Scans tomorrow [Tuesday] and Wednesday and a bone marrow biopsy [ouch] on Halloween. Send Lisa your best prayers and mojo. Love to you all! Thank you!
Monday, October 29, 2012
Sunday, October 21, 2012
Stay the Course
Sorry for no updates for the past two weeks. Lisa received another round of chemo this week. She seems to handle the drugs well and so far the only side effects has been more fatigue. She still is in good spirits and continues to make us smile and laugh but she does tire easily. She barely makes it through a 1/2 day of school and then comes home to sleep for 4 hours. She will be up for an hour or two around dinner time and then rests and watches tv, colors or plays with her babies until she settles in for the night around 9 pm.
She generally wakes up with a smile and some days has more pain then others. Last week she was really having difficulty walking and experiencing increased pain. This pain does seem to subside some with the chemo which makes me feel that it does still have an effect on her disease.
Lisa will go for bloodwork this week and next week and than scans. Based on the way she is moving and feeling I am sure we already know what the scans will reveal...that her cancer continues to progress. But, we still continue to hope and pray. We have signed paperwork for the doctors to enter Lisa into a "gentics" study where they can further analyze the tumor that was removed from her years ago. While this will not provide a cure, it may open doors to some other drugs that her cancer will respond to.
I ask that you continue to pray for Lisa and all of us...the road has been long and I'm feeling a bit weary but as we say in BLAST....we continue to stay the course.
I also ask that you pray for Ian...he is the young man I know of thru my childhood best friend...who 7 weeks ago he moved onto u of m's campus to begin a new adventure just recently was diagnosed with medullablastoma that has already metastasized to his spine. He started radiation last wednesday and suffered a brain swell yesterday and was rushed to St Mary's hospital where he underwent emergency surgery. He is still in ICU and there is fear of brain damage.
Life is precious, please hug your loved ones and remember to live life fully and live as if today is your last day...because you never know, it just might be.
She generally wakes up with a smile and some days has more pain then others. Last week she was really having difficulty walking and experiencing increased pain. This pain does seem to subside some with the chemo which makes me feel that it does still have an effect on her disease.
Lisa will go for bloodwork this week and next week and than scans. Based on the way she is moving and feeling I am sure we already know what the scans will reveal...that her cancer continues to progress. But, we still continue to hope and pray. We have signed paperwork for the doctors to enter Lisa into a "gentics" study where they can further analyze the tumor that was removed from her years ago. While this will not provide a cure, it may open doors to some other drugs that her cancer will respond to.
I ask that you continue to pray for Lisa and all of us...the road has been long and I'm feeling a bit weary but as we say in BLAST....we continue to stay the course.
I also ask that you pray for Ian...he is the young man I know of thru my childhood best friend...who 7 weeks ago he moved onto u of m's campus to begin a new adventure just recently was diagnosed with medullablastoma that has already metastasized to his spine. He started radiation last wednesday and suffered a brain swell yesterday and was rushed to St Mary's hospital where he underwent emergency surgery. He is still in ICU and there is fear of brain damage.
Life is precious, please hug your loved ones and remember to live life fully and live as if today is your last day...because you never know, it just might be.
Sunday, October 7, 2012
Bridget the Brave has earned her wings
Tears...that is all I have...the funeral will be Wednesday morning, October 10 at Our Lady of
Good Counsel in Plymouth. There will be an all day wake on Tuesday and possibly a short visitation for family on Monday evening. Below is what Bridget's Mom posted yesterday:
Our sweet daughter Bridget Therese was born into eternal life yesterday evening, October 5 at 6:52. If death can be beautiful and peaceful, hers was. She was surrounded by family and love, as well as tender care from her medical team.
Bridget’s little siblings were with us for part of the day. Our dear friend Fr. Ed Fride spent the afternoon with us celebrating the votive mass of Divine Mercy ending close to the Hour of Mercy at 3:00. Directly after mass, Bridget’s little siblings said their goodbyes. At 3 o’clock the medical team began the process of removing the tube and making her comfortable.
