From Tanya

Josh is working too hard and doesn't have time to blog. I thought I would jump in and post an update about his Dad. Ron has just been to his oncologist and it appears his liver tumors have grown significantly since the last CT scan a month ago. They are too numerous to count with the largest being about 6 inches across. They all appear to be growing aggressively.

There is good news in all of this and I am reaching here...so go with me. The tumors have not spread outside of the liver. The doctor felt that they were close to that spreading stage. But not yet. The liver, while compromised, IS still functioning. This is all good news. He is still able to have visitors, still able to laugh at the antics of his grandsons and still able to eat Boston Cream Pie.

The most important thing here is that the doctor gave them additional resources for pain management which should significantly improve things. Kay has worked very hard to keep him comfortable and it takes all her energy to watch him in pain. Lastly, Ron has taken his last dosage of the Nexavar. It seems to have not had much impact on his liver tumors and caused some more unpleasant side effects to boot. There are not many other options to try at this point so now it is our prayer that God, who is so present in Ron's life, consider bringing us a miracle.
We appreciate your prayers. God is good to us all the time but this season of life is a difficult one to bear.

Know Anyone Remarkable?

There are cards and letters and e-cards and email and online flourists and facebook tags and a trillion other (I counted) ways to send someone a note expressing some sentiment like Happy Birthday or "Good job getting out of bed this morning" or whatever. And there are another trillion (ok, I'm rounding up this time) ways to honor someone or mark some important event. But they are boring and stale. Fortunately for all of you, I come bearing fresh produce this morning just for you. My good friends Tony and Jennifer have launched a new web business that is a fantastic way to show someone you care or create lasting memories of a person, event or both.

Check it out right now....seriously right now...I mean it.

http://remarkabletributes.com/

I used this service to create a book for my parents to help them celebrate their 40th wedding anniversary. We compiled notes and letters from friends to go along with pictures of the party we had and many of their closest friends. They can now safely use their mental memory banks for more mundane things since the memories of their party are safely stored in a beautiful hardbound album that was custom designed by my lovely wife with the help of Remarkable Tributes. It is awesome and I will definitely use this service again.

Whether you want to create a celebratory website for someone or give them a gift that is 1000 times more meaningful (I did the calculation and it is exactly 1000 times more meaningful) than a simple card or even one of those photo calendars you can throw together at Kinkos, this site will hook you up.

I don't get a discount for saying this stuff and Tony and Jennifer would still be my friends if I said nothing, but this is a really cool and easy to use product and just like with Viva papertowels, Arrested Development and my food rules, when I come across something brilliant that could be lifesaving (CAUTION: products not lifesaving), I feel I must share it.

Have a good week and go tell someone they are remarkable.