2011

Try not to judge me too harshly with my lack of blog posting. And I would promise to get better but I know you don't like to be lied to. So in that case I shall recap the wild year 2011 has been for us.

January- At the end of 2010 we found out that Derek's cancer was back. So in January, after tons of testing and scans, Derek started chemo again. He was not happy to say the least but can you blame him? We decided that I should continue to go to school so I started my second semester at ASU (and did awesome, just thought you would like to know). It has been almost year since then so my memory may be fuzzy (or I purposely blocked it out, who knows?) but I don't think anything else happened in January. Here are some pictures of Camden in January.



February-In February, Derek started losing his hair:

Pretty wicked. He eventually just shaved it because it was grossing me out that he pulled out huge chunks out of a time.

In February we also celebrated Derek's fake birthday. His birthday is February 29th so on non-leap years we have to pretend like his birthday is on the 28th. We had a small little family get together for it.

I surprised him with the most awesome gift, an ipad! Jealous?!

And no, that is not a homeless man holding that Ipad, that is Derek.

March- In march I had a big wedding that I did. It was a lot of fun and I got to experience some flowers that I have never worked with before. I think the arrangements turned out great and the bride and groom were quite happy.We also did our annual spring break Disneyland trip. We went for 3 days. My sister and Josh (our neighbor and my sister's then-boyfriend) accompanied us for the best trip we have EVER had at Disneyland. It was seriously so much fun.



April-In April we did our second Relay for Life that is run by the American Cancer Society. During the cancer survivor walk, Derek took Camden with him. Camden thought all the applause was for him.
We did a Beach pier carnival. Camden and I posed for a picture.

We had a great time and raised over $2000 for the American Cancer Society. Boo-yah!

In April I also turned 24. No pictures were captured to document this momentous occasion. Sadly, the day was spent in class and I barely remember that day. All well.

At the end of the month we joined Marlena and Rochelle on a hike.


The young cousins got to hang out.

The kids learned what to do if they come upon a snake and how to make sure they stay hydrated. It was a lot of fun.



May- In May we went to the Ward camp out. We love our ward (a lot!) and wanted to be more involved so we made an extra effort to go.


Camden ate lots of dirt and eventually sneezed out a giant rock.

There was a boat racing contest.


We lost. And by lost I mean we epically failed. But it was a blast.

This is also the month where Camden became the notorious menace on society known as Sticker Head!
He just radiates evil, right?

June- June was a special month for us. First, we started having mysterious drawings appear on everything.
The culprit is still at large.


Camden also got to enjoy a birthday party for his friend Madden.


He had lots of fun bouncing around and enjoying the company of all the little kids.

Then on June 11th, my brother got baptized!




He asked Derek to baptize him.

And asked Jordan and I to speak at his baptism.

If you didn't know, that completes the Walls siblings. Just 5 days shy of my 5 year baptism anniversary my last sibling joined. That is pretty rad if you ask me.

July- July was an excellent month. First, Derek had a PET scan and the scan showed that his cancer was ALMOST gone. He was super close to remission and we were so happy. We could not wait to get on with our lives.

Next, our baby boy turned 2! We had a birthday party for him at Desert Breeze Park's Splash Pad.


Lots of friends and family came out to celebrate with us.

On his actual birthday we took him to the Disney store and he got to pick out a gift. Naturally he picked a stuffed Buzz and Woody from Toy Story. We had a little get together for the grandparents.


Camden did get his 2nd year pictures done by Ashlee Gibson again. They turned out AMAZING and proved how awesome Ashlee is and how my child is truly baby model material.

In July, Derek also got called to be the Sunday school president in our ward. He likes this calling and does a great job at it.

August- In August we had a sobering appointment with Derek's transplant doctor. In July we had found out that his cancer was almost gone and that a bone marrow transplant would give him a chance to be cured. We were pumped and ready to go. But at this appointment we found out all the scary dangers with this type of transplant. The doctor (unfortunately) listed all the many ways Derek could die from this type of transplant (bedside manner isn't great, but she is the best). The transplant could cure him of cancer only to kill him from some terrible effect of Graft Vs. Host disease. Needless to say, this depressed us greatly. But we persevered. Okay, Derek got over it and I cried for weeks, what can I say. Unfortunately the realization of losing Derek has been at the forefront of my mind since this point, so I can't really say that I have been all myself since August.

