Photos and a few odds & ends

Friday, Saturday & Sunday, May 28, 29, 30, 2010 – Here is a photo of Kellee with Mike & Beth Knudson and their girls from the other night when Heidi & Kellee ate lasagna with them at their house. There have been so many people who have done wonderful things for us and with us during Kellee’s battle with cancer – discovery and treatment, and Mike & Beth have gone above and beyond! Allowing us to stay in their home,  their friendly openness and making us feel at ease  at the beginning of the journey and Mike’s “inside” information during the biopsy time. Their home was truly an oasis at the beginning of the storm!

Kellee with Knudsons

Friday during the visit with the doctor we learned one thing we had not known before, the doctor told Kellee there is a chance his hair may not grow back as thick as it had been before he lost his hair. Learning this was not necessarily what he wanted to hear, but then again the doctor also told him it could be eight months before his hair grows back. However, the nurse said what she had seen is it would be more like three months. Realistically this is just another one of those unknowns, we will just have to wait and see.

Saturday morning Heidi & I went and picked up some flowers and a few last odds & ends for the vegetable garden.  Saturday evening Heidi, Kellee & I went to Checkerboard in Pleasantville with Faithe and my dad. Their pizza is still some of the best around this area. After we got back from Checkerboard on Saturday night Kellee went out for a while on a car ride with a group of friends (4 young ladies). I was good to see him get out a bit.

Sunday, Kellee went to The Bridge, Kerry drummed at the 10:30 service @ TRC. Kory had to work at Smokey Row. I fixed ribs for Sunday dinner. A few years ago I fixed ribs for the first time using a homemade BBQ sauce and the boys really liked them. But, I misplaced the recipe and could never duplicate the sauce. Every other time I made ribs since then, the boys would say they just didn’t quite match up to the time I used the lost recipe. This time they liked the ribs and they wanted to make sure I had a copy of the recipe, which I do!

Updates from The Final Full Week of Treatments NEW PHOTO!

Here are some updates from Heidi on their week so far in Iowa City.    

Tuesday May 25, 2010– Kerry and Kory came to visit Kellee and I at Hope Lodge today.  They arrived around noon, we showed them around and then went out to lunch.  It was good to be able to show them what our life is like here.  We ate at HuHot – one of their favorites.  Then like all moms and sons do, we went shopping!  Everyone needed something – shorts, shirts – we found most of what we wanted at Target and then hit the mall.   Kory is starting to prepare for his Austria trip in the Fall so we found some great walking shoes at Scheel’s.   We stopped at a Starbuck’s since we had a gift card, but since it was in a Barnes & Noble and not a free-standing Starbucks they don’t take the Starbucks Gift Cards – who knew!  Well we all do now. Kellee didn’t even bother to wear a hat to cover up his head! (PHOTO NOW ADDED.)  Kerry and Kory headed back home early evening.  For dinner Kellee and I had cheese/crackers/grapes (Kellee wasn’t terribly hungry since we had eaten bigger at lunch) and Ben & Jerry’s ice cream that I sneaked down to the TV room we were able to snatch up just in time for American Idol and Glee.    

Kory, Kerry & Kellee @ HuHot in IA City

Wednesday May 26, 2010 (Also Kent’s sister Sue’s Birthday, Happy Birthday Sue!) - After treatment Kellee began watching the Lost series on Netflix in the room and I worked at a table in the kitchen until lunch.  We shared one of Gloria V’s frozen meals, had grapes and some donated bread with it. (Just so ya’ll know, every Tuesday at the Hope Lodge there are quite a number of baked goods brought in by volunteers, some homemade, other store-bought, usually a good variety.)  In the afternoon I worked a little more and Kellee continued his Lost marathon – don’t tell Kellee the ending!  We had smoothies later in the afternoon.  We found a Yoplait smoothie in a bag at the HyVee here in Iowa City.  It had frozen fruit and yogurt chunks – you add milk and blend!  Kent makes great smoothies, but these weren’t bad.  I talked with another caregiver here while I was up in the kitchen getting set up to work.  Her husband is the patient and has a tumor in his mouth so is receiving radiation and chemo for 7 weeks then in the process of testing found an early detection of colon cancer, so he will have surgery once the treatments are done.  He also had to have all his teeth pulled to minimize infection due to periodontal disease.  Sometimes you don’t realize how good you have it until you hear someone else’s story.  Yes, this is difficult for us being away from home – dealing with brain cancer and radiation, but our journey has been minimal compared to so many others.  Tonight we went to Beth & Mike’s for Lasagna and Lee DeWyze (American Idol).  We had a great meal, conversation, and watched the American Idol Finale in HD on a big projection TV!    

