Monday, June 2, 2008

Bye-bye pain meds

Today was one of those good/bad days. I took the Yikes to Gilda's house (a cancer support group in Dallas) which was great for them and great for me. I really enjoy the people in my group-- we all have struggles but somehow manage to support each other. It seems like this would be like a drowning man teaching someone to swim, but really it is more like being in one boat and taking turns at the oars. The bad thing is that I forgot that good friends of ours had arranged for me to go out with the guys tonight. The wives were going to take care of Jess and the kids and I was supposed to go out with the husbands. Only I forgot and went to Dallas-- go ahead and stamp "Dork" on my forehead. Jess felt good enough to stop taking her pain meds (yippee!) but she did a lot of transferring (moving across her slide board to somewhere else like from her wheelchair to the couch) and OT wiped her out. She went to bed early. I backed up our car out of the garage this weekend and caught our bumper on the edge and left it pitifully hanging off. Today I found a place that will replace it for about $650. Our deductible is $500 so I'm thankful that I can just pay the $650 and not have to worry about my insurance rate going up. The way I see it I only have two choices be OK with the bad stuff being mixed in with good or throw a pity party. The thing is I don't think they make balloons with "Take pity on me" and I would be pretty embarrassed ordering a cake that says "Boo-hoo for me." Instead I will realize that when Jesus said blessed are you that mourn you for you will be comforted, he wasn't saying that I am blessed because Jess has been touched by cancer. He was saying I am blessed because so many people pray for us and our comfort to us and if we mourn we do not mourn alone. Thank you for being on the journey with us.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Jake,
Okay, so you forgot an evening with the men and kids and the bumper got messed up- YOU my dear friend are amazing! You are a Husband who totally supports his wife and loves her with all your heart, you are a Dad who encourages and loves his daughters in every little thing you do, you are a teacher who is blessed to deal with young teenagers who think they already know everything, and you are a Child of God who reminds us all of where our strength comes from! So, don't sweat the little oops in life! And pity parties are allowed they just need time limits! WE all have those moments!!! Love you lots,
Carrie Patchen