Beyond Bringing Up Boys

Yesterday following our Thanksgiving feast, we loaded up and headed to one of our favorite places: Stone Mountain Park. We were riding the open-air passenger train; Seth was boogying on my lap to Here Comes Santa Claus , my 8-year-old slipped his hand into mine and snuggled close for warmth and my husband leaned forward from the seat behind and put his arms around my shoulders. I closed my eyes and, while the wind bit my nose and cheeks, I allowed their love to envelop me. It felt good to close my eyes…and for a moment put aside the concern for David’s family. Thanksgiving, 2007, we shed a lot of tears. Glenda has just received news of her ovarian cancer and her surgery and treatment loomed large in our minds. She had surgery in December, chemotherapy in January and just weeks later, Don was diagnosed with MDS, a blood disorder with a one-way route to leukemia, although for some this condition can last for years. Not so for Don, whose blood results we tracked like hounds, watching his ...

I've never been a thrill seeker kind of gal so I can't speak from personal experience. But I have seen pictures where the brave-hearted choose to ride horseback on a narrow, jagged and pebble-strewn path while just over the edge is a precipice that could mean certain death. And to their other side is a craggy, rock wall. That is the best visual picture that I can conjure up of my father-in-law’s health at this moment. He has been running a moderate to low-grade fever off and on over the last couple of days but most alarming—his platelets are 5000. For those of you who don’t know the normal reference for platelets; it is 150,000-300,000. Platelets are the part of the red blood cell that is responsible for the clotting of blood so a platelet count of 5K puts him at risk for spontaneous internal bleeding. His white cell count this morning was 300 (normal would be 3500-10,000). These are the expected results from the assault that chemo has placed on his body. So, he is "on...

Where there is life there is hope. I was a young girl when I first heard this comment, offered to my mom, as solace for my mother’s grief over my grandmother’s impending death. Never have those words meant so much. With each garment I have unpacked –intended to be worn at a funeral—I have given thanks. I am cautiously optimistic about Don’s physical condition. Prematurely, you might warn, and you would be right, because the life of a patient with recurrent leukemia is precarious. Leukemia patients, the doctor warned me when I said that we were planning to come home, die in one of two ways: infection or bleeding. Don’s infection (other than what he acquired in the hospital due in part to the high powered antibiotics that he receives and in part to an insufficient immune system) is under control. And his risk of spontaneous internal bleeding is being control by a transfusion of platelets almost every other day. So at this moment his health remains perilously contingent on blood transfusi...

Just a quick not to let you know that after consideration and speaking with the nurse at the doctor's office this morning, we have decided to leave for IL. We hope to drive straight through but since his condition is low but stable, there is no immediate rush.

Update, Evening May 6 Don was extremely fatigued tonight when David spoke to him. His appetite is poor. The doctor this afternoon is uncertain as to the cause of the fevers, really just speculated at this point. It is my understanding that his doctor told him this morning that with no further intervention (chemo) he could expect to live only 2 weeks. However, his health is so precarious that even more chemo could cause his condition to decline quickly and cause death as a complication...He did decide to accept more chemo. His pic line should be inserted tomorrow and hopefully, the chemo will begin too. David's sister, Lisa, is with them, and is a great source of strength. Our hearts are there but we long to be there in body too. It is our desire to see him again while he is still lucid, but David's obligations prevent us from leaving just yet. David is rapidly putting lesson plans together for the next two weeks, so we will be free to leave. The school is extremely supportive -...

I didn't watch all of the election results come in last night but I still couldn't sleep and barely choked down some breakfast this morning...I want to go back to bed. I want to cover my head and hide...cower...might be a better word. I want to stop wondering how people who call themselves Christians can vote in a such a Godless way. I don't want to think anymore about how the Bible says implicitly that we cannot serve God and money, and yet it appears that as an American nation, we have chosen money...or the promise of it. I want my own attitude and actions to be gracious and reflect the love of Christ but I'm fearful and struggling. I have found some comfort in the words of Beth Moore, written yesterday prior to the election on Living Proof : *We live in a democracy where we have the right to a vote and a voice. We have the God-given responsibility to use both wisely and in the way that best reflects what God conveys through Scripture. *God "works out everythin...

Technically, I know that I'll still be out-numbered in my testosterone-filled abode but my 16 year-old neice, Hannah, and her best friend are flying to Atlanta to spend a few days with us this week! Hannah and I have never lived close and so I am really looking forward to the opportunity to get to know her better. Of course, the fact, that I have no daughters makes this sweeter...we can shop, have manicures, watch chick flicks... My brother told me that when the first part of next week comes, I'll be SO glad I have all boys (that was encouraging). As I told him I hope it goes so well, that when she leaves, I'll be sorry she doesn't belong to me...