Bridget was a quiet warrior, brave in battle until the end. Everyone thought she would breathe her last rather quickly, but I am grateful that did not happen. God allowed us very special time together as a family to say goodbye without tubes. We even brought the little guys back to say goodbye without all the scary stuff attached to Bridgie. We had our last family photo. We prayed, we sang, we cried, and we even laughed a little. There was joy in knowing she would finish the race victorious and meet her Lord. As one of the cards her classmates sent her said…. “If you don’t get better you will get to meet Jesus…how cool is that?!” Cool, indeed.
We were amazed at the outpouring of support for Bridget and our family throughout the entire day. The explosion of her Bridget the Brave poster and zebra hearts all over facebook deeply moved us. The zebra colors that everyone wore throughout the day brought smiles to our faces. Our favorite was her friend Jeff, the Camp Quality Director, who wore a full zebra suit and took his picture with a sign that said I love you Bridget! We received news of masses and prayers offered in Rome, Germany, Ireland, Togo, Brazil, France, India, Uganda and all over the U.S.A. Fr. Gabriel Richard High School gathered with over 500 people to pray the Divine Mercy Chaplet after school hours, as did Huron Valley Catholic School, and Christ the King parishioners. Masco Corp. where Brian works had a room set aside for prayers at 3. I received word from so many places that our family was being lifted up. We were carried on that wave through this difficult day. How truly blessed we are with so many friends and strangers who somehow fell in love with our little flower. Your prayers are what brought us through the day with joy in the last minutes of her earthly life.
I will post more as soon as we make arrangements for her funeral and celebration of her life. We love all of you.
Every Day With Joy!
Good Counsel in Plymouth. There will be an all day wake on Tuesday and possibly a short visitation for family on Monday evening. Below is what Bridget's Mom posted yesterday:
Our sweet daughter Bridget Therese was born into eternal life yesterday evening, October 5 at 6:52. If death can be beautiful and peaceful, hers was. She was surrounded by family and love, as well as tender care from her medical team.
Bridget’s little siblings were with us for part of the day. Our dear friend Fr. Ed Fride spent the afternoon with us celebrating the votive mass of Divine Mercy ending close to the Hour of Mercy at 3:00. Directly after mass, Bridget’s little siblings said their goodbyes. At 3 o’clock the medical team began the process of removing the tube and making her comfortable.
Bridget was a quiet warrior, brave in battle until the end. Everyone thought she would breathe her last rather quickly, but I am grateful that did not happen. God allowed us very special time together as a family to say goodbye without tubes. We even brought the little guys back to say goodbye without all the scary stuff attached to Bridgie. We had our last family photo. We prayed, we sang, we cried, and we even laughed a little. There was joy in knowing she would finish the race victorious and meet her Lord. As one of the cards her classmates sent her said…. “If you don’t get better you will get to meet Jesus…how cool is that?!” Cool, indeed.
We were amazed at the outpouring of support for Bridget and our family throughout the entire day. The explosion of her Bridget the Brave poster and zebra hearts all over facebook deeply moved us. The zebra colors that everyone wore throughout the day brought smiles to our faces. Our favorite was her friend Jeff, the Camp Quality Director, who wore a full zebra suit and took his picture with a sign that said I love you Bridget! We received news of masses and prayers offered in Rome, Germany, Ireland, Togo, Brazil, France, India, Uganda and all over the U.S.A. Fr. Gabriel Richard High School gathered with over 500 people to pray the Divine Mercy Chaplet after school hours, as did Huron Valley Catholic School, and Christ the King parishioners. Masco Corp. where Brian works had a room set aside for prayers at 3. I received word from so many places that our family was being lifted up. We were carried on that wave through this difficult day. How truly blessed we are with so many friends and strangers who somehow fell in love with our little flower. Your prayers are what brought us through the day with joy in the last minutes of her earthly life.