Last week while at the Hope Lodge, Kellee ordered a violin bow…to use with is guitar. It arrived this week while Kellee was in Iowa City. The package seemed to have a bit of damage. So when Kellee found out about it, he contacted the company from which he ordered it and was told he would need to send a photo of the damage.    

Damaged Violin Bow

Why is it items most susceptible to shipping damage are often shipped in the most vulnerable of packages? I guess it is a Murphy’s Law thing.    

Thursday, May 27, 2010 – Kerry mowed the yard this afternoon. We figured since there are two able-bodied young men at home now, (I would have said three, but Kellee is in Iowa City at the moment. I just realized I might have slammed myself by not including me in the able-bodied count), we don’t need to rely on our neighbor Tammy to mow our lawn. Thank-you Tammy for helping out the times you did mow, it was GREATLY Appreciated!  Tonight in Pella , Kerry, Kory & I were blessed by someone who works in Heidi’s area at Pella Corp (Todd B.) who brought us supper! Homemade chicken burritos, chips salsa and banana bread. Yummy! What a blessing!   

God has been and continues to be good to us through-out this whole experience!

Catch Phrases or He’s Been This Way All Week!

What is a Catch Phrase? After much searching on the web, I came across this definition I think fits it best and is easy to understand. A Catch Phrase is a signature phrase of a particular person or group. Some examples of catch phrases are, “Did I do that?” made popular by Steve Urkel, “One of these days…”  by Jackie Gleason or “Make it so”  by Captain Picard.

One of the things that happens when you spend a lot of time together is certain phrases and sayings either develop or get used a lot as a natural part of the way the time is spent. Over the last few weeks we have seen some catch phrases either develop or be used frequently. One of the catch phrases repeated quite often during the time spent in Iowa City has been, “He’s been this way all week!” Typically it is said more often by Kellee and Kent than Heidi, but she joins in at times as well. What it refers to is when someone says or does something that “may” be interpreted as a bit silly, odd or just an action the other person doesn’t necessarily like it - is greeted with, “he’s been this way all week!” Here is how it started, back during the first week we were staying in Iowa City, splitting  our time between a home generously opened to us and the Holiday Inn, Kellee also had a bit of a cold. He was a bit stuffed up and one night he was snoring enough that it woke me up and I couldn’t get back to sleep. In the morning I ribbed him about it a bit and of course he denied he snored.  Then at some point during that day when I talked to Heidi back in Pella, and told her about how Kellee had snored, Kellee heard me talk about his snoring and he then said loud enough so Heidi could hear, “That’s not true, I didn’t snore, dad is spreading rumors, he’s been this way all week!”  It then sort of took off from there. When ever one of us would say or do something (usually Kellee, ( ah the beauty of writing the blog!)) which was interpreted as silly, etc, the other person would say, ‘he’s been this way all week,”  and kind of shake their head in mock disgust. This phrase has been repeated quite often and is used over the weekends at home as well.

The next catch phrase was actually  started by Kellee (for real) and used exclusively by him. During the second week of treatment when Heidi was in Iowa City with Kellee, he would jokingly say to Heidi, “mom carry me to the bathroom.” When Heidi would say “no way!” Kellee would follow-up with, “dad always carried me.”  (That’s not true, dad did not!) Or it would be, “carry me to the chair, dad always did.” When they go home that weekend, Kellee told me, “Mom wouldn’t carry me, around and I told her, dad always did. Heidi said as she shook her head, “He’s been this way all week!” Of course the following week when I was in Iowa City with Kellee, it was “carry me dad, mom always did…” Heidi and I agreed she carried him enough when he was a baby, she didn’t need to be doing anymore carrying!

The next phrase started as just a phrase and now recently Kellee put a hand motion to it. Occasionally when Kellee would respond to us by saying, “you’re not going to make the cancer patient do that are you?” Or he might say something like, “I have cancer, you need to carry me.” When ever he used that statement it would obviously be in jest. Gradually a whimsical response to this from others developed into something like “You’re not going to play the brain cancer card again are you?”  Now lately, Kellee has added the hand motion of acting like he is laying a card on a table when he plays the cancer card. Kellee doing this and joking about it is a sure sign he is feeling so much better these days!

