Monday morning I woke up at 4:30 when Peter started poking at my face. At 5:00 Norah came to sleep with us. At 5:30 she threw up all over me. I cleaned her and the bed up and then went to take a shower...with COLD water! Our hot water heater had gone out. I only had two more days at home, so much to do, and I didn't want to leave Norah when she was sick.
In the past I would have been upset, but so many things have gone wrong over the past couple of months, I'm better at just rolling with what ever happens. My new attitude is that I like my kids to do what ever I ask them to with out complaining. I'm sure Heavenly Father would like the same from me. I'm pretty good at whining and this thought helps me avoid that.
I am amazed how much we got done on Monday and Tuesday. (Well, for the several days previous for that matter. Saturday Philip's family came over to help me get our yard in shape by weeding, picking off the yucky apples, and making a sandbox for Michael's family life merit badge. They are awesome!) By the time we were ready to go I felt like I had left the house fairly organized and stocked.
Poor Nathan has just finished a round of chemo on Sunday and wasn't feeling well. Since he was worried about being car sick, he had a great idea to spend the night in Ellensburg. Lying on the couch he gave each one of our kids father's blessings. Then he and Jared left around 6:00.
I stayed and helped the kids clean up and get ready for bed. I rocked all the younger ones. It was easier to think about leaving once they were in bed and the little ones were asleep. Emma asked if she could help me pack the car since she didn't get to be rocked. She was so helpful. Without her it would have taken twice as long to get ready.
I ended up leaving just after 11:00. It was strange to be driving so late. I felt like I had the whole freeway to myself and when I stopped for gas in Prosser, it felt like I was in a ghost town. The whole time I kept thinking about my kids and how I was driving farther away from them and toward an uncertain future.
The next morning we left early for Seattle. Going over the pass is always a pretty drive. I was worried about driving in Seattle but I said a prayer and I always had an opening when I needed to change lanes. I actually beat Jared and Nathan to the parking lot. As I was walking to the elevator in the parking garage, I turned a corner and saw Jared's car stalled. They had ran out of gas but had made it all the way to the garage and Jared was able to push it down hill for Nathan to park just across from me. I'm counting that as a miracle.
We checked into the cancer center and Nathan and Jared had a lot of blood drawn. We had time before our next appointment so we walked down the hill to get lunch by Lake Union. Then the guys had physicals and meetings with the nurses about their medical history. They were each given a binder of consent forms to take home and read that night.
Nathan's headache was really bad so we checked into the SCCA House for Nathan to rest and then Jared and I went to fill Jared's car up with gas.
Living in Seattle is a new experience. Driving actually hasn't been as bad as I thought it was going to be and when I get to know my way around it will be better. It's the finding and paying for parking I hate. Yea for the Tri-Cities and plentiful and free parking! Jared and I have had to wake up at 6:00 to feed our meters. Seattle has a ban on plastic grocery sacks so I will get good at remembering to bring my reusable bags with me. Every where we go there are three garbage cans: garbage, compost and recycle. Right next to the SCCA house is a "giving garden." It's a pretty place that includes eatable plants. I think that is a smart solution to help all the homeless people. It is so sad to see them. For most of them, it is obvious that they are mentally ill. When we walk by my first thought is to smile and say hi but then I worry about them following me as I walk away.
Thursday morning I got to work unpacking and organizing our hotel room where we were staying until a spot at the Pete Gross house opened for us. I figured if I did that we would get an apartment faster and as I placed the last book on the shelf the phone rang. There was an opening at the Pete Gross House! We were about to leave for the clinic so we told them we would stop by on our way home.
The Cancer Center has shuttles that run from the housing to clinic and hospital and so thankfully we didn't have to worry about driving or parking. Nathan had an EKG and we had a meeting with the attending doctor and nurse to sign consent forms, learn about studies and get more information about Nate's particular procedure.
"So, you have Peripheral T-Cell Lymphomia," Dr. Scott began,
"WHAT?!?!" Nathan immediately replied, much to the doctor and nurses shock. After they realized he was teasing, they told us that several years ago that really happened with a man who had already been through transplant. Throughout his treatment he had never realized that the strange sounding desiese that ended with a "ia" was a cancer.
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I wrote all of this almost a month ago and was interrupted mid-thought. Since I can't remember what I was going to say, here's a brief synopsis of what happened.
Jared was determined not to be the best donor and was off the hook. Randy Dupuy came to visit and we all went to the EMP. Nathan had been wanting to go there since it had opened. I hope he enjoyed it, although he really wasn't feeling well. Nathan had just gone through a round of chemo so we were able to return home since they wanted the chemo to take full effect before any more tests were taken. We were able to have Fourth of July with our family and Jared and his kids stayed with us for a week. We came back to the SSCA and have had non-stop appointments since!
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