Monday (facts)…..from Steve

Tonight you get to hear from both of us. First the updates for the day from me (Steve), followed by part 2 of Bonnie’s thoughts from the past few days…..

Bonnie has been very tired lately which is a combination of no WBC, the chemo and all the other meds she is on. Her platelets continue to drop each day requiring a transfusion of new platelets each day. Her hemoglobin has been slowly dropping since her last blood transfusion from several days ago so they gave Bonnie another unit of blood today. She has not had the energy to do her daily walk today or yesterday. Just enough energy to make it down the hall to her favorite sitting spot by the large windows.

Bonnie continues to fight a low grade fever that hovers around 99.5 degrees. On Friday night it spiked to 102.5 degrees, but Tylenol seems to help keep it manageable. Something else that Bonnie is now dealing with is a loss of appetite. This is partly due to her fatigue (she gets tired out trying to chew the food), but mostly due to unresponsive taste buds. Nothing has any taste. She asked me to buy her a can of Planters cashews and when she tried them she accused me of buying an unsalted can. The ingredients were clear that they were salted….not the light salt version either. So please pray that she will find an appetite as food intake, particularly protein is so important for her.

Today was our daughter Cassandra’s 18th birthday, so we celebrated it this evening at the hospital in the same conference where Bonnie and her mom viewed the graduation commencement on Saturday. Again we are so grateful to the hospital staff making this room available for us throughout the weekend.

Tomorrow (Tuesday) at 9:00 a.m. is the second bone marrow biopsy. Please pray for Bonnie that she doesn’t have anxiety over this procedure and obviously the other part of the prayer is that the results will come back showing the marrow is clear of blasts.

Thanks again for all the love and support from everyone.

Now part 2 of Bonnie’s thoughts……

Hi everyone,

I would like to update you on my day I had this past Friday…..

What a day of surprised and high running emotions. I had just come off my mountain and made it through another night filled with crisis. A book was given to me in 2002 from my mom, “Calm My Anxious Heart” – Dillow. I had forgotten about it until a friend reminded me that I had given her a copy. I started to reread my notes and highlights in it and I was reminded of Paul’s life. A man imprisoned in the dark, dungeons without any means of sanitation, heat or food. He was chained to a guard most of the time. He wrote this in Philippians 4:11-13. “ I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want. I can do everything through him who gives me strength. “

Holy Cow! My 5th floor digs are like the Taj Mahal compared to the Apostle Paul’s! I have a full time personnel assistant, I have 3 meals a day, I have a whole floor to get up and walk around anytime I want. I’m not chained to my tower. It is what’s keeping me alive. I have a beautiful sunny window to praise out of – I am a blessed person. “God… is the blessed controller of all things, the king over all kings and the master over all masters.” 1 Timothy 6:15.

My contentment is accepting from God’s hand what He sends because we know that He is good and therefore it is good. Whatever happens is assigned. Every assignment is measured and controlled for my eternal good. Psalm 16:15 “Lord; you have assigned me my portion and my cup; you have made my lot secure.” These scriptures took on a whole new meaning and empowered me with strength.

It was around 10:00 and I was feeling up for a few extra laps and returned to my room with the 1st surprise of many that day. A huge wall mount (24” x 30”) of our 3 kids blown up and hanging on the wall in my room! Their eyes sparkle and their smiles are a breath of fresh air. I cried and cried.

If that wasn’t enough, we were testing out the live video feed and hospital’s projector system I would be using to watch Cassandra’s graduation. She had a dress rehearsal and we wanted to walk through the whole process so there wouldn’t be any glitches. When I walked into the conference room, the whole room had been decorated by some of the nurses and floor managers here in “Congratulations 2009 graduate” with balloons and all. As you can all imagine the emotions were high, but I was right where I was supposed to be.

I then returned to my room emotionally and physically exhausted from the day’s events when my sister, from Texas walked in my room. They drove 21 hours straight to see me. I was overwhelmed. I had no more tears!

What a day it was Friday.

On Saturday it was Graduation day! Steve left around 9:30 to get to South Church and mom and I spent the day together. We hooked up the computer and projector and logged into the special website for the live video/audio feed around 12:45 and were shocked to see that there were 12 other people watching the same graduation. That number got up to 29 by the end of the event. The ceremony couldn’t have been more perfect. We had my nurse for the day sit in with us on and off for the 2 hour ceremony and did she have a lot of questions. Needless to say, she got the full gospel message and important reasons why we advocate for educating at home.

This day was so much easier for me than it was for Steve. He had to face all of you attending the commencement alone. He was overwhelmed to hear of all your prayers and fasting on my family’s behalf. He called me several times just to hear my voice and try and keep it together so he could make it up the stage to give Cassandra her diploma. He did so well, thanks to the distractions of friends who were in line behind him, he gave a double hug to Cassandra and Cassandra had a “I Love you Mom” note she held up before she and Steve sat down. God is faithful. What smiles that brought. It ended perfectly when Cassandra came to the hospital in her cap and gown to show me her diploma and say goodnight. She was so beautiful as I reflected back on seeing the speech she gave.

So dear ones, your prayers are covering a multitude of things and they are felt all day and all night. Feel my love and thanks today.

Blessings,

Bonnie