The last catch phrase to share is, “Alright, that’s it!” I am not really sure if I can adequately explain the origin of this catch phrase. This is one I would say to Kellee, just before I would act like I was doing to go over to him and “fake” fight with him or try to tickle him. (He seems to think I used to do that to him when he was younger.) I said it a few times the last week when Kellee & I were in Iowa City together and then Kellee would tease me for saying it. It kind of snowballed from there. Then I would say it even more. Now Kellee uses it and he said he is going to overuse this catch phrase because he wants to wear it out and make it so the phrase won’t be used anymore. Today both Kellee and Heidi sent me a text using this catch phrase. All I have to say to that is, “Alright, that’s it, they both been this way all week!”

Only 7 Treatments left!

Monday, May 24, 2010 – Today Heidi and Kellee left for Iowa City just before 12:30 to begin the last full week of radiation treatments. They arrived to Radiation Therapy right on time and there was no one in the waiting room, which was the first time that has happened. Kellee was called right in and before they knew it the were back at the Lodge getting settled in. They went and got some groceries and then ate ham balls for supper. Grandma had sent them along as they are one of Kellee’s favorites. He ate 4 ham balls and cheese potatoes. It is so good he has his appetite back!  Hopefully Kellee will start gaining some weight again soon. Heidi forgot her tooth-brush, but Kory and Kerry will take it her Tuesday when they go to Iowa City for a visit. Only forgetting a tooth-brush is no big deal. Last week I forgot my pillow, my jacket and some of the food and drinks I had planned to take along. I think I will finally have everything all figured out for what to take along by the time the treatments are completed!

Just a couple of other updates from the weekend: Saturday was an open house for Pella Corporation’s 85th anniversary. Heidi had to work in here are from noon to 2:00 and I went along. We signed up for the door prizes and Heidi’s name was drawn for gift certificate worth $85.00 from Hy-Vee! What a nice surprise prize!  God continues to bless us in unexpected ways. We we got home after the open house and we had another surprise in the mail, a Casey’s gas gift card! People’s generosity and willingness to share with us as we travel along this journey has just been amazing, thank you so much to all who lend their support; from mowing our yard, fixing and/or bringing us food, sending us cards and lifting us up in prayer. So many are being the hands and feet of Jesus to us and it is wonderful!

What are you doing the next 10 years? Plus an Amercian Airlines update.

Friday, May 21, 2010  – This morning,  I timed how long it took from when they called Kellee to go back for treatment until he came back out, eleven minutes!  Kellee’s shower takes longer than that on most days! The treatments on this last phase are quick! Then it was DOCTOR DAY. First they weighed Kellee, no  more weight loss which is a good thing and with him eating more lately, he should start putting some weight back on. The meeting with the doctor did not take long, we did not have many questions this time. We asked if there would be another MRI before the last treatment. He told us no, the next MRI would be one month after the final treatment.The doctor then gave us an idea what follow-up will most likely look like in the years to come for Kellee. Dr. S. said there will be an MRI approximately every 4 months for the first 2-3 years and then they will switch to an MRI every 6 months until years 6 or 7 after the last treatment and then one every year until year 10. At that point there would probably be an MRI every other year and beyond that will be determined at that time. Kellee was doing some figuring in his head for how long he will need to be budgeting for MRI’s due to his insurance deductible. Dr. S. asked Kellee if he had started taking less of the Zofran and Kellee said no, he just didn’t want to risk it. After that we went to the pharmacy to pick up the last set of Zofran pills and we drove to Pella. Later on Friday we had a Batman marathon, The Dark Knight and Batman Begins. Yes we did watch them out-of-order but is there really a rule about the order to watch movies in movie marathons? I don’t think so, just ask George Lucas with his Star Wars movies.

Gordon/Flanders

Ever notice how the Commissioner Gordon character in the latest Batman movies looks like Ned Flanders on The Simpsons? Is it just me?

Does anyone know of any other look a-likes?

Send any ideas via the comments.

