Well, we made it. We got off to a bumpy (literally) start. We arrived at the airport, sailed thru security at Detroit Metro and proceeded to the escalator that is right there. Lisa was a few steps ahead of me and assured me she was okay to go alone. I was about four steps behind her dragging the luggage. As I got on the escalator I noticed that she did not have her feet on the platform correctly. Just as I called out her name, the escalator became stairs, her feet slipped off the stairs, and right before my eyes, she tumbled head first half way down the escalator. I was shrieking her name trying to get to her but with the luggage unsteady behind me; I was having a hard time making progress. I was afraid if I moved forward the luggage would tumble over and knock me down or go over her. Somehow she managed to catch herself and straddled askew over three of the stairs. I believe a security guard appeared behind me freeing me of the bags so I could grab her and one man came to the bottom of the escalator to grab Lisa's back pack...not even sure how that came off. It all happened in under a minute I 'm sure, but it seemed like everything was in slow motion. Once we made it down to the bottom, Lisa seemed more panicked than hurt; it could have been from my screaming. Once I gave her a hug and we took some breaths we were able to assure the security guard we were okay and didn't need any medical attention or to file a report. Lisa never even shed a tear. We calmed ourselves and headed towards our gate. We had walked a bit before Lisa told me her leg hurt...she pulled up her pant leg and it was pretty cut up (imagine that). She assured me she could keep going so we continued to walk to the gate. Of course, our gate was all the way at the other end of the terminal, but I was too shook up to go back up and take the tram so we walked the entire way. Lisa, the trooper, tough chick made it the whole way with a smile on her face.
Once we got to the gate, I gave Lisa a thorough once over....OMG! Her one leg was scrapped up with skin hanging, her belly looked like she'd been attacked by a raccoon or a rake and had red lines all over it and the area around her port was scrapped and bleeding. She had one little scrap on her lip, but somehow had managed to save her face from damage. I asked the attendant at the desk for a first aid kit and she said they didn't have any but they could call EMS. I said no, it wasn't that serious, I just wanted some Neosporin and band-aids. She offer me hand sanitizer....hellooooo...that's like rubbing alcohol. I asked a transport person going buy if they had a first aid kit, he said no and made some calls. He informed me that someone would bring them. That someone was the EMS....nice. Apparently they are the only ones in the airport who have Band-Aids. They were very nice and dug into their HUGE medical backpack to get the supplies to clean Lisa up. They were impressed at how composed she was after such a tumble. They asked if we wanted to go the hospital to get checked out. I smiled and said "We are going to the hospital, just as soon as our plane lands in Memphis. Thanks!"
It was pretty horrific and keeps playing thru my mind. The airport seemed so empty at the time and I can remember looking around for help as I was yelling and being surprised at how only a few people stopped, but only one person came over to help. Maybe they couldn't see her on the stairs or something, but all I could think was someone grab her, catch her. I cannot believe how lucky we were....she could have broken her neck...but she didn't, and we made it and we're here and she's fine, happy and ready to go. What a trooper. Go Princess Lisa!
Monday, September 6, 2010
Sunday, September 5, 2010
Expensed paid trip to St Jude in Memphis, TN
The call didn't come as a total surprise, but the timing was a bit shocking. We got the call from St. Jude on Friday after 4:30 saying that they had scheduled Lisa to meet with their doctor....on Tuesday!! We fly out on Monday.
The good thing is St Jude covers all the cost...they take care of the airplane flight, housing and food for both Lisa and one parent. The bad news is that Lisa will miss the first days of school and I will miss out on my 3 other kids starting school. I know for some parents this is no big deal, but for this Mom, it's heartbreaking.
I'm never really happy when they start school...I know, I'm crazy....but what can I say, I like having my kids around, having carefree days with no homework and the long days of summer. School means more work, more schedules, shorter days and winter is coming. The first day of school is sort of my initiation back into reality. The first week of school traditionally is for helping them get ready and get their supplies, learning about their classes and meeting their teachers, getting them adjusted to their new schedules and helping them figure out how to get off on the right foot and make this a good school year for the next 9 lonnnnnnnggggg months until summer. My not being here is going to be an adjustment for all.
Maranda also quickly assessed that we will miss her birthday next week. Again, something I've never done! So feeling a bit guilt ridden and trying to get everything I was planning on doing next week done in two days has made this Labor day weekend one filled with "labor".
As for Lisa, she looks great and is feeling fine. She's a little disappointed in missing out on school, but we've been playing up the adventure we are getting ready for and she's game. This first week at St. Jude will be full of tests and scans to assure she qualifies for the study. There is some concern that she won't show enough cancer to qualify. Mike is hoping the scans show nothing meaning Lisa would be in full remission. Why this sounds nice, the reality is she did have some cancer at last scans and in most cases if there is some, there will be more sooner or later...so if there isn't enough now to treat, there most likely will be more in a few months and at that time the study might be closed or full.
