A friend said you are allowed to go to a pity party but you cannot take your coat off and you cannot stay long. I love that. Sometimes you have to feel the sadness of life to gear up for the next phase.
Some of you have experienced the "cancer ugly" that periodically can happen. With that being said it has answered some of the questions I have had over the last year. I feel blessed because sometimes in life you never get answers. All I can say is now I understand. After all it takes time to get to Stage 4.
Speaking of which, how did Clark know he had problems? It started with a sore arm last summer. Months of physical therapy and then a chiropractor who said something was not right and Clark needed a MRI (Thank you Harvey). The doctor ordered a MRI and it came back abnormal. From there numerous tests performed to where we are at today.
We have had some many people ask what Stage 4 cancer is - it is either do or die. My husband will get well or he will not. We of course are pulling all stops out for the first. So if you are on my husband's medical team, know, I will ensure he gets the best care possible and will pull out all the stops to make this happen. I believe you want this as well.
If you are a relative or even a friend, our door is always open but call first. Public transit runs within walking distance of our house so please make your plans accordingly. Our concerns are on getting Clark where he needs to be and making sure Emma is in a safe and lovable environment so keep that in mind.
If you do come and plan on staying more than fifteen minutes I might ask you to help with dishes, clean a bathroom or mow a lawn. At this point, I am not Martha Stewart and if you are coming over you are not a guest, you are family.
Many of you asked to help, please know we feel blessed by this. But right now I cannot remember what I did yesterday, so sign up at http://www.lotsahelpinghands.com/c/613257/login/. This is where we will be going when help is needed. Right now, today, we know when Clark's chemo starts it will last until October at least. As things progress we will keep you posted.
The bunny rabbit was going to miss our house this year. Until this morning when we opened our front door and there were two Easter baskets for Emma. Our dear neighbors Dave, Peggy and Joan wanted Emma to have a little something-so thank you (And Peggy as you read this tomorrow with your morning coffee-know we love having you, Dave and Joan as neighbors).
Then Terilyn showed with a basket for Emma and a Safeway gift card for Clark and I. Thank you Brenda, Robin, Kim, Art, Terilynn and Adrian-our lives would not be as complete without you in them.
Lastly, today Clark, Emma and I went with my brother, his wife to be and my dad to Emma's first ever A's baseball game. Every daughter should be able to go with their dad to a baseball game and today we had two generations of that-someday many years from now we will bring three generations of dads and daughters. I look forward to that day.
You guys are never far from my thoughts and are constantly in my prayers. Hope you enjoyed the game. So glad to see that you are raising Em to be an A's fan.
ReplyDeleteyou don't know me. my name is carla. my husband was just diagnosed with DLBCL. he has a mass in his chest the size of a baseball. we are still waiting for the bone marrow biospy, blood test and catscan results and the petscan is being done tomorrow. i am terrified but reading your blog had made me feel alittle better. thank you.
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