Here is an update on Kellee’s battle with American Airlines to get a refund for his ticket he had purchased for a trip scheduled for the earlier in May he could not take because of his radiation treatments. The last I shared was the airline requested a letter from the doctor’s office stating the facts about Kellee’s medical condition. We requested such a letter in April and nurse Kelly fired one off for us. We have been in wait mode ever since. One night this week Kellee was online checking his credit card balance, because he knew it was paid off and should have been $0.00. He mentioned to me, “I must have paid too much, because now it lists I owe a negative amount.” A little bit later he realized the negative amount matched exactly the amount of the airline ticket! Yeah, it appears American Airlines had granted the refund! So persistence does pay off, especially when you have the facts on your side. Thank-you to American for bending the no refund rule for a very valid reason!

Fish Tacos?

Thursday, May 20, 2010 – Shorter post for today. The tumor focused treatment seems to being well. Not much to report about the morning or afternoon. At about 4:00 I asked Kellee if there was anything in tarpicular he wanted to do for Supper. I told him I planned to either have leftover ribs or chicken and then Kellee suggested we go out to eat. (I thought, good he feels like going out.) When I asked him where he wanted to go, he suggested fish tacos, if we could figure out where to go to get them. We had heard there was a place in Iowa City that served a great fish taco, all we had to do was find the place. I went up and asked the staff at Hope Lodge and they where not sure. So, I sent a text to Beth (whose house we had stayed at early on in this saga) because she is the one who took my sister-in-law Tami there when she was up in Iowa City visiting Kellee back during the biopsy stay. Found out the place is called “The Saloon” aka “Mondo’s Saloon”, having two different names it is known by was sure confusing! When we got there we ordered right away, beverages, chips & salsa and of course, fish tacos. Kellee was a bit apprehensive about the chips and salsa, he was not sure how his throat and stomach would handle it along with the tacos. But he decided to dig in! The plate had three fish tacos and we both cleaned our plates! We agreed they were the best fish tacos we ever had the opportunity to eat. (Granted, it was the first time for either of us to eat fish tacos!) But still, if you ever get to Iowa City and you have a hankering for fish tacos, The Saloon is the place! As we were walking back to the van I said to Kellee, “It really seems you have turned a corner…” He said he had, he wasn’t sure about eating all the food and he was full, but he felt pretty good. He said the change in the focus of the treatment to a smaller area (George the tumor) makes each day much easier and he is feeling better. (Yes, fist pump!)

Friday is doctor day and we head back to Pella for the weekend. Beginning on Monday there will be only eight (8) scheduled treatments left!

Prayer requests: )1 Thanksgiving for the results so far! 2) Continued shrinkage of the tumor, 3) Kellee would continue to feel well, eat more and get stronger, 4) Wisdom for the doctors as we approach the end of the radiation treatment phase for whatever is next(?) 5) For us to be able to be able to organize all the insurance EOB’s, medical bills, etc so Kellee (& us) don’t get overwhelmed by them.

That Smell, with apologies to Lynyrd Skynyrd*

Wednesday, May 19, 2010 – This morning I got up early to try to get some work done before we left for treatment. While I was working Kellee got up to shower, etc .When he went to turn off the shower, the handle fell off! (I heard the clanging sound and wondered if a grab bar had come off or the shower curtain fell.) He then couldn’t turn off the water. He came out and asked my if I had a screw driver or wrench. I guess that is why I was never a good Boy Scout, I was not prepared because I did not bring any tools along with us. I was able to get the handle back on and tighten the Allen head screw by hand. I notified the Hope Lodge staff and an Allen wrench will be obtained so we can tighten it completely.

As we were walking into the clinic area today and walked past the coffee bar that is at the top of the steps, Kellee mentioned how the smell of the coffee bar is displeasing to him. It is not the coffee smell that actually he doesn’t like but the combination of smells generated at such a place, the food along with the drinks,etc is what he doesn’t like.  He thinks it was poor planning to put it right there where patients are going by to head down to Radiation Therapy and they might be bothered by such an odor.  The treatments go much quicker now and we were back at the Lodge in about 30 minutes. We waited to eat a  midday meal until 1:00. We just went for heated up left overs. While we were eating there were a couple other guys there at different tables discussing their various health situations, etc. When one of them mentioned how the smell of the coffee bar at the top of the stairs to Radiation Therapy was offensive to him, Kellee chimed in his agreement. What I observed next was a 3-way conversation between people who even though strangers, share a bond only they could ever understand. They not only talked about smells and tastes, but also how people tell them the latest cancer “cure” they need to try to where they “should” go for treatment. Watching and listening to this interaction nearly made me cry. To hear the frustration (& pain) behind their words was strangely gut-wrenching. I had to get up from the table and go work on putting stuff away in the kitchen to distract myself. All three talked about being treated at U. of I. and how they thought it was a great place. One of the guys, who was from Wisconsin, said he had been told he had to go Mayo Clinic for his treatment. He evidently did some investigating into it. He found out the four doctors at Mayo who were in the department in which he would have been treated were all trained at University of Iowa Medical, so he figured Iowa was the place to go! With the number of people using the Hope Lodge kitchen and the variety of meals being prepared, sometimes the smells can compete. I wonder if any of the patients are bothered much by smells here at Hope Lodge? When we come up from our room and head for the kitchen area, you just never know what smells might hit you.

