Updates From March: Arizona

March started with a trip to Arizona to be with Grandma during her recent surgery.  Despite being there for something other than just fun, I still ended up having a great visit.  On Monday, Grandma took me out to Mexican with some of my Grandpa Vehling's twin relatives, Bill and Bob Franklin, who I've never met.  They were great fun and shared some amusing stories that left me smiling.  Poor Grandma was under doctors orders to not eat a thing, so she had to watch while we all chowed down on chips and salsa and Margaritas.  I let you in on a little secret though, she did sneak in one glass of wine, assuring us it was ok since she was allowed to have "clear liquids"!

As most of our family already knows, Grandma was diagnosed with stage 3 cancer in the summer of 2008, a scary time for us all.  One of the reliefs we had was her doctor, Dr. Roberts, who is simply stated one of God's finest.  He spent so much time with her and with the family, explaining her next steps and taking time above and beyond the norm (especially now-a-days) to answer our questions.  To make him even extra special in our eyes, my Grandma underwent kidney surgery to remove the tumor under Dr. Roberts' hand and is now completely cancer free.  As we waited in Pre-Op for this surgery, we noticed Dr. Roberts (who was not involved in this situation) walk in to the waiting room and address his surgery-patient's family with the same care and personability he showed towards us.  Amazingly, after he finished debriefing the family across the way, he walked over, sat next to Grandma and asked by name, "Now Pat, why are you here today?  Everything ok?"  I was FLOORED that this doctor remembered my Grandma by name.  He even remembered me as her granddaughter and that I had worked in hospitality.  Now if we could all do our jobs that well, and treat each other with such kindness, the world would be such a great place.  In the meantime, I'll stand in awe of Dr. Roberts and try to learn from his example.

The doctors and nurses laughed as Grandma reminded them that she would also be needing a tummy tuck, with a wink.  Anita also aiding in lightening the mood when she brought this book into the back room for group discussion: 

The doctors did mention that Grandma's colon resection surgery would result in a loss of 10-15 pounds.  There were no takers to switch places with her.  The surgery was very successful, and in typical Grandma fashion, she is recovering well and already bored of being ordered to sit around and do nothing.

While out in Arizona I was also able to see former bridesmaid Mariah, who is going to be getting a special shout-out next week on the blog. 

I also had a quick chance to stop by North Valley Gymnastics, where I got to see some old coaching friends and even bumped into some gymnasts I used to coach. Last stop for this trip was Oasis Gymnastics, where I was thrilled to see Janine Thompson, a role model of a coach and owner who taught me just about everything I know about gymnastics during my first year at Flames, and Bekah Gher, another favorite gymnast of the past who now trains with Janine and will be attending Boise State next year.

Bekah was our first kid to make a TOPs National Team, was a Region 1 team member at Level 9 Nationals and was in the first group we had that tested Elite, I believe all by about 13 years old:

  

Boise State is coached by Patty and Neil Resnick.  I am so excited for Bekah to get to train under my gymnastics mentor and all-time favorite coach, Patty Resnick.  She is simply the best.  Congrats to Bekah, and to Oasis for getting her there!