Grandma's Video

Here is a link to the video that Jessie and Sammie made. The password is smith9700.

https://vimeo.com/150273998

We put the "fun" into funeral

We are grateful to celebrate our Mom with friends and family! Thank you for all who came to the viewing and funeral. 

Thank you to the Manilla 1st Ward Relief  Society for providing a delecious family lunch.

Thank you to the neighborhood for lighting lanterns all along the street. If someone has a photo please email it to missyacollard@yahoo.com

Thank you for the musical talent and speakers. 

Thank you for all who took time from their busy schedule to be with us this day.

Love,

The Whole Family

Barbara Jean Smith

  September 10, 1950 - December 20, 2015  

Barbara Jean Jones was welcomed into this life on September 10, 1950 by her parents, Paul & Marie (Burns) Jones of Pleasant Grove, UT, her siblings, Janice (Mohetau), Robert, Ron and Alan along with many relatives.

She grew up loving family parties and playing games. Grandma wished mom was more of a girly girl, she could no sooner get in the house after church then she would be back into her pants!! It only makes sense though; you can’t build houses for your family and playhouses for your grandkids in a dress. But she did do it in diamond earrings, a necklace and lipstick!!

On August 15, 1969 she fell in love with and married the love of her life, Jerry Phil Smith son of Charley R & LaRue (Baldwin) Smith of Provo, UT. She would have followed him anywhere! And she did. They went on many adventures by a myriad means of transportation, planes, trains, and automobiles, boats, snowmobiles and side by sides. Oh ya, and a hot air balloon!

There biggest adventure, however, was their family. They have three beautiful daughters Karen (Carter), Charleen (Lee) and Melisa (Collard) and one handsome son Jason. Mom was the perfect mom. She taught us everything like, how to tie our shoes, feed the masses, how to be tactful, to love unconditionally and to forgive (ourselves most importantly), how to hold to our standards in all situations and was a great example to us all. But most importantly, she taught us the gospel and that she loved us, no matter what!

With kids come in-laws Corey Carter, Robert Lee, Chad Collard and Tara Cook. She got so lucky that we picked well and she loves them like her own. Mom became a grandma at the age of 33, and now has a total of 18 grandkids and 5 great-grandkids. She has a saying, “If I knew grandkids were so much fun, I’d have had them first!” And she is the best grandma ever.

Mom was service minded and her family always came first! She was ever ready to drop everything for a party, play date, work date, or to help in times of need, and did I mention party? She would come with a treat or necessary tools and many times both! She knew what was important as she lovingly cared for many ailing aunts & uncles, sisters-in-law, parents and mother-in-law. There is neither room nor time enough to tell of the many simple acts of kindness to others, or the many large loads of laundry and/or dishes that she did for us girls. Not to mention the play dates, lunch dates and shopping with grandkids when they needed a listening ear.

Mom served two missions with her husband and best friend. They served in Milwaukee, WI from Feb. 2004 – Feb. 2005. Heber Valley Camp in Utah from April 2013 – Oct. 2014. In between missions they were called as temple workers in the Mt Timpanogos Temple where they served each Saturday for two years.

Needless to say, the year 2015 was supposed to be the year we would play! We found out in Feb. that wasn’t the Lords plan for her when she was diagnosed with Primary CNS Lymphoma, a rare form of brain cancer. Mom said that she was blessed to have the love and support from her family and friends, that her being sick has brought the family even closer together. Caring for her has been a blessing for us all and we probably spent more quality time together, along with a lot of quantity time, returning the many hours of service that she has given to us. She stayed so happy and positive throughout, bringing a smile to all the doctors, nurses and staff, making friends with everyone she met.

Sunday morning, Dec 20th, dad gave her one last kiss; she gave him one last smile, then passed away peacefully.

Funeral services will be held Monday, December 28, 2015 at 11:00 a.m. with a viewing from 9:30 – 10:45 a.m. prior to the services at the Manila LDS Stake Center, 850 North 900 East, American Fork, Utah. Family and friends may also attend an evening viewing Sunday, December 27, 2015 from 6:00 – 8:00 p.m. at the Olpin Family Mortuary, 494 South 300 East, Pleasant Grove. Interment will be in the Pleasant Grove City Cemetery.

Condolences may be sent to the family at www.olpinmortuary.com

With a smile

This Sunday morning at 9:18 our mom and wife passed away with one last smile and one last breath with our dad kneeling beside her. 

