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11/27/06
Where do I begin? It has been almost three months since the last update. I honestly can say it is not as easy to get updates out without Daegen sitting next to me to inspire me. It was such an easy task when I could look over at his childish grin or his amazing spirit to get updates out weekly. Now I struggle to get them out weekly or even monthly. I find it difficult to remember all the things I would like to say when I send out the updates. Many things have happened in our lives since the last update.
Janelle’s cousin Bernie Deghand was killed on September 15, 2006 while serving the United States Army in Afghanistan. The news of Bernie’s death was a shock to Janelle and me and to all of Janelle’s family. Bernie was a true American Hero and will always be remembered.
I have a second cousin named Marsha Mace in Lawrence, KS that died on September 24, 2006. At one of my family reunions this summer Marsha was there with her son Lucas and we all had a great time. Marsha will be greatly missed.
So much pain and loss in this world I can’t begin to try to understand it all. Through all of this Janelle has continued to have medical problems. The local hospital has not been able to diagnose what is wrong with Janelle. She was originally referred to KU Med in Kansas City, the same hospital Daegen was originally treated. The appointment was not until January which was a long way off. She was able to get an appointment with the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN the first week of December. Janelle and I will be going along to Rochester to hopefully receive some answers. Janelle’s mom and dad will also join us. Please pray for Janelle, her family and my family for the loss and pain that is so abundant in our lives.
To compound things more my sister Lori’s husband Ron had a seizure then a stroke. He then was in a coma for many days with not a lot of hope from the doctors. Ron is a big and strong guy so it was odd to see him in the hospital bed in his condition. Doctors also stated there would be brain damage but they were not sure how much. Amazingly, Ron woke up on the same day we visited him and has since been released from the hospital. Ron is doing so much better today than he was when he went to the hospital but he is not out of the woods yet and has a long way to go. Please keep Lori, Ron and her kids in your prayers as well.
In the middle of all of this Janelle and I finally began building our new house on the land we bought when Daegen was alive. Daegen really loved going to the land and walking around on it. Our goal was to have the house built so Daegen could enjoy it but we were not able to get that done. Janelle and I are very excited to see the finished product. We had originally chosen three house plans and showed all three to Daegen. We let Daegen pick the house plan he liked the most and were going to go with whatever house plan Daegen chose. Daegen picked the house plan that Janelle and I liked the most. We hope to have the house completed and moved sometime in April or May 2007. It is going to be very difficult living in a house that Daegen never lived in but his spirit will always be with us.
All of the Light the Night walks have been completed. The DMAN Hero National Friends and Family Team raised over $43,000 for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. We did not reach our goal of $100,000 but we did raise some money. Janelle and I had already decided that if we did not reach our goal that we could still look at our efforts as a success. A special thanks to the following National Committee. Lisa Conaway, Linda Ruiz, KC & Carrie Gilliland, Jeff Feyh, Marc Kline, David Kaberline, Jennifer Eichkorn, Kristi Kenny and Missy Avey. We definitely could not have achieved so much without your dedication.
The American Legion Riders Post 400 in Topeka sponsored a poker run to assist with the fundraising. The ride made just over $1000.00 this first year. A special thanks to all who planned this event and who participated. Also, thank you to Cliff Gardner who spearheaded this event.
We finally started the scholarship for Daegen at Cair Paravel Latin School, where Daegen was going to be in kindergarten and where Alexa goes to school. The DMAN Hero Foundation we set up to help with pediatric cancer patients in Northeast Kansas also makes charitable contributions like this. Janelle and I felt it was very important for the kids who would have been classmates of Daegen to get to know Daegen as much as possible. The scholarship is being offered each semester to a classmate of Daegen. The scholarship will follow Daegen’s class until they graduate high school. Our goal is for each classmate to receive the scholarship at least once. The scholarship is $500 right now but when we raise more money for the DMAN Hero Foundation then we can raise the scholarship amount. The first recipient of the Daegen James Feyh Memorial Scholarship is Lakin Adams, A.M. Kindergarten. The second semester recipient is Michael Dew, P.M. Kindergarten. Alexa drew the names out of a bucket as we will do each time. After the name has been drawn out then that name stays out until all classmates are awarded the scholarship. Ironically Lakin and Michael share the same seat in the classroom. Janelle, Alexa and I had a presentation for the parents on Friday, November 10, 2006. It was so amazing to share Daegen with the parents and show a video I put together. I hope by sharing Daegen’s spirit with his classmates Daegen can continue to touch lives of people.
Please keep in prayers Betty Jo who is Zach’s mom. Zach and Daegen were close friends at St. Jude and both were big Thomas the Train fans. Zach passed away last year on Thanksgiving Day which was November 24, 2005.
We went on a cruise this Thanksgiving with my family. Before you get jealous let me tell you the weather did not cooperate with us. We rarely saw the sun during the five day cruise. The weather was so bad before we were to dock at Grand Cayman that port was shut down and we could not go there. We then docked at Nassau in The Bahamas. Janelle and I have been there twice already so we were disappointed. My brother-in-law Sean, my niece Nicci and my parents have never been on a cruise before so I was disappointed that their first cruise had such bad weather. We were in Ocho Rios, Jamaica on Thanksgiving Day. It poured down rain the entire day and many of the excursions were canceled. Most of us were able to climb up the Dunn’s River Falls http://www.silver-sands.com/dunns-river-falls_more.html before it was closed down. It was amazing to climb the falls as the rain fell on us and the water came cascading down on us sometimes almost knocking one over. We had a great time on the ship, Carnival’s Imagination. Our wait staff, Ruzzell and Vic were amazing and our cabin steward Skinner did a good job. No sunburns for any of us. As we got of the ship in Miami we experienced heat and the sun, a few days too late.
I hope to have some new pictures up soon and to get updates out sooner so they are not as long. Please pray for Janelle that the doctors can find out what is medically wrong. Also, thank you to all of you for your continued support in kind words and prayer. Janelle and I will always be indebted to each and every one of you and we will keep you in our prayers. God Bless.
Lance, Janelle, Alexa and Angel Daegen
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