Wed, 19 Jan 2005

Long holiday wknd

"I cannot change the winds, but I can adjust my sails." - Anonymous

Hey there. What a long, miserable holiday wknd. Jade was so uncomfortable with the fluid level being back to what it was the week previous. However, due to the hoiday wknd we weren't able to get in to a hospital. We kept trying and trying and nothing worked out so Jade gritted his teeth and waited until his previously scheduled appt on Tues morning. We met with the oncologist at 9:40 but he wasn't scheduled to be tapped until 2:00. So, we left at 8:30 in the morning and didn't get home until a few minutes before 5:00. Cancer is a full-time job most days.

After meeting with the oncologist, the surgeon came over to look at Jade's port-a-catheter in his chest. For the past six to eight weeks, it's been coming up higher and higher and starting to break through the skin. The surgeon looked at it and she said, "Yep, it's 2/3rds the way out so let's just get it out." They numbed his skin and cut it out. One more fun thing to add to the list of adventures from yesterday.

It seemed like an eternity waiting until 2 pm to have Jade drained. Of course radiology was running behind but once we got in it went pretty well. The drain was slower than last time (last Mon the 10th) but they got more fluid out overall. They drained out five and a half liters of fluid from his abdominal cavity. He was able to breath better and felt better although he was quite sore from all the pressure and discomfort over the wknd - - not to mention a pretty good pain in his chest from the line removal. Needless to say, he was exhausted last night. He went to by about 8:30 to 9:00 and I crashed not long after that.

We now have it set up to have Jade tapped every Tues and Fri on a weekly basis so we don't have to deal with another long, excrutiating wknd again. He won't go back into the oncologist till Fri the 28th. We'll set up those appts in conjunction with him being drained.

"A friend might well be reckoned the masterpiece of nature." - R. W. Emerson

A huge thank you to all our friends, family members, and nieghbors who have helped us out or offered to help in anyway. We are so touched by your kindness and generosity. It's amazing how many offers we have to help in large and small ways. Thank you.

"My business is not to remake myself,
But make the absolute best of what God made." - Robert Browning

I guess I like that last quote since I'm still not sure what exactly God has in mind for me and my family but I feel strongly that he is aware of us and we will try to make of the best of whatever happens. Thanks for your love, encouragement and kindness. We are grateful for your compassion, faith and hope. Take care and we'll keep you posted with how the week goes.

Love and a tired hug.............................Tanya and co.