Donor Change of Heart
Hello Everyone,
Well here we are again with more news in the ever changing saga of this stem cell transplant. I got a call on Tues. late afternoon from Dr. Porters office that "the donor (the original 36 yr. old woman) called and changed her mind and will donate stem cells after all". Well honestly, I was speechless, which doesn't happen often to me. Heather (Dr. Porters nurse) asked if i could check in on thursday. Well i hesitated before asking can we put it off till next week? I was planning on having a weekend at the shore with the kids and grandkids. She said sure. We will do it Aug. 2nd. Well tues. was joes bd and we were having dinner with joey at his fav restaurant. Then we had that bad storm and lost our electric for 24 hrs. In the meantime i couldn't sleep cause i was thinking how silly it must have sounded to Heather that i didn't just agree to come in when they wanted me on Thurs. (which would have been today). Anyway in the meantime I've had this little rash on my back that i thought was poison ivy that started becoming painful on Tues. and by wed. looked and felt worse. I started thinking " i wonder if this rash is shingles?" Well i went to my new family Dr. who confirmed that indeed it was shingles and to let Penn know right away. So when after 3 phone calls i finally told Heather she said i needed to wait 2 weeks anyway, so i could stop feeling guilty . So Aug. 2nd it is. and i am ok with that. Hopefully will get together with all the kids this weekend, although i am not sure that i should be near Emma as i could give her chicken pox because of my shingles. They are the same virus. Everything is upin the air. Are you all following this storyline? It seems a little disjointed. Where is Joe when i need his preciseness? Well thankyou all for thinking of me and the continued cards and blogs. I really appreciate it. Will keep you all informed about any new developments..
Lots of Love debbie
posted by Joe @ 4:50 PM
20 Comments:
Hello! I'm happy to hear that the donor had a change of heart and will help you out, I'm sorry to hear that you have the shingles. It seems like everytime you have something positive to post, there's something negative to go along with it. It's just not fair! You deserve ALL POSITIVES! I agree...the shingles give you a legitimate reason to wait for the procedure so I think you should do everything you can to enjoy yourself (and that will probably include lots of calamine lotion). I hope you have a great time at the shore! Hang in there!!!!!
Lisa
dear debbie,
told everyone i saw today that you have NEVER looked more beautiful. the beauty you carry in your smile is an outpouring of inner chutzpah. you bounded over all of the hurdles and this is your champs delysses. [butchered that] hey, how many times today did you laugh at the thoughts of smith forgetting whose house she was in....and the jackie kennedy dress that she considered turning backwards...and the lucky sky diving guys with the girls in their laps? if and when you get saturated by hospital life, you know she will pop in and do the electric slide in her suck me up underwear....xoxoxokm
Hi Deb,
I think it's great that the original donor has changed her mind, but it stinks that you had to get shingles now on top of everything else you've been through. You definitely deserve a great time at the shore. I'm going down Sunday thru Wednesday with Alex and we can't wait! Maybe we'll get to see you.
Love,
Jeanne
Dear Debbie,
Well goodness gracious what is the good Lord up to! Shingles, what is he thinking!. Don't worry about giving it to anyone else, just hug the living daylights out of everyone. Looks like the timing is now "perfect" and that was the reason why the donor was thinking hard and delayed in her full commitment. I have no doubt that "himself upstairs" was hearing the lot of us praying (and nagging him) and decided he needed to send her another sign to get on with the job. Now it's all lined up.. August 2nd it is... I'll be there in spirit..Enjoy the pennys...you Millionaire... your Visitor to Rhoades 6.
So good to talk to you last week. I hope you are able to see the grandkids, that is something that always perked up my Mom. I will pray that the donor sticks to the plan for you. Jenny
Hi Debbie:
I haven't checked in for some time as we were on vacation and things have been crazy since we returned.
That is just great news that the original donor had a change of heart!!!! God truly works in such mysterious ways.
Enjoy your time at the shore and hoping you feel much better very soon from those nasty shingles.
Keeping you in my prayers.
Carolyn Sturart
Debbie & Joe,
Thanks for the update; things with the UofP sure have there ups & downs, & let's hope that this is an "up". A weekend at the shore with the grandkids sounds like a good prelude to the transplant. We hope that the weather cooperates & the shingles go away after a nice relaxing time on the beach. You're always in our thoughts & prayers, Love Mom & Dad
Debbie -
She is soooooo bad. I love my suck-me-in underwear and take it everywhere. It makes me dance better!!!!
Love you.
Miss Donna
Deb:
Shingles...ouch! I didn't know that you shed the virus like chicken pox. Thanks for the educational tidbit...no fear though. Brendan got them at 11 weeks. Poor thing! They weren't as heavy as Colin's but at least we got them over with early.
I have marked August 2nd on the calendar. That would be our usual weekend at the shore if we were in our every other year mode...something to look forward to next year. Acutally next year we may have to plan the shore trip earlier as we will no doubt be in the throws of college departure frenzy in August. We will see.
Brendan finished his baseball season two nights ago. It was the opener in the post season tourney. An enormous storm stirred up about the last inning. It couldn't have come sooner as it was not looking good for his team. The winds and rain caused power outages here and even more so in St. Louis. Lucky for us our power returned while we were sleeping. People are still without power from Wednesday. Another storm came thru today but St. Louis suffered the brunt of that one. More power outages. Summer is crazy for weather as you all know up East.
Dave is "on call" this weekend so it is time for some downtime house cleaning my office files and all my crafty stuff. What a pack rat!
Enjoy your weekend at the shore...one request...A family photo for my new office. Por Favor...I will put Jessie on that task.
