Goodbye to Grandpa Lynn

Most of you are probably aware that Alex's Grandpa Lynn passed away on May 10. That is the main reason for the long gap in posts to the blog. Many of you have been asking for updates and those will begin again soon, but we felt it was important to write about Grandpa Lynn first.

Alex was born on August 17, 2009. Grandpa Lynn had celebrated his 40th wedding anniversary with Grandma Pam the day before Alex's birth and he was diagnosed with esophageal cancer a few days later. We were all shocked by the news, but hopeful for what might come. The following months were filled with doctors appointments, chemotherapy, a major surgery, and, most of all, lots of waiting.

In early April, he received a PET scan that revealed some difficult news. The tumor was back and had metastasized throughout his stomach. In other words, instead of a solid mass, he was facing small specks in his stomach and intestines. This meant that surgery was not an option. All of this occurred while he was undergoing his second round of chemotherapy, which meant that the chemo had no positive affect on the tumor. His oncologist told us that the three drugs he was using for chemotherapy were the strongest that they had and therefore it did not make sense to continue with that treatment given how hard it had been on him and its ineffectiveness.

Shortly after the PET scan, Grandpa Lynn went down to the Mayo Clinic to see if he could be a part of a clinical trial. Ultimately, that did not work out. In late April, after checking in to the hospital with dehydration and vomiting issues we found out that the nerve endings in his gastrointestinal tract that moved food through his bowels were not doing their job. He came home from the hospital on April 30 to do hospice care.

The following week and a half was filled with a lot of love, laughter, and more than a few tears. An endless line of friends and family came to visit him. Alex was able to visit him most days and they always brought smiles to one another's faces. It was truly touching to see the love they had for one another---Grandpa Lynn always made the best funny faces.

His funeral was attended by at least 140 people and many people came up to share wonderful stories about him. Alex was so good during the service, sitting quietly most of the time, and piping in when she felt moved to. Grandpa Lynn probably got a kick out of that.

We have received such great support over these last weeks. Alex lost her Grandpa Walt a few months before she was born, so we are committed to telling her all of the great stories about both of her grandpas. We're asking our friends and family to help us with this.