Busy, Busy, Busy

It has been a while since I updated the blog because things have been so crazy for my family lately! Amanda working, me being mom a lot more (I am a great dad but a crappy mom!), not knowing if I will feel great tomorrow or like a wreck or just feel okay or feel weird, etc. It is a full time job just working with insurance companies, the government, different cancer charities, arranging doctors appointments, getting blood sucked out of my arm every other day, ect. Amanda has been the greatest thing ever through all this! For those of you who don't know her or don't know her well, she really is an incredible person by anyones' standard! She truly loves people and gives of herself constantly! We both have days where we fall apart, want to forget everything, or have a nervous breakdown but luckily we are not usually going to pot on the same day.

Life is hard to plan right now! It seems like everyday we are flying by the seat of our pants. Roles in the family are out of whack and change happens constantly! Our family routine is shot most of the time and we still have 4 kids who get the flu, a couple of them still poop in their pants, they go to school, need love & attention and struggle (put nicely) to clean up after themselves! They also know that mom and dad are under a lot of stress which is hard for them sometimes I am sure.

If you see me in public itching like a crackhead, I am not on meth or crack and I didn't sit on a tainted toilet seat. It is just the chemo! I sweat when others are freezing and my skin looks like a teenagers again because I got the blessed rash that 30% of Tasigna patients get! So far it is not nearly as severe as a lot of others have it though.

Over all I am feeling stronger, and better and more able to do things in the day. I just tiled my own living room and personally I think looks absolutely incredible! The rest of the house is next. I am going to try and start working for other people again the second half of February. I have been cautious about tearing up someone else's house and then not being able to perform up to par for them. Poor Brooks Logan had to deal with that just before I got diagnosed. Doing my own tile went well though, so I am ready to get back into what I love again pretty soon.

This post is just a quick ramble but I wanted to post some sort of update for you. Hope it was informative. There are a lot of other things going on that I will post later. But for now, I am going to bed. My poor Amanda will be up all night at the hospital working again. I can't wait till she can stay home with the kids again. She is home with us most of the week but I am hurting to see her life get back to normal again!

Thank you all for your support and prayers and I'll keep you posted as things come about. This week and next will hold a lot of new revelations and we are waiting of a lot of test and things to come back. Hang in there ya'll! I know we will!
Love,
B Russ, Amanda, Makayla, Gavyn, Bryton, and Cayd