Christmas-Transplant Day
I know, I should update more often, sorry. Frankly I have been so overwhelmed with everything that when I think about it too much I just start crying.
Christmas week was one spent in the hospital. Amber had her bone marrow transplant on Christmas eve. Jordan, her fiance had a "cold sore" and was not there all week.... I think he just needed the time off. It did not go unnoticed by her that he was not there the day of her transplant. Jesse worked that day too. It was Amber and I alone in the hospital on a BIG day.
They call transplant day your 2nd birthday.
Let me explain for a second the transplant. It is not a surgery. It is an infusion that hangs and goes right into her hickman. Her hickman placement was a surgery, yes. The transplant is quite non-invasive. It looked like thick, red blood.
She did pretty well. About an hour into the infusion a couple of her nurses came in to ask Sheryl if she needed any help. Then they said, "okay, we really just came to see Amber." They turned up the lights and we saw Ambers face. All four of us suddenly had eyes like saucers. Her face was COVERED in hives. Her whole head, and her body was covered in hives. Sheryl started telling us, "She's FINE, her oxygen levels are good, her heart rate has been stable, I AM RIGHT HERE, I gave her pre-meds, I do her vitals every five minutes, SHE ATE!" I agreed fully. The nurses told the transplant team. Then there was the buzz of "visitors" in the room. All of them getting that same list of information from Nurse Sheryl. They just kept telling Amber and I she was fine. The nurse cracked a joke saying that when the new bone marrow took over Amber would then be allergic to herself. I looked at her, at first thinking she was serious, then I saw her smirk. She cracks me up.
Amber is getting marrow from a 23 year old male that does not live in the United States. We are not sure where he lives we just know that they country he is in does not allow contact for two years. We can send a thank you. I am sure there will be many thanks and none good enough to express how thankful we are that he did such an amazing thing to help save someone's life. If you would like to donate or find more information about donating bone marrow go to www.bethematch.org and find out how to save a life. There is a shortage of African-Americans, Native Americans, and Pacific Islanders.
We have a friend that is a Pacific Islander and I immediately told him about "be the match" so he signed up. Before my daughter even got HER transplant they had called him to donate bone marrow.
Anyways, Jesse and I stayed there all week. Mike stayed at the house and watched the dog.
Christmas day was nice. Doernbecher has a Santa Claus that deliveres gifts to the children. We stayed with tradition and slept through his visit. Amber did wake up to a bag of gifts. There was a label on the plastic bag on the floor that read Amber, 20 y/o female. Amber's dad and step-mother showed up around three with her brother and sister. They brought along my oldest daughter and my grandson as well. It was really nice.
Jordan's mother came up and dropped him off and had made us a small box of cookies and had gifts for Amber's father's family. It was a good day. Since Jordan was there, Jesse and I got to go home and sleep in our own bed. Porter, my Grandson came home with us. We played with toys till he fell asleep.
I love Christmas time. I love the decorations, the music, the cheer, the giving, the general good mood everyone is in, the holiday greetings, I love it. I love the spirit of giving and I am so glad to pass it on to my kids.
When my son, Terrence, was just 5 years old we went to Fred Meyer to get some groceries. While walking in, we passed the Salvation Army bell ringer. Terrence was so curious as a child, and still is. He asked what they were doing, if he could ring the bell, if they were cold. On and on he went all through the store asking me about them. I told him about the Salvation Army helping those in need with clothing, housing, and even jobs. He thought that was pretty nice of them.... Later that afternoon I realised I had forgotten something from the store and was planning my return trip. My son asked if he could join me. When I said yes he said, "Wait a minute, I need to grab something." He ran up to his room and emptied his piggy bank into his pocket. It was bigger then my fist and he was walking funny while he tried to hold the change from spilling over. I giggled at him thinking he must want candy or something.When we walked up to the entrance of the store he pulled on my arm and said "Wait a seccond Mom." he ran over to the bell ringer stood on his toes and proceeded to dump the contents of his pockets into the can. It was a little too high and his change was spilling everywhere and he was running to pick it up and make sure it all got into the can. The bell ringer just looked at him blankly while he did this. I walked up to him with the biggest lump in my throat and said "He emptied his piggy bank just for you." That person looked as if they coulden't care less, but I was so proud of my son I cried. I am so proud of him still!
I am proud of the compassion I have tought my children. I am proud that they care enough to give and that they always have.
Merry Christmas and I hope you all have a Happy New Year.
In the spirit of giving. If you would like to directly help my family out right now visit our "Go Fund Me" page at http://www.gofundme.com/1o9j8k I would like to add a HUGE THANK YOU to Eden Dawn for introducing me to the site.
