A Night At Home - May 4, 2013

With a little trepidation that’s overshadowed by the pure joy of being home, we are in our own bedrooms tonight.  The last week lasted a year, but only took a few minutes.  We’ve been to this rodeo many times yet somehow it always seems like the first.

I’m really proud of my kids.  Jessi stayed by Garrett’s side and Dinger kept a great attitude.  His biggest fear after learning what the game plan was to be is the memories of the pain he went through three years ago.  Our Good Lord, though, has seen fit to grant him a bit of a reprieve, the extra courage to Cowboy Up again and do what has to be done.  He got through last night and the first 5 sessions of treatment without any real issues.  So they let us go home tonight!!! 

That little furlough is huge in our eyes.  Last time they wouldn’t let us go home for three months!  We always use ‘home’ as a gauge.  If they feel comfortable enough to let him sleep in his own bed, then we know they’re not concerned about any immediate catastrophic events.  We have a journey yet ahead of us, but at least the future is more encouraging today than two days ago.  We still have to be in Denver for two or three days each week for the next few months for the IVIG and photopheresis, but with the picc lines in place, they’re letting Kathy and I give Garrett the IV methylpredinsolone here.  We went through the training and take no chances with infection or contamination.  Round one at home tonight went without a hitch.  We use a saline flush, followed by the methylpredinsolone, followed by more saline flush, then a heparin flush.  We’ll do this a few times a day for the next week or so.  He’s also on some oral meds for the sinus infection and some other Rx’s to help prevent bad reactions to the chemo.

For the first few nights at home, Garrett will sleep with me.  Right now he lays next to me, deep into a hard earned slumber.  As I watch him breath, taking in the pure magic that is life, I find myself looking at the bandages surrounding his arms, protecting the picc lines.  How many times have I seen him wrapped up in some kind of medical packaging with tubes hanging out of him?  Hundreds?  I’m so grateful we can share these moments but I still hurt for him knowing that he has to go through this again.  He was less than five minutes old when he got the first IV in what would become a long string of painful memories.  There have been countless invasions to his body since that day, but he still drives on and Cowboys Up.  His glass is always half full.

I know he’s ok, but just the same I’ve set my alarm so I can get up and check on him a few times through the night, just to be sure.  He’s got about 15 inches of picc line in both arms, going up through his shoulder area and down into his heart.  This puts the medicine exactly where it needs to be and allows for a smooth transition when they run the photopheresis on him.  The tiny rubber tubing also keeps the harsh chemicals from burning his veins.  We’ve got to maintain a vigilant watch on them to keep out infection and keep them from being pulled out by accident.

Our Church family was really great when we got home tonight.  They brought a fantastic spaghetti supper to our door so Kathy wouldn’t have to cook tonight.  That little gesture means more than they know.  She was so beat from stress by the time we got home and that small act of kindness was greatly appreciated.

Jessi got a surprise, too.  She got to go to her best friend’s place tonight for a sleepover.   Tinker has been such a silent trooper with Garrett’s issues and hospitalizations that sometimes her needs get put on the back burner.  A lot of plans for the year have now been changed, but I’m committed to making sure her dreams are not pushed aside any more than absolutely necessary. We were supposed to work calves in tomorrow with friends, but our participation obviously had to be canceled.  We were also supposed to be hunting turkeys this weekend.  She really wants to get her first bird but we’ll have to put that off now for a bit.  But her “sister” Aleeyah’s folks came and got her so her whole weekend wasn’t lost.  They treat her as one of their own and we’re indebted to them.  She gets to hang with them for the weekend, ride horses and go to a rodeo on Sunday where the girls will get to chase barrels and bring home the prizes! 

The outpouring of selfless support, kindness and love through these bumpy trails over the years never ceases to amaze me.  With what I do for a living, sometimes I let the true heart of this great land get eclipsed by the degradation and decay placed on our society by a deafening few despicable miscreants.  Earlier this year I saw two of the most precious little lives snuffed out by pure evil.  The darkest recesses of my mind couldn’t have imagined the scene that will forever be burned into my mind.  But you all are among those who make me proud to I do what I do.  It takes warriors to fight evil, and we’re all called to be soldiers of the Cross.  In this story, Garrett and Jessi represent the pure hearts we battle to protect, you and I.  Thank you for showing the face of Christ in your lives; For Jessi and Garrett, and all those like them.  Kids deserve to be kids.

God bless,

JD

" And whoever receives one child such as this in my name receives me"