I know I'm not up to date on my blog, but I'm not yet ready to post about my dad's death. It's still too hard. :-(
For now, this is our Christmas Card this year. Please enjoy some of the wonderful and hard things our family went through this year. Love you all! :-)
Sarah
Day Family SmileBox 2014
Monday, December 22, 2014
Friday, November 28, 2014
The Bomb!!
There are some days that you will just never forget. You'll remember exactly what you were doing and where you were. August 7th, 2014 will be one of those days. It is the day that I got a phone call from the ICU in Vista, CA saying that my dad was on life support and the end might be near. WHAT?!?! We had just left him and he wasn't feeling well, but nothing like this!
My dad had been in the hospital for a couple days and started not being able to breathe so they put him on life support to save his life. I don't know why I wasn't called before this, but that wasn't important anymore. What was important is that I needed to go down and see my dad!!! I called my sister and asked if her husband, who works for Jet Blue, could get us a flight ASAP. My the hand of the Lord, we were able to get one within a couple hours!
As I was on the phone back and forth with the hospital during this time, I learned how grave my dad was. He had cancer--aggressive cancer. Cancer that would kill him in less than three months if he didn't start chemo right away. But, he wasn't well enough to start chemo yet. He couldn't swallow and eat. He was still on life support. It wasn't looking good. I don't think I have ever prayed so many times in such a short time. Let him be okay. Let him live so I can at least see him one more time. Let him be okay! All of this though was if it was the will of the Lord.
My sister and I made it down there. As we walked in to his room the sight we saw was unbelievable. My dad, who was always talking, laughing, debating, agile, looked dead. His color was awful and the breathing tube in him was doing it all for him. We were stunned and speechless, and very upset. We called our brothers who were arranging to come down and told them to hurry. It was one of the worst nights of my life! My tears soaked my pillow throughout the night as my mind was trying to wrap around this new knowledge.
My brother came early the next morning and my oldest brother would be there by lunch time. But then.....a miracle! My dad woke up!!!! He was able to spell words out and then write things down. The doctors were amazed and decided to try to take the breathing tube out so he could talk. It worked!!!!!!!! My dad was able to tell me how much he loved me and how scared he was!! The first thing he said to me was, "I want to see Emily graduate from high school." We were able to talk about where things were located in his house if I needed them. I was going to be his trustee eventually so we talked about some of these things too. I was able to ask him about some hard truths and he was honest about it.
There was hope. The doctors even started talking about starting chemo the next week. Within 24 hours it went from my dad was going to die to there's a good possibility of success. It was mind boggling.
Now, I don't live in fantasy land. I knew my dad was sick. The doctors couldn't figure out why he couldn't swallow. He was losing a lot of weight. He still needed chemo badly because this kidney cancer was aggressive. But, at least there was hope now! Besides hope, we 4 siblings got to spend some precious time together reminiscing, crying, laughing, and just being together. It felt really nice.
When I went home on Monday, I knew we were not even close to being out of the woods, but there were a lot of positives to take with me. I knew we were in for a fight, but I knew my dad was ready. But, would his body cooperate?
My dad had been in the hospital for a couple days and started not being able to breathe so they put him on life support to save his life. I don't know why I wasn't called before this, but that wasn't important anymore. What was important is that I needed to go down and see my dad!!! I called my sister and asked if her husband, who works for Jet Blue, could get us a flight ASAP. My the hand of the Lord, we were able to get one within a couple hours!
As I was on the phone back and forth with the hospital during this time, I learned how grave my dad was. He had cancer--aggressive cancer. Cancer that would kill him in less than three months if he didn't start chemo right away. But, he wasn't well enough to start chemo yet. He couldn't swallow and eat. He was still on life support. It wasn't looking good. I don't think I have ever prayed so many times in such a short time. Let him be okay. Let him live so I can at least see him one more time. Let him be okay! All of this though was if it was the will of the Lord.
My sister and I made it down there. As we walked in to his room the sight we saw was unbelievable. My dad, who was always talking, laughing, debating, agile, looked dead. His color was awful and the breathing tube in him was doing it all for him. We were stunned and speechless, and very upset. We called our brothers who were arranging to come down and told them to hurry. It was one of the worst nights of my life! My tears soaked my pillow throughout the night as my mind was trying to wrap around this new knowledge.
