The Medical Process
Today Elizabeth got a Covid test and now must quarantine until her procedure on Thursday where she gets her port put in. For those who don’t know what that is, it is basically like the female end of a USB drive that is put just under the skin. That way when they go to do the chemo infusion there is a streamlined spot to put the infusion needle. It is safer and more convenient than inner arm IV each time. Chemo starts November 2nd.
The Thought Process
This past weekend we were blessed with the opportunity to have a weekend away before the real work starts. The two (and a half) of us got to enjoy the nature of East Jordan, MI. We went “Glamping”, as the cool kids call it. We rented an RV that was parked on someone’s back forty and enjoyed the fall colors of northern Michigan.
A huge shout out to the different folks that helped make it super relaxing and no stress of any kind. This trip was completely taken care of for us. Even Judah was an angel baby all weekend. He slept in every restaurant we went to and barely cried in the hours we spent in the car. What a blessed three days.
There were several highlights of our time there like sunsets, the tunnel of trees, great views and delicious food. One moment stood out most for me when we went on a walk on the property. They had some nice trails that lead up to the top of a big hill. Pushing the stroller up the hill with our tank of a baby got me more out of breath than I’d like to admit, but the view was worth it.
As we stood looking at God’s beautiful creation we took time to reflect on WHAT JUST HAPPENED. Two weeks of the biggest emotional roller coaster ride we had ever been on. We felt extreme peace, anxiety, joy of negative test, dread of slow test results, and everything in between. In the midst of it all, two things were central to our hilltop moment.
The first is a topic most of us avoid at all cost. Have you ever faced your mortality before? Have you ever confronted the reality of the mortality of the person/people you love most? It is easy for me to write those words because I just did it. But I would venture to bet you didn’t like reading them. It is awkward and uncomfortable, but it is real.
Based on some of the conversations and interactions I’ve had lately, I think our situation has made a few of you more aware of that reality than ever before. Something about a “young couple with four young kids” feels different than someone who has a grown family and decent professional career under their belts.
My mind went to the scene in V for Vendetta where V reveals to Evey that he just tricked her into confronting her mortality so that threats on her life would no longer dictate how she made decisions. She was free to choose how to live based on what she knew to be right. Fear is designed to help us make good decisions in the face of imminent danger. It is terrible at long term perspective and choices.
The second central theme to our conversations revolves around answer the most common question/statement we have gotten this this started: “What can I/we do to help?” and “if there is ANY you need, you better let me know”. Unfortunately that point was the one that held the bulk of our conversation on that hill so you will have to wait for a whole other blog on how we’d like to answer it. Coming soon…
