SEATTLE, WA, SNOW, COLD 40 DEGREES.
I sat beside a young man today in his late twenties who is 2 1/2 years out from his stem cell transplant. He had a picture of his two boys attached to his computer screen and I knew he felt blessed to be alive for them. He was suffering from leukemia and needed a stem cell transplant to save his life. We started sharing the recovery process and journey and it was very helpful to me. We have both had Graft vs Host disease, but his was much more widespread and included his gut, liver and still persists at times in his throat and mouth. He had to remain on prednisone for so long that it depleted the calcium in both hips and has had to have both of them replaced. He doesn't mind all that if he can be a husband and father and provide for his family. He is a man of faith and we encouraged one another in our common bond in Christ. I shared with him what I was doing in writing this blog and he immediately logged on and vowed to read it. It was just one of those gifts of God to me this morning to lift my spirits.
I am on a fast track Prednisone reduction so that I won't have some of the side effects that my friend has experienced. It's as close to drug withdrawal as I ever hope to get. Shakes, restlessness, insomnia, extreme fatigue, imbalance, loss of motivation, and to top it off Prednisone can elevate blood sugar to dangerous levels. So, I have to go in tomorrow and be trained in self blood sugar testing procedures and start charting my blood sugar levels throughout the day to see if I will need insulin shots. It should decline as I keep lowering the Prednisone levels. We are getting to the "dog-days" of post transplant recovery. Lots of the same old same old. You start to become a calendar counter, counting down the days when we get out of stir. God, however, has still got alot of wonderful things for us to do while we are here. One of them may be just to get well. Another is Kriss' sister Patty Jo is coming to visit us this weekend and spend a few days. She is a cancer survivor of 35 years and an inspirational sister in Christ. She will take charge and make sure Kriss is taken care of and they can go out and do some fun things that I just can't muster up the energy to do. Every three days I continue to drop my Prednisone level by 10 mg, so they might want to get out of the house rather than hang out with someone in withdrawal. I am learning many spiritual lessons about myself during this whole withdrawal thing. Empathy, compassion, understanding and what is useful and what is not. God is the rock upon which we stand and you and your prayers are the lifelines that are holding us fast. Thank you for all you are doing to keep up strong in the face of the gale. We love you all and couldn't get through this without you. Robin
June-July 1972, Western Europe
It was time to finish up our European Vacation, just like it will soon be time to wrap up our "exile" in Seattle for medical care. We left Holland with Kriss' parents in our VW camper van and travelled through as many countries as we could leading to Southern France. In each country we tried and succeeded in purchasing a tea cup and saucer that was actually manufactured in that country. Do you have any idea how difficult that was? Everyone assumed you wanted Bavarian or British China and when you insisted it had to be manufactured in their own country, they were mystified. Amazingly, we accomplished our goal and each cup and saucer reflects the culture from which it comes, perfectly. We also collected individual coins of each denomination from each country and we have all of those still to this day. They bring back memories of people and places that we will always cherish.
We arrived in Aix-en-Provence and showed Kriss' parents where we had lived and gone to school. I think they were impressed with our ability to live in such conditions, as well as master the language and culture. We bought them some of our favorite foods, such as these little boat shaped cookies called "Navettes" that were only made in a little mom and pop factory. The only way to find it was to follow your nose. You got them warm off the assemble line and they had a special jam to spread on them and it was" fameux," delicious. Having been the only married couple at the American Institute, we had been invited by some French couples to their homes for dinner and outings. That was a special treat for Kriss and me. They took us to their homes for 8 course dinners and authentic French home cooked cuisine that was like from another planet. One weekend we were invited to the city of Gap to speak to Middle School English students and spend the weekend with the teacher. We spoke to the classes on Friday and what the students wanted to know more about America than anything else was religious. We shared with them that we were practising Christians versus nominal Christians and even knew and associated with "Jesus People". That broke the flood gate and we spent the rest of the time answering questions about what Jesus People believed and how they lived, etc. I'm not sure that was the teacher's lesson plan for the day, but the kids learned a lot of religious vocabulary they might not ever have gotten elsewhere.
Finally, it was time to say "Adieu" to France and make a frantic trip to Calais and over the English Channel and spend a few days in merry old England. We got to a few places and then were notified that our charter flight home schedule was moved forward. Kriss and I had to leave from England and Kriss' parents had to deliver the van back to the mainland and follow us home a few days later from Holland. The most bizarre thing I experienced upon waking up the first morning back on the farm in Harrah, was which side of the road to drive the pick-up truck. Here I was glad to be behind the wheel of a real American vehicle driving down Progressive Road on the left hand side. Fortunately, there's not much traffic on Progressive Road that time of day and I suddenly panicked and realized my error. I have tried to stay more to the right ever sense. Robin
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