Colon Cancer Coalition Walk

 We did our first annual walk for the Colon Cancer Coalition. Our team raised over $3k in just over a week! Fred asked if there was a colon cancer walk a little over a week ago and I found out there was one on 8/29 - 9 days away. So I check with the fam and most were able to make it work and I made my pleas on Facebook and got so many generous donations - very humbling! This morning we had a gorgeous morning to walk and make room for the Cheesecake Factory (which we've all been hankering for since we haven't gotten to do the Breast Cancer Walk and our annual feasting at Cheesecake Factory after that).

AM's Backers - maybe by next year I'll figure out a better name

Mom made it 1.5 miles!

Cousins

Adrea excepting her top female finisher award.

Way to go Dre! She got AM's Backers ironed on her tank, so we may have to stick with that name!

So blessed that I was able to do this walk just over 2 weeks after surgery.

Defensive Player of the Games/Scrimmages

 Wyatt is playing tackle football and he's rocking the defensive line. They had their first scrimmages on Saturday morning and he got the "Defensive Player of the Game" chain for his tackles & sacks.

State Fair 2021

 We made it to opening day of the State Fair! Just 13 days after surgery and I was up for all the walking and eating that goes with a day at the fair. Rain was in the forecast, so we at as much as we could as early as we could. There was no 4-H show that first day, so that kind of threw off our rhythm, but we managed to wander around and enjoy the fair with crowds that were less than half what they usually are. We made it until about 2 when we were riding the Sky Ride & the rain and high winds alert came. Then we high tailed it out and made our way home. Wyatt and Jacob had commitments in the evening, so we'd planned on leaving about 4 anyway.

Grandkids on a bench!

Wyatt and Quinn

I look tired, but I hung in there pretty well and felt great.

A sampling of the foods we had - some new ones the flavored cheese curds, bison bites, blueberry mini-donuts, & (new to us) Dole float.

Jacob doing pull-ups for the Marines

Wyatt also showing his strength

Dashing to the car in our ponchos!

Pathology - Great news!

 I waited patiently all week for my surgeon to call with my pathology results. I finally talked to a friend on Thursday night who asked if the results were posted in my Allina on-line chart... ummm, I hadn't set that up yet. So, I go home and setup my chart and find my pathology results - that were posted on Tuesday! So, I sent the results to this friend, who happens to be an oncology professional, and she interprets all the great news for me. No evidence of cancer in any of the 24 lymph nodes they removed, clear margins, and classified as stage 1. Per recommendations from the cancer center it looks like no chemo for me, I will wait to to talk to my oncologist to fully celebrate that, but I remain hopeful on that possibility. I did make some calls on Friday and finally got a call back from the surgeon's PA who apologized and didn't understand how I hadn't been called with results earlier, but she also confirmed the news I'd received. 

SO, I AM CANCER FREE!!! Best news ever.

Survived Surgery

 I had surgery on Friday August 13th. Dr. Spencer and his team removed "just enough" of my colon/rectal tissue to remove the malignant mass. I was in the hospital until Monday afternoon. We are still awaiting pathology results from the surgery to see what the next steps in the battle are. 

Blommels & Michaels Weekend

Another fun Blommel / Michael weekend! We were up in Akeley on Howard Lake this year. We enjoyed time on the lake with the Michaels’ boat, the jetskis, & the Blommels’ pizza slices. Kids had fun playing tag, “keep it up”, bean bags, "tips", pool, and cards. As they get older a few choose to hang with the old folks a bit and join us in some card games and this year Trivia Pursuit. We also enjoyed time around the campfire with games of telephone & buzz & some attempted scary stories. It’s always so awesome to catch up with the families and see the kids pick up where they left off and have so much fun together.

We also spotted this eagle in a tree right down by the shore. He hung out there for about an hour. I missed him fly off, but it was cool to watch him.