Update April 30th 6:52pm

All I can say is ThANk YoU, ThANk YoU, THaNk yOu. Ace and I are so appreciative of everything that has been done for us. We are amazed at how many wonderful people there are in our community who have all given so much, from a hug, to emails, a kind card, to someone washing Acey's pick-up, dinners brought into our home, the visitors that come to see Acey, to all the funds that has been raised, and most important, the prayers. I remember hearing people say, in church, or in general conference the famous cliche, " I can feel the prayers that have been offered on our behalf ." I always thought how is that? How can you feel people praying for you? Well, now I know. I have felt every single prayer that has been made for our family. I know this because I just made it through one more day. I know because I see my kids coping so well. I know because Acey continues to have a positive outlook. I know because our needs are being met in every way possible. I know because we have had so many miracles that have happened to us in the past 10 weeks. So, thank you everyone for teaching me again how powerful prayer really is. Thank you and we love you all!

AMAZING DAY!!!

Today was absolutely an amazing day. I just want to say that the Lord hears and answers our prayers. When I say that Acey's faith is strong I hope you all understand how strong it truly is. A few days ago we were having a really bad day (that is a major under statement), Doctors had given us news that I wouldn't wish for anyone to hear. When we got back to our room we were talking and he had told me that he had been praying for days that President Monson would come to see him, and whenever I said guess who's coming to see you today. he would always respond, President Monson? Well today Acey's prayers were answered. This afternoon we got Acey in a wheelchair to go for a walk and we were just going back to our room when we spotted President Monson. He stopped to talked to us and shook our hands, and it was absolutely amazing. We then met up with him again, this time we got our pictures with him, he signed Acey's quilt, and then we told him that Elder Kikuchi gave him a blessing a few weeks ago and then he asked if we would like him (President Monson) to give him a blessing. I said that we would love him to give Acey a blessing!! We then went into a corridor where they have an elevator that takes all the laundry downstairs and there he gave Acey a blessing. I'm sharing this special story with you all because we want everyone to know that Heavenly Father hears and answers prayers, and that Acey never had any doubts about him showing up, he was just waiting for the moment to happen. Acey's body maybe tired, run down and not working but he spirit is as strong as ever and has grown so much through this experience.

Update April 25th 7:19 pm

AMAZING NEWS!!!!! Acey's white blood cell's went down!! The doctors were shooting for 1/3 and the went down 2/3!!! The white blood cell's are now 55!!!! Now we can stop and take a breath and relook everything and see which way to go for treatments. Tomorrow we will hopefully have a game plan on what we will be doing next, as for tonight we won't be in any rush to start anything new we are just enjoying hearing some good news for once!!!!

Update April 24th 6:44 pm

Here's an update of our newest plan, tomorrow we are going for the spinal tap, if Acey's white blood cells are not low enough it will then tell us that the treatments that Acey has been having is not working. The next plan of attack will be applying to the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota, or in San Fransisco. We will then be changing our treatment plan to something all together different. Everything is up in the air as of right now, so I will post as soon as I know something that I can pass on to you. Lots of things happening this week, by the end of the week we are hoping to know more on what we will be doing or where we will be going.

Happy Easter Everyone!!

Acey is doing about the same with a little bit of changes, some in the right direction and others not so much. Monday morning he will be getting his 7th spinal tap, where we are hoping that his levels have gone down. So keep sending good vibes our way and lots of prayers. Love you all.

Update April 21st 7:57 pm

We had a wonderful day, all of Acey's siblings were here to celebrate his birthday. It was really nice to see everyone together. I just wanted to share something that has been going on with us during these past few months. In no way have they been easy, and sometimes absolutely heartbreaking things to deal with. Acey and I read the other day something that Sheri Dew wrote, "If life were easy it wouldn't be hard, Meaning this: What if every prayer were instantly answered in the way we wanted it to be? What if a little bit of spiritual due diligence now and again kept us in constant and clear contact with our Heavenly Father? If nothing ever tested our faith or our resolve or our convictions-because we really don't know what we believe or believe in, for that matter, until we're tested-then what are the chances we would progress far enough spiritually in this lone and dreary world? Whether we like it or not, our trails and struggles can tend to accelerate our push toward godliness. In fact, it's possible we wouldn't go as far as we're capable of going without them." This really made us both think and I just want you to all know that with these trials we are having at this time we are staying stead fast in our faith that Heavenly Father will continue to bless us, and through our Savior Jesus Christ anything and everything is possible. Sometimes life is just hard.

HAPpY BirThDaY ACeY!!!

Acey we'd like to wish you a happy 37th birthday. I don't think I have to ask you what you would like for your birthday this year, I'm pretty sure I know what you'd say. Just wishing we could make it come true. Love you so much!

