Weekend Wrap-Up

“ My mother had a good deal of trouble with me, but I think she enjoyed it.”

                                                Mark Twain, chapters from my autobiography

Saw this quote and immediately thought of Mia. I have no idea what it is, but the kid is definitely at her terrible twos, and has been for a while. The sad thing is that… One, her birthday isn’t until September 7^th, Two, she is so darn cute.

Today, I am treading water. Classes begin tomorrow. I transcribed my class calendar and clinical rotation schedule into my planner and immediately realized that for the next 16 or so weeks, my life is pretty much nursing. This afternoon, I cleaned, did every bit of dirty and “could be dirty” laundry, and tried to get my mind in sync with conquering the next several weeks. However, Mia had other plans. Like eating. Coloring on the walls with a sharpie. Wanting to play. You know, have attention bestowed upon her. The nerve, right?

How did I end up with 3 very noisy kids? When I am so noise adverse? Is that just the way it works?

Moving on for a quick weekend re-cap.

Aren’t the things in life the ones that you have to work the hardest for? The ones that challenge you, surprise you? That is what nursing school has been for me. Not just a challenge, but also an outlet for me to be me, move on, and it has placed some of the greatest people in my life in which, I would have never, ever met.

Saturday, I received a letter in the mail from the Endowment Trust of the college in which I attend, in which congratulated on me as the recipient of an anonymous donation that would cover a huge amount of my tuition for the Fall 2012 semester. I am continually amazed at the kindness and generosity of the many people that have rallied around my family during the times in which we most needed it.

Thank you to those of you who have supported me and an idea that was once was a crazy idea. You all have helped me turn it into… a beautiful idea. To the individual/ individuals that made my fall tuition a little bit easier, I want to give you a huge Thank-You from the very bottom of my heart. Never in a million years would I have ever thought someone would think that much of me or believe in me!  

We attended the 19^th Blood and Bone Marrow Celebration last night in St. Louis. Once we entered the ballroom in which it was located, both of us kind of stopped in our foot tracks as we tried really hard to find two empty seats. We were definitely newbies at this event. Luckily, a really nice lady invited us to grab two seats at their table. The venue was packed full of 900+ people! After dinner, the presentation quickly got under way. The speakers were absolutely moving! It is so beautiful to see people like Daniel, functioning so well. The most moving part of the celebration was when Dr. DiPersio mentioned in closing remarks that he was going to be raffling off 2 round-trip tickets to a member of the audience. Then, he spoke of a woman from Memphis, TN, and preceded to bring her up on the stage, spoke about her and then, out of nowhere, brought her donor into the room, for her to meet for the very first time. All the way from Germany. For the event, he learned to speak a very small amount of English- just enough to say how happy he was to fulfill the dreams and future for that very woman. There was not a dry eye in the room- promise. Lucky gal, she is. I yearn for the day that we may one-day find out more about the remarkable gentleman that saved Daniels’ life. It was a phenomenal event!

There is never a moment that I don’t count each and every single one of mine/ our blessings. It is events like this that remind you that being able to spend a long and happy life with your family is a true treasure. And unfortunately, for some, their lives are cut WAY too short.

It really just makes you realize the important things in life.

I am closing with a remark from Dr. DiPersio’s speech last night. Ashlynn spent many years watching Barney! Luckily, my other 2 children did not take to the big purple guy like she did. However, Dr. DiPersio spoke about a song from the show. Here are the lyrics:

            Everything’s better with a friend like you.

            Everything’s better with a friends like you.

Playing. Pretending. Whatever we do.

It's better with a friend like you.

XOXO Kristin

One-Year: An Update

People often ask me- How do you always have that “my glass is half-full attitude?” It has taken me awhile to arrive at the right answer. And, the truth is… my glass isn’t always half full. Sometimes it’s cracked a little, or maybe even shattered. But when it is that way, I break out the super glue and glue it back together. It still may not be perfect, but it’s always better than it was. Life really isn’t always perfect, or ideal. Sometimes, its down right hard. But, I honestly believe that we get thrown these little curve balls in life, that make us stronger. These little curve balls… they do nothing but change us, mold us, make us into better, stronger, and more beautiful versions of ourselves. That is life!

