Fellow fighters update #9

Maria




Please pray for Maria as she was admitted today for a week of conditioning before her bone marrow transplant next Wednesday. Thankful for her sister, Ana Maria, who was able to be her donor. May God give Maria strength and perseverance. Pray that the graft may take well and protection against side-effects and infection. 




From the Smiths:


We just wanted to send out a reminder for Ryan Smith's Celebration of Life. 


The service will be held at Millersville Community Church Hope Campus 242 Bender Road Millersville, PA  17551 on Saturday, June 19th at 2:00. 


It is an open invitation event.  The doors will open at 1:00.  Once the church is full, there will also be a tent set up right outside the church that will broadcast the live stream. 


The event will also be live streamed through YouTube.  The YouTube link is https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zjZ0Uf2R4bo





Also, there’s a blood drive being held next month in honor of Ryan. Please donate as able wherever you can near you. I know so many of us like Ryan, Maria, and myself relied on blood and platelet transfusions often throughout our journeys and there’s been an especially great need during this covid season. Thank you!!

Comments

  1. jamieJune 24, 2021 at 9:20 AM

    So glad Maria was able to connect with you as she goes through her own journey with cancer. May the Lord heal you all.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Powerback! 💪

Image
After almost 3.5 years since my diagnosis, I’ll be returning to the work that I love. I’ll be starting a job this week with a company called “Powerback” where I’ll be doing home care visits providing physical therapy… ironic name considering the past several years of battling cancer.  😅   I’m excited and grateful for not only this particular opportunity but just the privilege of being able to return to work as a PT, as there were many times when I questioned whether I’d be able to have the strength and endurance to do this again. So, my excitement is tempered by a sense of nervousness as I consider what I’ve been through and it’s just been such a long time! But I feel ready and take this next step of reintegration back to life in faith, knowing that God must have a plan for me.  The initial thought of potentially doing home care PT crossed my mind while I was receiving home care nursing visits myself. I got to know many of my awesome nurses quite well and so appreciated their compassi
Read more

Perspective on the infamous “IV pole”

Image
Not very “gown-friendly”  🙅🏻 This IV pole has often been the bane of my existence while in the hospital. I’ve never used that term before but needed to stretch my vocabulary that much to find something that expresses my dread of it. For it’s often felt like a literal ball and chain stuck to my side, as I drag it along wherever I go. And it lets me know (painfully) when I forget it’s there like in the middle of the night when having to rush to the bathroom... OUCH! And, it reminds me of my weakness, my disability, and ultimately my cancer.  One day I was cold so I reached for a hoodie but I forgot about my IV pole. Btw, that’s why all my pictures in the hospital usually are with a T-shirt on! This IV pole is a pain but just like many other things I’ve gotten used to in this battle, it’s a necessary evil as it holds the bags of medicine and fluids that my body needs to fight. So maybe a better more helpful perspective might be to see it as my  body armor ... heavy and cumber
Read more

Ringing the bell! 🔔

Image
I haven’t written a blog post for a while so wanted to share some exciting updates. A couple weeks ago, our family celebrated a greatly anticipated milestone called a bell-ringing ceremony which marked my dear niece Tabitha’s completion of treatment for her leukemia! It was a long two year battle which often felt like a bad dream. Tabby is a true fighter and couldn’t be more proud of her as well as her family.  💪 During the ceremony, her doctor shared a heartwarming tribute to Tabby’s courage and perseverance. And after Tabby rang the bell to the roar of cheers from our family and the staff, there was an image that will forever be etched in my memory… that is of Tabby and my brother Dan embracing each other in tears as the flood of emotions overwhelmed them. I started getting teary-eyed even as we just drove to the hospital that day, so I can only imagine how it must have felt to stand there ringing the bell in the place where they had endured so many difficult days and nights, filled
Read more