Much love and hugs...COD
deb, one last word on the other night, SOMEONE we know, not mentioning any names, needs a suck me in wife beater. if you come across one, better pick it up....
Dear KM and Miss Teabags,
Just getting a mental picture of the beater story sends me into a fit of laughter. Definitely will keep that story in my pocket at the hosp. when i need a quick pick me up kinda like when i think of our gal Bev playing Ave Maria on the accordian as a little girl. LOLi love you all so much. It is so glad to laugh!!!!....dt
Girls,
Was just looking through the "O" magazine and on page 188 of the August issue Oprah's friend Gayle is wearing my "Jackie Kennedy" dress. Can you believe it!!!!! I'm sure I looked prettier in my dress - I wonder if she has the same "t-shirt" problem as I do??? I must say I would have been ready to nurse at any moment.
Girls,
Was just looking through the "O" magazine and on page 188 of the August issue Oprah's friend Gayle is wearing my "Jackie Kennedy" dress. Can you believe it!!!!! I'm sure I looked prettier in my dress - I wonder if she has the same "t-shirt" problem as I do??? I must say I would have been ready to nurse at any moment.
Debbie;
Picked daises out of the yard and have them on my kitchen island. I always think of you when I see daises. Such a happy flower.
Aunt Angie is coming over today for dinner and maybe a swim. We are having a nice weekend after all the crazy wind/rain storms. Still folks in STL are out of power.
Colin starts football today with camp. Brendan has a two day camp this week. It is really for those who haven't played before so that the coaches can go into the draft for those kids. Mere will have her first official Student Council meeting here on Friday to get things reved up for the 06-07 school year. Dave is work, work, working and I am headed to a YMCA National Convention with my friend who is the director of our local Y. I hope I can apply some of that meeting knowledge to the new job.
Enjoy the rest of your weekend. I hope the sun is shining bright on OCNJ.
Love to all....COD
Man, we are going to have to start calling this "AS THE DONOR TURNS", aren't we? Your saga reminds me of the old adage: "It's a woman's prerogative to change her mind."
And I'm glad she did. May God bless and keep our donor. We don't know her but we love her!
Shingles!!!! Oy vey. Sending you cooling, soothing calamine drenched vibes, honey. Couldn't imagine it being poison ivy. Unless of course you and Joe had been taking "a tramp in the woods". tee-hee.
Also wondering how I can get some of those "suck me up" underwear. Do tell. Enquiring minds (and middle aged abdomens)want to know.
Hope to talk to you soon, kiddo. No jury duty today, but I have to call later for tomorrow. Also have to take Mr. Hal to the airport this afternoon. He's going to be in Kansas for a few days.
Love you and can't wait to see you, girlfriend.
K
Dear Deb and Joe;
Another weekend with the kids.
How wonderful I am very happy
for you.
I spent Sunday at Eileens, Colin
barbecued ribs, he did a good job. Brendan baked a cake,what
more can you ask for. I came
home with home grown tomatos
and cucumber out of Daves
garden.I made out as always.
Keeping all of you in my
prayers.
Lotsa Love
BIG HUGS
Your Aunt Angie
Great news about the donor, bad news about the shingles - you poor dear - what else can the Good Lord give you to handle. He must know you are a very strong person. Keep the courage going - you are almost there. We will be down the shore during the transplant - but hope all goes well and will look forward to checking my e-mail when I get back to work on the 7th. Love to all your family. My thoughts and prayers are with you. Love Shelly Geib
Glad the donor changed her mind.. it must be a scarey thought to actually go thru with it.. one thing to put your name on being a donor..the next to actually having to use it.. darn those shingles..hope they don't spread and are under control now...
got back from temecula,ca. on sat.. these 14 yo played against some of the best 16/17yo teams in the country...needless to say they didn't win, but they had fun.. unfortunately it was 112 degrees and humid.. you wouldn't believe it, and mark caught all the games.. but that wasn';t even the worse of it. and women , i know you'll know exactly what im saying here.. but outhouses in 112 degrees heat can certainly be challenging..you have to made the quick decision... UTI vs using the outhouse..
anyway.. drove some of the boys to san diego state university on monday after our game, their coach played for them, and somehow arranged for Tony Gwynn( a ex pro player, now the coach for ucsd) to come and talk to the boys.. so they were thrilled..
came home on sat. to 110 degree heat here in vacaville, then yet another tournament yesterday( 3 games in that heat) crazy.. off day today, tonight im taking 3 boys to the red sox vs A's game..
Patrick did fine taking care of the house and dog, although did forget to take out the garbage.. so that has been sweltering along with everything else for a week (tomorrow is trash day, thank goodness)..i think our home was hangout central , am finding popcorn under couches.. soda cans everywhere, and all sort of video systems hooked up to the big screen...
Tim is working the dusty baker camp again this week (in this heat,yikes) so it's just the boys and i..
forgot to tell you.. tim and mark are going to notre dame on nov. 2nd weekend for a football game and to see the campus cause mark loves notre dame for some reason..so they are quite excited about that.. thought joe would want to know..
well, deb, sorry its so long.. hope you are feeling well minus the shingles.. enjoying the beach, and grandkids..hope to see new pics soon.. take care..love, mdf
Debbie,
Have tons of fun family time at your friends wedding this weekend. Hope that you are feeling alittle better and the rash clears up quickly. Tell everyone I said hi and goodluck with everything coming your way soon. You're in our prayers <3 MEG
best wishes deb, again you are my trailblazer. everyone, in the office sends their best. the 2 jerries espcially wanted me to give you a hug and say that you are in their prayers. bobmaz
Post a Comment
<< Home