This last week has reminded me so much about how blessed our family really is. As I get older, I realize that changes can be good, and I have learned to embrace changes… because changes remind me how capable I am.

I am capable of so much! If anything, this past year has taught me so.

However, I still struggle with some things. I have been struggling to be a friend is fully present, a parent who gets on the floor and PLAYS. I struggle with finding the time to work out and also to do things that I enjoy – you know, to be just BE me. And these things are very important to me.

I often find myself overwhelmed by what people need and also what I expected of myself. I have high expectations, people!

We’ve all been there, yes? It’s a topic of conversation for women/ parents/ mothers all over the place.

But some seem to have it figured out better than others. who I yearn to be that woman who is always calm, put together, and with it. The woman who gets to work out early in the morning, the woman who always feeds her kids healthy meals, the woman who always has the dishes done and the flowers watered. And she comes home skinnier than she left and to a house that’s put together and to kids who are ready to see her.

As hard as I tried this summer… I didn’t get that dang lucky. And, I am okay with it. I am okay with it, because I know that I am capable of so much more than the things that I just listed.

These years go by so fast. As much as being skinny, and the “perfect wife” sound like good descriptions, they don’t work for me. Being the mom that made each day count… seems more fitting. So, that is my goal.

Am I boring you to death? Okay… on to the good stuff. We spent last Monday in St. Louis for doctor’s appointments galore. We just passed Daniel’s one-year anniversary of his bone marrow transplant. Things look very different now than they did one year ago. Which, is very much a good thing! So, this is what we know as of today (some tests are still pending). Daniel’s dry eyes are no better, but no worse. He is still cancer free! No signs of any leukemia!!! Yes, to that! Dr. DiPersio seems very happy with how everything looks. Daniel had a bone density scan. The steroid to control the GVHD can be very tough on your muscles and bones. His spine shows mild osteoporosis and right now, there is nothing that we can do to improve it. Maintenance is key.  His immune system is still pretty weak. So, for the next several months, he will be receiving antibodies via IV for 4 hours a setting, once per month. This is very routine for someone like Daniel. No worries there! It would be nice to have him healthier for the upcoming fall/ winter. We have also gotten the okay to immunize Avery and Mia. Avery turns 5 in November and will need her kindergarten immunizations. Mia has not had vaccines since she was 6 months old. I am trying to figure out the best way to go about this, factoring in school, which is making it tough. I would like to get done at the same time. However, Daniel cannot be around them for 2 weeks. If anyone has any ideas on what would be the best way to go about this, I am very open to them.

Other news: Through Be The Match (the service that was used to find Daniel’s match), most recipients of a bone marrow transplant can begin paperwork to establish contact with their donor. Notice, I said most. Unfortunately, Daniel’s donor went through a “sister” agency of Be The Match. The agency that he went through, does not allow contact between donor/ recipient for 2 years, given that both parties agree to the paperwork. However, we can send anonymous letters, cards, etc. to the donor, and hopefully, he will respond by snail mail. While this may seem somewhat disappointing, we are still very excited about the potential relationship that we may have with this guy. Hopefully, I will be able to tell you all about it!

August 18^th, we head to St. Louis for the bone marrow and blood cancer celebration hosted by Siteman Cancer Center. We are very excited to be a part of such a wonderful facility. If you are a friend of mine on Facebook, then you may have seen the exciting things that are happening in regards to research- especially, with Daniel’s physician. Again, we are very blessed to have such a wonderful team of physician’s.

We will wrap up our last week of summer this week. Our summer is almost expired. Ashlynn starts school on Friday. Enjoy your week!

XOXO Kristin