If Lisa does qualify for the study we will stay on for a second week at St Judes. She will receive an antibody treatment for four days. You can read more about this study here. I'm not sure once she is on study if she stays any extra time after the treatments or if we would come home to Motts and let them do follow up. I do know the treatments are administered every fourth week so we would go back down to St. Judes once a month for the next 3-4 months.
So...I'm off to finish the school shopping, get Maranda early birthday presents, pack, clean house, pay bills, yadayadayada.....please continue to pray...this truly is a situation where God has the best plan.
The good thing is St Jude covers all the cost...they take care of the airplane flight, housing and food for both Lisa and one parent. The bad news is that Lisa will miss the first days of school and I will miss out on my 3 other kids starting school. I know for some parents this is no big deal, but for this Mom, it's heartbreaking.
I'm never really happy when they start school...I know, I'm crazy....but what can I say, I like having my kids around, having carefree days with no homework and the long days of summer. School means more work, more schedules, shorter days and winter is coming. The first day of school is sort of my initiation back into reality. The first week of school traditionally is for helping them get ready and get their supplies, learning about their classes and meeting their teachers, getting them adjusted to their new schedules and helping them figure out how to get off on the right foot and make this a good school year for the next 9 lonnnnnnnggggg months until summer. My not being here is going to be an adjustment for all.
Maranda also quickly assessed that we will miss her birthday next week. Again, something I've never done! So feeling a bit guilt ridden and trying to get everything I was planning on doing next week done in two days has made this Labor day weekend one filled with "labor".
As for Lisa, she looks great and is feeling fine. She's a little disappointed in missing out on school, but we've been playing up the adventure we are getting ready for and she's game. This first week at St. Jude will be full of tests and scans to assure she qualifies for the study. There is some concern that she won't show enough cancer to qualify. Mike is hoping the scans show nothing meaning Lisa would be in full remission. Why this sounds nice, the reality is she did have some cancer at last scans and in most cases if there is some, there will be more sooner or later...so if there isn't enough now to treat, there most likely will be more in a few months and at that time the study might be closed or full.
If Lisa does qualify for the study we will stay on for a second week at St Judes. She will receive an antibody treatment for four days. You can read more about this study here. I'm not sure once she is on study if she stays any extra time after the treatments or if we would come home to Motts and let them do follow up. I do know the treatments are administered every fourth week so we would go back down to St. Judes once a month for the next 3-4 months.
So...I'm off to finish the school shopping, get Maranda early birthday presents, pack, clean house, pay bills, yadayadayada.....please continue to pray...this truly is a situation where God has the best plan.
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Lisa is 6 today!
Ahhh...to be six again....Lisa raced into my room this morning and announced loud and clear "I'm six today!!!". Yesterday at her hospital visit, the nurses and doctors gave her a few gifts and made her a happy birthday sign. She carried it proudly in front of her and when she figured out that people were reading it and wishing her happy birthday, she carried it even more prominently. She even got so bold as to shake it at a few people as if to say...hey, it's my birthday, wish me a happy one.
Monday, August 23, 2010
Enjoying Life
Sorry to be so sparse with posts lately. Those of you that know me, know that once I'm in Topsail I cease to think about anything else. It's been wonderful down here. Mike's family and my nephew Ray was with us all last week. Thursday, my brother Frank flew in with my niece Amy. McMasters left Saturday. Frank took Ray and Amy home Sunday. All the kids have had a great time. It's interesting to watch the oldest nieces and nephews interact with their cousins and remind them of what they were like when they were little. It's amazing to realize how much they've all grown up.
Now that all the cousins are gone it's just us and Grandma. Maranda is already begging to go home early. Lisa keeps running around saying "We have the whole house all to ourselves!!!" She is doing well, she is prone to taking long naps each afternoon, but so is Mike. We've heard from our U of M docs and once we get back Lisa will be doing some testing which will be given to St. Jude to see if they will accept her for the antibody study. If she's accepted, she and I will most likely be going to Tenn early September. That will truly be a different experience for us all. Well..back to the beach...hope everyone is well and enjoying their last bits of summer.
Thursday, August 5, 2010
A brush with fame
Things have been going well. We went to MI Adventure last weekend with my sister and nephew Jacob....I'm still waiting for them to send me photos so I can post them. We dropped the older three off at Special Days camp before Mike, Lisa and I headed home.
It's been pretty quite this week, but it's going by fast! Lisa misses her sibs, but other than that seems to be doing fine. She's a bit more tired lately and her appetite comes and goes. I try not to think anything of it, but sometimes it's hard not to.