In separate news, I got called to be the Cub Scout Wolf leader for our ward. However, our stake has so few boys that we combine with 2 other wards to make one den. It is a lot of fun and I really like only having to teach every 3 months :)

September- In September I was suppose to run in the Disney half marathon in Disneyland but two things happened. 1) I hurt myself. And not even from a cool running injury. Embarrassingly enough, I was standing on chair steam cleaning the wall above our fireplace and the legs of the chair broke. I hurt both ankles, my wrist, and my self esteem in the fall. So I was unable to continue training. And I have yet to go back to training. I will again. Maybe. 2) We were too poor to go. I think that this depressed me more than hurting myself. I thought that this would be a great trip to get away from everything before getting into the transplant drama. Instead we went to Flagstaff to visit my sister, which was still nice. I can't find any pictures of this joyous day but we went to the county fair, a craft fair, and toured Flagstaff. The weather was perfect.

Later that week, we enjoyed a trip to the Sea life Aquarium at Arizona Mills with Lindsey and Madden. The boys enjoyed touching the star fish and seeing all the fish.


In September we were also able to witness my mom and Jeff get married! It was an adventure to say the least, but it was an awesome day, can you tell?


In September we also went to Tucson and met with the folks at the Cancer center down there. It is an amazing center and the people were spectacular. I had a really good feeling about that place, even though it was really far away. We did find out that if Derek did the transplant there, he would have to stay in Tucson for 3 months after the transplant. This did not sit well with us, even though we understood why. It would be too hard in general to swing that so we started looking into other options.

October- In October we celebrated out 3rd wedding anniversary. It was awesome. Derek told me to not worry about it and he would plan the whole thing. This was difficult for me to handle but I let him handle it. We went to a resort, ate at my favorite place (Cheesecake Factory), and got his sister to watch Camden for the night. It was a really pleasant surprise and I appreciated that he took care of it all.

Halloween was also a blast. We carved some pumpkins and Camden went trick or treating alongside our 2 neighbor girls.

Also, all of Derek's siblings got tested to see if any of them were a match to him for his bone marrow transplant.

November- In November we got Beach family pictures (which occurs every other year). They turned out great and we really like them.


Later in the month, Camden was playing in the backyard while Derek was working back there and fell on something (not sure what) and split open his cheek/chin. It was terrifying to say the least. Derek said to just put a band-aid on it but I said we should take him to the ER. So we comprimised and took him to Urgent Care. However, Urgent Care couldn't do the stitches Camden needed so they sent us to the ER. I love/hate being right. We didn't get pictures of his ER experience but here is what it looked like after the stitches were put in.


He has a pretty awesome scar. Luckily, it does not take away from his super cute face.

December- Derek had another PET scan which showed that his cancer isn't growing but it is getting more active. Which isn't the greatest news. However, we did find out that two of his siblings are a match to him for his bone marrow transplant! We were really grateful for that news and are grateful for the willingness of his siblings to help him.

We were asked by the Primary president in our ward to play Mary and Joseph in the primary's production for our ward party. We agreed, though after this year I doubt they will ever ask us again! Here is a family picture (us and Jesus):Camden got to sit on Santa's lap:



We are getting ready for Christmas. It is our favorite time of year so we have the house all decorated. We are grateful to spend this time together and be able to celebrate the birth of our Savior.


We appreciate all the love and support that we have gotten from everyone. We can feel the thoughts and prayers that are sent our way. We feel really positive about this transplant and are grateful that Heavenly Father has provided this opportunity and the hope that Derek can be cured of his cancer. Heavenly Father has blessed us with a magnificent life together and truly takes care of our every need. Our testimonies have been strengthened by the last couple of years and even when I feel my weakest I realize that I am stronger than I was the day before.

Thanks for checking out our year! Have a merry Christmas and a happy new year!

Love,

Derek, Kaela, and Camden

Transplant Meeting

So remember that time I was like "Yeah, we are excited for Derek to get a transplant because it could cure him and our life can go on"? Those were good times. But now reality has set in and its not anything that I thought it was going to be. Derek met with his bone marrow transplant doctor today. This is the same doctor that did his first transplant so she knows him well. Derek and I couldn't wait for this meeting because we wanted to get this show on the road. We have a life to get back to for heaven's sake! We already knew that this would be a different transplant then he had before. A couple of years ago, Derek got an Autologous Stem Cell Transplant. This type of transplant used his own stem cells from his bones after very intense chemotherapy. The purpose was to knock out as much cancer as possible. Unfortunately, his cancer came back and continued to grow, which is not cool. However, another biopsy showed cell types that did not show up last time. They changed the chemo made specifically to kill those cell types and it worked! He is technically in remission. But don't throw your parties yet.

