tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-34678194675168402322011-09-28T15:25:38.083-05:00A journal composed during the day-to-day trials of a prolonged battle with colon cancer, updating friends and family on treatment, attitudes, thoughts, and feelings.Sandra Gaddyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13764766831671932147noreply@blogger.comBlogger431100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3467819467516840232.post-63773798396631404132010-06-03T07:31:00.003-05:002010-06-03T07:35:01.409-05:00

I can't believe it has been three years already! Still feels like it was just yesterday sometimes and others it feels like a hundred years ago! We are all doing well, I think Sandi would have been proud of the kids! They are growing like weeds, doing well in school and in so many ways taking after her! It is great to see them grow up and see little bits of her in them!We still miss and think

Kristihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12513906528783486523noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3467819467516840232.post-77404511857137259532009-06-03T14:58:00.002-05:002009-06-03T15:03:00.092-05:00

It hardly seems possible that Sandi has been gone for two whole years. It seems like just yesterday when I was able to talk to her on the phone and share what was going on in our lives! That said each day sometimes seems like it is two years long because I miss her so much! Overall I think she would be very proud of her kids and Mike and how well they have adjusted to life without her. Not that

Kristihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12513906528783486523noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3467819467516840232.post-61260209677947148952007-06-09T10:11:00.001-05:002007-06-09T10:29:09.662-05:00

As Sandi's family we want to thank all of you that have been there for Sandi. Many of her friends and loved ones visited her regularly and wanted to let her know how much she was loved. The Memorial service and Funeral were truly beautiful and I think she would have been happy that we chose to celebrate the time she was with us. It does not make it easier when our hearts are hurting and we are

YarnDivahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07398930927270369525noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3467819467516840232.post-74340333069611127062007-06-07T09:21:00.000-05:002007-06-07T09:22:50.986-05:00

Sandi was born Sandra Gail Creighton on August 24, 1973 in Milford, Massachusetts. She was the third child of Roger and Carol Creighton. Her father was in the United States Navy which afforded the family the opportunity to move frequently during her young childhood, living in Massachusetts, New Jersey, North Carolina and even overseas in Edzell, Scotland. When Sandi was 10 her father retired

YarnDivahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07398930927270369525noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3467819467516840232.post-35684128736343149402007-06-07T09:12:00.000-05:002007-06-07T09:21:28.817-05:00

We have been inundated with requests for the address to send donations for the memorial fund Sandi wanted us to establish in her name. She felt so very strongly about this, I know she would be happy that so many of you are wanting to contribute.Citizens Bank of RogersvilleSandra Gaddy Memorial Scholarship FundP.O. Box 50Rogersville, MO 65742We had a beautiful memorial service for Sandi last night

YarnDivahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07398930927270369525noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3467819467516840232.post-14149217576643859782007-06-04T16:26:00.000-05:002007-06-04T18:45:11.543-05:00

A memorial service will be held at Rogersville Middle School on Wednesday June 6th at 6pm and the funeral service will be held at Ozark United Methodist Church in Ozark, MO on Thursday June 7, 2007 at 2 pm. The family requests that donations be made to the Sandra Gaddy Memorial Scholarship Fund in lieu of flowers. Both services under the direction of Klingner-Cope Funeral Home at Rivermonte in

YarnDivahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07398930927270369525noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3467819467516840232.post-64691875864211688492007-06-03T15:08:00.000-05:002007-06-03T15:16:11.579-05:00

Sandra Gail Creighton Gaddy went home to be with God this afternoon at 1:40 pm. She passed quickly and peacefully. She was so happy to know how many people were praying for her and keeping her in their thoughts. We take comfort in knowing that she is now in a better place and is watching over us and is finally whole again. I will post arrangements as soon as we know what they are.

YarnDivahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07398930927270369525noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3467819467516840232.post-24506260136581778932007-05-31T09:30:00.000-05:002007-05-31T09:47:52.594-05:00

It has officially been twelve weeks today since Sandi was admitted to the hospital. Tomorrow we will have been here at Walnut lawn as long as we were up on the 5th floor at Cox South. It is hard to believe, we still feel sometimes like we are training nurses here. We will miss them when we are gone..... but not like we still miss the staff on 5 west!Sandi is doing well still. She is sleepy in the

YarnDivahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07398930927270369525noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3467819467516840232.post-64764813668885880982007-05-27T15:11:00.000-05:002007-05-27T15:39:20.771-05:00

Day 88....And counting...I have been gone for a few days again, I know you all know that because I don't post when I am not here. Sandi is still doing well, she seems to be getting a bit stronger and is able to sit up on the side of the bed a few times a day. Today she asked for a peanut butter and jelly sandwich so Mom and I jumped to get it for her because she doesn't have much of an appetite

YarnDivahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07398930927270369525noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3467819467516840232.post-14678942426555851112007-05-18T12:46:00.000-05:002007-05-18T13:08:40.701-05:00

Yes I know, Three days in a row! How lucky you all are! Sandi is very sleepy today and is doing well. We actually got some sleep last night and it appears that Sandi was not ready for the night to be over. She tries to wake up but isn't so successful.Gina Daniels and her mom Carol Snow were here this morning to visit from Rolla and she loves the visits from old classmates and friends. Those of us

YarnDivahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07398930927270369525noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3467819467516840232.post-69196049363195219692007-05-17T08:56:00.000-05:002007-05-17T09:49:47.599-05:00

I was getting tired of counting the weeks so I thought for a change we could count the days.March 1st seems like it was so long ago. Apparently it was, 78 days is a LONG time!We can't seem to remember the date exactly but it was around 4 years ago this month that Sandi was first diagnosed. She went into the hospital on a Wednesday I think and they did the surgery on Thursday for what was thought

YarnDivahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07398930927270369525noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3467819467516840232.post-57890588684398361162007-05-16T16:01:00.000-05:002007-05-16T16:13:19.067-05:00

That is all it has been, 10 days folks! I got to go home last week to do the Relay for Life with some friends in Cabot and see my own children for a few days and reacquaint myself with my own house and I get nothing but grief about the blog not being updated, gees.... Just kidding, I know you guys want updates and info so I will try to do better.Sandi is continuing to do well. She hasn't made it

YarnDivahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07398930927270369525noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3467819467516840232.post-17595569964575553092007-05-06T18:28:00.000-05:002007-05-06T18:43:24.067-05:00

Since it was a beautiful day and Sandi was feeling better than she has in days we took the opportunity to try to get her into a wheelchair and take her outside. Aside from the trip from the hospital to Walnut Lawn and the trip back and forth again for the thoracentesis two weeks ago it is the only time she has been outside since she was admitted to the hospital on March 1st. It is now May 6th

YarnDivahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07398930927270369525noreply@blogger.com26tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3467819467516840232.post-33528341335026057412007-04-29T11:31:00.000-05:002007-04-29T11:52:19.937-05:00

Hi everyone. We just wanted to send a quick update. Sandi is doing a bit better the past few days. She had a couple of mornings that scared us last week. The breathing issue has gotten better but she had a few days where she was unresponsive and difficult to rouse. She has been better the past few days and we are very thankful for that. A few days ago the Bell choir from her church came and set

YarnDivahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07398930927270369525noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3467819467516840232.post-68652010227824704892007-04-21T10:19:00.000-05:002007-04-21T10:59:00.072-05:00

Sandi has been over at Walnut Lawn in their transitional facility for a week now and things are starting to go a bit smoother. At first it was a really big challenge due to the fact that we were so used to the staff and procedures on the other floor and we had a lot more freedom to do things for Sandi without having to always ask for permission or help. There we had a kitchen at our disposal with

YarnDivahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07398930927270369525noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3467819467516840232.post-11314170362844086472007-04-14T22:12:00.000-05:002007-04-14T22:45:27.947-05:00

Hi all, This is Sandi's Mom, she wanted me to give you all a brief update. She has been moved to Walnut Lawn Skilled Nursing or Transitional Care facility. She is in room 304. The room is very nice and tho the move tried her terribly she thinks she should be very comfortable here. Visits from close family and friends are welcome and appreciated , but she tires quickly so we are asking that

Sandra Gaddyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13764766831671932147noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3467819467516840232.post-84483825250657396642007-04-10T20:12:00.000-05:002007-04-10T21:41:50.429-05:00

Hey everyone, it's me updating this time! Kristi hasn't been around for a while, so she doesn't really know what's going on. She'll have to read this along with the rest of you.Not a whole lot has changed , but there are a few things to update you on. Today I finished the last of my six radiation treatments. I guess that's something. The radiation was not designed to shrink the internal tumors

