KWight
Active Member
- Location
- Grand Junction, CO
Some of you may remember my thread this past year about my wife's health challenges.
Tina had 5 Chemotherapy treatments over a six month period of time before the doctor announced to us that her Leukemia was in remission following the September treatment. I felt we were really blessed following that trial, we were able to pay off $8000 in out of pocket medical bills, replace her old van with a newer one (paid in full) when the old one broke down, get a large home improvement project completed and save up some money. We were blessed with friends and strangers that helped us along the way and were able to spend a week with her family for Christmas and recently returned from a family outing a few weeks ago where we were able to see my side of the family and attend her family reunion for the first time in two years.
A few weeks ago the doctor took a routine blood draw and it came back with some concerning results. Thinking my wife had a virus she asked for another blood draw and that came back with the same results. She had some bone marrow testing this week and it was confirmed that she has leukemia again. This time the plan of action is to do more Chemotherapy treatments to kill off all those cells and once she is cleared out, she will be going to one of two hospitals in Denver for a bone marrow transplant. Her siblings will be going through testing to see if they are a good match for her.
I am fortunate to work for a company that has generous time off and I have been able to accumulate 4-6 weeks off of paid leave since the last round of Leukemia. I met with my boss this past week and she assured me that there will be more time off if needed and I should not be concerned about this. She encouraged me to take some time off if needed this week and I decided to take a half day and do a motorcycle ride on a trail I have been wanting to run for the past 10 years. After reading Greg's recent trip report two days ago, it dawned on me that if I did not do this ride, I might not have another chance. I figure if my wife's health is going downhill, I may need to get rid of the motorcycle as I need to decrease any risk factors that might keep me from being around for our children. It was a good ride and the 180 miles I put on in 5.5 hours gave me a brief reprieve from what was to hit us next......
We were informed today that my wife will be in the hospital in Denver for 1-2 months and needs a family support person to be there with her for 2-4 weeks. We cannot take our children with us during that time as the hospital wants us to limit any potential exposure to germs or viruses when my wife's immune system is depleted. We are talking with family, friends and members of our church to try to decide who will care for our children during this period of time. It nearly killed me to call my older sister today and ask her to care for our younger three. I anticipate our older two will handle the changes better but it is a hard decision to make for the younger ones. Our other trials related to this news pale in comparison to these arrangements and the time we will spend away from our children. I am working on a family picture, having a friend make quilts out of my wife's old clothes and a webcam to allow for better communication/contact to ease the trauma of the time away.
Anyways, If you can keep us in your thoughts, prayers or send some good energy our way, it would really be appreciated. I may call those that PM'ed me during the first round while we are in Denver for her treatments. I still have those PM's and the phone numbers that were sent.
Thanks,
Kevin
Tina had 5 Chemotherapy treatments over a six month period of time before the doctor announced to us that her Leukemia was in remission following the September treatment. I felt we were really blessed following that trial, we were able to pay off $8000 in out of pocket medical bills, replace her old van with a newer one (paid in full) when the old one broke down, get a large home improvement project completed and save up some money. We were blessed with friends and strangers that helped us along the way and were able to spend a week with her family for Christmas and recently returned from a family outing a few weeks ago where we were able to see my side of the family and attend her family reunion for the first time in two years.
A few weeks ago the doctor took a routine blood draw and it came back with some concerning results. Thinking my wife had a virus she asked for another blood draw and that came back with the same results. She had some bone marrow testing this week and it was confirmed that she has leukemia again. This time the plan of action is to do more Chemotherapy treatments to kill off all those cells and once she is cleared out, she will be going to one of two hospitals in Denver for a bone marrow transplant. Her siblings will be going through testing to see if they are a good match for her.
I am fortunate to work for a company that has generous time off and I have been able to accumulate 4-6 weeks off of paid leave since the last round of Leukemia. I met with my boss this past week and she assured me that there will be more time off if needed and I should not be concerned about this. She encouraged me to take some time off if needed this week and I decided to take a half day and do a motorcycle ride on a trail I have been wanting to run for the past 10 years. After reading Greg's recent trip report two days ago, it dawned on me that if I did not do this ride, I might not have another chance. I figure if my wife's health is going downhill, I may need to get rid of the motorcycle as I need to decrease any risk factors that might keep me from being around for our children. It was a good ride and the 180 miles I put on in 5.5 hours gave me a brief reprieve from what was to hit us next......
We were informed today that my wife will be in the hospital in Denver for 1-2 months and needs a family support person to be there with her for 2-4 weeks. We cannot take our children with us during that time as the hospital wants us to limit any potential exposure to germs or viruses when my wife's immune system is depleted. We are talking with family, friends and members of our church to try to decide who will care for our children during this period of time. It nearly killed me to call my older sister today and ask her to care for our younger three. I anticipate our older two will handle the changes better but it is a hard decision to make for the younger ones. Our other trials related to this news pale in comparison to these arrangements and the time we will spend away from our children. I am working on a family picture, having a friend make quilts out of my wife's old clothes and a webcam to allow for better communication/contact to ease the trauma of the time away.
Anyways, If you can keep us in your thoughts, prayers or send some good energy our way, it would really be appreciated. I may call those that PM'ed me during the first round while we are in Denver for her treatments. I still have those PM's and the phone numbers that were sent.
Thanks,
Kevin
