Wednesday, August 19th, 2009
Late this afternoon, Bonnie’s temporary stint in her bile duct was replace with a permanent one. We are thankful that everything went well. She is resting now (aka out like a light). The doctor said as soon as her installed the stint, “bile started to flow.”
August 18, 2009
On Sunday, Bonnie had good energy. She cooked dinner again (well I did turn on the grill among a few other things) :) Really it was a good day! Both her and McKenzie desperately miss being in worship and being present with our friends on Sundays.
This week Bonnie will again have three IV treatments, make a visit her oncologist, and see another doctor on Wednesday (2:30) to have the temporary stint replaced in the bile duct (that was originally installed back in mid-May). A couple of the main symptoms has returned which is that of itching and restlessness in the evening.
Last week Bonnie’s knee popped out (she had surgery on this knees about 5 years ago) and almost back in. After a couple of days and lots of ice and some weird movements with the knee it finally reset itself. Needless to say it was a much slower and painful week.
Bonnie’s mom, sister and good friend will be in town for the Benefit Concert and will be able to attend one of McKenzie’s swim meets (it appears she’ll once again be swimming the 500 – better her than me).
McKenzie begins her second week of school and in two weeks her swim meets begin. Pray as we adjust schedules one more time and that Bonnie has the strength to make it to the swim meets. And of course that McKenzie does her best! And maybe that I’m not one of those obnoxious parents cheering their child to victory (that may be a prayer God says no to).
I (Juno) started to run again each morning. It’s been a three month reprieve and unfortunately, they haven’t come up with a miracle pill yet to lose weight)…plus the running it good for my soul (not the souls on my shoes, my inner spirit).
Your prayers, support and encouragement are greatly appreciated.
July 22- 28th
Wed, July 22nd-Tues, July 28th
July 22: Today’s the day when lots of ‘stuff’ is going to be picked up and delivered to the church for the Rummage & Bake Sale. After a couple of hours in helping load two 14 ft trucks (which someone generously donated) I arrived to at the church to help unload.
While I knew there would be lots of stuff brought in and collected, I was still pleasantly surprised and a tad nervous to see ALL this stuff everywhere. I was hoping to have just large furniture for sale in the lobby but it was clearly obvious that would not be the case. Piles & Piles were everywhere and the stuff kept coming. For my own sake I needed to reassure my boss that the lobby would be in good shape by Sunday. Needless to say it was an absolute non-issue for my boss and co-workers (who had the blessing of seeing all the stuff come in first hand). I’m so very thankful to be working with this great group of people.
As I walked through the lobby and into the rooms that were also being used I really had to fight back the tears. I’m thinking if these volunteers see me crying here they’ll think something is really wrong) In reality my heart was touched by all the people, some I didn’t even know who were there sorting, moving, and trying to organize the items in a way to make them sell.
There were people from Mountain Park Community Church (our current church and employer), from our previous church, there were teenagers there from Valley (school where McKenzie will be a junior), families and a few college students and other adults I didn’t know. As my heart was touched with emotion and fighting back tears, I thought that these folks are helping for no other reason than to love on my family by providing support (and hopefully generate additional funds for Bonnie’s medical treatments. Those helping were not earning money for a mission’s trip or getting a percentage of what they sold. There was nothing in it for them….It was purely to help…what a humbling experience. Again, I’m reminded that it’s often more comfortable to be on the giving end than on the receiving side of so much love.
July 23 –Thursday a local church, Cornerstone, graciously let us borrow 20 more tables and some signs (OK – so I need to replace some of the signs). Many folks were back sorting and arranging items for the sale. McKenzie even found some new tops that ‘she really needed’. When I was walking through I noticed some photos in a frame that looked very familiar and when I looked more closely I realized they were Bonnie’s and my baby pictures in frames (OK so we should have re-checked all the boxes we took out of storage). I reassured Bonnie that I looked through all the ‘stuff’ to be sure no other treasures of ours were displayed.
Our Yoga Director donated DVD’s to the sale, and a Tempe Police officer donated a box full of crosses to be sold as a way to generate funds. Friends from our previous small group were there until almost 11:30 PM setting up and several folks showed up by 7 AM on Friday to put the finishing touches on things, set up the bake sale and get ready for the sale to begin.
July 24,25 – It was a very long week as many trips were made from our home to the church with vans, cars, and picking up loads of ‘stuff’ emptied from our garage (and many others) to the church. Bonnie was very disappointed not to have the energy to stop by just to check things out. In fact, on Saturday she called with so much pain that I left the sale and had to take her to the ER. Basically complications from 17 units of blood are messing with her liver. So they had to transfuse another 3 units of blood and on Monday drain 4.7 liters of water from her stomach (not the weight loss program I want to be on). She came home on Tuesday and is slowly regaining strength. Continue to pray for the bleeding to stop and for her liver to do what God intended for it to do.
A special thank you to Barb, Kurt and Adair for your efforts in getting this off the ground and going. An additional 40+ people had helped throughout the week. All of their efforts and purchases from many people helped to raise the funds needed to cover over two months of IV treatments and supplements for Bonnie. We are so grateful for everyone’s help, words of encouragement, donations, and prayers.
With grateful hearts…and tired bodies.
Bonnie, Juno and McKenzie