Christmas week was one spent in the hospital. Amber had her bone marrow transplant on Christmas eve. Jordan, her fiance had a "cold sore" and was not there all week.... I think he just needed the time off. It did not go unnoticed by her that he was not there the day of her transplant. Jesse worked that day too. It was Amber and I alone in the hospital on a BIG day.
They call transplant day your 2nd birthday.
Let me explain for a second the transplant. It is not a surgery. It is an infusion that hangs and goes right into her hickman. Her hickman placement was a surgery, yes. The transplant is quite non-invasive. It looked like thick, red blood.
She did pretty well. About an hour into the infusion a couple of her nurses came in to ask Sheryl if she needed any help. Then they said, "okay, we really just came to see Amber." They turned up the lights and we saw Ambers face. All four of us suddenly had eyes like saucers. Her face was COVERED in hives. Her whole head, and her body was covered in hives. Sheryl started telling us, "She's FINE, her oxygen levels are good, her heart rate has been stable, I AM RIGHT HERE, I gave her pre-meds, I do her vitals every five minutes, SHE ATE!" I agreed fully. The nurses told the transplant team. Then there was the buzz of "visitors" in the room. All of them getting that same list of information from Nurse Sheryl. They just kept telling Amber and I she was fine. The nurse cracked a joke saying that when the new bone marrow took over Amber would then be allergic to herself. I looked at her, at first thinking she was serious, then I saw her smirk. She cracks me up.
Amber is getting marrow from a 23 year old male that does not live in the United States. We are not sure where he lives we just know that they country he is in does not allow contact for two years. We can send a thank you. I am sure there will be many thanks and none good enough to express how thankful we are that he did such an amazing thing to help save someone's life. If you would like to donate or find more information about donating bone marrow go to www.bethematch.org and find out how to save a life. There is a shortage of African-Americans, Native Americans, and Pacific Islanders.
We have a friend that is a Pacific Islander and I immediately told him about "be the match" so he signed up. Before my daughter even got HER transplant they had called him to donate bone marrow.
Anyways, Jesse and I stayed there all week. Mike stayed at the house and watched the dog.
Christmas day was nice. Doernbecher has a Santa Claus that deliveres gifts to the children. We stayed with tradition and slept through his visit. Amber did wake up to a bag of gifts. There was a label on the plastic bag on the floor that read Amber, 20 y/o female. Amber's dad and step-mother showed up around three with her brother and sister. They brought along my oldest daughter and my grandson as well. It was really nice.
Jordan's mother came up and dropped him off and had made us a small box of cookies and had gifts for Amber's father's family. It was a good day. Since Jordan was there, Jesse and I got to go home and sleep in our own bed. Porter, my Grandson came home with us. We played with toys till he fell asleep.
I love Christmas time. I love the decorations, the music, the cheer, the giving, the general good mood everyone is in, the holiday greetings, I love it. I love the spirit of giving and I am so glad to pass it on to my kids.
When my son, Terrence, was just 5 years old we went to Fred Meyer to get some groceries. While walking in, we passed the Salvation Army bell ringer. Terrence was so curious as a child, and still is. He asked what they were doing, if he could ring the bell, if they were cold. On and on he went all through the store asking me about them. I told him about the Salvation Army helping those in need with clothing, housing, and even jobs. He thought that was pretty nice of them.... Later that afternoon I realised I had forgotten something from the store and was planning my return trip. My son asked if he could join me. When I said yes he said, "Wait a minute, I need to grab something." He ran up to his room and emptied his piggy bank into his pocket. It was bigger then my fist and he was walking funny while he tried to hold the change from spilling over. I giggled at him thinking he must want candy or something.When we walked up to the entrance of the store he pulled on my arm and said "Wait a seccond Mom." he ran over to the bell ringer stood on his toes and proceeded to dump the contents of his pockets into the can. It was a little too high and his change was spilling everywhere and he was running to pick it up and make sure it all got into the can. The bell ringer just looked at him blankly while he did this. I walked up to him with the biggest lump in my throat and said "He emptied his piggy bank just for you." That person looked as if they coulden't care less, but I was so proud of my son I cried. I am so proud of him still!
I am proud of the compassion I have tought my children. I am proud that they care enough to give and that they always have.
Merry Christmas and I hope you all have a Happy New Year.
In the spirit of giving. If you would like to directly help my family out right now visit our "Go Fund Me" page at http://www.gofundme.com/1o9j8k I would like to add a HUGE THANK YOU to Eden Dawn for introducing me to the site.
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