Jeff and I try to express our gratitude and say ‘thanks’, but it never seems like enough. I just wanted to let all our friends and family know, in this very public way, how much we truly appreciate the love, the cards, the food, the company, the hugs and kisses, the hand-holding, the prayers, and every good vibe you’ve sent our way. The effort and time taken out of your day to come mow the lawn is sooo appreciated. The simple text messages just to check in and say ‘hi, how are you doin?’ mean more than you know. The therapeutic distraction of work is a godsend, though I apologize if I’m not “all there” sometimes.

People get criticized for giving gifts of money at Christmastime, but let me tell you, the money we have received has been a HUGE blessing. We continue to be amazed at the generosity of our TPCCC family. We certainly know that healthcare is a business and you will get hounded about your bill, so it has been a relief to not have to shoulder the entire burden. We have been able to negotiate some of the bills down so we will come out of this first year just fine. Next year, we will pick a different insurance plan so we don’t have so much out-of-pocket responsibility!

See how lucky we are? (I couldn’t let this post be entirely sappy!)

This has been a long road and it may get bumpier soon. Dr. Ooommen would like the tumor to be even smaller at this point so he is upping the chemo dose. If Jeff is not in remission after his sixth round of chemo, though eight rounds are planned, we may be talking about radiation, surgery and/or bone marrow transplant. We are still hoping with all hope that none of that will be needed, that he’ll be in remission soon, and we’ll be back to “normal”. There will still be followup CT and PET scans in the next couple of years, but it will be great to get the tough stuff over with. Jeff has never looked so forward to getting back to work.

Jeff, Travis, and I snuck out to dinner this evening, kind of a pre-chemo binge, and Jeff made note of a disabled teenager at another table. He said he felt sorry for her. I know he was saying to himself “wow, I just have cancer”. Just another reminder to be thankful for what you have. So when I start having a selfish pity-party, bemoaning our financial situation, drooling over even a pair of Payless shoes, wishing I had energy to paint my toenails, I am reminded about the good health we have had and will have again, the wonderful friends and family we have, the roof over our heads, our wonderful kids, clothes on our backs, clean water, and so much more. (I have plenty of shoes, really.) We have just spoiled ourselves; taken things for granted. Dare I say we “drank the kool-aid” and have been brainwashed with the have-it-now mentality. Learning patience is a bitch.

When we’re back on our feet, we will take that vacation we don’t think we can afford. We will spend more time with friends. We’ll make memories. We will do our best not to take people or things for granted.

Back to the point of this post… I just really want to say, from the bottom of my heart, THANK YOU!! There really are no appropriate words to express the gratitude I feel. Without you, I (we) would be so lost indeed. Your continued love and support is invaluable. Just know that if any of you ever need anything from one of us, we’re there for you in a heartbeat.