Frank & I have been doing genealogy for several years and we have been working a shift at the Family History Center , but had to quit due to our surgeries . Our favorite genealogy site is : Ancestry . com and we are excited that the Las Vegas Temple district has just recently been allowed to the newfamilysearch . org site . We love researching our families and have spent hours and hours doing so . We are the Family History Consultants for our Ward . The below picture was taken on a trip Frank & I made in 2000 . I was able to see this old Smith Home and meet some of my cousins on this trip . I actually visisted this old place when I was a very small child around 4 years old , and I can still remember it . As I was wandering around the old place , I felt my deceased Aunt 's presence and I could see her running around the yard playing as a small child . She was raised by the Smiths her grandparents . I was born in Salt Lake City , UT where I spent the first 20 years of my life . I graduated from West High School and went to Henager Business College , and worked at the State Road Shops in Salt Lake City . I married Larry Staley on Sept . 30 , 1960 and we had three children , Sherry , Bret , and Garen . We moved to Grantsville , UT in 1961 and lived there for three years . We moved to NV in 1964 when Garen was just four months old . We lived in Las Vegas for a few months and then moved to Overton , NV where Larry opened the Bank of Las Vegas as the bank manager . He was killed in a bank robbery in August of 1967 along with two of his bank tellers . He was 28 and I was 26 , and I was left with three small children . This was the hardest part of my life losing my husband at such a young age . I married Bud Walkington two years later . He was the husband of one of the tellers that was killed . He had two daughters , Lani and Lori . They and their children are still in my life and I love them dearly . This was an un - happy marriage and ended in 1978 . I then Married Frank Merritt and have been happily married for 31 years now . I just popped in to look at my blog . I can 't believe that the last time I posted was for my son 's birthday last May . I think that Facebook has taken over my blog . Even though I don 't post that much . I mostly just like to look and make comments . It is a good way to keep up with my friends and family . Now you may be wondering why I am feeling picked on ? Well it started out with the breast cancer scare and biopsy . I was elated that the results were good . Even though I am still be watched by my doctor . So then I went to my Dermatologist for my six month exam , and he had to remove a Basil Cell cancer off from the side of my nose . It left an ugly hole , that is supposed to fill in . It still looks red and I can 't see it filling in yet , but on the upside of things , It matches the scars on the other side of my nose where I had to have surgery several years ago to remove some more skin cancer . Had to make something positive out of it , or I would cry . Well the story doesn 't end there , like I said it has been a tough year . I have had a constant pain in my left side of my stomach and radiated to my back . I had a CT scan a couple of years ago and diverticulitis was blamed for the pain . About five years ago I had a Pelvic Mesh operation , and I couldn 't help but wonder if the mesh advertisement , I was seeing on TV , was the cause of my pain . I had asked my doctor about the TV advertisement and he said he didn 't used the kind of mesh that was causing the problems . So I decided the pain I was having was indeed diverticulitis . I continued to have the pain especially after I had a colonoscopy . I called the surgeon who did my colonoscopy , and told him I was having some server pain on my left side . He put me on an antibiotic thinking I had a flare up of diverticulitis . The pain still continued off and on for several months . Finally , I went in to my OBGYN for my yearly checkup , and told him of the pain I was having and was wondering if my bladder was the problem . He checked me out and and after a painful pelvic exam , he told me he found a nodule on my left side , and when he touched it , I about took him and me to the ceiling with the pain it caused . I cried " That is the pain I have been having ! " He had me come back the following day to have a ultra sound test , and some other test that caused me a great deal of pain . The pain lasted several days . I received a phone call from the receptionist that I needed to come in for a consult for my options . I went in for the appointment , and my doctor said the mesh had fallen and there was no option other than surgery . He had already talked to a Urogynecologist and he was told to have me make an appointment with him . Long story short , it was another month of having tests before a surgery date was set up . In the mean time the pain was getting more severe . I was operated on September 5th , and was in the hospital two days and a night . Since we live 70 miles away from