Like Ships Passing in the Night….

Jon went home today to spend a little time with the kids and like ships passing in the night……Judah and I took over at the hospital.

It’s nice to see Geli, and nice to be able to sit (see previous post where I birthed an almost 10lb baby) and not be stressing about the 3 highly active kids at home…..or on the flip side to be stressing about my family taking care of my 3 highly active kids. But, I really REALLY miss Jon. I can’t wait to be able to see him and spend some time with him….talking, loving, just being….but it my be a little bit longer before that really happens. And…..such is life!

I ran into someone on Saturday at Superstore and shared a bit about our story. I got to the part where I mentioned that my eldest daughter was just diagnosed with Leukemia….and to be honest, there is a part of saying that, that just seems so dream like….its like I’m watching or hearing someone else talking about their life….There is this feeling that this can’t possibly be MY life…..my daughter’s life…..my family’s life…..that I’m talking about. It still seems a bit surreal.

And yet, it’s WAY TOO REAL….

We’ve shared some pictures, and talked about some of the better times, and about how Geli is doing so well (and she really is) about how we have peace knowing that this will work out, and about how we feel really very positive about this whole situation, and yet there is this other side to this whole situation…..No one really wants to talk about the negative stuff, but I am going to mention it so that if you pray…you know how to pray….

There are times, when Angelica is sick…..That’s hard. The chemo meds make her feel quite nauseous and when you are feeling that sick…..then nothing feels good. It’s the worst right after she receives the chemo….She gets the chemo on Fridays and then feels crappy right through to Sunday or Monday. It makes life very, very miserable.

The bone marrow biopsy hurts….and even though Geli is given meds to sedate her, it ends up feeling like she’s got a giant bruise on the back of her hip. This makes laying or sitting in bed hurt or ache a bit. Again, not fun!

There is a spot of irritation on the back of her throat, and while we are so thankful that Geli doesn’t appear to have massive sores from her mouth down through her digestive system, this little irritation (that they are keeping a close eye on) bugs her just enough that she wants to clear her throat and/or eat something to distract from the tickle feeling. it also makes her feel like she wants to gag….and that sucks!

Her left leg has a cramp behind the knee that extends up into the back of her thigh and they can’t seem to figure out why it’s doing this. It seems to have a numb spot in it and they’ve ruled out that it might be neurological….but don’t have any concrete reason as to why it’s done this….and so she is on crutches because they don’t want her torquing her body like she was, trying to compensate for her leg.

One of her chemo meds is a steriod and it is wreaking havoc with her sugar levels and they have been CRAZY high. Basically, the steriod has put her in a diabetic state. She doesn’t have diabetes, but her body is not able to produce enough insulin to compensate for what the steriod is messing with and so she is on Insulin and has to inject herself 4 times a day. We seem to have finally been able to get the levels under control….just barely. Today was the first day that 3 out of 4 readings were within the acceptable range…..just barely within acceptable, but still within….up unti today they’ve all been almost double what they should have been.

Also, we should be getting the report from the bone marrow biopsy that they did on Friday…..the previous two biopsy’s showed that 86% of her bone marrow was filled with leukemia cells and with the second biopsy it had dropped to 57%. We are praying for an even better report to come tomorrow…..

And, we are also requesting prayer that Angelica and everyone in our family….both immediate and extended would be and remain healthy.

We’d also love that the infection that Geli had to be completely wiped out of her body asap so that we can all go home together……that would be such a HUGE blessing……

She’s been in the hospital now for 19 days….and although the staff here at Children’s Hospital is amazing and we can’t complain about our stay….it would be so nice to have our family reunited once again and all under one roof.

I’d also like to take a quick moment to say thank you to everyone who has co-ordinated with my sister Michelle regarding meals for our family. The meals have been amazing. There hasn’t been one yet that wasn’t delicious and such a huge HUGE blessing. I’m so thankful to all stepped in and helped us out in this way. It’s so amazing to me to know that my kids and family are able to eat well and that I don’t have to be stressing about them eating out or eating unhealthily.

Thank you to every single one who has brought a meal……I am so grateful. I feel so very loved, and supported and blessed. It means a lot to me that you all would work within our dietary needs and requests and still help us out.

Thank You!

Author: Patricia Culley

I'm the ringmaster of my own circus. Just trying to stay one step ahead of the monkeys. View all posts by Patricia Culley