Author: Greek Fighting Orange

Hello to all of you! We hope you are enjoying your summer! Three months ago I would have thought most of our summer would be at the OSU/James in Columbus! We are still in Toledo, enjoying our summer too. Bonus days!! 

After several trips to Columbus and back we finally have a firm plan for the next part of our journey. Chris is scheduled for a couple procedures next week, then we will return home for a couple more “bonus days”! Later that week we will return to start another round of chemo, followed by the stem cell transplant. From what I understand, we have to be very careful this round, in that my honey will be very susceptible to basically anything.  Therefore, visitors will be very limited, especially the week or two after transplant! Of course I will keep you up to date with my blog and I will let you all know when he can have visitors again. We expect to be in the hospital about 4 weeks this time.  After Chris leaves the hospital, he has to stay in the area for another couple months, just in case he has any problems, he will need to get to the hospital quickly.  We feel like we are prepared as well as we can be for the next part of our journey. 

Chris’ sister Elaine is a match for his stem cell transplant and she will be his donor. His sister Kelly was a match too but thru their process, they chose Elaine. People donate organs, blood, stem cells, etc. everyday. I only know one person, personally that donated a kidney.  For one of us to be in a position that a transplant was needed, of course, was unexpected! I have a new found appreciation of the people that would give so much of themselves to help another! Often people must rely on a stranger for a donation but to have someone that you have known and loved be your donor makes it even more precious I think. Chris has known Elaine her whole life, because they are siblings 😁.  I have known Elaine for 40+ years. She and I have been “Sisters” from different “Misters” for everyone of those 40+! She is loving, hard working, loyal, artistic, beautiful, fun, and strong. She also has the best possible stem cells for my honey! Her selfless donation will give Chris and I more of everything that is important to us! Time together and time with all of you, time for anniversaries and holidays, time for golfing and the casino, time for our children and our grand babies, time to enjoy our home and just TIME! Thank you Elaine! We love you!

Our time at home is coming to an end…..for now. We have tried to fill our time with all of you! We’ve had barbecues, dinners with friends, a anniversary, a wine tasting, day trips and holidays. We worked a bit, at our business, at our home and at our son and daughter-in-love’s home. There was birthdays and a wedding, a new baby, a trip or two to the casino too! We attended church, (Chris more than me). Chris went to festival meetings, although we won’t be here for our festival, sadly. We did as much fun things as we could. Of course my honey had some treatments during this time, doctors visits too, but this did not stop him from enjoying his time at home!      

Chris is in the best possible shape to begin the next part of our journey. This next part begins with another bone marrow biopsy this week. I’m not sure when we will find out when Chris will return to The James to be admitted, but I’ll keep you posted. 

Thank you all for the encouragement writing our blog. Chris wasn’t thrilled about it in the beginning, he worries about the internet, but all of you that have thanked me and told him to thank me, has made him realize the importance.   

Something about my honey you may not know is that he always tries to thank our servicemen for their service. He notices a hat, or a sticker on a car, or a ring on their finger. Whatever it is, he thanks them for their service. On this 4th of July I challenge all of you to do the same! Our son-in-law,  Randy, served 9 years in the Navy, we love you Randy. My step-brother, Gary served in the    Navy too, as well as several of his sons! Thank you to them and all of you that have made it possible to celebrate another Independence Day! God bless you all!

What a beautiful sunny “hump” day it is today! Chris continues to be doing good! He will be as healthy as possible when he begins his next hospital stay at The James! Our friend, George, had to spend ONE night in the hospital recently. He asked me several times how could Chris be in there for months!?! Of course Chris HAD to be there, but we all know you don’t really get much “rest” in the hospital. I’m sure that being home is a big part of Chris getting healthier. That is why they sent him home for sure. He gets a lot more rest and eats better too. Thanks, in part, to our family at Georgios, who have fed us several times!!  Love you guys!

As you may know, I missed half of my summer last year. Between that and what has been going on with my honey, Chris and I have been trying to see our peeps, spend time with family, have fun, work a little, etc. We are packing it all in, as much as my honey can handle! I have too laugh because he comes home sometimes and says “I don’t know why I’m so tired”?? I say “well let’s see, you’ve done this, that and the other thing”, “PLUS you just had 5 days of chemo treatments”, “I don’t know why you are so tired either”!?!?! 😂

By the way, Chris and I will be celebrating our 41st anniversary next week!!! Thank you all for all the prayers! 

Chris just finished another round of chemo here in Toledo. Next stop will be a bone marrow biopsy in Columbus in a few weeks. He is feeling pretty good. Of course, trying to do too much. He is a little weak and tired but otherwise 👍. A golf tournament is on this weekend on TV so he is resting a little more.

Happy Fathers Day to all you Fathers out there! Chris and I don’t have our fathers with us but of course we have our children and we will be celebrateing with them. Jaime’s Dad is visiting from St. Louis too. Enjoy the Dads in your family, today and every day that you can, because you just never know……

With the 90 degree weather we have been having, our business has been going crazy, as you can imagine! I’ve been trying to help a little more, Chris comes down and puts around too. Our crew at The Valley has been working hard! Again, we are sooooooo thankful for our Valley family! Love to all of you!