About three years after Pedro’s stem cell transplant I finally had the courage to search online and for the survival rates for non-Hodgkin’s Lymphoma with central nervous system (CNS) involvement. What I found shocked me.
Category: 31 Days of Comfort for Caregivers
Go Away
Only one person ever told me to take some time for myself during my caregiving journey. And when I took his advice and spent the night in a hotel while a family friend spent the night in the hospital room with Pedro, I paid the price the next day in… Read more“Go Away”
Sticky Fingers
“Are you by yourself?” My sister asked me when I answered the phone. I could scarcely hear her over the whine of saws and the pounding of nails as we rushed to finish the house we had started on our lot. I looked around and gestured (yes, I gesture when… Read more“Sticky Fingers”
Burdened
The pile of hospital bills proclaimed Pedro’s million-dollar-man status (I think I added them up once, and the grand total equaled about 1.5 million dollars). God blessed us through this entire time with steady employment for me, and an outstanding employer provided insurance plan. But the bills still created a… Read more“Burdened”
First (and the Inspire Me Mondays Link Up)
About a year after Pedro returned from the hospital and his successful stem cell transplant, I woke up one morning and decided I’d had enough. Enough moping around the house whining about my weight. Pedro had regained his pre-cancer weight—but I hadn’t lost mine. I’d walked 10,000 steps a day… Read more“First (and the Inspire Me Mondays Link Up)”
Regrets
I thought my caregiver journey ended when Pedro came home from the hospital. But it didn’t. Not really. Yes, I had a new focus for my caregiving instincts, and life looked promising and full of hope. While I acknowledged the incredible blessings in my life, I also continued to experience… Read more“Regrets”
Rest
Some days, I just wished that Pedro could have stayed in the hospital for a few more months. And this made me feel terribly guilty. I wanted him home, where I could attend to his every need and ensure that he gained weight and made progress—and most of all where… Read more“Rest”
Dare
The funny thing about growing up in a conservative Christian community is that I never learned to share my faith—after all everyone I knew already believed the same things I did. I went to church with the same kids I went to school with. We had the same Bible classes… Read more“Dare”
Redeemed
One of the biggest challenges came out of left field a month after Pedro’s successful stem cell transplant. My goal in telling this part of our journey is not to point fingers of blame or launch accusations—I simply want other caregivers (and potential caregivers—so that’s just about everybody) to know… Read more“Redeemed”
Downcast
In the interest of full disclosure, I wouldn’t want anyone to thinks that caregiving contains miracle after miracle and daily evidence of God’s intervention (although those things did happen time and time again). Nor would I want anyone to think that caregivers live in a sheltered super-power-type world where quotidian… Read more“Downcast”
