Help for a friend

The following post is copied from our friend, Cassie, who used to be Jared's office manager in Sandy.


We love your Guts!
Kidneys especially.

About 5 years ago, Tim was diagnosed with Kidney Failure. We were surprised, but not shocked because 2 of his siblings also have kidney failure and have had to have transplants.

Over the last 5-ish years, Tim has been seeing a nephrologist regularly every 3-6 months as requested by his doctor. They've monitored his B.U.N. and creatinine levels closely and determined late last summer that transplant time was getting close. We then met with a transplant coordinator, social worker, financial coordinator and surgeon. 13 vials of blood were drawn and labs ran. The goal for Tim during this time was to have him ready for transplantation before it became necessary for him to go on dialysis. This included, for us, finding a living donor.

We've talked to many people about donating their kidney to Tim. Not asking anyone specifically, but just throwing it out there so people know what's going on and if it's something they would be willing to do, we'd be willing to take them up on it. So many have said it's something they would think about, and we appreciate SO MUCH that they would even consider it.

At Tim's appointment today, his doctor had his name put on the waiting list for a kidney. Within the next week or so, we'll have the results of his blood work to know if he'll need to start dialysis. (His last labs read that he was at 12% kidney function, dialysis usually starts around 10% funcion.) As he has been feeling pretty good, we're hoping dialysis will be put off for a few more months.

This is where you come in.

Have you seen the billboard on the highway that says something like "Donate a kidney/car to the kidney foundation"? Well, if you've been thinking "hmm... I have this spare car lying around, but I also have a spare kidney.... what to do... what to do..." We'd like to encourage the kidney donation. :)

Here's what you do.

Call Cathy at 801-507-8311 or 801-507-3380.
Cathy is Tim's transplant coordinator. She'll schedule a time for you to get a work up done to see if you're a match for Tim.

What you need to know.

Tim's blood type is A+, however, if you are A+ OR A- you can still be a match. If the sub-grouping is necessary, it will be determined later on.

Recovery time for the donor is 4-6 weeks on average. You would be in the hospital for 5-7 days. You can't drive for 2 weeks or lift anything over 20 lbs for 3 weeks.

Either our insurance or Medicare covers both the donor surgery and the recipient surgery, so there is no out of pocket cost for you.

That's it. So now if you're thinking "I only have one kidney... I'm diabetic... I'm the wrong blood type... I hate hospitals... I'm terrified of needles... Tim? Who's Tim?" I have one more teensy weensy favor to ask to help us out. For all you bloggers out there. Link us! Copy this and post it to your blog, put a link, copy and email to friends and family, whatever. But please help us spread the word and find some new guts for my hubby.

If you do decide to be tested, please e-mail me at tim_and_cas@yahoo.com so we can follow up with the coordinator.

Whew! If ya got through all that, THANK YOU!

Jared's perfect day

Saturday could be described as a perfect day for Jared. It started out with a ski trip to Sundance with Chandler. Jared's parents spent the weekend at a cottage at the Sundance resort for some medical meetings and were able to get them free lift tickets (huge bonus). Chandler's highlight was scoring a new ski helmet. He has been wearing it non-stop since he got it. Even at home.
Experimenting with Dad's poles before hitting the slopes.All set to go. Since Chandler has only skiied a few times, he wears this red harness that connects to some lines that Jared holds. This helps keep him in control while he's learning. He should be ready to ski without it next year.
On the ski lift.
This was taken outside of the cottage where Wynn and Joyce were spending the weekend.
After skiing, Jared and Chandler got to have lunch with Wynn & Joyce. Notice Chandler is still wearing the helmet. :) After returning from skiing, we worked in the yard a little bit trying to get things ready for spring. When evening rolled around, we left the boys in the capable hands of my brother, Tyler and his wife, Amanda. (Thanks again, guys!) I gave Jared tickets to the concert of one of his favorite bands for his birthday in January and it was time to rock out! We actually got the 'middle finger salute' by someone on the freeway on our way up there. We couldn't even figure out why, but it was a good start for a rock 'n roll night.
Jared in front of Linkin Park's tour bus. Note to reader: this is definitely a 'Jared' night. This is his kind of music and not really mine at all.
Self-portrait on Jared's cell phone camera. In case you're wondering, that is an earplug in Jared's ear, not an earing. He used those and I used my noise-reducing headphones to protect our aging eardrums. It worked great and our ears aren't even ringing today.
Linkin Park's ensignia on the rotating screens above the stage.

Live action during the concert. I recorded a little clip on my camera, but haven't been able to get it to upload, so that may be on here in the future. Jared loved rocking out and singing along during the whole thing. Our only complaint was that we had to wait through 2 lesser bands and almost 2 hours before the real show began. I even watched an episode of Friends on my iPod during one of the bands. All in all, it was a fun night out for us!

