I’m sitting in my room over in BC Women’s Hospital on the labour & delivery ward.
Judah and me are hanging out over here, while Geli and Jon are down the hall at Children’s, in the Oncology Ward.
We’ve been over with Geli for a good bit of today and then resting while she was gone for her Bone Marrow biopsy and Spinal Fluid Tap and right now we’re just hanging low over here for a moment.
Today has been an “icky” day for Gelica and a “crying” day for me.
Between the excitement of the past few days, chemo treatment, tests, and wacked out sugar levels, Angelica had a barfy, yucky, nasty day……..she’s had no fever though and right now, her blood levels are within normal range – so for that we are so SO thankful.
I’m hitting the end of Judah’s second day of life and facing the lovely hormonal changes that brings. Add on top of that – very little sleep, a leukemia diagnosis, a week of stress and the looming unknown and you have a sure fire recipe for tears.
I’ve cried off and on today and feel some of the built up pressure has released, but I still feel like I could use a really good cry. Just to release all the pressure that’s built up since my last good cry about a week ago.
I hate this. This is nothing that I ever imagined for my daughter, for our immediate family, for our extended family…….it was unfathomable, until now………
I hurt for her. I hurt for Jon. I hurt for my other kids. I hurt!
I look back at some of the little life lessons that I learned over the last year and see how I can use those lessons in my life now.
Probably the biggest one with the HUGEST impact on me………..I learned through this past year in my exercise class!
Stay in the present!
You can handle just about anything that’s in front of you right now. It’s when you race beyond into the future that you can be overwhelmed. I can handle today. Tomorrow I will have the strength that I need to get through that day. If I try to imagine or figure out or plan for the next week or so, or month or 6 months from now…..its too much! The unknown is too great and overwhelming.
So today, I cry and I process and I hope and I cry some more.
In the middle of my tears, I am aware of some blessings. I am off my feet, even if they have swollen up to elephant size again. I have some amazing quiet, one on one time with my newborn. I’m still with my “baby” even if I’m sleeping down the hall from her. We are being cared for and supported in so many amazing ways by so many amazing people. In the middle of all this chaos, I am blessed and I know it. That doesn’t mean I’m grateful that we’re walking this road, just that I can see some pretty rocks on the path in spite of the dark clouds and rain.
I’ll get through today and when tomorrow comes, I know I’ll be able to get through it as well.
Our story seems to go before us everywhere we go and the labor and delivery ward at Women’s Hospital doesn’t seem to be any different. There was a woman who heard about us and she offered to do Angelica’s hair. We were so touched and blessed by her thoughtfulness. Yen had just delivered a baby the day before and yet still came into my room and did a fabulous job of Angelica’s hair.
I have more pictures that I’d like to post, but this post is more a request for prayer than it is an update…..