We are getting geared up for our 2 week vacation at Topsail with Mike's side of the family. We continue to be on the waitlist for a protocol that could open at St Judes or a different protocol that could open at Motts. IF either of these opened while we were on vacation, it could be problematic....once they studies open, scans have to be done within 5 days. That means we either cut our vacation short or bypass the studies. I'm not sure what we will do if faced with this conflict. There is no hard evidence that either of the protocol would make a difference and cutting the vacation short seems like we could be cheating Lisa out of a family memory, but not doing a protocol could cheat her out of life. I truly have no control on this one and hope God will see that the timing works out. While try not to dwell on the issue, it is definitely stressing me out.
On another note, Lisa had a brush with fame tonight. She got to join some other kids from her Kids Kicking Cancer karate class to film a public service announcement with Gerard Butler. While he's not Miley Cyrus or Demi Moore -the stars that the kids got to shoot the announcement with on Sunday while we were out of town:(- Gerard was very nice and spent a lot of time with the kids before and after the shooting. I've attached an amatuer clip I took from my phone....it's a bit long, but the whole process was a lot longer! The film Gerard is in town shooting got behind schedule so we waited over an hour for him to get done with that. We did get to peak behind the scenes and all the crew was very nice. Once Gerard was done filming for the day, they shot the public service announcement. There were many retakes and we were snapping pictures like crazy...those will be on shutterfly soon. Lisa, being bald and toothless, got the front and center spot right on his lap. It was very cool! Lisa was awesome and very much the professional sitter. We are so proud of her.
It's been pretty quite this week, but it's going by fast! Lisa misses her sibs, but other than that seems to be doing fine. She's a bit more tired lately and her appetite comes and goes. I try not to think anything of it, but sometimes it's hard not to.
We are getting geared up for our 2 week vacation at Topsail with Mike's side of the family. We continue to be on the waitlist for a protocol that could open at St Judes or a different protocol that could open at Motts. IF either of these opened while we were on vacation, it could be problematic....once they studies open, scans have to be done within 5 days. That means we either cut our vacation short or bypass the studies. I'm not sure what we will do if faced with this conflict. There is no hard evidence that either of the protocol would make a difference and cutting the vacation short seems like we could be cheating Lisa out of a family memory, but not doing a protocol could cheat her out of life. I truly have no control on this one and hope God will see that the timing works out. While try not to dwell on the issue, it is definitely stressing me out.
On another note, Lisa had a brush with fame tonight. She got to join some other kids from her Kids Kicking Cancer karate class to film a public service announcement with Gerard Butler. While he's not Miley Cyrus or Demi Moore -the stars that the kids got to shoot the announcement with on Sunday while we were out of town:(- Gerard was very nice and spent a lot of time with the kids before and after the shooting. I've attached an amatuer clip I took from my phone....it's a bit long, but the whole process was a lot longer! The film Gerard is in town shooting got behind schedule so we waited over an hour for him to get done with that. We did get to peak behind the scenes and all the crew was very nice. Once Gerard was done filming for the day, they shot the public service announcement. There were many retakes and we were snapping pictures like crazy...those will be on shutterfly soon. Lisa, being bald and toothless, got the front and center spot right on his lap. It was very cool! Lisa was awesome and very much the professional sitter. We are so proud of her.
Monday, July 26, 2010
$12,000 donated to Motts
Lisa gave the money raised from the BLASTnb event to her doctor today during our clinic visit. The event raised $12,000 for Motts and $4,800 for Rainbow Connection.
Next steps are still unknown. Lisa did not qualify for a trial at Sloan Kettering and the slots for the St. Jude protocol were filled. I've asked the doctor to waitlist her for St. Jude. There is a new protocol that may open at Motts soon and the doctor thinks would be good for Lisa, unfortunately it could conflict with our big family vacation to Topsail so we are not sure what will happen. Once the study opens, the doctor only has 7 days to get Lisa enrolled and scans done, the protocol would have to start by day 12, so this could be a bit tricky to work out. And, sadly, with all these studies, there is no known cure, no real statistics as to what works best and no guidance on what to hope for.
So, as always, we continue to pray and hope and try to remember to count every day as a blessing and live life to it's fullest.
 |
| $12,000 and look what word is to the left of Lisa's head!!!! |
Next steps are still unknown. Lisa did not qualify for a trial at Sloan Kettering and the slots for the St. Jude protocol were filled. I've asked the doctor to waitlist her for St. Jude. There is a new protocol that may open at Motts soon and the doctor thinks would be good for Lisa, unfortunately it could conflict with our big family vacation to Topsail so we are not sure what will happen. Once the study opens, the doctor only has 7 days to get Lisa enrolled and scans done, the protocol would have to start by day 12, so this could be a bit tricky to work out. And, sadly, with all these studies, there is no known cure, no real statistics as to what works best and no guidance on what to hope for.