As we set the table for Sunday brunch we set a plate for her. 

Mom we love you! 

Please no visitors. We ❤️ U!

We are grateful for all of you who have taken time to bring dinners, send well wishes and visitors. It has been a joy to visit with you over these past 5 weeks.

Our mom is not feeling well and we respectfully ask that there be no visitors. 

Again thank you for all that you do for our family we love and appreciate you.

As promised more photos

Whole Famdamnly!

 

 

Biological kids. Left to right, Charleen, Karen, Missy, Jason

  

Kids and Spouses



Grandkids & Great grandkids

Daughters



Charleen & Bobby's Family

Karen & Corey's Family

Jason & Tara's Family

Chad & Missy's Family

Say Cheese!

We are all doing great! 

I'll post more later, we have some great photos.

Thank you to the ward who has brought over dinners. Thank you for the friends who have visited, phone calls, texts, flowers and everything else. People are good.

Our dad is an amazing man. Each step of the way we watch him become more kind, more patient, more sentimental and even more strong. We have watched our mom fight with the determination to have health and strength. She fights to improve her quality of life and reaching goals that she has set for herself. Every day we see improvement. 

Our mom is doing great!

Yes I Can!

She is one determined women, don't tell her she can't, not unless you want to be set straight. Every day she is improving. We are grateful to spend quality time with her. Everything that make her mom has not changed. 

Home sweet home is bitter sweet

It almost seems surreal packing her up this time. I thought it was wired taking her home last time when she was "done". 

I knew that we would pick her up. Yet it usually isn't till 3 or 4. So Colton and I got the front lawn mowed and yard work done. Then we got a call from mom that they were ready to discharge her?! 😳 quick shower!!

When we got to Huntsman, she was loaded up and ready to go. I so much as pulled up to the valet, came upstairs and grabbed her and her stuff and we left.  

This time is more bitter sweet. I know for a fact that we won't be back. It is a strange thought and this has been our schedule and way of life for 7 months!!  I won't be sitting in this chair watching her sleep. On to a different chair to watch her sleep. 😬😳

Feeling inadequate for the job. So glad that we all have each other to help lighten the load. Love you all. 

-Char

Mom wants to go home. Our family agrees with her, that that is the best thing. We are comforted knowing that we can enjoy our mom for the next few months in her home surrounded by her family.

Gather Together

This morning we meet with the doctor, as a family, to find out the results of our moms biopsy. Results, primary nervous system lymphoma is back. It has spread to her whole brain and has visably spread comparing last weeks MRI to this weeks MRI. 

We have been given our treatment options that as a family we are discussing. This decision we are faced with is not an easy one especially because of our moms impairment. Her lack of understanding leaves it completely in dad's and our hands.

I add these sweet words from a family member that I want to always remember.

I’m fasting today for Barbara’s return home after a valiant fight.  As a mom and grandma, I know she would not want you to continue to suffer alongside her.  She has been the light of your lives and now needs to return to the light where there is no more pain and where she may be whole once again.  Celebrate her with the happy memories she has left for you .  She will always want what is best for you including letting her go so true healing may begin for you as well as for her.  Saying “good-bye” is hard, but it has always been part of the plan.  Rejoice for the beautiful spiritual daughter Barbara is and for her life well-lived in loving service to her family and her Heavenly Father.  May you have the strength and unity to help her return to her eternal place of peace.  

-Toni C.

Post surgery report

Mom is out of surgery. Everything went well is what we were told. We do not have any information from pathology. It could be tomorrow or as late as Wednesday.

She has developed a softball size hematoma that after two CT they have decided that there are no neurological concerns.

Charleen spent the day with mom and dad, Chad is now there spending the night. She is expected to be in ICU for a couple of days.

Night before surgery

Mom received a blessing from her husband and her sons the night before surgery. I was not there but I heard that they all had a great time.

Biopsy tomorrow

Tomorrow at 1:15 mom is scheduled for a three hour surgery where they will biopsy only one of many problem areas in her brain. 

This biopsy will give us one of three results. Inflammation without infection, viral infection or lymphoma. They are not leaning more toward one more than another.

Mom generally is feeling well. She has a headache that we are managing. She is tired, and has canker sores in her mouth that hurt.

We are grateful that our mom throughout this is happy, kind and loving. She also is still worrying about everyone else. 

