You Are Loved

Happy Thanksgiving eve!!!  We have so much for which to be thankful...and so do you!

This has been a really good week...so much so, that I didn't really have anything to say.  Nick has felt good.  His counts are back up into "non-isolation" range.  So, he has had a buddy here for the last couple of days.  They have been playing a game on-line.  It is such a picture of our electronic world today.  I stepped in his room yesterday afternoon.  Nick was sitting at his computer desk with big ear-phones on his head...intensely concentrating on his computer screen.  (He didn't even hear me come in the room, and he usually hears EVERYTHING.)  His friend was sitting on the floor, not 3 feet from Nick, with his laptop in the seat of a chair.  They were playing this "shoot-em-up" game where they both had virtual characters fighting on the same team.  They were communicating with each other and their other team members by voice-over IP.  I could hear them talking to one another in the room, but they could only hear each other through their head phones.  They could have been in different parts of the world and had the same interaction.

Starting tonight - through this weekend, families all over the world will be getting together to eat turkey. (Yes, I realize that Thanksgiving is an American holiday, but there are Americans all over the globe.)  Some families will gather just because it's what they have always done.  They really don't want to, but they will.  Some will be overwhelmed with joy at spending precious moments with loved ones who they only get to see once a year.  Some will share a meal via Skype or other electronic media...half a world away from those they so greatly desire to hug in person.  Yet, many others will not gather at all because of offenses (perceived or real), personality clashes, things said in anger, unforgiveness, and a myriad of other reasons.

One of the things that I believe God is teaching us through this journey is the value of life, family, and just being together.  I realize that some of you may not have family close enough to gather together.  Some may have valid, wise reasons for not spending time with some family members, and some may be so sick...or heartsick that they can not physically drive over the river and through the proverbial woods.  If you find yourself in one of these last three categories...or know someone who is...please reach out to someone.  Make that phone call that you have been wanting to make.  Drop by and spend some time with that person that God has had on your heart for weeks now.  Invite someone who is alone to share your turkey.  (You know that next week you are going to feel guilty about how much turkey you are throwing away...only after torturing your loving family with 16 straight breakfasts, lunches and suppers prepared out of the "One Million Ways to Use Leftover Turkey" cookbook.)

Years ago, 1984,  Glenn & I lived in Virginia Beach, VA...16 hours from home.  My mom and dad came to visit, and mom said that she wanted to leave me with something that I should never forget.  It hangs in my kitchen today.  Regardless of your holiday plans, or lack thereof, I want to share my 'something to never forget' with you.  It's true whether you feel like it or not.

I am so thankful for my family and friends.  You have all shown us how much we are loved this year!

To complete this year let's...Spend some time with someone...Enjoy someone's company...Listen, talk, and listen some more...even if it's on voice-over IP and you are three feet away.  It will make a difference.

It is well.

We Are All "Pink"!

I will begin this post with with a little disclaimer:  If today's post offends you, then please pray about why it offends you.  We ALL have work left for God to do in our hearts.  So why not use this as an opportunity to get this subject settled.

I remarked to Nick last night that his color was so much better.  Last Thursday when his counts were so low he was glowingly translucent white. Last night he had "pinked up," and was looking much more healthy.   After the time that I have spent in nursing school, I could explain to you why he was so white, but let's just suffice it to say that unusually pale is a sign that something is amiss.  For that matter, if someone is more gray than usual...more yellow than usual...more blue than usual...more green than usual...or more white than usual...something is wrong, and they need some pretty quick attention.

After I got in bed, the conversation that I had just had with Nick started my thinking process.  Here in the south the issue of color has been a hotbed of controversy throughout my lifetime, and for countless decades before I was even a glimmer in my Momma's eye.  As a nurse, I will need to look for, and note a person's color, but not like you may think.  I am looking for colors that signify that a person needs my help...not for colors that signify ethnicity.   Everyone is normally "pink" underneath.  If we tried to distinguish all of the different outer colors of people's skin, the subsequent chart would be way too big to carry in my scrubs pocket, and completely useless on top of that!  Heck...there are 5 different shades in my lily white family of 5.

