October 2nd

It's nice that it has been so long since I have written anything because that means everything has been good. Just got done with my 6 month checkup and the doctors, again, were very excited, everything is great. Dr. Ryan said it had been 2 1/2 years since my last treatment, which is incredible. It was nice that he came in and instantly told us everything was okay so I didn't have to wait for a long winded explanation first. They did take my blood pressure at the start and it was 160 over 98 (extremely high) and after Dr. Ryan had been in and told us everything was great they took it again and it was 116 over 74. Which shows you how stressful these visits are for me...wonder how Kath's blood pressure was.

However, I have to change my workouts. They are concerned about possible stress fractures in my sacrum as a result of my intense radiation. They also recommended I run distances of half marathons and under as opposed to marathons and ultras. We will see...I will run as far as my children want me to run with them, which means I will be running half marathons and under {inserted by Tiff :)}

It does mean I will be doing a lot more bicycling, stairmaster, tredmill and weights. I will have to limit my outside running to soft surfaces as much as possible. As I told my doctors, I can live with that.

Kath has had many health related issues, so it has been quite the change being the caregiver instead of the care receiver. Kath is recovering and has kept her amazing attitude and spirit.

My brother, Brad and I ran in race for the cure and it really enforced how many lives cancer has really touched. It all comes back to being supported by family and friends for those directly impacted.

Had a great summer. Bicycled on four long trips that totaled 1200 miles. Spent two days with the family living in tree houses in Washington. I was able to do a half marathon run with Michael and Tiff, at a much quicker speed then planned. Thanks to Tiff, we were able to experience First Thursday scavenger runs. Throughout this we enjoyed free raffles and good family fun. However, our runs will be much more limited with Michaels admittance into the MBA program at Willamette and Tiff's school year starting again with her reassignment to second grade from fourth grade. She was quite shocked to see the difference in maturity between the two.

Kath and I are expecting our very first grandchild! We couldn't be more excited for Aaron and Jessica who we know will make amazing parents, but also will be willing to share (when the baby is happy and clean)! We are also very proud of Tory who has started her MAT (Masters of Arts in Teaching) program at WOU while also working many hours at Costco. She proves time and time again how strong our Carey kids are.

As always, thank you to everyone out there who has my family and me in their thoughts and prayers. Without you, we would still be here, but we wouldn't be as complete. Love you all!