Dr. Cohen said if you ask me it is a virus if you ask infectious disease is is lymphoma. He said that he has ordered one other test in hopes to learn what it is. He said the chances of the test giving us the information we need in unlikely. Because of this he is speaking with Dr. Jensen about how and if we can safely biopsy this spot. 

He said that if it is a virus she will recover slowly especially because she is already weakened. He didn't mention what if it is lymphoma. I didn't dare ask. He also said that she will not be leaving until they know what this is and treatment plan.

Our family this afternoon has started a fast. We welcome you to join with us. 

Love the Whole Smith Family

Today we feel sad. Our sweet mom when she had her brain tumor suffered from cognitive impairment. Today she suffers in the same way. We have spent the last many months in chemotherapy to get rid of the tumor to only come full circle back around to cognitive impairment because of this virus. They are still trying to figure out what type of virus and how to best treat it. The doctor told us that if she doesn't improve in the next couple of days it will be a long recovery. 

Thank you for your love and prayers on behalf of our mom and dad. 

Time and sleep

Dr. Cohen told us that mom needs time and sleep to allow the Brian to heal. They are keeping her until she improves. We have yet to see any improvement. In fact today she seemed to be getting worse and was having a hard time hearing. Our family is taking turns staying with her around the clock.

The MRI shows an abnormality that they think is viral ensyphilitis (form of meningitis) Not bacteria meningitis, which is good. Running Tests to figure out and identify what virus it is. If brain is inflamed can cause seizures, strokes etc, so keeping her thru weekend to watch her carefully. Dr Cohen said this is very unusual. 

This photo is from last night in the ER.

Just when you think your done...

We brought my mom in to get an MRI yesterday because she progressively got worse. It began with confusion late last week and has progressed to complete, um not sure the word. She rambles on and on about made up stories. 99% have no truth whatsoever. She is not able to walk on her own because she will tip over. Her MRI yesterday came back inconclusive. There was a spot however they were not sure if it was caused from her moving. We are back today to try again this time with Valium. 

Welcome Home!

   

 

Mom is done with chemo. Dad shaved his beard and threw mom a party!

We are all very excited that mom is done with treatment. She is left feeling the blues because her hair is falling out. To us, she has never looked more beautiful. 

We are made of the stuff of eternities

While spending time together mom and I (missy) read a conference talk. 

Grateful in Any Circumstances by president Deiter Uchtdorf

We loved it for many reasons, but a couple of things really hit home for us. We wanted to share.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

17 down 4 or 5 ish to go. Today Dr. Cohen said that she has a couple of white blood cells and that when we get a few they should start coming up quickly. She has done amazing and it is remarkable that she has not had any infection.

Mom had a hard day yesterday. This round of chemo has made some of her hair fall out. We are not sure yet if it will thin out or all fall out. It has been disappointing for her. She was also down to hear some bad news about her brother being diagnosed with cancer. 

Today we celebrated her birthday in the hospital. We had cake and the staff all sang to her. My favorite part was Dr. Cohen serving her cake, he is amazing. 

Happy 65th Birthday Mom!

8 days to go.

Doing great. She has a few great hours in the morning and then she is tired for the rest of the day. She does have mouth sores that hurt, making it hard to eat. 

Tomorrow they will begin to give her an injection that will stimulate her bone marrow to make fighter white blood cells.  

Day 12 of 21

Mom's white blood count is a big ZERO. She officially has no fighter cells in her body and is at risk for infection and bleeding. The doctor said that today she has to lay flat in bed to keep her nose from bleeding. Sounds boring! Her counts will stay at 0 for about a week and then slowly work their way back up.

Moms birthday is on September 10th and it will be spent in the hospital. Calls, texts, birthday cards would all be awesome, hint hint. She can not have flowers in her room because of the bacteria, or latex balloons (Mylar are ok).

9 days to go, starting the official count down.

Thankful for blood donors

Mom is in need of a blood transfusion and is now hooked up to her first of two bags of donated blood. This is very common during this stage of chemo.

The hardest part of today, for her, has been the things that are going on without her. Justin (Jason's son) might get a horse today and it is hard for her to miss out on going with him. 

Charleen is up there today playing cards and keeping us all updated thought our group texts. Mom sent a text "getting blood transfusion and playing cards with Charleen. Good day" 

How many days left? Man it feels like a long time! 

NO MORE CHEMO!!!!!