I decided to do a bit of laundry today and washed the towels. I also went out and did a bit of looking for a work replacement camera, so far not seeing anything I like. Tonight I fixed some chicken, decided not ti grill it since we grilled last night. It was OK, not great. I left it in the oven a bit too long and it got kind of dry. Fortunately the sauce masked the dryness a bit. Since we ate a bit later than normal, we were unable to claim a TV room so we went back to our room.

Today Heidi left on a two-day trip to West Chicago for work. She was to have a tour of the Pella Chicago Sales branch today and attend a seminar on Thursday, fun stuff!

*For those of you who don’t know, Skynyrd recorded a song called “That Smell”

Phase 3 Begins (& A Two Day Review)

Monday, May 17, 2010 & Tuesday, May 18, 2010 -

Monday morning I worked until noon because Kellee’s last treatment focusing on the ventricles was not until 2:30 in the afternoon. I was taking photos in the Model Shop @ Pella Corp. and as I was moving around the product I was photographing, the camera strap got caught on vise handle on the side of the table and I did not notice it. Next thing I knew the camera was on the floor.  Ouch! The flip out LED screen broke and now the screen does not work. The camera is 5 years old, but still worked well until it had this run in with the floor.  Now I need to decide if it is worth getting fixed or just get a new one?

We got to Radiation Therapy just on time and even still had to wait a bit before they called Kellee in. After the treatment Kellee’s spirits were high because another phase of treatment is now complete and he is moving on to the final phase focusing on George the tumor!  However, he did say physically he felt a bit “off” again.  Back at the Hope Lodge, we settled in. Kellee found a TV room and since there was a table with chairs in it as well, I set up a little work area. Turns out Heidi set up shop last week in the same place, great minds think alike! After the evening meal, Kellee claimed a TV room so we could watch House later on and I went to Hy-Vee to see if I could find some meats on sale so we could BBQ this week. When I got back I made a couple of fruit smoothies and we watched TV, basically waiting for 11:00 to come around so Kellee could take his zofran.

When 11:00 rolled around, we went back to our room, I got ready for bed, Kellee took the pill. Then when he was in the bath room, getting ready for bed he got sick and he had tried to shut the door and be quiet so I wouldn’t hear it, but I noticed. Then I couldn’t sleep for a while worrying about him!

Tuesday – I decided not to get up and exercise because I wanted to sleep in. After we both got up and ready, we had breakfast, egg cheese sandwiches on a bagel. On the way to Radiation Therapy Kellee was a bit anxious because he had gotten sick and what would the next treatment phase bring? When we got to the radiation therapy area we remembered to ask if there would still be a treatment on Memorial Day. They said no, the department would be closed. We were told it is one of the few holidays they get! Kellee said he did not get the metallic taste in his mouth during this treatment. He was pleased, he thinks this means it will not be as hard on him. He did say they took a couple x-rays and he did taste metal during them. He was still feeling a bit “off”.  Back at Hope Lodge, I put the country-style ribs in the crock pot to get them going for the evening meal. I made up a spice rub with some of the spices on hand here, knowing I would be able to top the ribs off later with some BBQ sauce.   For the rest of the morning I worked while Kellee was on his computer. He is still trying not to nap during the day so he can sleep at night. We decided to go for Pizza Hut Buffet @ 12:30 for lunch. This was good news for a couple of reasons. 1) Kellee actually felt up to going out and going to eat!  2) Pizza Hut- which done right can be very good pizza (and it would not be the Pizza Hut from our home town, which struggles to put all the right ingredients on a pizza in a timely manner, but once again that is a whole other blog post).