the hospital , the doctor didn 't want me to travel , that soon after surgery . After surgery the he pain continued on my left side and when I went in to my doctor , I told him . He said he may have had to tug a little more on that side . Also the mesh had been laying against my colon and I am sure was causing irritation to my colon . Finally after four weeks the pain subsided , and I was elated to be without pain . I sat on our fifth wheel travel trailer steps listening to music and feeling like Fall was finally coming as it was a cooler day . I was thinking to myself finally no pain ! now maybe I can enjoy life again . Then a week or so later , I started feeling like I was having some gum pain issues on the right side of my mouth , both upper and lower . So I called my dentist and went to see if there was something he could do about it . I can still see the look on my dentist face after he looked at my teeth and gums . I touched his arm and said " Go ahead , join the list of all the other doctors I have seen lately , give me the bad news . " I thought he was going to tell me I would have to have my teeth pulled . Instead he gave me the diagnosis of Trigeminal Neuralgia . I had never heard of this , but I am experiencing it . It makes me feel like I have abscessed teeth on my upper and lower back teeth on my right side . It comes and goes , and lasts several minutes . My dentist told me I needed to go to a Neurologist . I made an appointment with my regular doctor to have him refer me to a Nurologist . He put me on an antiseizure medicine , and after a few days of taking it , I got so dizzy that I was afraid of falling down and breaking a leg , hip , arm , etc . I quit taking the medicine . I am waiting to get a CT - scan to make sure a tumor isn 't causing the problem . I have been reading on the internet about this malady , and it is scary as it is so painful and not too many treatments available . So Yes ! ! ! ! I am feeling a little picked on . All I can say at this point is " Old Age Sucks " ! ! ! ! ! ! I know there are things that are far worse than this , but I am the one going through this now , and I was hoping to travel more and enjoy UPDATE I just added the above post today even thought I wrote it a few weeks ago . I had the CT Scan and there was no tumor which was good news . The pain has subsided and I hope it goes away forever , but there is a chance of it coming back . I am really trying to be more positive about life and keep telling myself to try and fine the good in life , like my G . granddaughter lighting up my life . When she comes to visit I find myself smiling more often . After all family is what makes life worth living . Garen Van Staley was born on May 29 , 1964 around 8 AM at the Holy Cross Hospital in Salt Lake City , Utah . Larry and I were all most ready to move into our new home , in Grantsville , Utah . Larry was painting the inside of the house , and we were having a friend Dee Hubrich put the flooring in . I had been watching Dee lay the floor and was packing Bret around as he hadn 't leaned to walk yet . I swear that is what caused me to go into labor , packing Bret around . I went to bed that night and was dreaming about the new flooring in our home . I was rolling around in pain all over that new floor . Then suddenly I woke up and sure enough I was in labor . I started to cry as it was almost a month earlier than I was supposed to have Garen . I guess I wasn 't emotionally ready for the pain I was going to go through . I remember Larry telling me that I should be happy to get it over with . Even though Garen came early , he still weighed over 8 lbs . So it is good I had him early . When I went into labor it was the bearing down pain , so we had to rush and get me to the hospital . Larry called our neighbor and had their daughter come over to stay with Sherry and Bret . This was around 3AM in the morning . I had Bret and Sherry around 8 PM so this was different . We raced to Salt Lake City around a 45 minute drive . My doctor was waiting for me as he knew that I delivered fast . When Garen was born , Dr . Latteier said " It 's a boy and he looks just like his Dad . " That was because Garen had a receding hair line . I thought all of our kids looked like their Dad . I know Garen is an unusual name and this is how we picked that name . Larry and I had some very special friends in Grantsville . They were our neighbors and we ended up doing a lot of things together . Their names were Sharon and Gary . A lot of times when we would say their names , for some reason we would run the names together . Like Sharon and Garen . So we decided to name Garen after them . Larry always wanted to give the kids a name that couldn 't be turned into a nickname . Larry , Garen 's oldest son named his first son Garen . Garen was my baby , and I spoiled him rotten . Larry warned me about spoiling him , but I loved to rock my babies , and I couldn 't stand to let them cry . Garen had a bad temper and when he didn 't get his way , he would