It was 113 degrees in phoenix, and 33 degrees inside the Mayo Clinic. I now know why they charge a premium. It does make me wonder how much their electric bill is every month, with all of the special hospital equipment not to mention the AC. How much electricity does an MRI machine use? What about at CT? Not to mention the radiation machine which I learned is a proton accelerator. It must be enormous.
Anyways, the staples were successfully removed, another MRI was done, and we met with the Radiation Oncologist (Dr. Vora) and talked about the treatment. They made a mask of Jills head and neck that she will wear during the radiation treatment to ensure that her head is always in the exact same location ever single time. After the treatment it will make a great Halloween costume, or have it bronzed and placed on a grand panio, or paint it wild colors and become a Luchador, how about a hockey goalie, the possibilities are ENDLESS!
The Radiation Oncologist was very optomistic that Jill's youth, strength, and health will be very benificial in tolerating and recovering from the radiation. It was very encouraging to hear that. Learning about the radiation is facinating, the technology they have is simply amazing to be able to pinpoint it.
We met again with Dr. Zimmerman, who was sporting a tie with a bunch of cyclists. When I commented on his tie, he pointed and said "this one is Lance, and this one is Contador..." If he has said Cavendish and Hushov I would have been really impressed. He was happy to hear how well Jill was healing and again gave us words of encouragement about the chemo/radiation.
I also learned a new phrase "Usual, Customary, and Reasonable"
With staples, without staples....very pretty!
ReplyDeleteJan
Continuing to pray for you both!
ReplyDeleteI love how Jill's smile lights up her face. Rob, you are married to a beautiful woman!
Love,
Melissa, Blake, Sydney & Hannah
Now you have a built-in Halloween costume every year...just change it up! You look radiant! CMF, glad you are back on the bike. It is just as essential for your healing as it is hers!
ReplyDeleteA+++
***Part I***
ReplyDeleteDear Rob and Jill,
You may not remember me, Rob…I knew your mom and Dad through Mtn. View choir and your brother during high school but I can’t recall if we ever really knew each other. I read through your entire blog today after seeing the link in a Mtn. View email. How my heart goes out to you both.
My husband was sick with leukemia for over a year and I spent so much time living in a hospital. I remember how tiring it was…trying to move in…trying to move out….never really having the stuff that we needed whenever we needed it. What an exhausting experience. I’ve been trying so hard to think of the right encouraging words to share—something that I wish someone could have told me a year ago that would have made it all better. But, I have to say that everything I think of seems so insignificant in comparison to what you guys are probably feeling and going through. I am hopeful that at least one of the following words brings you some sense of feeling lifted-up or less isolated.
I remember all the questions swimming through my head…magnified by exhaustion and worry. It’s so overwhelming and mind-numbing. In hind-sight, I found that the age-old saying “Take one day at a time” will always get you through in the end. I found that I had more strength than I ever knew I had…and even more strength when I thought I had none left. It didn’t diminish my tiredness. But it did get me through. I read a quote once that always stuck with me: “You’ll never know how much strength you have until you have no other choice.” I like this quote because it doesn’t over-glorify the idea of “strength” as though we choose to go through difficult life experiences. Instead, it seems to say that we will have the ability to keep finding the strength when we have to. You guys will find that strength—even when it doesn’t seem possible.
Of all the many questions I ever had, the most haunting question of all was: “Why us?” It seemed so unfair to be so young and so undeserving of such difficult challenges. I found myself staring at random people that just seemed like they didn’t appreciate life enough—and wondering how they couldn’t appreciate it more—and feeling so resentful of their ignorance. To me, it was kind of an isolating feeling. I remember thinking, “We don’t need to be learning these lessons in life. Why not teach some of these other people?” I never found the all-encompassing answer to this question. But I will tell you this: after the difficulties, the tears, and the frustrations, I do appreciate this world differently. Instead of resenting those unappreciative people in this world, I now feel somewhat honored to see life in such a vibrant manner. I can’t imagine ever saying that this makes me “lucky.” The hardships of this world don’t ever make any of us lucky. It just makes me different. It’s sort of like opening your eyes to the world all over again. (continued below…)
***Part II***
ReplyDeleteMy best advice is to intentionally try and think of ways that people can help you. (I am guilty of hardly ever doing this…but I know it would have helped me.) I think that, if I could do it over again, I would have kept a small notebook and written down things that people could help with so that when someone asked “Can I help?” I would have had a list to pull out instead of staring at them blankly. I don’t think that any task is ever too small to ask for help with…and nothing too big either, by the way.
Turn to God. Enough said there. God will always lift you up in some way, even if it is through the love of a friend or family member.
Forgive the people in your life if there comes a time when it is necessary. If you ever happen to get those weird cards, hear unhelpful advice, or have friends that even turn away a bit—my advice would be to take it as lightly as possible. Try not to let it hurt you any deeper than it has to. There are some people that (though they may think they know *exactly* what you are going through) couldn’t be farther from understanding. I had to learn to let these things roll off me as much as possible, try to remind myself that they are trying to help, but then (this is very important) surround myself with people who *did* make me feel better and forgive myself the worry of offending the people who weren’t helpful to be around.
I hope that you can take care of yourselves and each other all the way through—as you so clearly (from the blog) already do. You guys certainly seem like the kind of people who know how to appreciate life! GO FIGHT! FIGHT! It is so great to see that you have so much love and support. It makes all the difference in the world.
Here’s a couple of song/videos (in no particular order) that have been really important to me as we went through our battle:
Nichole Nordeman-Gratitude
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=waYUzxK8TYA
Casting Crowns-Somewhere In The Middle
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DveYBno-pmQ
Casting Crowns-Praise You In This Storm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7h4qNNWGq-8
Steven Curtis Chapman—Be Still and Know
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jrICjDvO_00
Casting Crowns—Who Am I?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VU_rTX23V7Q
Casting Crowns—Who Am I? Hand Mime (**Watch this one for sure—it’s really cool)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RyPm7n_pXW8
May God’s blessings flow down upon you and may you find some sense of rest each day that gives you strength for the days to follow. I’ll be following your blog and praying for you daily.
Jess Powell Eiler
Doremi2u@hotmail.com
PS. If ever down the road, Jill feels frustrated with spoken words—try singing! It’s a completely different part of the brain and there are even studies of people (from car accidents etc) that cannot talk *at all* but can still sing. I think that singing is good for the soul anyhow!