And so it begins...



I am realizing that these updates may not always come easy, and for you, my faithful and supportive reader that may mean you have to swim through a bit of rambling to discover what it is that I am trying to say. Bear with me, I'll try to make myself as clear as possible. It has been a busy day. Kevin and I left the house at 6:45 to make it down to my bone marrow biopsy by 7:50am. I was not looking forward to that procedure at all, but I gotta say all in all, it was not too bad. Keep in mind that I went into it with some massive prayers behind me. I received the Sacrament of the Sick yesterday before mass and some good friends in Baraboo offered up a nice blessing last night while we were over at their house for dinner. I thank you all for the prayers.

So, I met Dr. Amit Sanyal, he has a reputation of being very thorough and even though I was only there for the biopsy he wanted to give me a "brief" run down of where we are at. As he spoke, all I could think was, "wait a second, I don't have all my extra listening ears here to help me out with all of this." Rebecca and a good nurse friend of ours from camp are planning on going to what I thought would be a consultation appointment on Thursday. No worries, he is going to go through it all again but then...He wants to start Chemo on Thursday too. It is moving quite quickly.

After I left Madison, I dropped Kevin off back at home to help Rebecca out with the wee ones and then went back to St. Clares in Baraboo for another MRI. The radiologist found something during the PET scan on the back of my brain that he felt should be looked at closer. Dr. Sanyal is hopeful that it is just a "red herring." Now, I may not like PETs but I do like fish so I am hopeful too. This week I also have an EKG and a lung test scheduled so that they can get a baseline of where I am at before treatment begins. Some of these chemo drugs can be unfriendly to some of my other organs so they want to keep an eye on things.

That's what I know so far. I have managed to write this whole piece while grandma is out with the kiddos on a walk. Quiet time is not something that happens too often around here. Thanks Grandma.
Here's a shot of Grandma and the boys at the Mid-Continent Railway museum last week. You've got to look close to see that Joshua is there too, but he is.

Comments

Cheri N said…
You are in my thought and prayers all the time so it is very nice you to take the time to update us on how and what you are doing and sadly going thru.
Claire said…
Nick and I are continually praying for you and your family. I really wish there was something more we could do from afar...babysit your kids, make you meals, give you a day off...

Don't hesitate to call if you think of something we CAN do. Also, Nick and Maggie's mom would be happy to chat; she has had a lot of personal experience with what you're going through.
sarahbear221 said…
Thank you for the update Big Brother. I'm glad that you're able to keep some humor through all of this, these days I'm a firm believer that attitude is altitude!
Love you!
christel said…
Praying.
mamma hoeben said…
love and prayers Jeff for you and Becca
Katie said…
Thanks for keeping us updated. Its hard not to call and check in on you but this really helps! We love you and you are constantly in our thoughts and prayers!! Lots of love!!!
Maggie Moore said…
You remain in our prayers. Thank you for posting the updates so that we can know how to better pray for you. Peace!