June 7, 2005
Well, Update
#30, the number itself says a lot. It has now been 18 months since
Janice’s diagnosis. In some ways it seems that first call from the
doctor came only a few weeks ago, in some ways it feels like a few
lifetimes ago.
When the good
Dr. Greer at Vanderbilt said the Seattle experience of a mini bone
marrow transplant was going to be brutal, he wasn’t kidding. Only,
the first three weeks after the transplant went so well that we
thought Dr. Greer was just messin’ with us, but as you could tell
from my last writing,
brutal is exactly what the procedure is.
In the past
two weeks Janice has finally taken a turn for the better.
When I returned from my last trip to Nashville,
she begin to regain her will to get well. That feisty,
determined, win at all cost Janice that most of you know and love,
rallied once again. She’s kicking off a very dark and
debilitation few weeks. And I can’t tell you what it does to my
spirits to have glimpses of my wife back.
When I left
for a ten day working trip to Nashville, I left my dear wife in
the very capable hands of my parents. Mom and Dad (Sharon and
Gordon for those of you who don’t know their names) came in on
Thursday ‘for training’ before my Sunday departure. Dad became
the “pump miester” assuming responsibility for the 4 daily “at
home” infusions that Janice had to receive, while Mom shouldered
the responsibility of 40+ pills, infused squirts of liquid
medicine, nutritional shakes, and cooking for the household. Those
senior Chaffee’s attacked their jobs with zeal, all the while
sleeping on a fold-out
bed in the small living room of our small one bedroom apartment.
Let me stop here and say how thankful I am to my parents and
Janice's mom [Bobbie] for the incredible job they did in my
absence. True to form,
by the time I returned they all had made members of the clinic
staff their best friends and staff bragged on and on to me about
how well they managed in my absence.
When I begin
training my mom and dad,
I suddenly realized how much each day required. I was reminded
that I had learned it all little by little, prescription by
prescription, infusion by infusion, instruction by instruction.
Mom and Dad on the other hand were like people carrying heavy
suitcases, invited to jump onto a swiftly moving train. The
amazing thing – they did it and they did it gracefully.
In this update
I will spare you medical details, only you should know that Janice
is now off all infusions except for daily hydration and one
antibiotic. She had tested negative for the virus but yesterday I
got a call saying traces were back in her blood. The bacteria,
thank goodness is gone. While I was away, the Hickman line in her
chest had to be removed and replaced but that procedure went fine.
It turned out that the bacteria was growing in the Hickman it’s
self and couldn’t be terminated. Believe it or not, there are
moments in this exhausting process when a smile is deserved and
this was one - Dr. Hickman, (the very Doctor who invented the
devise, oh 20 or 30 years ago), did the installation procedure for
Janice. It is truly amazing to think how this little devise he
invented came about. He created it for children with cancer so
they didn't have to be stuck eve time they needed a drug or had to
give blood (which for most patients is two and three times a day
for the first 100 days after transplant).
Now, it has helped hundreds of thousands of people. Its
aid to Janice is immeasurable – she has veins that few can even
find, let alone pierce. She has been through a lot but thanks to
Dr. Hickman, she has mostly been spared the repeated, repeated,
repeated plunge of a failing syringe.
And now, the best news I can bring you – WE ARE COMING HOME!
The process of releasing Janice has begun. Today I adjust airfares
and schedules. Over the next week and a half all of our
appointments will be aimed at getting her/us ready for the
transition back to the care of our doctors at Vanderbilt.
She is still
very weak, walking with a walker, and the physical therapist says
it will take 6 months of before her normal strength is restored in
her legs and arms. She has a set of exercises to accomplish that
end but the process is slow. If you keep your ear to the ground
after June 17th, perhaps the following Sunday, you will
hear the dancing of my feet moving stuff and more stuff from the
Pete Gross House to the car, moving my beloved bride to the car,
through the airport, to the plane and to the home we long to once
again inhabit.
Perhaps you
can tell, we are ready. Living in two cities, trying to do
business from two cities, bearing the separations that two cities
demands has gotten very challenging. Many of you have lightened
the burden. We are so incredibly grateful to everyone who has made
contributions, given miles so I could fly back and forth to
Nashville; to Andrea who has lived in and taken care of our house,
to all my artists for their patients and compassion and especially
to Amy, my
incredible associate at Chaffee Management,
for holding down the fort.
She has paid an incredible price keeping the business
going while I have been gone and even though I try to say it, she
will never know how much I appreciate her work, sacrifice and
friendship. We are also deeply thankful to our friends and family
in Seattle and the Pacific Northwest who have been here for us: My
sister and nieces, John, Linda, Aaron, Jen, and Tim, John and
Susan, Robbie and Gaye, Paul Johnson, our dear friend(s) Craig,
Barb and Dave Pine, and George for the use of the vehicle while we
have been in town. To those who have visited, called, sent cards,
food, to the groups who have hand made quilts, and mailed care
packages, to each of you please know that you have been the
presence of Christ while we have been exiled in a foreign land.
(Seattle is actually a beautiful, friendly city, but you get my
point).
It is not over, but thanks to the grace of God we have passed
through a valley we are grateful not to have seen all at once. All
at once would have overwhelmed us. I think my Aunt Shirley sensed
that one morning when I didn’t think I was going to make it. She
sent me this verse from The
Message. Ever since it’s been hanging in front of my
computer so I don t forget its eternal message:
"So we're not giving up.
How could we!
Even though on the outside
it often looks like things are falling apart on us,
on the inside,
where God is
making new life,
not a day goes by without His unfolding grace."
2Corinthians
4:16
We love you
all. And Nashville friends? Get ready to join our tired feet in
dancing at the other end of this journey.
Jim and Janice
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