After today's meeting we found out that the cancer will probably come back and continue to if something isn't done about it. That is were a bone marrow transplant comes in. The doctor explained that we all get cancer but our immune system is able to kill it off. When someone gets a cancer and it grows, it means that their immune system failed at recognizing the threat and failed to kill it. And since Derek's immune system totally sucks at that kind of thing he now needs a different transplant called an Allogeneic Bone Marrow Transplant. This transplant would put chemo in him that would totally kill off his own immune system and then he would get back a donor's (hopefully a sibling who matches) bone marrow. Their cells would then build him a new immune system which would hopefully be able to fight off any cancer that comes back. With that will probably result in 2 things: Graft vs. Hodgkins, which will recognize his cancer and kill it, which we want, and Graft vs. Host disease which will try to kill off other things that aren't bad, which we don't want. Apparently after that point the future looks bleak. The doctor said that out of the many people she has done this type of transplant for, only one has been considered "cured" but he lives with Graft vs. Host disease that tries to kill off his skin. Depressed yet? So are we. The possibility of dying from one of the affects(suppressed immune system = infection, liver failure, etc.) of the disease are high.

There are still many options out there for Derek to get rid of his cancer (clinical trials, other chemos yet tried) but nothing offers the option of being cured except for the transplant. And with the transplant comes various consequences: from managing Graft vs. Host disease to death. The reality of losing Derek has been something I have had to deal with for these last 3 years, but it never felt more possible than today getting that news. And any silly optimism we felt this last month after the PET scan went right out of the window. We talked about having another child, Derek getting a job, not seeing the chemo room every week and maybe the nurses even forgetting who we are were all things we hoped may happen soon.

But the worst part was seeing Derek's face as the doctor told us all of this. I have only seen him cry twice about his cancer. The first was two weeks before we got married, sitting in that Urgent Care room with a doctor use to treating sprained ankles and strep throat having to read the CT scan results predicting cancer. The second was today. And do you know what was the first worry he expressed was? "I would feel awful if I died from Graft vs. Host disease. I don't want one of my siblings to have to deal with the fact that their stems cells killed me". Silly man, thinking about other people at the time that you are suppose to think of yourself!

I apologize if this post went from informational to bitter. Sometimes my life feels like a never ending Lifetime movie, filled with bad acting and a terribly written script. But alas, I know no screenwriter would be this mean to their characters.

Don't take that as a knock against God. In fact, his blessings are numerous among all this chaos. I really feel like he tries to make it as easy as possible without slacking on the things that we are suppose to learn.

And don't feel sorry for us. We get to look at that face everyday! And that face, helps me get out of bed some days.

Homemade Laundry Detergent

Since posting about making it, I have had A LOT of request for the recipe. I wish I could tell you that it is from my own making but it most definitely is not. I snagged it off the Duggars website (the people with 19 kids and counting). The recipe I got made 10 gallons, which is way more than I need right now or want to store. So here is the recipe I used:

Ingredients:
-2 cups of hot tap water
-1/2 bar of soap *see below for more about what kind of soap
-1/2 cup Arm & Hammer Super Washing Soda (Do not use baking soda!)
-1/4 cup of Borax

*The recipe calls for the soap to be Fels-Naptha which you can find in the laundry aisle. You can also use Ivory soap, which is what I use. It is not as strong of a smell as the Fels-Naptha. Also, the Washing Soda and the Borax can be found in the laundry aisle. A box of each is like $3 and will last a really long time. The 2 boxes will end up helping you make a ridiculous amount of laundry detergent.

Directions:
- Grate the bar of soap and add to a saucepan with the 2 cups of hot tap water. Stir over medium-low heat until the soap dissolves.
-Fill a bucket up with 1 and 1/4 gallons of hot tap water. Add the melted soap, 1/2 cup of washing soda, and 1/4 cup of Borax. Stir well until everything is dissolved. Fill the bucket up with 1 and 1/4 gallons of water. Cover and let it sit overnight.

-Whatever container you use, fill it half full with your homemade detergent and will the rest up with water.

Don't fret if your laundry doesn't smell like anything. It's not suppose to. This is gentle enough for sensitive skin.


There you go. Super easy. I used old detergent, fabric softener,and juice containers. This made 5 gallons for me! Use 1/4 cup with each load of laundry.

