A Merry Christmas After All

In case you haven't heard:

MOM'S AN OUT-PATIENT FOR THE NEXT FIVE DAYS!  WOO HOO!

Mom getting "sprung" from the stem cell in-patient unit!  All bundled up and ready to face the unpleasant, Chicago weather in the OUTSIDE world!

 This means that she can stay at Guesthouse North with us and go to Christmas dinner with us at her nurse, Vilma's house on Sunday!  God is SO GOOD!  If there is one thing that has been pounded into my heart and head lately about God it's that - HE IS GOOD!

She will have to go back to the CTCA every day in the morning for blood work, just to make sure her levels are good and that she doesn't need any supplementation like potassium, magnesium, blood, or platelets; but after that, she is free to do what she wants during the day.

Of course, this is all WITHIN REASON!  She won't be running any marathons this week, but she can go look at Christmas lights and eat "normal" (ie: non-hospital food).  Also, when she goes out in public, she will have to be careful to wear a mask and gloves; she is still dealing with the C-Diff infection, and although she is on antibiotics, the immune-compromised, elderly, and children could pick it up from her if we are not careful.  Luckily, we are VERY careful and take every precaution to insure the safety of mom and anyone else we might encounter. :-)

On the 28th, she will be re-admitted for a few days for another round of chemo; but it is my understanding that after that, she will be out-patient again.  In other words, we are in a holding pattern until her bone marrow transplant; which actually, will probably happen sooner rather than later. 

One of the stem cell care managers came in to talk to me today while mom was sleeping after her lumbar puncture, and she said that it was a TOTAL MIRACLE that mom went into remission so quickly and that they already found 3 possible donors.  I just smiled, because I know it's our great Jehovah Rapha who healed her...our wonderful Jehovah Jirah who provided the bone marrow donors.  Again, God is SO GOOD.

These next rounds of chemo are GREATLY reduced versions of what she was on before (like from 800 mg to 40 mg); and are ONLY to KEEP her in remission until transplant.  She has responded so well, and is doing so wonderfully; it has turned out to be a very Merry Christmas, after all.

And, as I said, we (dad, W, myself, Mr. C, and mom - M and her hubby are in Missouri at the moment) will be eating Christmas dinner with mom's nurse, Vilma, her husband and two children.  Mom's nurses are just too kind!  This was not the first dinner we'd been invited to, not the first kind gesture.  These people honestly care if mom gets better.  They really do want us to be comfortable and happy.  I don't take any of this for granted; we are so blessed in so many ways, I will never be able to thank these amazing people for all that they do on a daily basis, it is all just beyond words.

We're all really excited for Vilma's dinner, because she is Filipino-American; and she had been telling us of her holiday dinners - how she incorporates traditional elements like turkey and potatoes with Filipino delicacies like blood sausage and homemade veggie egg rolls.  Sounds delicious to me!  So, naturally, we're all pretty excited for our first homemade meal in 7 weeks!  Seems like such a luxury!  We're taking some goodies to her house too; which will honestly be the best part sharing, even a little bit, some gifts and love with Vilma and her family.

Wonderful news!  MUCH to be thankful for!  Praise reports galore!  How awesome is our God?!  Pretty darn AWESOME!

I wish you so much LOVE and a VERY Merry Christmas!
*mandie*