So, as always, we continue to pray and hope and try to remember to count every day as a blessing and live life to it's fullest.
Monday, July 19, 2010
Cancer is not invited!
Sorry it’s been so long since our last post. We’ve been trying to settle into summer and, as Mike said, have a Blast! The kids got their wish to stay at Camp Dearborn for a few days with their cousins. We’ve spent plenty of time at the lakehouse tubing and playing in the water (so much time that the kids are complaining and actually begging not to have to come here any more!!). We’ve taken in three great firework shows, a special event at tiger stadium involving food, face painting and exploring the dugouts, and gone to the local waterpark. We’re hoping to head to MI adventure the end of this month right before we drop the kids off for a week at camp and plan to head down to Topsail, NC for two weeks in August.
Lisa looks great and seems to be feeling fine. She’s quick witted, sassy and most observant of the bunch. She had her first sleep over with a friend last week and she loved it. She’s grown up a lot in the last year and now hits the water with no fear. She definitely seems stronger than she has in the past and is able to do things like run and jump and play on the rope swing over the water. She is insistent that she has babies “growing in her tummy” and in the past two days has told us repeatedly that the police will be coming to pick her up and take her to the hospital to deliver her 100 babies. She then informs me I will be a grandma and asks me if I want a girl baby or boy baby to help take care of; she’s chosen a girl for me…one with blond curly hair who is really cute. Speak of the devil, Lisa just came into my room to ask if my alarm went off because that is when the police are coming. I’m not sure what started this little fantasy and while it’s very cute, it freaks me out a little bit…I certainly hope nothing is growing in her tummy….not 100 babies nor 100 cancer cells! The other thing that makes me feel a bit anxious is her complaints every once in a while about her legs hurting and her tripping phases. Those were the two tell-tale signs that something was not right when we first discovered the cancer.
It’s hard knowing that while the treatments did well and have bought us more time we really are just waiting. At this point, given the type of cancer and the small amount that was showing at last scans there is no protocol that we can put her on. We even investigated Sloan Kettering and St. Jude…nothing…no one has the next steps, or a specific treatment plan of what to do to keep the cancer at bay. We just wait to see what will happen. Given our experience last winter, the waiting period will most likely not be long. We see the doctor again next week and they will discuss the best next steps.
The other kids are doing great. Maranda has gone tubing and on the rope swing and had no pain or complaints. The doctor said she could even go to the amusement park so long as we didn’t get too crazy. Thomas and Chrissy are having fun hanging out with their cousins and playing in the sun.
So, for now, we just go about living life and having fun. Our goal is to enjoy summer and each other and not think about cancer; cancer is not invited to this party!
Lisa looks great and seems to be feeling fine. She’s quick witted, sassy and most observant of the bunch. She had her first sleep over with a friend last week and she loved it. She’s grown up a lot in the last year and now hits the water with no fear. She definitely seems stronger than she has in the past and is able to do things like run and jump and play on the rope swing over the water. She is insistent that she has babies “growing in her tummy” and in the past two days has told us repeatedly that the police will be coming to pick her up and take her to the hospital to deliver her 100 babies. She then informs me I will be a grandma and asks me if I want a girl baby or boy baby to help take care of; she’s chosen a girl for me…one with blond curly hair who is really cute. Speak of the devil, Lisa just came into my room to ask if my alarm went off because that is when the police are coming. I’m not sure what started this little fantasy and while it’s very cute, it freaks me out a little bit…I certainly hope nothing is growing in her tummy….not 100 babies nor 100 cancer cells! The other thing that makes me feel a bit anxious is her complaints every once in a while about her legs hurting and her tripping phases. Those were the two tell-tale signs that something was not right when we first discovered the cancer.
It’s hard knowing that while the treatments did well and have bought us more time we really are just waiting. At this point, given the type of cancer and the small amount that was showing at last scans there is no protocol that we can put her on. We even investigated Sloan Kettering and St. Jude…nothing…no one has the next steps, or a specific treatment plan of what to do to keep the cancer at bay. We just wait to see what will happen. Given our experience last winter, the waiting period will most likely not be long. We see the doctor again next week and they will discuss the best next steps.
The other kids are doing great. Maranda has gone tubing and on the rope swing and had no pain or complaints. The doctor said she could even go to the amusement park so long as we didn’t get too crazy. Thomas and Chrissy are having fun hanging out with their cousins and playing in the sun.
So, for now, we just go about living life and having fun. Our goal is to enjoy summer and each other and not think about cancer; cancer is not invited to this party!
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