Mon,
14 Jun 2004
Tired
but Tenacious
Wow.
I am actually yawning at this moment as I start to
compose this email to everybody. What a whirlwind
last week was. Far too many stories to relate in an
email but we'll try to hit the highlights and limit
the lowlights.
Jade had an appt at Huntsman Cancer Institute (HCI)
on Monday the 7th in the morning and then was to start
chemo Day #1 that afternoon. They didn't get it started
until about 3 pm so he wasn't home till about 7:30.
Long first day. That night he said that the "Powers
That Be" agreed to let us do chemo at home but
it would start on Weds the 9th so Jade went up to
HCI on Tuesday for chemo Day #2. Weds through Fri
we did chemo at home and it went pretty good all in
all but we did have some difficulty accessing his
other port. (Both ports have to be accessed monthly.)
It wouldn't cooperate on Weds morning so we finally
waited until chemo was done and then tried again Sat
night and that lovely experience finally ended at
midnight. (Yawn #2) I did give Jade his neupogen shot
on Sat which will help his counts as they drop this
week.
Jade had lab work done this morning and basically
his chemistries are fine and his counts are all dropping
as expected. He'll have more done next Mon the 21st
which is actually the date of his CT scan too. (Another
yawn - - #3.) Jade is hoping to go for a couple drives
this week to get out of the house since he has cabin
fever pretty bad. He's not supposed to go many places
or eat out since his counts are low but he's hoping
to drive up a couple canyons and such to get out a
little. Jade and I joke that if he can live to retirement
age we'll be fine since we spend as much time together
as any retired couple we know. It's like Survivor
but we can't vote any of us off the island........I
guess that makes it more like Gilligan's Island. (With
a blonde lab, Sadie. Speaking of Sadie, she got to
go to the vet on Thurs for an infection when she ripped
off her dew claw on Memorial Day. Chemo weeks seem
to be quite the adventure for everyone in our house.
The fun just keeps coming.) Yawn #4.
So, we're doing ok. Obviously we're both tired and
need some naps this week along with regular nighttime
sleep without doing IV's and fluids.
Jade and I were talking the other day about how many
people we know that have struggles and challenges.
As we think of friends, family members and neighbors
up and down the street, everyobdy has something to
deal with. Life just isn't fun for anybody, but the
ability of the human spirit to perserve and be optimistic
is remarkable.
I heard an idea the other day that basically said
if you know God loves you then when troubles and problems
come, you ask "What?" rather than "Why?"
Instead of asking, "Why me? Why now? Why does
this happen to my family?" you are able to ask,
"What am I suppose to learn from this? What should
I take away from this experience? What is the purpose?"
I've tried hard to remember that his week. Some moments
I'm more successful than others. I find great comfort
and peace in believing that God loves me and my family
as he does you and yours.
Thank you for your help and support. Jade and I are
very lucky to have the support from all of you. We
appreciate the errands of grabbing us eggs, milk,
bread or the cards or emails or voice mails or prayers
and faith. Thank you for your hope.
I'm going to be off to try and get a nap. We'll let
you know how things are going. I was planning on doing
this email on Thurs which was a joke, then Fri but
I was doing chemo or watching Reagan's service and
then Sat was a little ridiculous and crazy too then
Sun I was just too plain exhausted to do it...................so,
I'm sorry it's a little late. Hopefully the pace will
slow down a bit. Oh, and Jade's eyelashes and eyebrows
are hanging in there for now. We'll see what happens
this week and next though. Thank you again...............
Much love and a final yawn (#5).................................Tanya
and co.