Sandra Gaddyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13764766831671932147noreply@blogger.com24tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3467819467516840232.post-83404243825169063512007-04-04T11:00:00.000-05:002007-04-04T11:34:41.455-05:00

Well, I may have been premature in telling all of you that Sandi was moving to Walnut Lawn. Sandi's doctors have decided that perhaps some targeted radiation would help her reduce a few of her tumors and that would be too hard to do from farther away so she is staying here! YEAH! We were dreading having to move everything and leave the staff here! She is comfortable here and it doesn't matter to

YarnDivahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07398930927270369525noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3467819467516840232.post-1422424266117041132007-03-28T09:57:00.000-05:002007-03-28T10:02:01.747-05:00

I know that this is going to come across as crazy to all of you but Sandi has gotten so much enjoyment out of the decorations and posters that her students made that I have a special request for them. Sandi is going to be moving to Walnut Lawn extended care facility early next week and we would love to have some new decorations for her room. She is getting people from other floors that want to

YarnDivahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07398930927270369525noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3467819467516840232.post-83570770782741716612007-03-27T09:40:00.001-05:002007-03-27T09:48:44.683-05:00

We are well into week 4 here, Sandi will have been here for four weeks this Thursday and unless she gets some strength and can begin to eat solid foods a bit better she is going to be here for a while longer! I think she has watched more daytime TV in the past three and a half weeks than in her entire adult life combined but there is not much else to do and she gets so drowsy she can't

YarnDivahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07398930927270369525noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3467819467516840232.post-44112910896052823292007-03-22T08:12:00.001-05:002007-03-22T09:26:16.394-05:00

Alright, this is the second time I have written this post. I can agree with Sandi that it is completely annoying when you have to do it again, esp when you liked it the first time around! Hate it when your computer decides that it needs to be written again!Sandi is still doing well. Not much has changed in the last few days. She has officially been here for three weeks now and I know that she

YarnDivahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07398930927270369525noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3467819467516840232.post-79513594119255290862007-03-19T11:49:00.000-05:002007-03-19T12:09:08.139-05:00

It has been brought to my attention that I have been lax in my duties as the assistant keeper of the blog lately and that I should have been updating more frequently. The days tend to blend together and if I had not put the day of the week into the title of the last post I would have sworn it was much more recent than that!Not much has changed and I am almost certain that most of you do not need

YarnDivahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07398930927270369525noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3467819467516840232.post-61382230627610837452007-03-13T09:30:00.000-05:002007-03-13T10:01:06.230-05:00

It is a beautiful Tuesday morning and our primary wish is for Sandi to continue to do better. We really wish that she was able to get out and have some fresh air. She has been here for almost two weeks and her attitude continues to astonish us. She is able to get into a chair at the side of her bed for a while each day for a change of scenery but I think she would like to be able to get outside.

YarnDivahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07398930927270369525noreply@blogger.com24tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3467819467516840232.post-84827119436850682202007-03-09T22:36:00.000-06:002007-03-09T22:39:39.192-06:00

Sandra was surprised by the many, and I do mean MANY posters and cards that were sent by her students from school. After she read them we posted them on the walls so that she could be surrounded by the love and prayers you are all sending her way. She is feeling much better and really appreciates all of the cards and things being sent to her. If she is feeling up to it tomorrow you may see a post

YarnDivahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07398930927270369525noreply@blogger.com35tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3467819467516840232.post-29640643117394024652007-03-08T19:12:00.000-06:002007-03-08T19:57:49.196-06:00

Just wanted to give everyone a quick update again. Sandra had surgery this afternoon in an attempt to make her more comfortable by removing the NG tube. Unfortunately the doctor was not able to do what he wanted but he was able to reduce some of the pressure in her abdomen which has made her more comfortable.She is still not up to receiving visitors but the cards have been a joy to her. We will

YarnDivahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07398930927270369525noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3467819467516840232.post-17346984018224423662007-03-06T16:51:00.000-06:002007-03-06T17:00:37.555-06:00

This post is being written by Sandi's sister Kristi.The love and support of all of Sandi's friend's has been so much comfort to Sandi and her family. Sandi is currently in the hospital at Cox South.As much as we know that there are many of you that would like to visit, she is not up to receiving visitor's at this time. Feel free to post your thoughts and good wishes here to the blog and we will