I will post more as soon as we make arrangements for her funeral and celebration of her life. We love all of you.
Every Day With Joy!
Friday, October 5, 2012
Live every day to its fullest..find a reason to smile:)
Lisa has had a very good week. With a round of chemo under her belt last week, we are on high alert for low blood counts and other side effects. She only required one transfusion this week and sailed right through that. She is looking pretty good. She is moving pretty good, has less pain, smiles and continues to make people laugh. Just now, at 7:45 in the morning, she batted her blue eyes at me and said "I have a sore throat, can I just have a tiny bit of ice cream...I'm sure it will make it feel better." She then followed that up with assuring me that she had already eaten a "healthy apple" for breakfast. So, ummm....yes, with that logic....go for it have a bowl of ice cream. She added a bigger smile to my face when she grabbed the sprinkles to make it "even better".
So while Lisa still is having good days, unfortunately we cannot say the same for Bridget. Below is her mother's post from yesterday. If you can, at 3:00 today, please offer up prayers for Bridget and her family as they take her off the ventilator:(
We have met with all the medical teams and they all agree that there is no hope of Bridget's current condition improving. We have had enough time to calm our worries that it might be a virus or seizures or other issues. This was important to us, especially since she has been in the ICU a few other times that things looked hopeless. This is the first time I feel in my heart they are right. Even that Christmas Eve two years ago, I don't think I ever really believed that we would bury our daughter in weeks or months. This time is different. The cancer has taken its toll. The time has come to take our Bridget off the ventilator,the machine that breathes for her and let her go to meet our Lord.
We will take Bridget off the ventilator on Friday at 3:00. We chose the time as it is the Hour of Mercy when Our Lord died on the cross, on the Feast day of St. Faustina, the apostle of Mercy. At that time our family will gather and say our goodbyes. We will wait and we will pray. I know we will be grieving, but I also know we will be joyfully remembering the gift Bridget has been to each one of us. Please surround us in prayer at that time. I believe it will be the hardest moment our lives.
So while Lisa still is having good days, unfortunately we cannot say the same for Bridget. Below is her mother's post from yesterday. If you can, at 3:00 today, please offer up prayers for Bridget and her family as they take her off the ventilator:(
Every Hour with Joy!
Yesterday's morning
prayer seemed as if it was written just for us.
"No trial has come to
you but what is human. God is faithful and will not let you be tried beyond your
strength; but with the trial he will also provide a way out, so that you may be
able to bear it. - 1 Corinthians 10:13
Oh Lord my strength and
fortress my refuge in the day of distress- Jeremiah 16:19
What a beautiful and
sad few days we have had. Our flower is fading. I want to be eloquent, but I am
weary and the hour is late.
We have met with all the medical teams and they all agree that there is no hope of Bridget's current condition improving. We have had enough time to calm our worries that it might be a virus or seizures or other issues. This was important to us, especially since she has been in the ICU a few other times that things looked hopeless. This is the first time I feel in my heart they are right. Even that Christmas Eve two years ago, I don't think I ever really believed that we would bury our daughter in weeks or months. This time is different. The cancer has taken its toll. The time has come to take our Bridget off the ventilator,the machine that breathes for her and let her go to meet our Lord.
We will take Bridget off the ventilator on Friday at 3:00. We chose the time as it is the Hour of Mercy when Our Lord died on the cross, on the Feast day of St. Faustina, the apostle of Mercy. At that time our family will gather and say our goodbyes. We will wait and we will pray. I know we will be grieving, but I also know we will be joyfully remembering the gift Bridget has been to each one of us. Please surround us in prayer at that time. I believe it will be the hardest moment our lives.
Many wonderful moments
have occurred the last few days. I promise to share some of them soon. We are so
incredibly grateful to all of you.
Every Hour with
Joy!
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