(Mirroring post on our Caring Bridge site)
With another HUGE THANK YOU to friends who have helped us at
the house recently, we've been able to get things close enough to the
*appearance* of order that dad (that would be me) is willing to bring junior (that would be Daniel) and mom (that would be Andrea) back home
again. It's amazing to realize that less than 3 weeks ago we were
awaiting our first appointment with the new Rheumatologist at Riley - the
appointment that triggered the discovery of Daniel's leukemia and the immediate
hospital admission and all that followed.
This Friday will mark exactly 3 weeks since we got "the news" that has certainly changed our lives forever and brought everything in our world to a complete standstill for a season. During that time we've been devastated, elated, confused, tested, and perhaps more than anything, humbled by the generosity, grace, and outpouring of love from our Lord and Savior - mostly through our friends, family, and even complete strangers literally from around the world. What we've been able to accomplish at the house in that time, despite living in my folks' spare bedroom, trying to keep up at work, and spending inordinate amounts of time at the hospital, is due almost entirely to the outpouring of love and effort by those around us.
We are in (what we hope is) the worst & most vulnerable time of Daniel's chemotherapy ... the first and second months of treatment. During this time, his immune system is severely compromised and at times, nonexistent. Being in the worst of the cold and flu season to boot, we are of course extremely concerned about keeping him from all potential forms of infection to the greatest extent possible. This is what caused us to tear out the 427 year old carpet on the first floor of our house. And now, only two weeks later, the new flooring is installed, and much of the house has been cleaned, and we're getting things put back in their places (more or less). The biggest issue for me has been making sure we're cleaned (disinfected) as much of the house as possible before bringing Daniel back home. The last major portion of that process happens tonight with a furnace system cleaning & servicing and, hopefully, the purchase of a new room air purifier that I plan to get during my lunch break today.
After the service call tonight, assuming all goes well, we plan to move everyone back home and set Daniel up with the Family Room as his new bedroom. Andrea has worked extremely hard despite her own challenges with energy and stress throughout this ordeal to try to restore order to the house while I try to keep up at work without burning through my entire vacation allotment in the first month of the new year. I'm hoping to qualify for FMLA leave, which would be unpaid but would at least allow me to preserve some of my PTO leave for the next 11 months. Unfortunately, I haven't yet been at Raytheon for a full year yet and that may disqualify me until mid-March. We'll see.
Again, we want to thank those who have been able to help at the house, help with meals, and provide us with prayer cover. In many ways, we're still just getting started on this "adventure", so please PLEASE keep them coming for us as we seek wisdom, strength, faith, hope, endurance, and love through the times ahead. We're absolutely confident in the wisdom, providence, and love of God through this, "and we know that all things work together into a pattern for good" in our lives and this is certainly no exception. God is good. He is in control. His plans for us are beyond our ability or need to comprehend and we trust Him completely for what lies ahead. The similarities to Abraham's story have certainly not been lost on me during these past few weeks and I look to his example of incredible faith and trust in God with the life of his only son Isaac. I only hope to fare so well as he did.
By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, of whom it was said, In Isaac your seed shall be called, concluding that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead, from which he also received him in a figurative sense. - Heb 11:17-19
Grace and Peace to all,
- Tim -
This Friday will mark exactly 3 weeks since we got "the news" that has certainly changed our lives forever and brought everything in our world to a complete standstill for a season. During that time we've been devastated, elated, confused, tested, and perhaps more than anything, humbled by the generosity, grace, and outpouring of love from our Lord and Savior - mostly through our friends, family, and even complete strangers literally from around the world. What we've been able to accomplish at the house in that time, despite living in my folks' spare bedroom, trying to keep up at work, and spending inordinate amounts of time at the hospital, is due almost entirely to the outpouring of love and effort by those around us.
We are in (what we hope is) the worst & most vulnerable time of Daniel's chemotherapy ... the first and second months of treatment. During this time, his immune system is severely compromised and at times, nonexistent. Being in the worst of the cold and flu season to boot, we are of course extremely concerned about keeping him from all potential forms of infection to the greatest extent possible. This is what caused us to tear out the 427 year old carpet on the first floor of our house. And now, only two weeks later, the new flooring is installed, and much of the house has been cleaned, and we're getting things put back in their places (more or less). The biggest issue for me has been making sure we're cleaned (disinfected) as much of the house as possible before bringing Daniel back home. The last major portion of that process happens tonight with a furnace system cleaning & servicing and, hopefully, the purchase of a new room air purifier that I plan to get during my lunch break today.
After the service call tonight, assuming all goes well, we plan to move everyone back home and set Daniel up with the Family Room as his new bedroom. Andrea has worked extremely hard despite her own challenges with energy and stress throughout this ordeal to try to restore order to the house while I try to keep up at work without burning through my entire vacation allotment in the first month of the new year. I'm hoping to qualify for FMLA leave, which would be unpaid but would at least allow me to preserve some of my PTO leave for the next 11 months. Unfortunately, I haven't yet been at Raytheon for a full year yet and that may disqualify me until mid-March. We'll see.
Again, we want to thank those who have been able to help at the house, help with meals, and provide us with prayer cover. In many ways, we're still just getting started on this "adventure", so please PLEASE keep them coming for us as we seek wisdom, strength, faith, hope, endurance, and love through the times ahead. We're absolutely confident in the wisdom, providence, and love of God through this, "and we know that all things work together into a pattern for good" in our lives and this is certainly no exception. God is good. He is in control. His plans for us are beyond our ability or need to comprehend and we trust Him completely for what lies ahead. The similarities to Abraham's story have certainly not been lost on me during these past few weeks and I look to his example of incredible faith and trust in God with the life of his only son Isaac. I only hope to fare so well as he did.
By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, of whom it was said, In Isaac your seed shall be called, concluding that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead, from which he also received him in a figurative sense. - Heb 11:17-19
Grace and Peace to all,
- Tim -
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