A low grade fever escalated early this morning to just over 100, so, following the rules for BMT patients, Shannon will be admitted to Hopkins for at least 48 hours. Antibiotics are being administered.
God Bless,
Bonnie and Greg
Saturday, December 22, 2007
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
December, 2007
Clockwise from upper left: Shannon celebrating December birthdays with Kathleen and Becky, Shannon with her Spanish Tutor Mrs. Hannah, doing homework, Christmas portrait, jogging at Paterson Park, modeling a holly garland, making Christmas cookies, making our Advent wreaths, decorating Christmas cookies.Dear Family and Friends,
On this Third Sunday of Advent, in anticipation of returning home on December 22nd, we started to pack all the belongings we accumulated here since entering the hospital in September. This is Gaudete Sunday, which means to rejoice, and it is with joyous anticipation that we look toward the 22nd!! This date has special meaning for us, as it is “day 100”, the traditional day that BMT patients return home. It is also Michael’s birthday, and he was Shannon’s donor. Also somewhat mysteriously, the 22nd is the same day Shannon was diagnosed with Leukemia in June. So the 22nd is special to us as we joyfully anticipate arriving home before Christmas!
Once home we will start to slowly merge back into community. For me, of course, it will be easier, as I just have to remain peaceful each time Shannon feels achy or begins to run a fever. It will be harder for Shannon. Life has gone on without her for 6 months. The dynamics in her peer groups have changed, and Shannon feels very disconnected to the world she left. She leaves a place that is focused on patient and health issues, and returns to a world focused on school, sports, and social life. She sees the beginnings of new hair as momentously exciting, and finds her friends tossing locks of shoulder length or longer hair. She feels proud to have survived intensely high doses of crippling chemo, and discovers that compared to her friends she is thin, weak, and without the stamina needed to endure a full day of school, or to work out as she once did. She feels honored to have maintained an “A” in the two subjects that she’s completed, and realizes that a full day actually requires 5 subjects. So please pray with me that Shannon will have the faith, courage and hope to manage all that awaits her as she begins to re-enter her world of the St. Johns Youth group, the Seton Keough Senior class, and the Kick Connection Martial Arts studio over the next few months.
Since returning home from the hospital Shannon has already experienced, on a small scale, what it’s like to re-enter the world. Coming back to St Casimire after her month of hospitalization was one of joyous anticipation, but reality left her overwhelmed by the side effects of high doses of Predizone that’s used to keep Graft vs. Host disease under control. Despite the issues (because everyday life has its own issues – right!), we are joyfully wrapping gifts and making the last of our Christmas cookies in anticipation of returning under one roof to decorate our Christmas tree.
Preparing for Christmas changed for us this year since we’ve been under two roofs instead of one. Every task was doubled during each week of Advent. We made 2 artificial advent wreaths, placed 2 front door wreaths, set candles in the windows of both homes, and positioned 2 nativities, accenting them with artificial greens inside both front doors.
But the joy we experienced this weekend, during our final preparations, would not be as deep or as strong without the real, profound, revelation of the Body of Christ that we’ve experienced over the last 6 months through each of you. We have been touched in many ways: through prayers, thoughts, visits, gifts, fund raising, behind the scenes organizers, cooking and baking, remembrance in masses, remembrance at retreats, relics, papal blessings, Holy Hours, celebrating sacraments with us, pastoral visits, watching over Brittany and Michael, sending maids to clean our house, raking leaves, decorating Shannon’s hospital room, emails, cards, putting up Christmas decorations, and through just being part of a caring faith community! Everything you have done has helped us be where we are today. The readings from Guadete Sunday say that through Christ the blind will see, the lame will walk, the deaf will hear, and the poor will have the good news proclaimed to them. Through your prayers and actions you have helped us see God when we were blind, you have helped our deaf ears hear his voice, and when we felt too lame to walk you gave us the strength to walk in his path. I have come to realize that in allowing ourselves to be poor, the humility itself that arises from this, in some way brings the good news of God’s love and truth in ways never before imagined.
