where Has The Time Gone??

Really do not know where time really has gone...I do know a few things life is treating us well!  Cody has been feeling really good and continues to forge on forward.  We know the day is going to come, but it is almost a bitter sweet thought...makes us enjoy the moments that we do have now, so we can enjoy them later. 

Since January we have been having FUN!!!  We finally made it to Disneyland! 

 We postponed it last year, cause seriously a year prior to when we went, we did not know if Cody would make it an other 6 months.  Its amazing how things have changed!  It has been crazy, hard, emotional, fun, stressful, honestly just a year of waiting...  But really we have learned alot!!  I look back to where I was prior to all this and it was SO not where I am today.  I have more faith in the Lord,  confidence, knowledge of really what our plan here on earth is.  And I know that who ever is Cody's unselfish donor, they have not yet completed their mission, everything works like a fine tooth comb. 

Along with having fun we have been working our tail ends off!!!  :)  We have been working on our back yard for the little animals...

Anderson BEACH!!  Literally the size of a beach, but the boys love it and play all day long.  (Light sand is the beach, darker is the garden..temporary home of the toys.)

Lots of room to run...

HUGE Tramp for the boys to show us their tricks all night long!


So now it is time to enjoy our yard and have lots of fun enjoying life to the fullest while we can. 


Lots of plans for the summer...We recently traded the boat for a RHINO so will be trying to do lotz and lotz of camping (with lotz of dirt...I am going to have to get used to that!)


Also the Monkeys LOVED the beach when we were in California, so we want to go back when it is warmer- March wasn't the warmest time of year but it never stopped the boys from getting all wet.

Don't know if you can really see the oil rig way off in the background...but leave it to the 3 year old Disney Cars fanatic to notice them, and say that is what Finn McMissle drove on... as BELOW >>>

Seeing KACHOW was his favorite!  We are just a little bit of fans at our house!











So nothing but fun is planned for us...A Normal as Normal can be life...Its hard to always wonder how long, if we make plans will they be canceled?   Will we be able to do it?  Honestly I have come to terms with it...It really honestly took me a long time, but I have and know that we have  a huge future ahead of us.  I used to think that I wanted this all done with while our kids were young, but as time goes on and Cody ceases to amaze me.  I think that I am glad they will be able to see the kind of Man their DAD is...How he forges forward and will not let any of this get in his way of living his life as a Father, Priesthood holder, Son, Friend...honest to goodness really good guy.  We have been served so much in the past that we want to continue to pay it forward, since it is the only way we can pay  back what has been given to us.  We hope that by the time we die we can be close to the half way mark...We Hope


Sending love to all!  -A-

A Year

I don’t know how to say it.  It has been way too long.   That is the normal reply you get for us lagging in posts. But life has been good to us and we are not wanting to waste it.  Our holidays were great, the best of all to come.  Cody is doing well.  Current MELD is 18.    Since last posting, he has had many procedures/screenings and appointments.  They were able to do the ERCP on 12/21 right before Christmas.  I was terrified that things would go wrong and he would not be able to be with our boys for Christmas.  But we are truly blessed and the Doctor was able to do all that he wanted to do.  Shows the disease has progressed.   Which is expected.  Cody has done all the re-screening to stay on the Transplant list and still they are telling us could be a few more years.  But it really is hard to say.  A year ago they didn’t think he would last past 6 months of being on the list..He is proving them wrong.  Honestly I think its Hilarious! Our last appointment the transplant team asks multiple times what they can do for him, but the thing is Cody is a Champ and does not need much.  They keep asking repeatedly: “You sure you don’t need anything?”   And he just says no, he will not let this disease get him down.  He has been lucky to work with my Parents and their Company and be able to do something he truly enjoys.  With that also I think its the reason he has been feeling good.  He is really busy thinking about work, has no time to think about being sick and with that he keeps the disease “mentally in check”  I know all he can think of is how last go around with being sick he got really depressed and had nothing to do but think about how he felt.  He knows he does not want to go back to that, alot of times its 90% mental and 10% sickness/disease.

Thru this last month we are hitting our “anniversaries” where 1 year ago……

–January 12th Met Dr. S first time, who was very confident and cocky, melt into a very humbled Doctor that was defeated by telling us Cody had no other choice he needed a liver transplant.

–January 24th 1 year ago met Transplant team for the first time.  Felt more calm about knowing we had a great team on our side.

–January 28th learned really what we are up against with Liver Failure/Transplant

–January 31st day of tests/scans and a run around the hospital

–February 22nd Approved to be on the Transplant list.

Looking at the past year we have had some time to reflect, like you always do at the end/beginning of a new year.  I wonder what would our life be like if we didn’t didn’t have to go thru this?  There are many many people that I would not even know.  There are experiences that I would not know about or even be able to experience.  There would be less heart ache?  More worries?  All I know is what we have had to go thru so far has been worth it.  We have learned so much about ourselves, our family ,old and new friends.    One other thing we have learned about ourselves is that it is proven why I am not the patient and Cody is not the caregiver.  New Years eve I was making a salad for our annual New Years Bash with our close friends and I was cutting a very unripe Avocado and was trying to get the pit out I decided to cut thru it onto my finger.  After me turning crazy and Cody trying to figure out what to do, eventually he convinced me I needed stitches, 10 to be exact.  In that hour and a half he realized.  He cant be the one waiting on somebody that is hurt.  And I can’t sit still long enough in a situation like this, I have to walk the halls find somebody to give me answers till they do, I have to decide what needs to happen next solve the coming problems before they start.  I can’t just wait it out holding still.  But after 3 weeks on the mend and doing well and we now know we can’t reverse rolls ever again!

