HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY LITTLE PIE MAKER

Happy birthday to Sepporah Leoni!!!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO TWO SPECIAL PEOPLE!!

Phyllis Ann Sarah Renee`

My Website!

Hey all!
I know Grandma has been asking for a link to my photography, so I thought I would just post it on here so you can all see :)

I just finished this website and am going to be sending the link out to a bunch of different places, hoping that it will get me an internship (wish me luck)!

I would love to know what you all think of it!

love,
kristen

http://www.kristen-cassidy.com

well, that wasn't fun

As usual, my hospital stays are adventures. Kristen took this of me while I as having some strange side effects.

I was in the hospital a week. I went in due to a 102+ fever and sever pain. I wasn't terribly worried about the fever but I have never experienced the pain like that. After a gazillion tests they finally determined I had a bacterial infection in my liver from side effect of the recent chemoembolization. They theorized dead tumor liquified, had no where to go, and infected. SO after a lot of antibiotics my fever broke an only the pain was left. I spent one day solely immovable. Thank God the pain broke the next day and I could suddenly get up. I am still sore and get an occasional cramp but wow, I feel sooooo much better.

I got home late Friday and Nathan and Anna arrive. That was a super med. We spent the weekend messing around, seeing Jonah, chasing bald eagles, eating, etc. I have 5 pounds to gain back. : )

I am gonna take a few days off to rest and stabilize. Oddly, my balance has abandoned me so I'm having to walk like an old man....taking it way slow. Once I feel stronger we'll see what 'next' is. I imagine we'll drive up all the ct scans and records to my oncologist in Chicago and go from there. I want to know what caused this as well as see if the chemoembolization had any effect on those original tumors.

Thanks everyone for your prayers and support. Thanks Trish and Mark for visiting. Mom, for your calls. I was not in a good mood so thanks for understanding.

BTW, Karen remains my hero. Between harassing the medical team for information and keeping me up and moving and staying positive, and dealing with her own fears, etc. she simply cares for me well, with love. I couldn't make it without her. I love her so much. And she an amazing grammy. Jonah smiles at her constantly.

Just a bit about the hospital--why I was stressing. Not a good sign when you tell the food service guy you are on a diabetic diet and he turns around and serve pancakes with whipped cream and syrup on them. Not a good sign when your doc tells you he needs to go read about chemoembolization. Or you have to argue with your nurse to explain that even though the computer says enzymes are to be administered at 10:00, it's now breakfast and I need them now (I can't eat without them). But no...gotta keep a schedule. Frustrating when the morning of being released a nurse asked me why I couldn't eat. I said I wasn't aware of that--had no idea. Randomly another nurse said, "Oh, he is having a stent put in this morning and can't eat." I sort of lost it then...I don't need no stinking stent. Bring me some food. Something with even more sugar on it.

Ugh. I am so happy to be home.

Claire Johnson, Ultimate Fighter

Claire Johnson, ultimate fighter. from Daniel Johnson on Vimeo.

Part of our nightly ritual has long involved some kind of fake martial arts. But recently Claire turned some kind of corner. She threw a punch and I was like, "Wow. Claire punches like a dude." Her kicks are no joke either, way above her head. It's pretty funny how sweet and feminine she is, but how she transforms into this animal when we're play fighting. Watch at the end how she gets tired with her right arm and starts throwing lefty jabs. So impressive.

A STEP BACK IN TIME. WONDERFUL MEMORIES!!!!

A sweet bunch of grandchildren with their uncle Scott. All but two are parents now.
Two sweet little girls who are now wonderful mothers.

Ready to take em on!!! Those were the days.

Picking their uncle's brain.

Sepporah working out with my pitchers again

Johnson Family Christmas

It was a great Christmas, in many stages. Here's a little video of some of the fun. For those of you with slow connections, click on "HD" to turn off high definition streaming.

Johnson Family Christmas from Daniel Johnson on Vimeo.

it's official, we're keeping him...

Looks like Aden had too much cheer! (Trish wrote.)

Trish sent an email, asking me to post this. Jason said Aden went from bouncing to comatose in a nano second.

Jonah's Pics!

Jonah didnt get to have his little "newborn photo shoot" that they normally do at the hospital because of his rough start. So this week I decided to take the pictures myself :) He is doing so well, is learning to smile, grab things and baby babble. I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas!