Nine Mile Canyon (with Petroglyphs)

Thursday and Friday was Fall Break for the kids and Marie, but unfortunately not for me. Thursday I did play hooky so I could go see the movie Pan with the kids. Then Friday after my two morning classes, Joel, Will and I headed south for an adventure. Sarah had her last ACT prep class on Saturday morning and so she and Marie stayed home (a movie night and shopping on Friday kept them entertained). Our destination was Nine Mile Canyon up the road from Price and Wellington Utah. It was a slice of Utah, I had not yet seen. The canyon has no public campgrounds and most of the valley is privately owned by ranchers. We camped at Nine Mile Campground--part of one of the private ranches. Most of our camping in recent years has been with the scouts and Young Men in the ward with their well outfitted camp trailer with its gas stoves and dutch ovens and with their inclination to cook delicious dinners and breakfasts. I'm not that guy. We went minimalist. Subway/Wendy's sandwiches to-go from Price for dinner, cold cereal and orange juice for breakfast and bagels, carrots, apples, and Marie's delicious zucchini bread for lunch.

After our no-cook, no-clean-up dinner we had time to go out exploring. Will balked at any mention of a hike for fall break, so we went for a "leisurely stroll" that he really liked.

We found three deer grazing on the stubble of an alfalfa field that we followed up into the hills. They kept an eye on us but didn't seem too worried. It is deer hunt season and I'm hoping they knew that they were safe on the private lands of the ranch and from the gunless/huntless Emmetts.

Hiking down we saw eight more dear, enjoying an alfalfa dinner. One was always on the watch.

We brought globe willow logs from home for our camp fire and s'mores.


 Joel's artistic image of our campfire.

The boys slept in the 2 1/2 man tent and I slept outside on an air mattress with extra warmth from a Norda Emmett quilt. Will was a little worried for my safety at first. A flapping tent flap also worried him, but Joel came to the rescue with an explanation of what the noise was and letting Will listen to some calming music on his i-pod. Will was first up at 7:00 am. It was mostly dark, but we soon got a fire going by blowing on the remnant of last night's coals.

Part of the reason I chose Nine Mile Canyon was because an approaching storm was coming in Friday from the southwest and this more eastern part of Utah would not get rain until Saturday afternoon. We headed up the sunny canyon (most likely named by one of John Wesley Powell's surveyors when they explored and mapped the Green River, into which Nine Mile Creek flows.) Luckily the road was all paved a few years ago to cut down on increasing dust from all of the natural gas mining trucks transiting the canyon. We were armed with a long list of mile markers for Fremont Indian petroglyph sites. Some were easier to spot than others. I knew interest would be short lived so I pre-selected what I thought would be most interesting. First stop was the Tug-of-war.

Swallow nests

 Balance Rock

 Nine Mile Canyon. Storm clouds moving in.

 "The Giant"

Rasmussen Cave.


 It is privately owned as noted by this sign painted (over a petroglyph!) by the owner.

 Hunting image from the cave as seen from behind the fence.

I mistakenly told Will we were going to hike up to a Fremont village which was his cue to start complaining. It took about 10 minutes to hike up to this rock covering a livable cave with multiple entrances. Fremont Indians lived in the valley until about 1200 AD. 




Below were fertile lands of the creek-fed valley. Granaries were located along the cliffs, but they were one thing we never could see.

 These rocks mark the perimeter of a buried Kiva that overlooks the valley.



One of the few marked petroglyphs. This one is the most famous and it sits on Utah Educational Trust land. The state is covered with these square mile plots (marked in blue on government maps) which were established as part of the township and range system to make sure that every settlement had land for schools. Currently, mining, grazing and logging revenues from these plots help pay for education in Utah.

How have I never been here before? So much exploring still to do.

 Group selfie by Joel to prove that I was there.

 The Big Buffalo

Pregnant Buffalo

 Rock art from ancient to modern.

Being amused by cow pies.

 
Our last stop was to see the many interesting panels accessed via a short stroll (not hike) at the entrance to Daddy Canyon. Who knows what these creative ancient Americans were trying to say. I have my own ideas.

 A winged/horned being (angel/devil?). Or did aliens visit the Fremont?

 Five free-fallers holding hands

 Lobster for dinner.

 Proof of an ancient green revolution: pivot (circle) irrigation and using animal droppings for fertilizer.

We then headed north via Gates Canyon along a winding dirt road that eventually connected with US 40 near Myton that took us west back home.

The upper reaches of Gates Canyon and out into the Uinta Basin were dotted with natural gas pumps.

Alfalfa irrigated with water channeled via canal from the Duchesne River--which flows into the Green River which flows into the Colorado River. Foothills of the Uinta Mountains in the distance. It rained the last hour or our afternoon drive home. A grand outing.

Paraganglioma Part 7:

Early Monday morning Sarah (accompanied by Marie) had a PET scan at Huntsman Cancer Institute. Today we returned for another 7:30 AM appointment to meet with Dr. Wright for the results. First on the docket was the usual weight and height measurement (still no growth in height) and blood pressure—which was much higher than usual. It was either a sign of increased paraganglioma activity or an indication that outwardly calm Sarah was nervous inside (the later was true, by the end of the consultation her blood pressure was back down to normal). Once in the exam room, the nurse practitioner gave us a pre-indicator that good news was coming.

When Dr. Wright came in she told us that there had been no growth in the five tumors and this result was “huge!” No growth is the best possible news other than having the tumors disappear (we had hopes). She then scheduled Sarah for a follow up PET scan in three months. During the past two worrisome months Marie wondered why nothing else (other than taking osteoporosis medicine—to help the bones contain the tumor growth) was being done. When I asked Dr. Wright about attacking the tumors with Chemo or medicine her reply was that at this point Chemo and a specific medication we had heard about (mitotane) were much more “nasty” than having small tumors in her bones and none of these treatments were all that reliable or predictable in fighting paraganglioma. For now the best route is to monitor the tumors and hope they don’t grow. If they do grow then we wait until there are tangible symptoms that warrant the use of “nasty” treatments. As a follow up to this discussion we found out that the largest tumor is 2 centimeters on the T9 vertebrae and another one is 1.9 cm in the pelvis region. The other three are less than a centimeter in size. In passing Dr. Wright mentioned that on occasion some tumors just peter out and disappear. That would be wonderful.

We ended up with a recommended flu shot for Sarah and some blood work. She opted for the flu shot in her left shoulder hoping that any resulting pain would not get in the way of her orchestra concert tonight. She played her best in spite of having a sore tricep and being extra tired from so many early mornings.

Three thoughts about faith, fasting, blessings and prayers: 

1. When Sarah was first diagnosed with metastatic paraganglioma tumors, Marie’s request to family members was to do as she was doing--pray that no new tumors appear and that the current tumors be very slow growing. So far so good.  

2. When Grandpa Tueller and I gave Sarah a blessing on Sunday night, both Sarah and Marie had distinct impressions that my radiologist father who passed away five years ago that very day, was present. Sarah imagined her two grandfathers and father standing in a circle around her. If there was ever a good guardian angel to have it would be Dr. Emmett.

3. Marie’s nephew Ian’s wife Anne sent us this e-mail message today. Their three year old son Henry has red hair and has bonded with Sarah over the past two months since they moved here.

“The Monday after September's fast Sunday, Henry refused everything we tried to feed him for breakfast. Ian and I were both pretty frustrated when Henry finally said, ‘I don't need anything for breakfast because I'm fasting for Cousin Sarah.’  The next day he asked ‘Cousin Sarah still sick?’  I explained that the doctor's needed to wait and see, but he kept asking the same question and then started insisting that, ‘Cousin Sarah not sick anymore, because we fasted and prayed.’” 

Out of the mouth of babes.

Thanks to all for good wishes, fasting and prayers. As my friend Mohammad in Bethlehem always says, we will continue to "pray and hope for the best."

Listen to cellist Sarah play William Hofeldt's The Gift with the Springville High School Philharmonic Strings. Click Here

She is not only brave, but talented.

 
Congratulations to Joel who received his Life Scout award tonight in a court of honor. 

On top of that

Some days just don't go so well. Yesterday afternoon I got a few texts from Joel telling me about Sarah's first fender-bender and with two photos of the dented passenger side of our 97 Subaru that Sarah now drives. She was in the new round-a-bout on 400 South in Springville when she was hit (both were luckily going quite slow) by an elderly man who failed to yield. He and his apologetic wife were dressed up and on their way to a funeral and Sarah was on her way to pick up Joel from school. Sarah didn't know to call the police and the man felt everyone had places to be so they just exchanged names and phone numbers. He called us last night and will get his insurance agent going on getting approval to have the misshaped and whistling door fixed. Sarah is very good at following the British mantra to Keep Calm but as parents it is hard to see her have to deal with one more thing. She is already extra busy with musical rehearsals, ACT prep, sterling scholar application, calculus homework, library volunteering and a host of other things. She also has her Monday morning PET scan to see if her tumors have been growing to worry about.