So busy times but nothing exciting to say the least, honestly I avoid starting to write on the blog cause if I do I take a long time to write cause I sit and ponder as I go so it takes a long time, I am not a fan of a short paragraph post…I need to get over that!  Honestly finding me on Facebook is the best way to stay updated on Cody, as you can see from going 2 1/2 months without a post.  As for now we can rest any doctor visits for a few months, then start it over again for scans again.  Until then bless you all!  Thanks for the prayers I see them everyday, every time I see my Cody playing with my little animals.  Thank you <3

Cody’s Event Slide Show

So I saw an other AFAF recipient (thanks Smith family for the idea!) post their slide show and thought I should also..cause 1- I barely remembered it from that night and 2- I know many others that are close to us would like to see it again.

Thanks again to all those that truly helped us out that day and everyday since.

Updated For Thoughts??

Well I should be in bed at the moment, in a matter of a few hours we are headed somewhere that is so much deserved for Cody.  We are going to Lake Powell, and so excited to be with family and just have a great time.  We get the opportunity to have a special vacation to create good memories, to help us endure what is to come.  Yes granted we will be ready to be home( there will be 29 “Anderson’s on one house boat!)  But still so excited about the trip.
Recently Cody went in for a MRI and MRCP – routine procedures while on the wait list.  Pretty much they are cancer scans to verify that there is still no cancer and also to check progress of how the Liver is doing.  It is hard that for those that do find cancer, they have to solve the Cancer before they can be “back on the list”  If something like that happens then you are put on a hold status till cancer free.  Seems rough! We still have not gotten results, but where Cody’s MELD score is lower they focus on patients according to their score and also no news is good news.  But it is still its hard where we will be out of town might miss the call  Other Doc appointments have all turned out good nothing to worry too much about.   And Cody overall feeling okay, he has his days.  I have noticed the fatigue is getting him more now, but he still will wrestle with the boys, take them on four wheeler rides,  and just being the great Dad that he is…Sometimes its hard to watch them cause one day he wont be able to do that…The times I think of it is at nights after family prayer they all have just a sweet moment that will be terribly missed when the time comes that they will be apart for who knows how long.  Breaks my heart for all 3 of them.  I just keep trying to tell myself that he will feel better one day and be able to do it even BETTER in the future to make up for lost time.
Its funny how our life has changed in so many ways these past 8 months I look at it and ponder about it.  One experience that has really changed is how we are treated… I am still trying to decide if all of it is good?  Or Bad?  Its really hard to explain, it is almost frustrating how some people almost act differently to us now??  I don’t know! Just can not explain it.  Cause I think we just are told and/or not told in light of our circumstances?  One thing that I have loved though is knowing how many people do love and care for us.  It is amazing how you can only meet some people just once for an instance and you already care for the well being of them, and them for us.  We have met so many amazing people in our life that are only enriching our lives and many others too.   Sorry such a bum post but wanted to give an update but needed to get my thoughts out??  Love to all, thanks for all your thoughts and prayers.  luv always – A

Our Definition OF Friends

This is a photo of Cody and his best friends, they all came to support Cody at the Event.

I wish this photo was better quality but is not but to us it is still worth more then a million words!    These Men are amazing!  All I had to do was ask, they were there with everything I needed and a lot more.  In the beginning it was really hard for Cody to ask for help with the fundraiser.  But we both knew that we wanted his friends involved I called them and they were so willing to be there for me.  Not only them but their wives/significant others too!  If it was not for them I do not know how parts of the Event would have worked out.  They did it, they helped us have the success that Cody deserved.
Its funny how when I first met Cody I found it so odd that he was still bestest friends with those from his childhood, they were really too good of friends!  They have all been through a lot together and will still be together through thick and thin.  But now after 9 years of knowing them I call them some of my own, best friends.  They were and are there for us.  I remember last time we dealt with Cody’s illness when he was not able to work prior to his big surgery I sat and bawled my eyes out to one of them of my concerns my stress and anxieties over everything and he simply just asked: ” What can I do Amy?  Tell me what you need?  I will do it.”  Simple as that I told him, and he was there.  Not to mention the next time and the time after that, and still last December when this all started unraveling again he was there not alone but in ten fold with all their friends to help Cody through this rough battle that we call life.
So this is a special thanks to those that I know do not want to be named but you know who you are.  You have helped make this journey more bearable knowing you will be there when I need you to be there for Cody thank you from the bottom of my heart.   You are the true definition of what a Friend is.
Lots of Love and Gratitude  -A-

This poem was written for Cody and I.  It was read to us the night of the event, by Brenda Smith (she was the only one that could have held the emotions in)  My dear sweet Aunt/Cousin had it written for us by a friend, just by someone reading my jumbling of words from this blog.

A Softer Way To Land

In a spinning rush of swirling air

A free-fall; building speed.

Suddenly the world goes quiet-

At the point of greatest need.

Looking up there is a parachute-

A softer way to land,

And he rides the gentle wind to earth

On its freely offered hand.

Many days have passed uncertainly

Too many nights in sleepless fear-

But when darkness seemed to smother,

Friends arrived- the way to clear.

A Dentist with a loving hand –

To ease a crushing weight,

And family who could take the kids –

And not even hesitate.

When health can be elusive,

And the patience starts to thin-

A loving wife with quiet strength

Has been there to pull him in.

Waiting fills their waking hours –

And like a thief it steals their sleep,

And yet with tender mercy –

A host of hands, their vigil keep.

Now the wait for Cody’s lifeline

May seem much too hard to bear –

And to those who may stand watching,

The path he walks may not seem fair.

Yet he and Amy know a secret,

That not all are blessed to know;

That the hands of love extended,

Only cause their faith to grow.

Now the parachute will carry them,

And lead them gently to the ground-

To wrap them warmly in the miracle

Where love and hope is always found.

–Vicki B Wright

*May 31, 2011