throw his head back and scream . One time we were visiting his Grandma and Grandpa Staley , and Garen had a screaming fit and threw his head back and hit me in the chin . It really hurt me and I picked him up and shook him a little and said , " I can 't stand you , you little brat . " Well Grandma didn 't like this and when we got home , I found out that Grandma had called Larry and told him about the incident . I was under a lot of stress having had three children really close together , moving twice and the last move from Grantsville to Las Vegas , leaving behind my best friend Sharon . After Larry and I talked about it he understood . Also the reason we were in Salt Lake was to go to our old doctors as we were all sick . We found out later we had picked up a bug from raw milk . Garen had a tough time being picked on by his siblings and as they would be playing in another room , I would hear him screaming . I would run into the room , and the screaming had stopped abruptly . He would look pale and limp , it scared me . Finally one day I caught him as he passed out . He would hold his breath and pass out for a second or two . It scared me , but I learned to run him to the sink and sprinkle some water on his face and it would stop him . To this day , he still has a bad temper . Not sure how old I think around 6 When Garen was around three , he was out in our backyard with Sherry and Bret . I had the spirit tell me that I had better go out side and check on him . I went out just in time to see Garen get burned with a piece of plastic . We used to burn our garbage and for some reason Garen had a fascination with fire that went on for several years . Garen had stepped on a piece of plastic that had fallen on the ground . He burned his foot pretty bad . Larry and I took Garen for a ride after taking care of the burn in hopes it would calm him down . Then we came home and laid him on the couch . Sherry and Bret were so concerned for him and were so cute in trying to take care of him . Larry was a volunteer firefighter and one year Garen started the field on fire across the street from where we lived . A little embarrassing for Larry . Years later after Larry had died , Garen and a friend about burned our rental home down . I often wonder if he is still fascinated with a camp fire ? I had to post the pictures of Frankie as he was a part of our family . Frankie was our neighbor and was at our home for every occassion . I would place an extra plate on the table at dinner time because I knew he would be there to eat with us . He was a lot younger than Bret and Garen , but never the less he was their friend . Frankie ended up with cancer in his Senior year of high school , and was able to beat it . He was able to get married , but unfortunately the cancer came back and he passed away . This was a sad time for all of us . We loved him as one of our own . Click on the image and they will show in a larger size . This was one of the few times we spent all together at our Condo in Elk Meadows . We had a lot of fun playing in the snow , and playing games . I remember splitting my sides with laughter when we were playing a game . I think Cortney said something that just hit the funny button . They are all grown up now and have kids of their own . I don 't know why but one thing that I remember about Garen is about him protecting me . We were riding bikes in Overton one afternoon , and all of a sudden this crazy man came running out of a trailer park and started chasing me . It really scared me and I stated pumping that bike as fast as I could . Garen went after the man and and that made him stop and he ran back into the trailer park . Garen was my Hero that day . One of the hardest times in our lives is when I married Frank and we moved to Oklahoma . We were all homesick for our home and friends in Overton . We would go to the Wichita Wild Life Refuge park not to far from our home , and we prayed our hearts out that something would happen so that we could move back to Overton . Long story short , Frank had the spirit tell him on a trip to Oklahoma City , that we should move back to Overton . We hadn 't unpacked all the boxes from our move , and you should have seen how fast we packed up the house and was ready to leave . I never dreamed that my relationship with Garen and his family would fall apart , but for the past eight or nine years that is exactly what has happened . My heart has been broken as I have missed out on so much in my grand kids lives . Marriages , great grand kids being born and not being able to see them . They think I don 't like them , but that is so far from the truth . The truth is that I do not want to cause problems within their family , and that I love them very much . Just wish there was a redo button to push . Garen , you will probably never see this , but I want to wish you a very Happy 50th Birthday . You and Natalie have raised a wonderful bunch of kids . I will love you forever . . . . . . . . MOM Thanks to a very good friend who saw a