Oh, he must be an amazing man, Eagle. God must see that light. His strength and your strength are amazing. And your husband - I will remember him in my prayers too. Keep strong, keep love.

Thanks for the update Eagle. Isn't humor just wonderful? It can keep us going and keep our spirits up through so many things.

Please remember to take care of yourself; are you feeling better lately? Any more dizzy spells?

You and your brother are amazing people Eagle!
I'm glad he's able to joke. I'm praying for you both to have many more smiles in the coming days!

Can I be #8? As much weight as I've gained, make that 8, 9 and parts of 10.

Eagle, I'm not a bit surprised to hear that your brother is a sweetheart. I'm also not surprised but am totally warmed by, your description of him. If that isn't the kettle calling the pot black, I don't know what is. You are both such wonderful, caring people.

I'm continuing to care about your both and love you from a distance.

JJ

Eagle, thanks for the update. I'm so glad you are enjoying GIrzone's books. Never Alone is one of my favorites. I just gave it to a friend who lost a young daughter. I thought it might lift her up at this awful time in her life.

I'll be praying the blood counts go up for Gary. I recall how important that was from when Mom was sick. Are you getting any rest? What are you doing for yourself?

I'm 11. Hang in there, Eagle. You and Gary are both amazing. (Your husband too.)

Thanks all. Yesterday was such a low day for me. The weekend doctor wasn't very hopeful for Gary, and it pulled the rug out from under my feet. It took me HOURS to stop crying, and you won't believe who ended up helping me put that rug back under my feet. It was the woman in the room beside Gary's. Her name is also Sharon, and she's an amazing woman, on the healing side of her own brutal battle with cancer. She's making awesome advances in her recuperation.

Anyway, she caught me out in the hallway trying to compose myself, took my arm (pushing her pole full of dripping blood and other assorted IV's in her other hand) and took me for a long walk around and around the floor. We found a quiet niche with some comfy chairs in a secluded part of the hallway and talked for about an hour. She was so strong and assured me that there's more to the human spirit than the doctors can ever imagine. It ain't over, she said. Gary's got a lot of fight and commitment left in him. So she told me that I had to take that rug and put it back under my own feet and walk with faith that Gary WILL pull through, because it's the only way we can tolerate the daily trudge through this hell - the belief that there IS a light at the end of the tunnel and we're getting there one step, one setback, one blood transfusion, one day at a time.

Put that together with my overwhelming sense of being lifted up here at BWS, and I was able to find my solid ground again.

Dotsie, I finished Never Alone yesterday, and only have a few pages of Joshua left. Will re-start Never Alone later today, it was such a perfect companion over these past weeks.

As far as taking care of myself, there just isn't much time or opportunity right now. Gary's totally incapacitated right now, can't even reach for a spoon or glass of water off his tray. So I'm there 8-10 hours every day now, though I do get up and walk around, chat with other patients' caregivers, do some Tai Chi exercises, pray A LOT (and not just for Gary, for others that God brings to my mind as well; and I often just spend time with Him not even saying anything at all, just resting my spirit in His Presence), chat with the nurses, etc. Hubby takes amazingly good care of me, making sure I eat, and snuggling me well when I get home and finally nestle into him in bed at night. So it's a rough course, but lots of little lights and love along the way. This too shall pass. Short term pain for long term gain. And God knows the way through, so I'm in good hands and great company. And with all of the prayers lifting me/us up, I do feel well-wrapped in love. And that makes all the difference.

We miss and love you and I will be adding my prayers as well.

Sounds like, once again, the exact right person was there for you Eagle. I admire the way you reach out to others. Your conversations and quite time with God seem to be an amazing comfort to you also.

Keep focused on whatever good you can find - and it sounds like you do. Peace be with you.

Chick, You'll enjoy this one. You have to understand that my brother is fairly heavily drugged - morphine, narcotics, etc, to help alleviate the pain so he can rest. So he sleeps most of the time and when he's not asleep, he's very "discombobulated" (his word for it) and can't think straight.

Today the nurse came in to hang yet another bottle of medicine on his pump...she told him it was Albumen (a blood protein). Gary's eyes opened up wide and he said, "My God, am I kissing the cod now?"

My immediate reaction was fear, that it was a euphemism for "am I dying?" So he looked at me, and shrugged his shoulders and said, "Well, albumen IS a fish, isn't it?"

Then I realized he was talking about the Newfie "screeching" tradition - you kiss a cod and then get "screeched" (it's a Newfie drink, supposedly reserved only for those who have actually kissed a codfish).

Well, I howled with delight. So did the nurse. I'm telling you, though he's never even been to Newfoundland, his Newfie blood (humour) is "screeching" out in the most delightful way these days!!!