Friday was a good day.
Dan and Bill Miller walking the Survivors lap at relay for life
Friday began with a trip to the oncologist. They seemed encouraged by my progress. My blood work was good, not great. I got the “green light” to go ahead with chemo (round 3) on Monday. They opted to add a shot to this round that will help increase my white blood cell count. I continue to like my oncologist and the team that is there caring for me. Nancy and I left encouraged by the progress and the way the team seems to know who I am and the quality of relationships and care we are developing in such a short time frame.
On the way back to the office we stopped and bought a cake. JAM daycare had received their scores from the Environmental Rating Scale and they had scored a 5.56! It means that JAM will progress to a STARS 3 center and within six months will become a STARS 4 center! Moving up to STARS 4 has been our goal for the past two years and the staff did such a great job that we are jumping over level 3 and going right to level 4. That rating reflects the quality care at the center and opens opportunities for even greater improvement. We had fun celebrating with the staff once we made it back to church.
Later in the afternoon Mark Chandler came by and we completed paperwork so he could officially become our new custodian. Mark has been filling in the past week and has done an outstanding job and we are excited to welcome him on staff at FBC! His work ethic and commitment to making sure things are done correctly and well is much appreciated and will serve the FBC community well. Welcome aboard Mark!
I had one of those sacred and special conversations today. Someone came into my office and as we talked they shared, “I do not know how to talk to you anymore…I do not want to ignore your cancer…but at the same time that does not define you so I do not want to talk only of your cancer…I just do not know how to talk with you anymore.” I appreciated their honesty. It is something I have felt with others and in all honesty have felt myself these past few weeks. To talk only of my cancer feels like I am letting it define me, yet to ignore it feels as if I am not paying attention to the elephant that is charging and crashing its way around the room. We had a great conversation. We talked of life, death, and how to experience “life to the full” in the midst of chaos and turmoil. Our time together was encouraging, challenging and left me encouraged. I could share more…but our conversation was sacred and special. It began with honesty and openness, there may be a lesson in there somewhere.