My brother came early the next morning and my oldest brother would be there by lunch time. But then.....a miracle! My dad woke up!!!! He was able to spell words out and then write things down. The doctors were amazed and decided to try to take the breathing tube out so he could talk. It worked!!!!!!!! My dad was able to tell me how much he loved me and how scared he was!! The first thing he said to me was, "I want to see Emily graduate from high school." We were able to talk about where things were located in his house if I needed them. I was going to be his trustee eventually so we talked about some of these things too. I was able to ask him about some hard truths and he was honest about it.
There was hope. The doctors even started talking about starting chemo the next week. Within 24 hours it went from my dad was going to die to there's a good possibility of success. It was mind boggling.
Now, I don't live in fantasy land. I knew my dad was sick. The doctors couldn't figure out why he couldn't swallow. He was losing a lot of weight. He still needed chemo badly because this kidney cancer was aggressive. But, at least there was hope now! Besides hope, we 4 siblings got to spend some precious time together reminiscing, crying, laughing, and just being together. It felt really nice.
When I went home on Monday, I knew we were not even close to being out of the woods, but there were a lot of positives to take with me. I knew we were in for a fight, but I knew my dad was ready. But, would his body cooperate?
On our way down
The 4 of us
Feeling better after the breathing tube came out
Sending emails to his college telling them of his cancer and also putting some financial things together.
Saturday, November 22, 2014
Family Vacation to Dad's
During the summer we took our usual family vacation down to my dad's house. We didn't know this at the time, but this vacation would be our last with him. :( :( When we got down there, he said he had been feeling a little under the weather, but would do his best to go places with us. We like going to the Mormon Battalion site on the Sunday that we're there and to the temple. My dad came with us, but started feeling light headed so went to the car to relax. The kids enjoyed their time.
We then went to the temple grounds. I sure wish I had gotten a picture with my dad here too. :(
My dad was finishing up his semester at school so we went to Legoland and thoroughly enjoyed ourselves! The kids are at the perfect age to have a blast!
We did the Sea Life aquarium too and liked it.
We went back to the Carlsbad Lagoon and enjoyed Paddleboarding and relaxing at the water.
And we all LOVED the Legoland water park! It is a great park and we all have a blast there.
The kids got along and I was in heaven with that!
Tyler loves sharks so we couldn't pass up this picture. :-)
The girls LOVE Lego Friends too so this new Lego creation was a BIG hit!
We had a great time as always, but were sad that my dad seemed to not be feeling well. He wasn't his normal self; he didn't cook us dinner like he loves to do. We didn't go to Sea World with him, like he LOVES to do. Near the end of our visit he broke out in shingles and then we felt even worse for him. As we were leaving, we were all commenting about how we were sad that he wasn't feeling well on this trip and that we'd need to go down again soon so we could enjoy his company again when he was feeling better. Little did we know of the BOMB that would drop on us a week later!!!!!!
Sunday, November 2, 2014
Robertson Family Reunion and the 4th of July
A few years ago we decided that the Robertson family (my family and all my siblings' families) needed to start having family reunions before all our kids were grown and gone. We had one down at my dad's place and then one in Steamboat Springs. This time my sister planned a four-wheeling weekend up in the mountains of Midway. It was so much fun to almost all be together and play, laugh, and just enjoy each other. My mom came too, but my dad wasn't able to make it because he was teaching. We were sad about that (and now it's really sad that he wasn't there!).
The best part for me was that Emily has a cousin her same age, but has only met her a couple times because they live in Texas. These two girls just bonded and loved the heck out of each other while they were up!! It's wonderful and was a wonderful weekend. We ended the week with the 4th of July and our own arsenal of fireworks. What great memories we made!!
The best part for me was that Emily has a cousin her same age, but has only met her a couple times because they live in Texas. These two girls just bonded and loved the heck out of each other while they were up!! It's wonderful and was a wonderful weekend. We ended the week with the 4th of July and our own arsenal of fireworks. What great memories we made!!
Everyone had a blast on the 4-wheelers
The whole group
This is my family, minus my little brother and my dad
Ashley was so excited that a forest was named after her! :-)
We even caught a little fishy
Cousin bonding at its best!
Kenny and his proud arsenal :-)
Our own aerials! What great memories made!!
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