post of mine on facebook about my exhaustion . She got in touch with me and told me she was claustrophobic too , but since she had an open heart surgery the doctor told her she needed to have the sleep study done as it was important to her heart health . So any way she did go through the sleep study and now uses a CPAP and she told me how much better she feels now . She brought over her mask to show me how it just went over the nostrils . So I decided right then and there that I would schedule an appointment with my doctor who had done my sleep study several years ago . I had to wait several weeks to get in , and had the breast cancer scare just before the appointment . So my nerves were in hyper mode . I spent last Thursday and Friday night at the sleep clinic . The first night was awful , probably the most sleepless night I have had in a long time . I worried about having to do the study over again . So did the Tech who took care of me that night . She came in one time and said " Donna what can I do to help you sleep ? " I told her to go and get a baseball bat . She said " Sorry I don 't have one handy . " I had left my pillow at the clinic and so the next day I stopped by and was glad I had as the lab guy was there and heard me . He came out of his office and had me come into his room to view the results . I had one area that he was able to get enough data to meet Medicare standards . The second night was much better as I came prepared to sleep . I came with a bag of goodies , lavender oil , Advil Sleeping aide , and I had the Tech bring in a noisy fan . I had told her the room was too hot for me the night before , so she put me in the coolest room they had . She had me try several masks and I picked out the one that my friend has . I ended up sleeping through the whole night with the mask on . I did really feel different that morning , more alert and rested . Even though I went back to the hotel that Frank and I were staying in and crawled back in bed with him as it was still early morning . I went to sleep for a few more hours , happy that the sleep study was over . So now I am waiting for my CPAP machine and mask . One company had already made arrangements to come to my home on Monday , but after checking my insurance , she called and told me that maybe I should check another company to see if they were a Medicare provider . So now I am in the waiting game again . I hope to hear from them on Monday . I really want to get started with the machine and see if it will make a big difference in my fatigue . The funny thing is that I called my insurance and lady I talked to said that it was going to be 15 % in or out of network . So I am thinking I should have just kept my Monday appointment with the first company . So goes life . . . . . . the waiting game goes on . Unfortunately , the CPAP didn 't work our for me . I ended up having an allergic reaction to it . I was up to six hours a night and was just feeling like I was more energetic when the sneezing and running nose started . When I say runny nose , I mean a nose that was running like a water hose . My nose got so sore , I couldn 't touch it . I tried several times using the CPAP trying remedies that I found on the Internet , and from my doctor . Nothing worked ! ! ! The last time lasted longer than usual . I was told by several people that maybe I have an allergy to latex . Who knows what the cause is , I just know I can 't do it again . I do know others have had the same problem . So any way my CPAP was picked up today by Lincare . Good by to allergies caused by it , and hello to exhaustion . . . . . Can 't win for losing . I had my biopsy on Monday January 27 . I was a nervous wreck from the day I was told I needed a biopsy until I finally got the results . Anyway it was quite an experience , and I was glad the doctor had given me a brochure with a picture of the table I would be laying on and also explaining the procedure . My friend had also gone through this and she told me it was more uncomfortable than anything . My doctor had found another area of concern so I was going to have two areas biopsied . I have never had my boob pinched and poked , so much in my life . Once they put some numbing medicine in the area of the biopsy , the biopsy wasn 't so bad . I could feel the pressure and the poke of the needle , and it was not too painful . It was just the idea of what they were doing that got to my nerves . The first biopsy went fast , and I would have been done in 45 minutes , but then the probing and squishing of the boob began again . The area of concern was in a very difficult area and they had a hard time positioning the breast in order to get a good x - ray . Finally , after another hour of this , they decided it was a barnacle . So I was on that table for two hours . The table is hard , and they have you move up and down until they get you in the right position . I had to have my head turned to the right the whole time , so I ended up with a stiff neck and shoulder . The x - ray tech