Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Stuck in these four walls...

Well, here I am stuck in these four little walls. They had a suite open up, but to move me, it would cost us a minimum of $1000 to move me down there even though my insurance will pay for that room. We opted to be claustrophobic for the week.

Yesterday was a great day considering I am in the hospital getting chemo. It started off with my brother and sister-in-law coming to visit and then the visitors kept piling in. Each one of you lifted my spirits more than you could possibly know! It was really surprising how many people came by because we haven't told anyone other than family what room I was in since I was supposed to be moving, so you know I was surprised to see Angie (my former Sunday School teacher) pop through the door. She is so sweet. I also had my friend Julie and one of the attorney's I work for, Jill come by. We had great conversations. Even mom commented on how my entire spirit changed, so if you are in the neighborhood and want to stop by, please email, call or text me or Rob and we'll let you know what room I'm in. If you aren't in the neighborhood, email and texting me are also spirit boosters.

While in town, my brother and sister-in-law went to the blood center to give blood in my name. It was so sweet of them! We have had several people ask about giving blood in my name, so if you would like to, you can give in the Dallas area, Tyler area and Shreveport Bossier for sure. Please just email us at wewillbeatthis@gmail.com and we will send you the personal info you need on me to give. If you aren't in any of these areas, just contact your local blood center and find out what info you need and we will be glad to do that for you. Please make sure they know you are just making a donation in my name and not a direct donation into my account. There is too much testing that has to be done and we would have to have direct orders for that from the Doctor. If you don't feel like giving in my name, I would just like to encourage you to give. All the blood banks are low and you never know who's life you are going to save. Rob got a call the other day that his pint he gave went to save a 5 year old boy's life who had been in a go-kart accident and had severed his liver. You just never know who needs a little help.

My beautiful sister-in-law, Kay

My awesome big brother (they had to stick him 3 times!!) Love ya bunches!!!

Both of them filling up the bags...

Giving blood is so important, especially since I have learned about so much more about cancer and chemo. When you hear about someone going through chemo, you don't hear much about the blood transfusions and platelet transfusions very often. I thought this would be a rare thing, but in my case, the week after my first round, I had to have a blood transfusion and had 2 pints put in, the second round, I had a platelet transfusion, and as I type this, I am having another blood transfusion of 3 pints of blood. They did one bag, had to start my 3rd round of chemo, and then I will get my other 2 pints. Thank you so much to each of you who have already donated in my name!!!

I didn't sleep too well last night. It seemed every time I would doze off my IV pump would go off or a helicopter would take off. Hopefully tonight will be better. It couldn't be as bad as my mom though. Since we are in this lovely little room all they have to sleep in was one of those fold out chairs instead of the fold out couch like in the suites. She made it through the night, but she MIGHT end up in one of the girl's beds tonight and I wouldn't blame her one bit!! I also had another lumbar puncture this morning. I had a headache around 3:30am this morning and so they gave me some hydrocodone to tame it before the LP. They also gave me Phenergran to help with it along with my normal meds. So needless to say, I slept for quite awhile after the procedure. The spinal fluid came out clear...good news!! After that, she went ahead and stitched back in my PICC line. It wasn't too bad, just the numbing shots and a few seconds later it was done.

That's really all that is happening here in my four walls. Thank you again to each of you who have been praying for me and supporting me and my family. I want to thank those of you who lifted up our friend James. As of right now, everything in benign which is wonderful. They will recheck him again in 90 days. BUT, I have another prayer request. My good friend's grandmother had brain surgery a couple of weeks ago and has been in ICU and is now in rehab. There are only 7 documented cases of her brain condition. Please pray for her. I just call her grandma, so if you pray for grandma, God will know who you are talking about. Also, pray for her family as they help take care of her and make decisions in her care. Her husband is also concerned, so pray for him too. Also, our sweet friend Angie is having a procedure tomorrow for her 3 leaking disc in her back. She is a lot of pain and needs all our prayers. This is a new procedure and she will need all the prayers she can get. And last but not least, no news on the bone marrow biopsy. Keep praying!! Each and everyone of you are awesome! We love you!

With God, WE WILL BEAT THIS!!!

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

i am absolutely amazed by you. i have never known such selflessness..as you lay in the hospital getting chemo - you think to ask for prayers for my grandma. how precious are you my sweet sister. i love you whole heartedly.

Anonymous said...

I really tried to think of something funny to say so you could laugh out loud while you're stuck there in that hospital room, but, unfortunately, I've never been known for my sense of humor. However, I did think of Wyatt saying "Bye Nessa" at the hospital and Walker wanting you to take your wig off because he apparently likes you better bald, and it made me smile. Hopefully it'll do the same for you. We love you, Rob, Natalie and Emilee more than we can ever express, and praying for all of you daily. Can't wait to see you all next week!
Love you,
Kay

Unknown said...

I want you to know that I constantly pray for you and am praying for your mom this week. I know that it is hard on her also. I love you precious daughter-n-law of mine. You are a gift of God to us.

Anonymous said...

My Lymphoma Awareness pin is pinned to my wallet so every time I get it out I remember you and ask God to bless you.

Christy Goodwin said...

Vanessa, it's really awesome to see how God is deepening your relationship with Him. I had an Aha! moment several months ago when I was talking to a wise friend about prayer and how it's hard to know what to pray for sometimes. In a nutshell, this is what she said about prayer:

We see things. We want things. We pray for things, asking God to help us. Then while we are praying, God starts taking us somewhere different. Before we know it, we've lost sight of our initial prayer as we become burdened by the needs of others around us. Many prayers begin with us trying to change God and end with God using our prayers to change us. Prayer doesn't change God. Prayer changes us.

What a strong example you are of that power of prayer! You are lifting up the prayer needs of others while you are going through so much on your own. What a testimony!
Trey and I are praying for you and we love you!

Anonymous said...

Great work.