Derek's Scan Results

The worst part about anything health related is the waiting. I pretty much hate it. Derek did a PET scan on Friday. The PET scan lights up the cancer and tells you how strong the cancer is in the various parts of the body. Derek has Lymphoma so it spreads quick and can be in many parts throughtout the body. Before his 1st transplant he had it in17 different areas! This time, however, Derek and I got through the weekend fine. We felt really good about the results. And boy were we right! Derek's cancer is "nearly in remission"!! In April a scan showed a bunch of different areas. This scan showed that almost all of it has been wiped out! This is great news because if the cancer had not done anything or even grew then that would be it for traditional methods. Derek would have to start trying trial chemos or other weird things. The doctor is hoping to do another transplant, this time with someone else's cells, so gear up to get tested! This transplant would then totally wipe out any left over cancer cells and gives Derek a better chance of being cured. CURED! So this time we are hoping for a transplant. Dr. Polowy could barely contain his happiness and that made it all the better. I can't believe that this could be over soon. 3 long years of cancer and it is almost gone. Heavenly Father has been incredibly kind, continually blessing us and this blessing is a big one! Thanks to everyone for the positive thoughts and prayers sent our way. Keep it up because we can feel them!

Yikes!

Yikes I have been busy! No pictures for this post because 1) I'm on my computer which has no pictures (my computer got wiped out!) and 2) I am WAY too lazy to get up and go to Derek's computer. Derek had to go to the ER on Tuesday, which terrified me. He had to go because when he was at the doctor's office getting chemo they got his blood results back and his platelet level was incredibly, terrifyingly, and scarily low. So they sent him to the ER where he got a platelet transfusion, which is like a blood transfusion but it only had platelets in it. So my neighbors (Josh, Jeff, and Dani) took Camden so I could go down and be with Derek. By this time it was evening and that huge dust storm set in so it was impossible to see more than 10 feet in front of me while I was driving, but I floored it anyways. There is no cure for an irrational woman. Anyways, I got there and he was basically done so we left and now he is fine.

The next day (Wednesday) Derek was driving to the doctors office and realized the car was broken. Now our other car was already broken so we had two broken cars. That same day I was cleaning the wall above the fireplace and the chair I was standing on broke! My ego was extremely bruised since the front 2 legs of the chair snapped off. This was a decently sturdy chair so perhaps this is a wake up call, lol. I hurt both ankles, a knee, elbow, and a wrist. Not the greatest thing when you are trying to train for a half marathon that is less than 2 months away.

So it is Thursday, Derek fixed the car after spending $60 on a part that was only available at the dealership and I will have to miss out on the rest of the week's training. On the bright side, my injury forced me to sit in one spot for a long time and I got my floral blog mostly fixed up and changed. Check it out www.eternityfloral.blogspot.com.

Camden gets his pictures taken today by Ashlee, I am looking forward to this since she did an incredible job last year doing his pictures. When I went to go get the pictures she took last year printed, they made me sign forms saying I had the rights to the pictures! I told them they weren't professional photos but they didn't believe me. That's how good they looked. So I will post the pics when we get them, I am sure they will be amazing.

Tomorrow Derek gets a PET scan and Tuesday we will meet with the doctor to find out the results. This scan will show us if his cancer is going down or what they heck it is doing. It better be going away because I am pretty tired of dealing with it. However, this trial has been greatly lightened by those around us who love and care for us. I know that this is Heavenly Father's doing, he really looks after us.

Also, this Sunday my brother gets the Aaronic Priesthood! How awesome is that?? It's pretty rad if you ask me.

Now stop reading this and go check out my revamped floral blog! www.eternityfloral.blogspot.com

Stationery card

Birthday Blast Birthday Invitation

Turn favorite photos into your baby's 1st birthday invitations.

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Oops

In my previous post I mentioned how lame I am at blogging. Well, I still am. I promise to do better. I am going to be revamping both blogs (this one and my floral one). I am hoping to post twice a week but you know how lame I am at stuff. Lots of stuff going on with the Beachs (Beaches? I still don't know). Derek has cancer still. Lately he has been feeling really sick. He gained lots of weight and lost it all within the last week. But you know my Derek, still a happy camper. My Camden is getting huge! He turns 2 next month (can you believe it??). He is the most entertaining child ever. He has a new evil laugh that he does when he does something bad. I seriously can't be mad at a kid who develops his own evil laugh. The picture is of the notorious mad man himself, Sticker Head Boy!

I am still training for my half marathon that is on September 4th. We are making a trip out of it with us and Robin, Caitlin, and Kora. A couple days of Disneyland, having fun, then I will attempt not to vomit everywhere and on everyone while running 13.1 miles. It shall be grand. Have you seen our house? Its beautiful. Pictures to come (maybe, lol). More updates soon.