I had intended to post early yesterday but was waiting for a call from Julia or Brent about her test results. I wanted it to be a severe reaction to her chemo, or an allergy, or a series (a plague?) of boils - NOT another kind of cancer. When Brent called, his moment of hesitation in replying was all the notification I needed. I looked at Neal, and he got tears in his eyes too. When they heard the results, Brent said that Julia had a panic attack, her heart rate spiked to 225, and they went to the hospital to get her system under control.
I called Anne Marie to tell her, but there was no answer, so I sent a text message. She was in a meeting, but immediately called me back. It was so hard to tell her. Then I notified my siblings, although I only spoke to one brother........spoke with in-laws instead for the other two. By the time Neal returned from his Eagle Board of Review, my emotions were a little more under control. Until bedtime. Then each time I would start to fall asleep, I would begin weeping again.
The picture of Julia was taken at the WEA Awards banquet last Friday night. The bumps aren't visible because of the high neck on her outfit, but you can see a little of her rash from the chemo.
It is interesting how some phone calls are so supportive and others just felt like *words* that I couldn't process. Best call was at 10:30 last night when Julia herself called to say - in a strong clear voice - that they were letting her leave the hospital because her heart was finally behaving. Today she just sounds very tired after a full day of school. They won't see the onocologist until next week.........and I think her primary care doctor might go with them to that appointment since he is flying in from Phoenix.
Julia's immediate concern at the moment is to finish grading papers so the seniors who are on the border will know whether or not they are graduating.
My new mantra: This is the same cancer that started in her lungs....it is just looking for a new place to cause trouble....this is the same cancer...
No comments:
Post a Comment