Last day home today. I took care of a few practical things, but mostly relaxed. We had a nice family dinner where we were all together. Our last one for a while.
Today is my father’s birthday. He turned seventy but the birthday means more than celebration of a round number. He is the first in his family to make it past that mark, and he is in good health. Thank God.
That got me thinking (again) about how grateful I am to have the father I have, and the mother, and the wife and the kids and the life. I see again how God has been working long before this started to put all the bricks in place for me to be right here, right now. I am sure that right here, right now is not God’s final plan for me but it is the plan for right now.
I see that so many details have come together to make this an easier ride for me than it could have been otherwise. My patient, compassionate, wonderful wife has stood by me and encouraged me every step of the way. The fact that I ended up in Norway and not somewhere else is a biggie. I’m getting the absolute best care I could get at the speed of light over here.
And the friends and family that have taken such good care of us. They have risen into an army of food bringers, helpers, prayer warriors, encouragers, and just general blessings to us in so many ways.
On the bright side
God’s put all that in place in addition to being along side me every day and being with me through the thick and the thin. Holding me when I need holding and giving me strength when I need strength and so much more. I’m thankful that if I have to go through this I have this incredible support system wrapped around me. God is good.
An overcast rainy day. A nice day to stay inside. We didn’t do much today.
The day was highlighted by a thirty-minute slow walk to the store during a little a break in the rain. I needed a two-hour nap to recover from my thirty-minute walk. My condition has gone considerably downhill since all this began.
Spending the day inside gave me several occasions to look in the mirror. And that got me thinking about my hair or lack of hair. I never appreciated how important my hair was in defining what I “looked like”. When I look in the mirror now, I see a featureless bald guy. I could be anyone – the guy who robbed you, the guy who sold you the newspaper or the guy helped you do your taxes. I’m still me though, until I look in the mirror.
I’m not too worried about that though, because I have no one to impress and when I’m in the hospital I have an armband they can identify me with. My wife and kids love me no matter what I look like and God doesn’t care if I have hair or not.
I think my worst fear (when it concerns how I look) is that I go into this looking like a healthy forty-seven-year-old but come out looking like a seventy-eight year old man who has been through the wringer.
On the bright side
I guess it doesn’t really matter what I look like as long as I’m healthy. I have a daughter who can draw eye brows and I see I can order a wig from the party supply store for $5.99. I’ll get by.
Today we had to go into Oslo for some blood tests. It’s part of my parole arrangement. Anyway, I aced them. I don’t want to brag but my Potassium levels were high enough that they moved me from 6 pills a day to 4. And apparently my other blood levels were looking pretty good as well.
I had a coffee date with May in Oslo (she had coffee I had some sort of frozen hibiscus/ grapefruit/ lemonade drink). When we got home, I laid myself out on the new sofa and prepared myself for what sounded like the makings of a nice summer thunderstorm. However, nothing ever became of it. A few rumbles and some soft rain and it was over. How disappointing. There was however also waffle batter waiting for us when we got home. A delicious and successful effort from one of the neighbors to fatten me up.
After waffles we took a nice longish walk and then settled in for the evening catching up on The Chosen season two and Magnum PI. I didn’t last long last night and ended up in bed by eleven. Another wonderfully normal day.
Despite the lack of thunder the rain was soft and welcome. Our flowers and garden appreciated it and it was very relaxing to listen too. It only lasted about an hour before the sun came back out.
I woke up in my own bed and had something close to a normal day.
May made a nice breakfast which we eat while we chatted across the table. After breakfast we lounged around until a friend came over, bearing pizza for lunch. We sat in the shade and talked about everything and nothing at all. It was a nice change from the long lonely mornings at the hospital. It was nice to spend time with my friend.
In the afternoon some other friends came over to help move my oldest daughter into her new apartment in Oslo. They were taking the larger items today, a sofa, a refrigerator, a washing machine and a bed. What a blessing that they stepped up and took care of this project while I am incapacitated. Both Hannah and Jakob were along moving.
While they were moving the rest of us ate leftovers for dinner. Today could have been any summer day. A day I normally would have taken for granted. But this week I appreciate waking up in my own bed, next to my beautiful wife. I appreciate my friends and the things they do for us. Having leftovers is a sign of abundance and all these things are evidence of a blessed life.
On the bright side
The weather has been beautiful lately. A nice summer is a rare thing in Norway. It’s not uncommon to have rainy or chilled days. And sometimes it gets super hot and dry. But so far this year everything has been just the way Norwegians like it high 70s and sunny.
If I could get that title to light up and shoot fireworks I would!
