We’ve learned through several encounters with the medical system that projected dates and times are not to be taken all that seriously. It’s not that there is anything wrong with the medical system, it’s just that each person’s reaction to medication, treatment, environment, etc is all different. Add to that the unpredictable nature of how many emergency cases come in during a day that supersede something that you were expecting and we have what we know as “Hospital time”. (for instance, being taken off of your IV line at 2:00pm, might mean 1:30 or 5:00pm and you just have to work around that.)
We understand all the things that go into making the reality the way that it is, but on the 16th of June, we started a journey that has turned our family upside down, and then on the 24th of June, we added to that family a new precious little boy. Both of these events in and of themselves requires a certain amount of readjusting, but put them together and then throw in “Hospital Time”… “Expect to be here 7 days… Make that 10 days”… “we’ll keep you one more night to observe”… “you got a fever, you’re going to have to stay 3 more days so we can check it”… “Its an infection and you will have to be here for a total of 10 to 14 days”… “we have to keep you the full 14 days and your counting is 1 day ahead”… and that brings us to today. (Oh and throw in a 15th wedding anniversary, xandra’s birthday, and fathers day that never really got celebrated)
In 24 days we have not been together through things that we would normally really lean on each other for. Patti and I are a great team and we have learned to be the right kind of support to each other, and we have been forced to do this separated for the whole ordeal so far. If they had told us at the beginning that we might be here for a month, that would have been hard to hear, but we would have been able to plan around that. This process has really been taxing on us.
PLEASE PRAY:
Gelica finishes her 14 days of antibiotics tomorrow am, and if everything else was ok, should could come home. BUT… It seems that she has developed an fissure in her colon (an expected complication of intense chemotherapy), and it could get infected. Also her white blood cell count is microscopically low.
Please pray that the small fissure will be completely healed and that her white blood cell count will rise. If they don’t then we wait day-to-day until she can come.
Pray that Patti and I and our family would be all brought together right now. We really really really miss being together and it is very emotionally challenging.
Thanks for being such a wonderful community and for all of your support, meals, kind comments… thanks to the ladies that came and disinfected almost every surface of our house. Most of all, we know that we are not alone.
Jon
Hey Gel. I love you and I hope you gt better soon….
I got the first comment in this ha ha ha ha ha
PS this is Xan
hi Jon and Patti and Geli
Praying God will give you strength and sustain you wisdom where wisdom is needed and that you will feel his presence and peace in this very difficult situation. That you would feel God’s love around you above you through you below you you will feel his strong love.
All i can do is pray for you. That God would give you energy and healing.
I wish i could be there to give you a hug. A hug is worth thousand words.
love Debra
Jon & Patti,
You don’t know me but I am one of countless others who are praying for you and Gelica at this stressful time in your life. The connection comes through a dear friend, Patti’s uncle Wayne Kennedy, who co-coached Little League with me years ago, and through my niece, Karli Ferguson, a classmate of Gelica’s. More significantly, our daughter Christine was diagnosed with A.L.L. in May 2007 and we have recently been through the difficult journey you are now beginning. As I read your blog my heart resonated with your pain and frustration. Just when you think things have stabilized some side effect kicks in that sends you back to Children’s for a week or two. And your priorities, job, everything goes awry. That first year pretty much every birthday or special occasion was spent at Children’s. We missed our 25th anniversary that year. I recall this nugget of wisdom from one of the oncologists who told me, “We get the cancer problem under control pretty quickly, then spend the rest of time fixing all the problems that are caused by the treatments.†So true.
But I want to encourage you both: hang in there. You will get through this. It’s a long difficult journey, much like Frodo’s experience in Lord of the Rings. There will be tough times to endure but there will also be times of victory. Savor those victories. Keep praying. Keep trusting.
We finished our final chemo treatment in September 2009. Christine is now in her 3rd year at university and holds down a steady part time job. We know there’s still a number more years of watchful waiting, but we’re so thankful to be done the chemo part of the process.
May God bless your family and give you strength, peace and patience, and most of all healing during this time.
If you need to talk with someone who has been there (Children’s, the oncology clinic, Emergency, the wig place, the resident dentist, radiology, those uncomfortable reclining chair beds, the hospital Starbucks, the Safeway store–the whole process) please feel free to contact us or call us anytime.
Jim & Kim Tulloch
604.533.2881
I think I hear your heart Jon and I do feel for you all,and although we have not been able to be there -physically for you at this time ,we certainly have been lifting you all, and especially Geli before the Lord . We will pray especially for your requests.We leave for Sask. to-morrow but be assured daily we will be remembering you in prayer. Much love Grandpa and Grandma
I think I hear your heart Jon and I do feel for you all,and although we have not been able to be there -physically for you at this time ,we certainly have been lifting you all, and especially Geli before the Lord . We will pray especially for your requests.We leave for Sask. to-morrow but be assured daily we will be remembering you in prayer. Much love Grandpa and Grandma