Sandra Gaddyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13764766831671932147noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3467819467516840232.post-80099505704282608972007-02-21T09:55:00.000-06:002007-02-23T17:42:52.516-06:00

WE'RE HOME! And let me tell you,getting here was no small undertaking. It's taken a few days of recovery here, so I'm just now finally updating. I have never in my life experienced such a frustrating two days of travel. I can tell you this for sure too--good rates or not, we will NEVER fly American Airlines again. Now, in retrospect, I should have known things were going to get hairy when we had

Sandra Gaddyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13764766831671932147noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3467819467516840232.post-44232715606722585592007-02-16T22:40:00.000-06:002007-02-16T23:35:06.621-06:00

We have just spent another beautiful day here in Tijuana, where the weather is, from what I'm told, a little nicer than what many of you are experiencing. It was sunny and breezy and about 75 today. It was an uneventful day mostly, but I wanted to at least post a note so no one would worry.Over the last few days I have had a series of treatments, including my hi-doses of vitamin C, the infamous B

Sandra Gaddyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13764766831671932147noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3467819467516840232.post-2542598702131595302007-02-13T22:41:00.000-06:002007-02-14T10:12:46.253-06:00

We have news! And though it's not staggeringly good news, it isn't bad either. So, here it is:Basically, little has changed since we began treatments. Which means the regimen I'm using has stopped the cancer from progressing. It just hasn't done too much to turn it around in the other direction. So, it's just like I said. Not the best news, but not bad. The doctors would have liked to see more

Sandra Gaddyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13764766831671932147noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3467819467516840232.post-15029190442200344752007-02-12T19:29:00.000-06:002007-02-12T13:01:52.764-06:00

Hello from fairly warm and kinda sunny Mexico! We arrived at the hospital today for what turned out to mostly be a wasted day, but at least the weather was pretty nice. Looks like the rest of the week is supposed to be warm and sunny, so I look forward to getting out and around a bit each day. We will be here for a week this time, returning home on Monday.Our flight yesterday was uneventful (

Sandra Gaddyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13764766831671932147noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3467819467516840232.post-43779105471622874092007-02-07T10:06:00.000-06:002007-02-07T15:11:38.900-06:00

This is the second time today I have written this blog. How aggravating! I wrote it out once this morning and was about one paragraph from finishing when the computer locked up without warning, and I lost the whole thing! There was nothing I could do. It felt like writing a paper for school and forgetting to save it. Ah, well, maybe this second version will be better!It's been a while. I

Sandra Gaddyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13764766831671932147noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3467819467516840232.post-77533547032799146022007-01-22T18:07:00.000-06:002007-01-22T20:19:32.141-06:00

Wow-it has been a long time since I updated my blog. I had no intention of leaving you hanging, and I apologize to any of you who wondered if our plane just never came down! We are home, and I am focusing hard on taking all of my supplements each day and following my diet to the letter. That's why it didn't really occur to me to update.As of my last update last Saturday, we had an uneventful few

Sandra Gaddyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13764766831671932147noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3467819467516840232.post-85364965994661002752007-01-13T19:48:00.000-06:002007-01-13T20:27:39.906-06:00

This afternoon, though the weather was brisk and cool, I discovered the very best of all the therapies this hospital has to offer, and found it to be exceptional: shopping therapy! Though I started the morning dragging about as usual (not always a lot to look forward to around here), after our day, I am now feeling energized and refreshed. This feeling will most likely stay with me another day or

Sandra Gaddyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13764766831671932147noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3467819467516840232.post-43395227676400574442007-01-12T21:42:00.000-06:002007-01-12T22:44:39.232-06:00

It is so, so, so good to read the comments-thanks so much to you all for reading and sharing your thoughts. It keeps me so close to you all at home. As the title tonight mentioned, it's been a couple of rough days, but hopefully things are improving.Yesterday, when I woke, it was very early and I was out of sorts--couldn't sleep, too weak to be up, restless, in pain. It was a terrible morning.