I have encountered much controversy over this subject in my ALMOST (but not yet) 50 years as a southerner.  My family lived in Memphis during the time that Dr. Martin Luther King was assassinated, and I saw much anger, hatred, and division on both sides of the battle.  Yes, I said battle.  It was a war that, sadly,  still lingers today.  However, this war began righteously!  All men and women truly are equal in the sight of God, and should never have been designated as anything other than equal.  However, somehow the enemy of the Kingdom of God got into the mix and completely divided what God intended to be His church.  As a child, I even heard the following scripture preached with the term "unequally yoked" being translated as having reference to not marrying outside of one's own ethnic groups.  WHAT??  Did the person preaching even read the scripture?

2 Corinthians 6:14
Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?

God is very clear about how He looks at us, and how we are too look at one another:

1 Samuel 16:7
...For the LORD does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.”


This is another of those subjects about which I am extremely passionate!  About 30 years ago I had an encounter with God where I realized how deeply His heart was grieved about this division among His children.  There is such power in unity, and the enemy is still trying to keep us divided.  So, whatever your outward appearance...if there is even the slightest bit of division in your heart concerning people of a different shade...please allow God to heal that wound. (You've been hit with one of Satan's fiery arrows.) Start looking for the pink in your neighbor's skin.  Underneath that outer layer...it's just like yours.  You can see it if you really want to.

It is well!

Fish sticks & Crinkle Cut French Fries...???

Well...it's been an exciting day.  Not the kind of excitement that anyone would ever want, but exciting nonetheless.  I can, however, say with utmost certainty that my tear ducts are clear and functioning well.  As most of you know, Nick received some pretty nasty chemo last week, and was to be in pseudo isolation for the next couple of weeks.   It has gone well, and except for the first few days at home, he has felt fairly well.

The plan was for him to get labs drawn in Jackson on Monday & Thursday so that we would know when his immunity was compromised and if he needed a transfusion.  Well, we hadn't heard anything from Monday's labs, and he has had some coughing and upper respiratory congestion.  So, I insisted that he see our Nurse Practitioner today.  (I had assessed and listened and palpated and done every other "nursey" thing that I could think to do, but I wanted someone else to say that his lungs were o.k. too.)

So, I got a call earlier this morning from the Nurse Practitioner saying that his lungs sounded clear...just some post nasal drip.   He is already on two different high powered antibiotics that should take care of just about anything.   (I had told Nick the same thing last night.  So, at least I felt good about my nursing skills.)

  I continued with my day at school.  At 1:00 I had a nursing test.  As we enter the room for tests we have to show I.D., take off any coats or other outerwear, and place our belongings in the front of the classroom...including cell phones.  I have never done this before, but today I asked one of my instructors to hold my phone just in case I got an emergency call. (Thank you, Holy Spirit, for the prompting!)  She knows about Nick's situation.  So, she kindly took it.  About 10 minutes into the test time she brought the phone to me and escorted me to the hall.  Our Nurse Practitioner had gotten Nick's blood work back from this morning and several of his numbers were at critical levels.  Critical...as in...Oh, no, somebody do something quick.  So, I needed to put her in contact with our oncologist at Vandy to get marching orders.  Several phone calls later I left school and headed home leaving my test incomplete and not knowing what to do next.  When I got home, Glenn had just heard from the oncologist who instructed us to just watch Nick and make sure he has no outside contact or fresh fruit or vegetables that could possibly contain any sort of germs.  He is stable, but just critically immune-compromised.

I am once again in awe of how God cares for us in the most seemingly simple ways.  I had no idea that Nick was going to need me before the end of the test hour, but God did.  I have heard stories over and over about people being delayed, or changing their routines, or stopping at a green light...only to realize that that momentary change in their usual behavior saved their lives.

I don't believe in coincidence or luck, but I do believe in a mighty God who speaks to each and every one of us daily.  (Whether you know that He speaks to you or not is irrelevant.  It doesn't change the fact that He does speak to you.)  (I am passionately bold about this...can you tell?)  Throughout the years I have heard people say repeatedly that they just don't hear from God...or... they don't believe that He speaks to them...or... they can believe that other people hear from Him, but they have done too many bad things for Him to want to speak to them.  Oh my, nothing can be further from the truth.

It may not be some kind of "James Earl Jones"  booming voice.  There may never be a burning bush in your front yard.  You may never feed 5000 people with your fish sticks and crinkle cut french fries or get a gold coin out of a fish's mouth, but you have and will hear from God. 

