We are home safe and sound! Friday was all day in the hospital with Michellie doing well with the last round of the three days. We hit the road with the snow coming down and had a beautiful drive home. The sun peaked out of the clouds and blue sky appeared after we crossed the causeway. It continued to shine on us all the way to Judique where the snow picked up again. David had dinner ready for us, and we collapsed on the couch. Michelle went to bed at 6:30 and did not awaken again until 10 am Saturday morning. She cannot keep up with 3 or 4 hours of sleep a night. Michellie kept her busy each night as the drugs kicked in to keep Michellie going. As well, the prednisone is playing with Michellie's emotions and she goes from highs to lows quickly. There were a few hours on Thurday night, (or early Friday morning!) where Michellie really had to dig down deep for herself. There was lots of hugs and tears and soul searching and dreaming and wishing and snuggling. Precious moments for sure, and hard ones too. This is not an easy ride, and with Michellie more awake this time around, she is feeling her emotions a lot more. We all have a lot more appreciation for those who suffer from depression everyday, and for those who might have manic/depressive episodes or bipolar tendencies. That is not an easy road to walk each day.
Saturday has been quiet with rest and relaxation as the number one priority. There was suggestion made that perhaps Michellie would feel well enough to write something on the blog too. This is a big stretch for the little lady that struggles with opinions for English essays. Perhaps if you have a question for Michellie you could put it on the blog or send an email, and maybe Michellie could answer some of your questions. For any of Michellie's dancing buddies who have questions too, please feel free to ask away.
Tonight Tysen had a wonderful musical gathering at his house, and Michelle and David ran off for a bit to enjoy some fun. Thank you for reminding us why we are in Cape Breton - we had a great time. And, Christina, thank you for taking the time to get ALL the kids at Dalbrae Academy to sign a Get Well Card for Michellie. We all appreciate your effort. If Michellie was the new girl that only some people knew in the fall, now she is known by many more. Thank you for including so many in the wishes.
More stories are coming back to us about how Michellie's Journey has inspired them to do something different or how to approach a situation. If you wish to share these stories with us on the blog or in private, we would love to hear. Michellie really enjoys reading how her journey has spread so far, and it inspires her to dig a little deeper for the really tough times. You are all helping in your own ways to get her through this, and we are all so grateful for everyone's input.
Hi Michellie:
ReplyDeleteWhen you look back on this part of your life, you will feel tremendous gratitude that it happened to you.Hard to believe isn't it? You will know what it's like to be not only part of, but actually the center of a huge network of love and caring. And you will know that the worst thing you could imagine actually happened and you survived.
And you will want to do something to ensure that the time was meaningful to you and appreciated by you.
As you go through the stages of denial, sorrow, self-pity and anger, you will come out the other side and wonder how you can turn this into something which pays forward all you have received.
Not so hard really-
You have already done enormous things
-you have learned to interact with hospital staff, and express your opinions.
-you have returned to school and you have shown kids and adults that cancer is NOT the end of the world.
-You have let people see your bald head and that it hasn't been the end of your world.
-You have refused to withdraw into a corner, and maintained your circle of friends.
When I had cancer, I noticed that people were so scared of it that they could hardly say the word. I set about changing that, by making cancer part of my conversation,joking about it, and letting people see that I was alive and well and living with cancer NOT dying with cancer. You will notice that I never put a capital letter on the front of cancer-it will not scare me into thinking it's important enough to capitalize.
Now that YOU have cancer, I am even more grateful that I had cancer, because I can understand what you are going through.
Everybody pays forward in a different way-you will find yours.
It may be a simple message here on you blog to tell people that you appreciate their support. I know you write a wonderful letter- I have one sitting here on my desk which I read over often.
With Love
Grammy & the guy with the beard!
That was really nice, Grammy! What a role model you have, Michellie.
ReplyDeleteGlad you two made it over. It was a great night!
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