Target was our next stop, Kellee wanted a couple of shirts. On the way there Kellee mentioned he had “accidentally”  left his wallet back at our room, how convenient! A few shirts were acquired as well as some Gatorade. Then it was back to the Lodge to work. At night I took the ribs out to the grill to finish them off and we ate very well! Ribs, sweet potatoes and broccoli. No dessert since we did happen to stop by Cold Stone Creamery on our way back from Target. Tonight we kind of just hung out, watched a bit of TV and then back to our room to wait again for the 11:00 pill. Ever since noon, Kellee seems to have felt pretty well. So far today there have been no other incidents of sickness and Kellee’s appetite has been good. (THIS JUST IN – looks like I will have to wake Kellee up for the 11:00 pill!)

Keep praying for strength, good rest and tumor shrinkage and/or disappearage (I may have just invented a word?).

Congraduations Kerry!

Saturday, May 15, 2010 – We spent the day celebrating Kerry’s graduation from Central College here in Pella, Ia. This now means there are 4 CUI graduates in our family; Heidi, Kent, Kellee & now Kerry. Here is a  brief recap of the day – 1) Baccalaureate was at 1st Reformed Church here in Pella @ 9:30 am. Kellee stayed home while the rest of us, Heidi, Tami, Faithe, Kory & myself went to the service and sat in the balcony.  After Baccalaureate we met on the south lawn and took some photos. The gold cord Kerry has on his robe signifies he graduated with one of them there Latin honor designations.

After Baccalaureate

After photos we went to the Central Market (Dining Hall) for brunch. Kelsey joined use there. After we ate we left Kerry at CUI and then we went home. We picked up Kellee and went to the Central field house for the graduation ceremony.  The graduates marched in, there was an address, diplomas were handed out, pictures were taken and the graduates marched out. Then we all met outside for cookies, etc and more photos.

I then dropped everyone off and went to Kerry’s dorm room to help him move home the last couple larger items for which he needed the van. The next stop  for Heidi, Kerry, Kelsey and I was a graduation party at the home of one of Kerry’s college buddy’s mother’s house. (How’s that for use of apostrophes?) Snacks were on the menu and then more photos were taken.

Kerry right after receiving his CUI diploma

The Family

The 3K-boys after Kerry's CUI Graduation

Kerry on gradeeashon day!

Orange Jumpsuits plus plugged water pipes

Just a couple random things for this post. One is just an observation of what I saw at the hospital and in the Radiation Therapy department. One day when I was walking in the hall toward the pharmacy, I met someone being pushed in a wheel chair. Now that is not an unusual site to see in the hospital, but how this was different is the guy being pushed was wearing an orange jumpsuit and was handcuffed and his legs were shackled as well. The person pushing was an armed officer of the law! I thought  that was a bit strange but I am sure if a prisoner needs medical treatment, special precautions need to be taken. The very next day when we arrived at the Radiation Therapy department, coming out of the treatment area was another prisoner being pushed by an armed guard. Often times in a treatment area, no metal is allowed, so I am sure the prisoner/patient needs to have the handcuffs, etc removed for treatment, the armed guard is a very good idea!

During the week of April 26 we called to have our dishwasher looked at because it was not doing its job properly, which is “warshing the deehes” as one of my sisters might say. The service man came over and looked at the appliance and said there was nothing wrong with the dishwasher, it was our water pressure. He asked if we had galvanized pipes, (which we did) because when a house with galvanized pipes gets of a “certain age,” there can often be trouble with the pipes getting clogged. (Since, I am older than our house, does that make me a “certain age” as well and will I have problems with my pipes soon?)  He suggested we contact a plumber to check it out. We called the plumber and he confirmed the pipes were plugged and we would need to have them replaced. (We had noticed the hot water pressure in the kitchen was not as strong as it had been previously and that the shower in the basement was taking an extra long time to warm up.) We were told someone would have to come out later to give us a quote. I mentioned this to our friend John and he said he could replace the pipes and it would potentially save us some serious $. So I called the plumber and asked if he could give me a ball park quote over the phone, which he did. Based on that information, we decided last week on Tuesday to go ahead and have John do the work. He started last Wednesday and that night Heidi had to stay at her mom’s because there was no water.  I know what some of you might be thinking, I see why you had the work started last week, you and Kellee were at Hope Lodge and didn’t have to worry about having the water turned off. Actually we just wanted to get the pipes replaced as soon as possible and John had the time then. He worked on it three days and by Friday night we had new pipes and the water pressure has never been better! It is awesome.