Let's start simple.  Look for the simple interventions in your day tomorrow...then be bold enough to thank Him for them as they come. (Nobody else has to even know about it, but this is a very important part!)  You will be surprised by how many you find, and how much of a change it makes in your overall attitude.  There will come a day when you realize that you can rely on Him, and that you don't have to have all of answers...you just have to know who has them.

Do you know Him?

It is well!

Megan & Nick at Vandy

Plum Near Giddy

Nick and Glenn got home early this afternoon.  Nick is still feeling good, and his labs look good as well.  I have to give him a shot later tonight to help his counts recover...Although, they haven't gone down yet.  The normal thing would have been for his platelets, white blood count, etc. to have already dropped, but it is better for him that they haven't.  As long as his counts stay up his immunity stays intact as well.  We will go to have labs drawn twice a week for the next couple of weeks here in Jackson.  So, we will know when he has to be in the aforementioned pseudo isolation.

I found out more info about how the 107 days will work.  Can I just say one more time that Vanderbilt rocks!!  We had been told that we would have to get an apartment close to Vanderbilt, but we didn't know any more details.  Don't get me wrong...God has met every need so far.  So, I knew it would work out, but it was starting to sound like a situation that was going to be very financially challenging.  Here's the long and short of it:  The apartments where we need to stay cost $2400.00 a month + utilities.  The transplant adviser handed me a paper describing the apartment amenities and the cost.  My heart sank.  How in the world?  Then the adviser said, "We are going to contact your insurance company.  They usually cover part it, and Vanderbilt is going to cover the rest.  We will also cover $100 a month of your utilities, but you have will have to pay the balance."  What in the world?   I am so thankful that I am plum near giddy.   ( If you are not from the south...plum near giddy means, "overwhelmingly happy")

God has done things like this over and over again.  There have been so many times that I had no idea how things would work out.  Sometimes the answer has come just after we found out about the need, and sometimes the answer has come at the last minute.  About 6 weeks ago we had a need that seemed overwhelming.  Glenn and I were the only ones who knew about it.  At the last minute I got a phone call from our church saying that I needed to stop by the office.  When I got there I found that someone had dropped off an envelop full of money with instructions to give it to me.  I have no idea who it was, but I do know that whoever it was had heard from God.  The next day I got a similar call again.  The combination of amounts was exactly what we needed.  God has done this a number of times, and I know that He will continue. 

For those of you who God has used in our lives, I can't express how thankful I am.  You have been God's physical feet and hands.  I know that it is a joy to give when God lays it on your heart, but I just want you to understand that you have made a tangible difference in our lives.  Whether you have given of your time to lift us up in prayer, brought us spaghetti, chili, chicken casserole, meatballs, etc, or you were the one who dropped off the envelop or other things...you have ministered to us.  Your kindness and obedience to God's prompting has helped to build our faith...not just meet our physical needs.  My prayer is that each of you will reap that Biblical 100 fold return.

I'm so thankful!!!  It is well.

Mysterious Medical Conundrum

The week is going well.  Nick has tolerated the chemo bombardment like a champ.  His doctor came in this morning and literally said, "I don't really have anything to say.  You are doing great. Keep up the good work."

The chemo floor at Vanderbilt is set up as a circle.  The nurse's station, nutrition room, clean linen and supply rooms, etc. are in the center of the circle.  The patient's rooms are on the perimeter.  So, the hall is kind of like a very slow moving walking track. Each of the chemo patients is encouraged to "do laps" every day.  So we went out this morning to "work out."  I lost count of how many laps we did, but Nick was going strong.  We lapped lots of folks in bunny slippers, questionably flapping gowns and stocking caps.  If he hadn't been dragging the IV pole, he may have broken into a full fledged trot. (O.k... probably not, but hopefully my enthusiastic description is giving you a close to accurate picture of how great the morning has been.)

We did get some more details about the "plan":  The total days of treatment will be approximately 107.  The count starts at day -7. (Why they don't start with "1" is some sort of mysterious medical conundrum.)  Transplant day is day zero, and completion of transplant period is approximately day 100.  He will have to stay in the hospital about 30 days, then in Nashville for the remaining time period.  We are supposed to have a consult with the transplant team today.  Hopefully we will get some further details.  

Even though we have (potentially) lots of difficult days to come in the future.  I am thankful for the peace and grace to be able to enjoy the easy days.  It is well.