I didn't realize this... According to the nurse mom is done with the last of the chemo, the reason her stay is so long is to keep her in a controlled environment because of her low immune and the threat of bleeding???  Thus the picture - NO MORE CHEMO!!! -Text from Karen :)

Day 6 of 21

Jason went up and stayed the night and Sunday morning. Charleen & Karen plan on going up today. Missy will be up all of Monday, Tara Tuesday, Charleen Wednesday and Missy Thursday. Dad will fill in all the half days that we have to leave to pick kids up from school which ends up being a lot of days. We are a team and we all have our moms best interests in mind. All doing what we can when we can. I am so glad I am not an only child!

Having someone up there to remind mom to take medicine for pain and nausea, helps her feel so much better. Reminding her to eat and drink and order popsicles all make for a much healthy and happier Barbara. 

Today she is doing so much better. She enjoys us being there and makes all of us feel important, wanted and needed.

Hopefully the worst is over and we can protect her from any illnesses the next couple of weeks.

Lake Powell-long overdue July 2015

It has been a long time since any of us has been to Lake Powell with our mom and dad. The last two summers they have been serving a mission so we've gone without them. While we don't have the whole family and miss them it's nice to have some of the group. 

Mom was determined that this planned trip was going to happen and no one dared to disappoint her. We are so happy that the days everyone had off work just happened to fit right into her busy chemo schedule. Dad checked her out of the hospital at 1:00 on Friday and were going through beaver about 6pm. We will be here through Saturday the 27th and she has to go back to the hospital on the 30th.

As you can see she is working hard to get the boat ready and we are getting ready to launch. Us kids are learning the things to do that mom normally does. Dad is learning to do the things mom normally does. The boys are learning how to help dad with all the stuff he normally does to free up time and energy for him to do the things that mom normally does and... :). We are all works in progress and we are all grateful to learn new strengths and take on new roles.

5 down 16 to go

This round of chemo sucks! Our mom is not feeling well. She doesn't want to eat and when she does it doesn't settle well. The only thing that sounded good was clam chowder from Market Street. My dad brought that to her and she said it was really good but threw it up. 

The chemo has effected her short term memory. Even she says that she has chemo fog, BAD! We sure pray this is the last kicker those cancer basterds need. (If you don't get that humor then you need to read earlier posts.)

Five days down and 16 to go.

21days of chemo

Well I am into day 21 hospital stay. It's kinda boring but my family are all great to come spend time with me and that is wonderfull. I want to especially thank Missy for doing a blog page for me. That is one of those things I always say I will do but don't. Another step in my "well I meant to do that" and you know where that path leads to so I hope with her help she will get me to where I want to go and pray that my whole family will be there also.  I feel very grateful that my family all noticed my downhill climb and alerted me and Jerry and when jerry took me into the ER and misdiagnosed me with a stroke and put me into the hospital I'm glad that we were both humble enough to listen. Two days later my neurologist called jerry and said she had been looking at my MRI and she didn't agree with that diagnosis and had made me an appointment up at the University hospital for the next day and suggested we go there which we did and they did another MRI and said they would like me to go over to Huntsman's hospital for the doctors here to read it and give their opinion about the test so we did. And dr Cowen came in and he called in dr Jensen to help explain what they found and they both agreed that it wasn't a stroke but brain Xander. And dr Jensen said he could get me into surgery the next day. So the next morning I was being rolled down the hall to the surgery room and thinking to myself I hope these men know what they are doing. Later I learned that I had the two best doctors in that field. I feel that I have been very blessed. Because both doctors are wonderful and come highly recommended and once again I feel that Heavenly Father was watching over me.   I have done very well with the chemo. It has never made me sick and I haven't lost my hair. Jerry and my boys have given me wonderful blessing. One of which they blessed me that I would be patient with the doctors and nurses. When I told my doctor about that blessing hr said he really liked that.  I want to say thanks for all the cards phone calls and visits. They have all been great. I love you all. I pray that the lord will continue in blessing all of us. I love you all. Thank for all your thoughts and prayers. Barbara smith

Last Chemo!

Tomorrow morning our mom goes into Huntsman's for her last chemo treatment. 

While we are feeling optimistic, the next three week hospital stay will be difficult. Not because we are worried that she will be sick but because she is so spunky she will go crazy being cooped up. She doesn't like hospital rules. She does like the hospital staff a lot and they love her.