One more first world concern (for this doting dad) is that Sarah was not asked to the homecoming dance tonight. Come on guys, she is cute, funny and great company. She deserves to be asked to at least one dance in high school. No need to worry about clever invites or expensive day long activities. Just call her up (like we did in the olden days) and say "hey Sarah, would you like to go to the homecoming dance with me?" Then take her to dinner and the dance. It will be fun. She even has some equally nice friends who would be happy to group date with your friends.

On top of that, this morning I went out at 7:00 AM armed with hornet/wasp spray and fully covered in long pants and sleeves, gloves and netting draped over my head and held in place by a hat to see if I could finally get rid of the pesky yellow jacket hive nicely protected within the retraining cinder blocks of our terraced raspberry garden. I tried spraying before (it only killed those yellow jackets coming in and out), I tried flooding them out (didn't work), and I tried sealing the entrance with mud (they dug a new entry). I had hoped that the early morning cool would mean less active insects, but unfortunately it didn't. My plan was to use a digging bar to dislodge the top block hopping it would drop down bottom side up so I could spray the nest. Unfortunately, the block dropped on its side and too close to the wall to actually see if there was a hive inside. I started to plaster the block with spray hoping to drench the nest, but within seconds the yellow jackets were upon me. In my haste to escape I banged my scalp on one of the plum tree branches. I then jumped down from the top terrace and took a tumble into the trunk of our chestnut tree which banged up my forehead. Meanwhile a yellow jacket or two had gotten under the netting. I jumped up and ran to the front of the house where I shook them out, but not before getting a small sting on my right ear lobe. Not yet willing to admit defeat, I eventually returned from afar to spray the last of the can on the many yellow jackets swarming around where the block had been. Closer inspection later on when things had calmed down revealed that the nest is within the next course of blocks which means I can't get to them without dismantling much of the wall which would be even more crazy to do with the yellow jackets still in charge. Looks like we will just have to carefully pick our raspberries and plums. I just read that the hive will not winter over so hopefully next year we will not be have to wage such wars.

On top of that, Marie was pulled over this morning by a policeman while hurrying back to the Stake Center (just a few blocks away) where she was coordinating a baptism for two Primary children. She came home to pick up some safety pins for some white pants that needed emergency hemming. Driving back she was careful (as usual and unlike her husband) to drive the speed limit which is hard to do on the down hill stretch of 400 East (where policemen often lie in wait). When the policeman approached her, Marie asked "what did I do?" knowing that she was not speeding. He told her it was for not wearing a seat belt. New laws allow people to be pulled over only for not wearing a seat belt. Luckily he took pity on Marie when she explained where she was going and only gave her a warning.

On top of that, we are all taking worm medicine for a case of pin worms that somehow came to plague (at least three of us) us with itchy behinds. Not fun.

Thankfully and on a more positive note, Joel and Will's teams both won/tied their soccer games today. Sarah enjoyed helping with the Drama Guild float for the Homecoming parade. All three kids enjoyed going to the homecoming game last night. Marie and Sarah enjoyed the Women's Session of General Conference tonight while the boys and I went to a party in the canyon with Joel's soccer team and their families. And we are all enjoying our daily fill of fresh peaches, fresh plums  and fresh tomatoes.

Onward, ever onward.

Paraganglioma Part 6: Brothers

After a round of appeals to our insurance company, we were finally approved for Marie, Joel and Will to have genetic testing of their SDHB gene to see if they have the same mutation as Sarah. We got a call last week with the results, but the official word came in the mail today between Will's morning soccer game and Joel's afternoon game.

You can read the results below. The summary is that Marie and Will (plus Sarah) have the SDHB mutation and Joel does not. Will was quite traumatized last Sunday when we told him. It is a big burden for a young boy to carry. One of his questions was "Why is Joel so lucky?" We have to keep reminding him that his mom and probably his grandma Tueller have the same mutation and yet have never had any tumors grow or any symptoms of paraganglioma or pheochromocytoma appear. We hope Will is so blessed. We plan to have blood work and an MRI done later this fall for Will so we can know if he is free from any tumors and to have a base line evaluation to monitor any future developments.