Remember we were waiting for some test results that they had to take twice because they couldn’t be sure what they were looking at the first time. Well they were not completely sure the next day as well. They see a lot of cells but are not sure if they are looking at a marrow sample full of cancer rather than healthy cells. They weren’t certain why the cell count was so high, maybe it was this or maybe it was that or it could have been this other thing. But I know what it was; IT WAS AN ANSWER TO PRAYER. This is exactly what I, my wife, my friends and family and my friend’s family and friends have been praying for.
I’m not cured of cancer, but my body responded better than expected to the first round of chemo. Besides whichever cells they were looking at in my marrow, my other blood levels were higher than anticipated at this point as well. Things are in fact so good that they sent me home today – no extra observation or tests – they just wrote me out a prescription for Potassium and told me when to come back.
I spent my first night home in a long time. I got to see all my kids, busy as they are. Mostly I just sat on the sofa and chatted or watched TV (caught up on Loki). I think I even dozed off for a little while. It was a wonderful evening and I am looking forward to being here for the next week (until Tuesday morning).
On the bright side
It seems almost wrong not to consider the entirety of yesterday as the brightest of bright sides. But I guess there is always room to squeeze in a little more good news. Last night our friends brought over a wonderful fiskegrateng (not sure how to describe that in English but it’s a tasty baked creamy fish dish covered with cheese) I have been eating and snacking from the cornucopia of snacks and meals that people have been blessing my family with since I got sick. God is good!
Day 17 turned out to be a bit of a letdown. They took the bone marrow tests, but there were so many cells in the marrow that they couldn’t tell if they were good or bad. (I am believing that they are good and that this is a wonderful example of answered prayer) But they couldn’t tell, so this morning they took another bone marrow sample, this they will send the samples to a lab that can read them better. So, the waiting continues.
But the doctor did say that my other blood levels were looking good and headed in the right direction.
The day was spent twiddling my thumbs until May came in the evening. She had made the most amazing Salmon, hummus, noodle, bean salad. I could not have ordered a better salad in a restaurant. After dinner we took a nice walk and practiced steps, which one can come surprisingly unaccustomed to if you don’t keep up and practice.
Thanks to May today wasn’t a complete bust. But the long monotonous days are starting to wear on me and I’d like a change of scenery, especially if things are looking good health and blood-wise.
On the bright side
May also brought me some sudoku books and deductive puzzles to help me pass the time. Because like my legs and the steps, I suspect that I need to keep my brain chugging along as well.
Today is the day that they take the tests and see how well I responded to the chemotherapy. It includes the regular blood tests and another bone marrow sample. Once they’ve looked at everything, they can make a better judgement on what the next step will be. (Hopefully it will be going home for a while to regain my strength.) Until then we wait.
I am still overwhelmed by the amount of people who are still reaching out and taking care of us as a family. We are almost a month into this adventure and the encouragement, prayers, support, and food keep pouring in. We have a core group of people who visit, feed, encourage and lift us up and beyond them we have an army of people surrounding us who are praying, sending encouragement and lifting us up to God every day. And I bet that there is are even more people out there praying for us that we don’t even know about.
God is there in the big stuff and in the little stuff. When the days are long and believe me the days can be very long when you sit in your hospital room with absolutely nothing to do, I sense that God is there. We don’t have long deep conversations because we don’t need to. I know He is right there, and He knows exactly what kind of comfort or encouragement I need. He is always right where I need Him right when I need him there.
Despite not doing much of anything most days, and the world’s most boring (bland) menu, I have managed to maintain my weight. They don’t want me losing weight here, so I think maintaining is a pretty major achievement considering.
Not much happened today. At least not you’d be interested in hearing about. I was allowed to leave the hospital grounds for 90 minutes today but had to follow these rules; I couldn’t interact with other people and I wasn’t allowed in direct sunlight. These are rules I’d been trying to live by for 40 years already, so I was set.
Those rules really set you up for one thing, so May drove to Burger King and we got some burgers, then drove to a shady spot in a near by neighborhood. It was probably the sunniest day I can remember, but nestled in that neighborhood under some big tree, we found a little slice of paradise. The breeze blew through the car, birds hopped around in the bushes and it was a nice relaxing time with my beautiful wife. We wrapped up the afternoon with an ice cream before going back to the hospital.
Word on the street is that my kids are enjoying a normal summer and that brings me joy. And it seems that you yard is being cared for which I also like. Though May had a nasty run in with a seagull yesterday who tried to p¤@p her outside and later went in the kitchen and ate all the toppings off the pizza that was sitting on the kitchen table.
