Wednesday, May 5, 2010 – First just a brief update on the day. Radiation therapy treatment #12 is in the books. Kellee is glad there are only two more to go on the spine! When we got back to Hope Lodge, Kellee napped again and slept until after 1:00! I worked while he slept. When Kellee woke up, I went down to the kitchen and made some Italian chicken, another recipe from the book, Eating Well Through Cancer. It was pretty good, but I already know how I would change it up a bit next time to make it even better! We went back to our room and both worked on our computers. We went to the kitchen @ 6:00 because there was another BBQ! This time a family of 4, provided the food. There was grilled pork burgers, sloppy joes, fried potatoes, a noodle salad and homemade chocolate cake with mint chocolate chip ice cream as an optional topping. (And we wondered if we would eat well here!) In the evening Kellee was picked up by Robbie and they went to his apartment and ended up playing some music. Kellee played bass while Robbie played guitar as they played some of Robbie’s songs. Kellee said Robbie asked him if he felt like one of ‘”those cancer patients” they used to see as a kid and wonder what they were going through. Kellee replied, he really didn’t feel like a cancer patient. Thus endeth the review of our Cinco de Mayo.
WHAT PEOPLE DO:
A previous post discussed what some people have said to us and/or how they react when they hear about Kellee and “George the tumor, formerly the tumor known as Dwight.” This post is going cover what some very gracious people have done for us during this journey. First and most importantly – prayer, when people stop and pray for any of us on the spot, that is awesome! When people tell us they are praying for us and will continue to do so is great as well!
One thing we are not always sure how to respond to is when people say, “If you need anything, let us know.” it is actually surprising how hard it is for us to actually come out and admit we could use some help. Not long ago I talked to a guy in the grocery store about this subject and he said when he went through a situation with some parallels to ours, he was told by someone he respected, when people offer to help it is often their way of dealing with the situation. He was told to just let people do what they offer to do, even if it seems like something he could/should be doing. Sometimes you just have to let yourself be served. So we are learning to do this. Our neighbor, Tammy B, offered to mow our yard for us. Since Heidi and I are now in the process of alternating weeks in Iowa City, having someone mow the yard, at least until the boys are back home from college, actually would be very helpful, so we accepted the offer and Tammy is going to keep an eye on the grass and mow it this week when it needs it.
Here are some of the other things we have been touched by when people have shared with us during this time. From the prayer quilt (mentioned in a previous post) sending cards, posting encouraging comments on this blog or notes on Facebook, praying for us, giving us gift cards, gas cards or money for expenses, bringing meals, offers to stay in homes in Iowa City, paying for lodging in Iowa City, even offers to help Kellee with medical bills and other thoughtful gifts. Not that long ago, one of Heidi’s co-workers stopped by and dropped off a ginormous gift basket! She said since we would be spending a lot of time in Iowa City she wanted to give us this basket loaded with all kinds of stuff. The basket contained quite a large variety of handy supplies that will be very useful! We also recently received a gift bag with similar supplies and it was amazing how little of the contents in each of the two actually overlapped! The amount of thought (& work) people have put into some of the gifts we have been given is overwhelming. All the gifts and gestures are just wonderful and we appreciate each of them very much. It is touching to know people are thinking of us and care enough to be the hands and feet of Jesus to help make this journey just a little bit more bearable. Thank-you all so very much.
Kellee by the Gift Basket
Heidi with gift bag
