My best friend......

Today I got to hold the hand of my best friend as she crossed the finish line into the arms of our Savior Jesus Christ.....please take good care of her. I thank Him for the 21 years I have known her (married 19 on June 20th), and been blessed to love, cherish, and share my life with her. The last three and a half years taught us to know that nothing is for sure in life....please don't let life pass you by...enjoy it! Many people marveled at her inner strength....she would be the first to tell you that it was not her strength you see, but Jesus. Sheri would not force Jesus down your throat, it was not her way. She chose to live her faith every day. She would want you to know her Jesus....she is with Him now.....teaching, singing, walking, organizing.....and maybe even going to Stehekin. You should know I would not trade where we've been for anything, I would do it all again for her.

I will post details of Sheri's service in the next few days.

As always....looking up!

Brett

pray....

pray....

Brett

Time for an update.......

The original intent of this blog was to keep people informed, and to squelch the rumor mill...



You must know that we are continuing to look up, and trust God. Many of you have asked where we go from here, that's a good question, with unclear answers. Sheri's continues to fight, she finished with chemo three weeks ago, and is focused on getting well, and she's taking the rest of the school year off to do so. Every person's story is different, so trying to predict where this path leads seems irresponsible, and unproductive. Many times on here we have asked you all to look up with us....we are asking you to continue....don't look down. We've known this was a long race, for three and a half years we've battled....we are in a definite uphill section of the race. Sheri is choosing to focus on getting well, as do we all with her.....choosing to look at the jagged rocks below does us no good. We are well aware of the enemy we fight against. Many times before Sheri has defied the odds, bucked the trend, and walked proudly across the lines drawn in the sand before her. If you support her, you will continue to look up with her.



Pray for her strength, and stability. Each day we lay our situation at His feet, knowing He is God, and we are not.



Have faith and look up, even when it's hard to, and asking you to as well.



Brett and Sheri

Well....it's been an interesting week.....

Sorry for the blank space here for a while. This past week was an interesting one, to say the least. Sheri has been having off and on headaches for the past few weeks. It seems to coincide with the timing of her chemo. This week the same thing happened. Her doctor had dropped one of the chemos we had thought was causing the problem. Needless to say Monday, four days after chemo, we woke up, read the bible, had coffee and toast....a normal day. Sheri started to get a headache so she decided to take a hot bath, that seems to help for a bit. A bit later she was washing her hands in the bathroom when she called out to me that she was feeling funny. I found her half way to the floor with no strength in her legs. I had her sit down...when she began to have a seizure. It lasted about five seconds. I got her to bed and immediately called her doctors. I had Sheri's Mom pick up some anti seizure medicine at the pharmacy that the doctors prescribed. She slept a while, so I went to work, her Mom with her. A few hours later she had another seizure, this one lasted a minute or so....so we called 911.....time to go to the hospital. We traveled to Wenatchee with the lights off, as Sheri was doing better. We spent the next day in the hospital doing scans and talking to doctors. The scans came back clear, no swelling, and things looked stable. So the conclusion? Once again the chemo reacted with a few of the Gamma Knife treated spots in her brain to press and give her headaches and the seizures. She is now on anti seizure meds, and steroids to avoid a recurrence, and is no longer on chemo. Each day she is doing much better. Today she went for a massage and shopped for flowers for our yard with her Mom. Yesterday she walked a half mile on the treadmill. They put her through the ringer that's for sure.

We are continuing to look up and trust God, our Healer. One good thing is the scans showed none of the things the doctors were worried about...which is good. Thanks for the concern and support.

Looking up, and getting well!

Brett and Sheri

Sheri's Willow Tree.......

Everyone loves a good story...I like telling them...it's a good combination! This is the story of Sheri's Willow Tree:

About four years ago we bought a piece of property just above the town of Manson, in a development call Winesap Ridge. I took Sheri up there several years before, when it first came on the market, and she fell in love with it. As fate would have it, we could not afford it at the time, it was just out of reach for us....so the dream died, or did it? A few years passed and we were able to sell a home we had built. We happened to know the family who had bought the lot we fell in love with, so I contacted them to see what their plans were....they wanted to sell! So alas the dream of our Winesap property did come true after all, just a few years later then we thought. What drew us to the property in the first place was the amazing view, and all the trees....all kinds of trees. Firs, and pines, maple, apple, cherry, poplar, alder....and one mammoth willow tree, right at the entrance to the property. This was Sheri's favorite tree of all. Sheri envisioned a swing or a bench under her mighty flowing branched where you could whittle away a hot summer day in her shade, reading a good book with a glass of iced tea. We bought the lot just a few months before Sheri began her battle against cancer. Our plan is to build a home there for our family, but life and the economy have not allowed that to happen in our timing. Meanwhile Sheri's willow stood tall and proud at the entrance, waiting for us to join her.

The past few years have been tough on the willow tree. Many wind storms have ravished her once strong branches, ripping them from her one gale at a time. Finally this past fall, one last storm tore her final large branch from her massive trunk...her former glory was no more...or was it? We called in a professional tree trimmer to prune her back to almost nothing...not sure if she was coming back, or would be sent to the firewood pile. All winter she has stood, branch less and bare....until this spring. Hundreds of new sprouting limbs cover her trunk, with fresh budding leaves, already draping to the ground like glory days of old. Is she back? Time will tell. If this tree is anything like the owner that loves her, it's tough to keep her down for long. Maybe Sheri and her tree are more alike then we know.

Looking up,

Brett

Back in the saddle.....

We are back from the quick trip to Seattle. Sheri's doctors we very please with how she was doing. The scans showed that the spots are looking slightly smaller or are stable. This is good so soon after treatment. They tell us the full effect of the treatment is at about 8-10 weeks, and it's only been 3 1/2 weeks. They are continuing to taper her off the steroids, and told us we didn't need to come back for 6-8 weeks. So good news....thanks for the prayers.

Thanks for all the support!

Brett and Sheri

Headed back to Seattle...

Tomorrow, Thursday, we head back to Seattle for a follow up MRI from the Gamma Knife treatment about a month ago. This scan will let the doctors know how well the treatment went. This last week was a tough one. Sheri is coming off a very heavy dose of steroids, which mess with her energy levels, both high and low. Throw in chemo, and the side effects from the Gamma Knife (tired mostly), and they all converged at once last week. She is doing far better this week. She only has a few days of steroids left...right now it's an 1/8 of what she was on, so we are looking forward to being off them! Meanwhile Sheri is still teaching every day except for scans and chemo....she's a warrior! Last week was Jenny Montes' funeral. Sheri had Jenny in her class, and had met with her a few times during her battle with cancer. We all pray for comfort for the Montes family, they are good people.

Pray for good results from Sheri's scans. We know God is in control, and that He is a God that heals.

Looking up

Brett and Sheri