Update April 18th 8:17 pm

Acey is out of ICU and back on the floor. The game plan now is to wait a few days to see how his body will react to the plasma phoreisis, then they will access him again to see which way to go with his treatments. The pneumonia is better, the MRI and the spinal tap is the same as before. Now it's just a waiting game.

The Walk

The Kids....who we all loveAlex & Jacey Group Picture Acey Kids, Nieces , Nephews & Tera Thanks to Richfield. We all had a good time. You guys are missed.

Thank You

What a great day! I want to thank all of you so much for taking the time to go to the Walk-a-thon this morning. I've heard nothing but great things. Thank you to the Richfield community for opening up your arms to my family. Thank you! And to all those that participated thank you so much. Love you all.

Update April 15th 6:54 pm

Today was pheresis day and it was our 4th treatment, which really wiped him out. One more treatment to go which will be done on Sunday. After that we aren't really sure which direction we are going to take. One of our Doctor's will be back in town tomorrow and we are hoping that he will have a new plan of attack. Acey's MRI of his spinal came back with no changes, his spinal tap showed that his infection has not gotten any better, or worse, so I guess we'll consider that all good news. Tomorrow he will go and have the MRI of his brain, and since his breathing is better they will be able to sedate him. One of our Doctors came in this afternoon and said something very profound, he said that "we are going for inches then miles." I like that saying.

Update April 12th 7:27pm

Today so busy, a lot of things happened, some good and some not so good. We got to be with the kids today which was so nice, it seems like they have grown a ton since I had seen them last. Alright, I'll just cut to the chase. . . . we are back in ICU, which we are choosing to look at it as a good thing. There are so many benefits to being in ICU, so even though it means that his symptoms are worsening, we are very confident that we will have more attention and Acey's needs will be met much quicker. The Doctors decided to only do part of the MRI today which was of the spinal cord and we haven't got the results back as of right now, and tomorrow they will finish with the brain. If they would have done both together it would of taken 3 hours. The x-rays that they took this morning shows that he does have pneumonia, so that's another reason for being in ICU. We also did not do the spinal tap today, they thought that was just way to much for him. So tomorrow he will have the other MRI and the spinal tap.

Update April 13th 11:11 am

Today is another busy day, Acey is getting his plasma phoresis right now and will be done in about an hour. Then he will go get another MRI of his brain and all of his spinal cord. The MRI will take about 2 hours so they are going knock Acey out. Acey said the first 3 MRI's weren't that bad but this will be his 7th MRI and he is not liking them at all, so that is why they are going to put him to sleep. After the MRI he is go down and do another spinal tap this will be his 6th one, this time they are going to take him to Radiology so they can watch through x-ray or ultra sound to make sure they are putting it in the right spot. Then it's sit and wait for the results. By tomorrow we should have some of the results back. He also had some x-rays done this morning of his lungs to make sure that he is not getting phenomena, we haven't heard what the results are. The kids are here with us, and it's so nice to have our family together even if it's just for a day.

Update April 12th 5:57pm

The G-Tube procedure went great, we are hoping to be able to use it by tonight so we can start getting some nutrients into Acey. Tomorrow sounds like it might be another full day. Acey is going to start with his 3rd plasma phoresis treatment and then he might go for another MRI of his head and all of his spinal cord. They are hoping that it will show them something on why he is having more issues. I just need to say that we are so grateful to the wonderful Doctors that work here, they are amazing, they are trying so hard to find something that would relieve his symptoms. Pray for our Doctors, so they will find something that works.

Update April 12th 1:00pm

Sorry about not updating the blog, but I've been waiting for some wonderful exciting change to take place so I can you all about it, and that's just not happening. Things here change so fast, from minute to minute, so by the time you read this entry things here can be completely different. As of right now, the G-Tube is going to be placed in this afternoon, we are just waiting for them to come get him. That's all of the procedures that will be done today. There has been some changes in Acey's condition from this morning, his eye sight is worse then before and he is starting to see double again. He is also having a hard time talking, which has always been difficult but today seems worse. We are waiting to hear from the neurologists. Keep the prayers coming.

April 11th 10:41 am

Today is the second treatment of plasma pharisees, and then he will be getting his G-Tube put in later today. His eyes are starting to get more blurry and he is getting more weak. Hoping this treatment will work.