As our journey continues, may your prayers also continue for Shannon as she tries to find her place in the world, and that through this experience, and that which is to come, she will be strengthened in her body, mind and soul to serve God and find the joy that He has in store for her.
God Bless,
Greg and Bonnie
On this Third Sunday of Advent, in anticipation of returning home on December 22nd, we started to pack all the belongings we accumulated here since entering the hospital in September. This is Gaudete Sunday, which means to rejoice, and it is with joyous anticipation that we look toward the 22nd!! This date has special meaning for us, as it is “day 100”, the traditional day that BMT patients return home. It is also Michael’s birthday, and he was Shannon’s donor. Also somewhat mysteriously, the 22nd is the same day Shannon was diagnosed with Leukemia in June. So the 22nd is special to us as we joyfully anticipate arriving home before Christmas!
Once home we will start to slowly merge back into community. For me, of course, it will be easier, as I just have to remain peaceful each time Shannon feels achy or begins to run a fever. It will be harder for Shannon. Life has gone on without her for 6 months. The dynamics in her peer groups have changed, and Shannon feels very disconnected to the world she left. She leaves a place that is focused on patient and health issues, and returns to a world focused on school, sports, and social life. She sees the beginnings of new hair as momentously exciting, and finds her friends tossing locks of shoulder length or longer hair. She feels proud to have survived intensely high doses of crippling chemo, and discovers that compared to her friends she is thin, weak, and without the stamina needed to endure a full day of school, or to work out as she once did. She feels honored to have maintained an “A” in the two subjects that she’s completed, and realizes that a full day actually requires 5 subjects. So please pray with me that Shannon will have the faith, courage and hope to manage all that awaits her as she begins to re-enter her world of the St. Johns Youth group, the Seton Keough Senior class, and the Kick Connection Martial Arts studio over the next few months.
Since returning home from the hospital Shannon has already experienced, on a small scale, what it’s like to re-enter the world. Coming back to St Casimire after her month of hospitalization was one of joyous anticipation, but reality left her overwhelmed by the side effects of high doses of Predizone that’s used to keep Graft vs. Host disease under control. Despite the issues (because everyday life has its own issues – right!), we are joyfully wrapping gifts and making the last of our Christmas cookies in anticipation of returning under one roof to decorate our Christmas tree.
Preparing for Christmas changed for us this year since we’ve been under two roofs instead of one. Every task was doubled during each week of Advent. We made 2 artificial advent wreaths, placed 2 front door wreaths, set candles in the windows of both homes, and positioned 2 nativities, accenting them with artificial greens inside both front doors.
But the joy we experienced this weekend, during our final preparations, would not be as deep or as strong without the real, profound, revelation of the Body of Christ that we’ve experienced over the last 6 months through each of you. We have been touched in many ways: through prayers, thoughts, visits, gifts, fund raising, behind the scenes organizers, cooking and baking, remembrance in masses, remembrance at retreats, relics, papal blessings, Holy Hours, celebrating sacraments with us, pastoral visits, watching over Brittany and Michael, sending maids to clean our house, raking leaves, decorating Shannon’s hospital room, emails, cards, putting up Christmas decorations, and through just being part of a caring faith community! Everything you have done has helped us be where we are today. The readings from Guadete Sunday say that through Christ the blind will see, the lame will walk, the deaf will hear, and the poor will have the good news proclaimed to them. Through your prayers and actions you have helped us see God when we were blind, you have helped our deaf ears hear his voice, and when we felt too lame to walk you gave us the strength to walk in his path. I have come to realize that in allowing ourselves to be poor, the humility itself that arises from this, in some way brings the good news of God’s love and truth in ways never before imagined.
As our journey continues, may your prayers also continue for Shannon as she tries to find her place in the world, and that through this experience, and that which is to come, she will be strengthened in her body, mind and soul to serve God and find the joy that He has in store for her.
God Bless,
Greg and Bonnie
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