felt bad for me and before they did a regular mammogram , she actually massaged my neck for a few minutes . I was grateful for this little moment of relief . Also I was relieved that they didn 't have to biopsy another area . My cousin Penny , had come to the hospital and was waiting with Frank in the waiting room . I was glad he had company , as he wasn 't expecting me to be that long , and I think he would have started worrying . I had the tech go out an tell Frank there was going to be another procedure done and would be longer . I was shaking , and pale when I went into the waiting room . I needed to eat and the experience was nerve wracking . Frank treated Penny and I to a nice Red Lobster dinner afterwards , and then we headed home as I was exhausted and just wanted to go home and rest . Then the wait began , I was told that as soon as the doctor had the results , they would call me with them . Also the x - ray tech said my doctor should have the results by Thursday . So when Friday came and no results , I was a basket case , and decided that I wouldn 't get them until Monday at my appointment with the doctor . We went to Vegas on Friday afternoon so I could get my nails done , and on Saturday Sherry and I went to a Green Valley High School play , Mary Poppins . My great granddaughter was in a little part of it with a bunch of other kids so that is why we went , but I have to admit it was a wonderful experience . The play was awesome and I couldn 't believe all the stage props they had . Mary Poppins flew across the stage , up the chimney , etc . It was really long though , about two hours with an intermission , but it did keep my mind off from things . After we got back to Sherry 's condo , we decided we had to eat . I had turned on my phone , but hadn 't checked it as we were talking and congratulating the players outside the auditorium . So while we were eating , I checked my phone and my doctor had called twice and left me a voice mail that there was NO CANCER ! ! ! ! but to call him back on his cell I was so impressed with the fact that my doctor was calling me on a Saturday , and then giving me his cell number to call him back . How many doctors would have just had me wait until my appointment on Monday ? I felt the weight lift off from me and finally , I could take that deep breath and breathe again . I didn 't realize how exhausted I was until I woke up Sunday Morning at 10 : 00 AM . Needless to say Frank & I didn 't go to church . He was exhausted as much as me , so we stayed home and rested . When I went to St . George to see my doctor for the lab results , he went over everything that was in the report . I have what is called Calcification which is pepper looking flakes that show up in the mammogram . There are different kinds , and the pepper flake looking kind is bad as it means there is or are cancer cells forming in the breast . I will have to go back in six months and have another mammogram on the left breast . So all I can do is hope and pray that everything will be okay then . I feel like someone was watching over me , as everything just seemed to fall into place and I was taken care of a lot faster than most . So I thank my Heavenly Father for the blessing of not having cancer . I am grateful for family and friends that were praying for me . I was supposed to get a mammogram in October , but for some reason I kept putting it off . There just seemed to be too much going on . I decided to do it right after Christmas . I finally made me an appointment on January 15th . I had my Mammogram , and Frank and I went to Vegas the next day so I could get my monthly manicure and pedicure and my relaxing massage with Sherry . When I got home I had a voice mail from the x - ray technician and she told me there was abnormality in my left breast , and that I needed to call my doctor for the results . Of course it was on a Friday , and my doctor doesn 't work on Fridays . I left a message , and then called them back on Monday . Once again I had to leave a message , and I know my anxiety came through in my voice and message I left . I have the best OBGYN doctor . I couldn 't believe it when he called a little later on . I know it was in between his patients . He called instead of one of having one of his staff members call . He said " Donna did those Mesa View people scare you ? " He explained a little of what is going on , that I have microcalicifications in my left breast and that I would need a biopsy . He asked if I wanted to go to Vegas , or St . George . I chose St . George as we have a new doctor over there and have decided that is where we want to go for our medical needs . I told Frank what I could , and then said " now I have to go and cry . " Frank came in to find me cleaning our bathroom as that is what I do when under stress , clean ! ! ! ! He hugged me and said " you do know that everything will be okay ? " The hug felt good and made me feel better . I shook myself into the reality of I should just wait and see type of thing . Later