April 9th 11:32 am

Alright, I finally got a few minutes to catch you all up with what has been happening here with Acey. He is now back in the hospital. In the past few days his symptoms have been getting worse. He has been loosing more feeling on his left side and is now moving to his chest on the left side and his left side of his throat is not working, which is making it very difficult to swallow. Last night he accidentally pulled out his feeding tube again. That was he 5th one he had put in, and he can't get enough nutrients without it. The Doctors came in today and talked about putting a G-Tube in on Monday. Also today they are starting a new treatment of Plasma Pharisees. I'll explain it the best that I can, so they are taking out Acey's blood removing his plasma and then putting his blood back in. He will have 5 treatments of this with a day in between each one. After that the Doctors are looking at giving him antibodies of 20,000 people and hopefully one of the 20,000 people would have some of the antibodies that Acey needs to fight off the illness. After that we aren't real sure what the next step will be, we are just hoping that these treatments work. They told us that we should know within a few days if this treatment is working. They are also trying a Parkinson's medication to see if that will help some of his symptoms. We had a very special experience the other day, Elder Kikuchi who is a General Authority of the LDS Church came to see Acey and he gave him a priesthood blessing, which was amazing. He gave us a lot of insight, in not only what is going on with our family at this time but just on life itself. Thank you, for wonderful people that take time out their busy lives to bless us. Elder Kikuchi thank you.

April 8th 4:13 pm

Due to changes with Acey, we need to be extremely cautious on any visitors. The family would like to ask if you have been exposed to or have been sick with a cough, cold, stuffy nose, runny nose, fever, or any sickness anytime in the past two weeks, that you do not come to see him at this time. Acey loves company but right now, we can not take any chances with Acey getting sick. Keep sending your prayers our way. We appreciate so much all the support that you all have been to us. Thank you.

April 6th 1:00pm

Just wanted to clarify something I had posted the time before. I had mentioned that the Doctors weren't sure what Acey had, I meant to say they aren't sure how to treat him or what the recovery time will be. Acey had been tested positive for Chlamydia Pneumonia, this comes from a cows placenta which can be transferred by breathing it in. Usually this will attack the lungs first then travels to the brain, but in Acey's case in skipped the lungs and went straight to the brain. This is rare so that is why they are so unsure about recovery time. So much has been going on here in the past few days. Acey's left side is getting worse then before, he can't feel hand or foot. It's hard for him to find it in space so they have him first find his shoulder then follow it down his arm to find his hand. His speech is getting worse also, it's harder for him to swallow, so he is not getting all the nutrients that he needs, so we just came back from getting another feeding tube in. All of these changes have the Doctors concern so we are hopping to bump up the spinal tap today sometime. This will show us where the infection is, if it's getting worse or staying the same? We should have those results within 2 hours after the procedure. So many things happening so fast it's hard to keep up with it all. He is still in good spirits but is missing home and the kids. Keep the prayer coming!!!!!!!

April 4th 7:45 pm

With each new day brings new challenges and new blessings and today was no different. Acey has been loosing more and more feeling in his hands. They hurt to touch they are always cold and feel numb. We talked with the Doctors about this and they are puzzled since they aren't sure what Acey has. So they don't know if it's that he is truly loosing more mobility or if the nerves are starting to regenerate and come back. So it's just a waiting game at this point. The good thing that happened today was, Acey mission president and his wife came by to see him. That really lifted his spirits and we both enjoyed their visit. It's amazing how little acts of kindness have huge effects on people.

Update April 3rd 10:30 am

We are so grateful for good friends, thank you to all that have helped us in so many ways. For those that have come to visit Acey, thank you it truly makes his day. Since he can't come home, you all have brought home to him, through cards, visits and phone calls. Thank you.

April 1st 10:45 pm

I'm back in Utah with Acey and so thrilled to see his progress. I got to see him walk for the first time with a special walker that has supports for his arms to rest on. He did great. He still is needing a lot of help but we can definitely see improvement. We had a meeting today and they have set a new day for him to go home which is May 4th, that is if everything goes as planned. We still have a long way to go before he get to come home. Well, you all know that today was April Fools Day, so we couldn't pass up this amazing opportunity to play a little harmless joke. So, Acey's first appointment this morning was PT whi is a really nice lady, she comes in and asks how are you doing today Acey? He replies, "alright but I can't feel my legs." She said, "what?", as calm as she could and he told her gain taht he had no feeling in his legs. The she starts with all the questions, how ling has his been going on? can you feel your hands and arms? By the way Randy McCowan was in the room at the time and his eyes were bugging out of his head! Oh it was great! Then Acey tells them APRIL FOOLS, but it took Acey saying twice before they really heard him. They both about died. Right after that, one of the head nurses walks in to check on him and asked how are you feeling today? The PT says he's having some new problems this morning, Acey why don't you tell her, and so he did. It was great! Right after that Dorene called to check on Ace, well needless to say she did not think it was funny whatsoever. I don't think we will ever forget this April Fools Day! P.S. Sorry Dorene but it was all Randy's idea.