Last week she got an MRI and we get the results from Dr. Cohen tomorrow at her appointment.

Karen got the whole Fam Damly together on Sunday. It was great to be all together.

This last chemotherapy will completely wipe out her immune system. Any illness to her would cause complications. We will keep you updated. 

She would love to get your phone calls and texts.

Most healthy patient here!

Mom was finally able to get her chemotherapy because all her levels are good. She checked into huntsman's yesterday and they started chemo at 11pm. She will get 4 treatments every 12 hours. Then she gets to go home.

The only side effect is that her ears are falling off, but that's because I have talked them off. No chemo side effects! She feels great. The doctor called her the most heathy here. The one thing they watch closely is her blood pressure it is always very low.

She is excited that her cute honey is coming up for a sleepover and to watch the fireworks with her over the whole Salt Lake Valley. 

We have been told she is the favorite patient here. We agree!

Come on T-cells

After Lake Powell mom was supposed to check in for her 48hour chemo however she has not been able to because her labs came back saying that her various levels were not good. Couple of weeks later her white blood count is still too low. But on the up side she is improving and is expected to go in next Thursday. She told them that they are messing up her schedule. 

She is excited to have her brother Alan come and visit from Florida. She said "I'm not dying you don't have to come." But I think he knows just when he is needed and we are all happy he is coming. 

Us kids have had the opportunity to run into and meet some of the wonderful friends my parents made while up at camp. We ran into a couple at Market Street, just last night. We were able to spend a couple of days in Lake Powell with the Neiderhouser's getting to know them-such wonderful people. We are thankful for your love and support.

Home from Powell

We all made it home from a successful Lake Powell trip. The weather was hot hot hot, water was perfect, and no wind. We had a lot of fun.

We are all glad that mom goes back into the hospital this Tuesday because they can undo all the effects of playing too hard. 

Tuesday June 30th she will go into Huntsmans for a different chemo than what she has been getting. They will give it to her every 12 hours for 48 hours a total of 4 treatments. She will only need to be there for the two days. She will not need to go back until the middle of August.

Fun day

On Thursday, Jessie and I rode Trax up to Huntsman again. Grandma says that we have "mastered Trax." We brought a lot of games this time so that she didn't get bored. We ate lunch, then played Uno, matching, and a trivia game. I loved playing games with Grandma! It was so much fun! After that, we watched Cheaper by the Dozen. It was the perfect movie to watch because it reminded us of our family lol. Right now she is out of the hospital. She left yesterday around 1. Her and Grandpa went to Beaver Friday night, and they are going the rest of the way to Lake Powell today (Saturday). We are excited for our family Lake Powell trip. It has been a long time since our last trip. We hope to stay hydrated and keep the sunscreen on!!
-Sammie Lee

Let's keep playing until grandma wins!

Direct quote from my mom today. "Let's keep playing until grandma wins!" Yup she is doing great back to her old (young) self. 

Today the kids are out for summer and we get to hang out with grandma playing games. She loves to play games and she loves to win. I got kick out for not paying attention. Yup things are back to normal. 

She really is doing amazing! Her food that she cooks tastes great, she remembers everything (good and bad lol), she is impatient and productive. All the qualities we love about her.

This is the first summer in two years that mom and dad have been available to play with us during summer break. We love having her around and not in the hospital. We love that she feels good and has her spunk back. We love that she is packing for Lake Powell and preparing food. 

It is awesome!

Thursday, June 11, 2015

Today was a day just hanging out with grandma. She had sloppy joes ready when we came down. She didn't have any sloppy joe mix, so she made them from scratch and they were GOOD! She also made brownies for us! Then we played Apples to Apples for a long time. I'm so glad that we are out of school for the summer so that we can come visit her more often! Jessie and I get our license soon so we can drive ourselves!!! :)

-Sammie Lee

Keep on moving on.

Another in hospital treatment complete. 

Mom you are doing great keep up the good work.

Thursday, June 4, 2015

Yesterday, Jessie and I rode Trax up to Huntsman from Daybreak, and we got up to the hospital by 7. When we got there, Grandma was surprised that we had gotten there so early. We went outside and enjoyed the sun and sat by the pretty flowers. Then we had lunch at the Bistro. After that, we watched Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Grandma took a little nap during the movie. At about 3:30, Jessie and I had to head home. It was a great day.

-Sammie Lee