that day , my wonderful doctor 's staff called me and they had set me up with a doctor in St . George . Everything was falling into place quickly . She told me I had an appointment for Wednesday the 15th . I no sooner got off from the phone when one of the surgeon 's staff called me to tell me they didn 't take my insurance which was a total shock as no doctor 's office , etc has refused my insurance . I told her this , and she told me to call my insurance company and ask them . It turned out that all the doctor has to do is treat it as Medicare , as I have a Medicare Advantage plan . So any way the lady that called me said I could come the next day which was a Friday . The doctor usually doesn 't work on Fridays , but she thought he would see me . The next step was getting my x - rays from the Mesa View Hospital . It was late in the day like around 3 : PM . So I called the hospital and was told the office stays open until 5 : 30 . We rushed over to Mesquite only to see a sign on the door stating they x - ray office closed at 3 : 30 . It was almost 4 : 00 . I rang the bell and a nice young girl came out and I told her my situation . She said they would make the copies for me right then . Wow ! I couldn 't believe how things were just falling into place . Someone was watching over me . So the next day , we headed to St . George for my appointment . I really liked the doctor as soon as he started to explain things . I won 't go into great detail at this point , only to say that he took the x - rays to his radiologist and they found another area of concern . So I was glad that they found it and both areas will be biopsied . The doctor checked me out , and gave Frank and I a little brochure that explained my type of concern , and how the biopsy works . He told Frank and I that if I did have this type of breast cancer , it is 100 % curable . That made us both feel better . The last step was to set up the biopsy which will be next Monday the 27th as I have to quit any blood thinners that I am taking which is baby aspirin and fish oil . I do have to admit I am still having anxiety going on , but I am sure this is normal for most people when the word cancer comes into place . I have to tell of an experience I had a month or two ago . I haven 't been feeling well at all , and have noticed I get very pale at times . I was in bed one night and had just finished saying my prayers when this electrical shock went through my body , and a voice inside me said " there is something wrong in your body . " So I wasn 't surprised when I got the bad report on my mammogram . Now the wait begins for the biopsy report . I was told they would call me as soon as they get the report . I am trying to think positive about all of this , after all the doctor said that if I do have cancer it is curable . I just had a close friend go through a breast cancer trial , and they were able to get it all through surgery . She had follow up radiation and is still being checked to make sure they got it all . We were talking the other day when I called her to tell her about my scare . She said that she felt her kids are grown , and has no responsibilities , and if it was meant to be her time to go , it would be okay . I agreed with her as I feel the same way . I am so exhausted all the time , I fight myself to keep up with things . I am not contributing any thing of value to life or my church . Even my genealogy has suffered as I just don 't feel like doing it any more . I know that I am suffering from depression because of the way I feel . Exhaustion is my companion . I am going to my sleep doctor next month and going to try the CPAC as my new doctor thinks my Sleep Apnea is causing my exhaustion . I will continue this story after I get my biopsy . Poor Merritt slept through the whole evening . He had been out in the hills and got his car stuck and had to walk all the way back to the freeway . A long distance . Some people pulled over and saw that he wasn 't doing so well . Long story short Merritt ended up in the Mesquite Hospital and was given and IV as he was dehydrated . He was able to get his car out of the mess a couple of days later with the help of a friend . We had a fun time with our gift game . Everyone kept their gifts . We didn 't sing the whole song book as usual . Laura and Sierra were sick with the bug that was and is going around . We all agreed that we missed our old songs , The Disney sing along carols that I had for years . It was on a tape that was so worn out , I finally retired it . I will have to see if I can find another one on line . Christmas Day was low key as Sierra ended up getting really sick , and we didn 't want to go over for Christmas dinner and catch the bug . I wasn 't feeling very good either . So I cooked my share of the dinner , mashed potatoes , and green beans . Bret came over with a portion of what they had cooked the main meal of turkey , gravy , etc . So we ate at our own homes . Christmas Eve was my celebration as it is every year , and it was fun .