Sandra Gaddyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13764766831671932147noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3467819467516840232.post-17089691821475719212007-01-10T20:58:00.000-06:002007-01-10T22:04:22.826-06:00

Hi everyone! I know I am not updating daily, and for that I apologize. There just isn't THAT much going on. I know everyone wants to know how I'm doing, so please assume that if I don't update it is because things are the same, not worse. Progress is just so slow at this point. The treatment may be working, but only time will tell and we haven't been on the treatments even a week yet. I did have

Sandra Gaddyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13764766831671932147noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3467819467516840232.post-76578875082082841192007-01-08T21:32:00.000-06:002007-01-08T22:30:29.421-06:00

Monday already! It's a little hard to keep track, I think, when you are not on the normal routine. We have been here at Oasis for 5 days, and though I think we are adjusting, I still have times I don't know what to do with myself, and I know Mike feels that way.Seems like I'm most worried about meals. If I miss a meal, there will be no snacks, so I have to eat when it's time. If I don't get to

Sandra Gaddyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13764766831671932147noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3467819467516840232.post-84697375168294641562007-01-06T22:06:00.000-06:002007-01-06T22:34:29.659-06:00

He did it. He had all he could take. He ordered a PIZZA!After three days of consuming rabbit food, Mike couldn't take it anymore, and persuaded the kind people at the front desk to order him a pizza for delivery to the hospital. And he did this while I was choking down my dinnertime supplements with the help of filtered water, sweet potatoes, and carrot soup. By the time the pizza arrived, I was

Sandra Gaddyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13764766831671932147noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3467819467516840232.post-71405243437767659972007-01-05T20:57:00.000-06:002007-01-05T22:20:09.071-06:00

Well, today I'm a pincusion again. It's been a long time since I have had to say that. One thing that's been nice about using only supplements is that it doesn't involve needles. Of course, it also wasn't showing us the results we wanted, either, so I suppose there's a trade-off in there somewhere. I'm on day two of my stay at Oasis of Hope Hospital in scenic Tijauana, Mexico, and today

Sandra Gaddyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13764766831671932147noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3467819467516840232.post-90779826193357046172007-01-04T17:40:00.000-06:002007-01-04T18:33:14.962-06:00

Hi everyone! I know many of you are anxious to hear from us, and we are anxious to communicate with you too, but until just a little while ago, my computer was not set up to use the wireless connection, so I had to wait for them to help me with that. I was so excited to have them hand back my computer (they took it so they could set it up for me). I happily found an outlet (there are few in the

Sandra Gaddyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13764766831671932147noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3467819467516840232.post-13283534322091063322006-12-29T18:07:00.000-06:002007-01-01T10:40:05.796-06:00

Hi everyone! It's been several days since I last updated and that is because of all our busyness surrounding the holidays. We had a great Christmas, with lots of family members creating and serving a wonderful holiday meal at our house. Everyone pitched in to cook, serve, and then clean up the meal. I cannot thank you enough if you were one of the angels who pitched in! The food was wonderful and

Sandra Gaddyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13764766831671932147noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3467819467516840232.post-45037366561509683122006-12-21T12:43:00.000-06:002006-12-21T13:30:31.087-06:00

Ahhh, Christmas break. After the first several days of my "leave of absence", I now have company every day. The kids are now on break until January 3. Unfortunately, with company of this sort, there is a certain required level of activity that goes along with it. I am in the process of trying to retrain my kids to see me as more of a couch decoration than maid right now. That's not really going

Sandra Gaddyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13764766831671932147noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3467819467516840232.post-44588529320571750552006-12-14T17:40:00.000-06:002006-12-14T18:03:22.991-06:00

It has been a few days since I posted, but time has flown by and I haven't been on my computer in days. I'm wrapping up things at work; tomorrow is my last day. The kids from school are bringing in some really kind gifts, including one candle that was lit at a special Christ candle in Jerusalem. It is said that anyone who burn the candle will be blessed by the special flame. It was a very special

Sandra Gaddyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13764766831671932147noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3467819467516840232.post-79311844021538963612006-12-10T12:23:00.000-06:002006-12-10T12:58:19.110-06:00

Welcome to any of you who decided to come and take a look. Though I've never done this type of journaling before, I'm sure that if so many other people out there can do this, so can I. What started yesterday as an offhanded comment, "...maybe I'll just start a blog, and then anyone who wants to know what is going on with me can check in and read about it..." , was actually pretty well received by

Sandra Gaddyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13764766831671932147noreply@blogger.com2