The longest summer of my life...

Wow, I never thought I would say this, but I have been avoiding my blog. I've been too afraid to post an update because people would ask a billion questions and I never thought I had enough time to put all the info in that I wanted. So, since my last post Karl was diagnosed with Bell's Palsy which then led to a discovery that he has stage 4B Hodgkin's Lymphoma. Yes. My husband has cancer. Sucks, but life goes on. In June we went to visit his mission in Baltimore, Maryland and when we got back the doctor found a lump on his neck. 

This is a pic of one thing we did while we were in Maryland.

We didn't notice it before, but once they found it Karl couldn't keep anything down. He didn't really have any solid food for about a week and so he was living off of IV's. He was so dehydrated that after they gave him 5 liters they asked if he needed to go to the bathroom and he said no. It was bad and we were all scared. Thankfully we were living with his parents during the whole summer and we had their loving support and help through it all. 

The doctor surgically removed the lump and did a biopsy on it and that's how they found the cancer. They immediately put a port catheter in his chest and closed him up. He receives chemo therapy every other week and has now completed 5 out of 12 treatments. By the end of October they will do more tests to see if the cancer is gone and if it is he'll be done with chemo by Christmas of this year. If it's not gone then they will make a new plan. They say every time we go to them that he is healthy and is on the right track that he should be on. Thank goodness! We want this sucker to be gone! 

Through all of this he got hired in Cambridge, Idaho to be the new Ag teacher at their high school. I was nervous, at first, to move to a small town, but I was grateful to have my independence with my husband again and live in our own home. Since we've been here the whole community has been so wonderful and helpful! We love it here. Everyone you see has a huge smile on their face and they are just so happy that we have joined their little town. We love our ward too! Karl is the Sunday School teacher for the 16-18 year old youth and I am the Young Women's Adviser. I teach every sunday except fast sunday and it has been such a blessing for me. I prayed for this calling and I am so glad I have it! I love my girls and I love that I get to remind them every week what their purpose in this life is. They are my blessing. 

For now, I volunteer every other day at the high school library and I grade Karl's papers. Since it's his first year, fresh out of college, he has lesson plans to create every day for so many classes. I try all I can to make his life easier. I mean, hello...this man is bald now...he needs someone to lift his load sometimes! haha! I will also be teaching piano and voice lessons soon and I'm excited about that. It'll give our family a little bit of income since everything else I do is volunteer. Oh yeah, I also signed up for substitute teaching, and I hope that kicks up soon so we can start paying off some insane medical bills. 

On October 20, 2012 the community or Fruitland, where his parents live, will be holding a fundraiser for Karl. I am really excited for that because it will give us a little push in the right direction and will help us pay off those, need I say it, medical bills. They're always there...pushing us in the stomach. I am just grateful for the impact and love that Karl has made on so many people and that they are willing to help him in any way they can. We also have a website for Karl so others can receive updates about him and can donate to his cancer fund. It is www.karldahle.org and if you spell it with a "K" or a "C" it will take you to the same website. haha!

In spite of everything that has happened, or that is happening, I count my blessings daily. I pray that I can have strength to do anything that Heavenly Father wants me to do, and that I will be willing to do it.

We still have fun and have a happy attitude about everything. We managed to go jet skiing, repelling, white water rafting, tubing, knee boarding, wake boarding, boating, fishing, and swimming. Karl even says that he doesn't feel like he has cancer, sometimes. He just has no immune system right now and cannot afford to get sick or else he will spend 3 days in the hospital. He loves the benefits of being bald and not having to spend a lot of money on shampoo. 

I'm sorry this was a long post, but I needed to get an update on here before I go crazy. We have more events coming up and I will post pictures when I can. For now, I hope you enjoyed it! If you would like to see more pictures just go to my account on facebook.