Easter Bunny

Yesterday, we went to the Provo Town Center Mall to eat dinner at Red Robbin. As we walked in we noticed they had the Easter Bunny there to see kids. Preston has been fascinated with an old picture of a very scared Chandler with an Easter Bunny when he was about 1. I had told him several times that the Easter Bunny was very nice. When he saw the Easter Bunny he bolted right through the line and up to the Bunny (who was trying to take a picture with some other kids) and gave him a big hug and "5" and tried to sit down by him. I took longer than it should to pull him away and wait his turn. Finally, he able to have the Bunny's full attention. The interesting thing about seeing the Easter Bunny as opposed to Santa is that the Easter Bunny doesn't talk. He just waves and gestures. I don't know why kids like him. He's kind of creepy if you ask me. Anyway, this might have to be a tradition like seeing Santa is for us. The kids thought it was great! Grandparents, we have a copy for you!

Family News

My brother, Tyler, dropped by last night with an Easter basket filled with plastic eggs. It also included the following 'riddle.'

Inside each egg was a letter or a number. We had to piece them all together to discover what the big secret was. It was made more challenging by the boys trying to pick eggs and running off with letters. As it turned out, I ended up with an extra 'r' but I figured it out.
Congratulations, Ty and Amanda! We are so excited for you! The boys are thrilled to have another cousin on the way. They, of course, are hoping for a boy! Amanda is very creative (obviously). Check out the cute way they told her family on their blog. Click here.

ABC Tagged

I know what you're thinking. Two 'tagged' posts in a row? All I can say is that I am a responsible person and I can't just ignore it when someone tags me. Don't read if you sick of this stuff. I, personally, think it's kind of fun. :)
A- Attached or Single? Attached
B- Best Friend? Jared and my boys
C- Cake or pie? Both, please! Pie if I have to choose one; specifically my sister-in-law, Natalie's Peach pie!
D- Day of choice? Friday--it's preschool and Jared is usually off.
E- Essential Item? Cell phone
F- Favorite Color? Pink
G- Gummy Bears or Worms? Worms; except when they slither down causing you to almost choke.
H- Hometown? Orem
I- Favorite Indulgence? Bubble bath with a good book
J- January or July? July--Again, I've had it with winter!
K- Kids? Two--Chandler 5 and Preston 2 1/2
L- Life isn't complete without? Beach vacations
M- Marriage date? May 17th-- Norway's National holiday (Syttende Mai!) in honor of Jared's mission
N- Number of brothers and sisters? 1 younger brother and 2 younger sisters
O- Oranges or Apples? Apples-Honeycrisp variety--can't wait til fall!
P- Phobia and fears? Dying and leaving my boys motherless
Q- Quote? "It's better to have it and not need it than need it and not have it!" Courtesy of my Grandma Tucker. I most remember this phase as it applied to bring a large black garbage sack (in case of rain) to BYU football games.
S- Season of choice? Spring, Summer and Fall
T- Tag three people? I didn't have the best of luck last time, but I tag Tyler, Heidi and Amy
U- Unknown fact about me? I've never been stung by a bee! (knock on wood)
V- Vegetable? zucchini, summer squash and spinach
W- Worst habit? correcting other people's grammar and spelling
X-Ray or Ultrasound? Ultrasound
Y- Your favorite food? Sugar cookies with frosting
Z- Zodiac sign? Virgo

Purse tag

I have been "purse tagged" so here is a picture of my purse with its contents. On the plus side, after dumping everything out, I decided it was time to pull out one of the many purses I have in the basement and switch to a new one for spring. It's even a white one (I know, it's before Memorial Day, but I don't care). If that's not optimism, I don't know what is.This is my purse that has now taken up residence in the basement.
Contents: Costco coupons (essential), make case full of different lipsticks, wallet, checkbook, pen, wadded up Kleenex (gross!), bandaids (essential with 2 boys), camera (just the case as the camera itself is in use), Luau tickets, and boarding passes from our Hawaii trip. There was also some crumbs and a penny that didn't make it into the picture. Everyone else I know who has a blog and would be likely to respond to this has already done it, but I will 'attempt' to tag my sister-in-laws! Amanda, Julie, Heidi, Megan and Natalie, the ball is in your court!

It's done

After last weekend's unsuccessful attempt at finishing the airplane teeter-totter, we were determined to do it this weekend. Friday afternoon, in the very warm 60-degree weather, it was finished! The wings of the airplane are the teeter-totter (if you can't tell from the picture). I think the boys will have lots of fun on it this summer, and I'm sure the first injury (probably Preston) is only days away.