July 28, 2026
A week ago, Tony woke up to a toothache and swelling along the left side of his jaw.
If it were you or me, we would have simply gone to our local dentist. But for Tony, who is living with radio-necrosis from cancer treatments, one wrong move by a dentist lacking experience in the matter, has the potential for a catastrophic failure of the mandible.
Tony contacted Dr. Monroe's office (the surgeon who removed his tongue) for a referral. There isn't a specialist in Eastern Idaho who they could refer us to. Tony made several calls on Wednesday and Thursday, and didn't get his calls returned. The 24th of July is a state holiday in Utah, so Tony suffered through the weekend.
Today we traveled to the University of Utah Greenwood Health Center to get some help. After taking images, Dr. Aleya Steckel consulted with doctors up at the hospital and they decided that Tony requires another surgical debridement procedure in the hospital. She prescribed an antibiotic and sent him home. Now we wait for scheduling.
Thursday, Jacqueline and Spencer graduated from BYU-I. Johanna and Melvin traveled from South Carolina and Jacque came over from Boise. The travelers overcame challenges and expensive vehicle repairs along the way.
On Saturday, we finally had the entire clan together for the first time in two years. We took family photos. (Spencer was our photographer!) Josie and Melvin cooked 20 pounds of wings in various flavors. William hosted the party and blew out candles on his birthday cake. Emily shared with everyone that she has submitted her papers and is awaiting her mission call.
Thank goodness for these sweet family moments to balance life's difficult challenges.
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