July 30, 2009 Craig is working every day

Craig is working every day and slowly is improving. We went out to see the orthopedic surgeon in Rapid City who first considered myeloma to get a second opinion on the Mayo Clinic's assessment of Craig's back. They were in agreement. No more vertebralplasties are needed.

We stayed with Neil, but didn't get to see much of him. We arrived late in the evening and the appointment went longer than expected and we didn't have lunch with him.

We're looking forward to our trip to Omaha next week for Anne and Scott's Omaha reception. It will be a fast trip since Neil will drive to Pierre on 8.6.09. We'll all drive to Omaha on the 7th and return on the 8th so Neil won't have to drive from Omaha to Rapid in one day. It will be good to meet more of Scott's family. Gail

July 18, 2009, a cool Saturday for July

There are 2 weeks to summarize. Last Saturday, Carl and family were invited to Tim Bieser's wedding. Tim is a classmate of Carl's and they were the only 2 boys from their Cub Scout pack to stay in scouts throughout high school. The bride was radiant and the groom was beaming.

Craig has been in the office every day for a couple weeks. He gets a little stronger every day. Last week, he met with the Avera oncologist who now lives in Pierre. Craig will have his 3 month checks here and infusions of bone strengthener in Pierre. We're glad to eliminate trips to Sioux Falls. Gail

PIcture of Sott and Anne 2007

Picture attemt

Wedding pictures from June 14, 2009. Craig continues to improve daily.

Pictures of Anne and Scott Saniuk's wedding can be found at:

http://www.thestudio-pierre.com/

Click on Full Screen
Click on Client Photos
Click on the white down arrows
Click on Client gallery
At the bottom is Weddings/ Engagements, click on this
Sometime it will ask for your email address
Click on Scott and Anne

We think all the pictures are wonderful. The bride was radiant and the groom was handsome.

We have not been posting as often as promised. Over the 4th of July weekend, we drove out to the Black Hills and visited Neil. We toured the Hills and saw many familiar sights. The fireworks in Rapid City were exciting on the 4th.

Craig is doing better every day. Everything from his home office has been taken
back. There's room to move around and we can see the floor again. Gail

More good news, 6.28. 2009

Late in the week, staff from Mayo called and Craig's bone marrow biopsy results looked great.

Good news from the Mayo Clinic, June 23, 2009

Last Saturday, Craig, Carl and I headed to to see family. We stopped in Huron to see Craig's father in the hospital. He had some complications from his last surgery, but it is resolved. He went home Monday.

We traveled to Hurley for the bi-annual Rundell reunion on my mother's side of the family. We arrived just as the clean up started. A smaller reunion of just Eli Rundell descendants was on Sunday. We stayed for that and saw many familiar relatives and met some of the younger generation attending for the first time. My father and Uncle Kenneth both passed away since the 2007 reunion.

Carl and my mother left for Akron and Craig and I headed to Rochester. We stayed at the transplant house and that made trip easier knowing we were headed to our "house" away from home. Craig had 2 full days of tests, consults, and exams.

The great news is there is no detectable sign of cancer in the blood, bone marrow, and any lesions are healed or healing. Craig will have some lasting side effects from the chemotherapy, but not anything as horrible as the disease. He doesn't have any new compression fractures and didn't need any more vertebralplasties. One of the readings from his blood work is usually associated with a longer than average remission.

He's had some lower back pain and will have a couple steroid injections before we leave tomorrow. This is an outpatient procedure and Craig should have no discomfort traveling. We'll need to pick up Carl from Akron on Wednesday and then head back to Pierre on Thursday.

Now it's time for bed. We have many things to be thankful for tonight in our prayers. Gail and Craig

Wednesday, June 17, 2009--from Craig:

Anne, our daughter, and Scott Saniuk were married Sunday, June 14, 2009, at Faith Lutheran Church in Pierre. It was a small, family only wedding with about 35 guests, all of them family. It was a really great wedding, certainly the best one I have been to since mine and Gail's. (Ours was still better--sorry Anne and Scott!!) Anne had the most beautiful gown I have ever seen. I walked her down the aisle without stepping on her long train. She was beautiful and radiant, the way a bride should be. Everyone was happy. Gail supervised all the decorating of both the church and the old St. Charles Hotel, where we had the dinner/reception. There will be an additional larger reception at Bellevue, NE, Scott's home town, on August 7. We will be there and enjoy that as well. It was a wonderful wedding and even the weather cooperated. This was the first time we met Scott's family, and they are great people. They accepted Anne and treated her as one of their own the minute she arrived in Omaha a couple of years ago. We were grateful for that, as she knew very few people there when she went there and they were exceptionally kind to her.

As to my health, I am getting along OK, but I still get tired. I am going back to work basically for half days (or less) and I am still getting a 2 hour or so nap in addition to my night time sleep. We will find out more, as my follow-up in Rochester is scheduled for next week, the 22nd and 23rd of June. We will try to post on that visit as soon as we hear back from the Doctors there.

Gail also has a family reunion this weekend, so we will stop in there for a short time on the way to Rochester for my checkup.

That is about all the news for now. We are very happy that Anne and Scott are married. They were able to go on a short trip to Colorado, but are back home (in Omaha) tonight. They both have to work tomorrow. Such is life, but at least they got in a short trip to celebrate their marriage.

See everyone here later!!

Craig