This is our kitchen counter at the moment. I feel like I should be wearing a white coat with my name embroidered on it. Meghan currently has roughly 20-30 pills she needs to swallow throughout the day, along with a sub-q injection (down to one a day from three), and a nasty mouth rinse twice a day that makes her gag just about every time she does it. In addition, we have to hook her up to IV fluids for 10 hours a night following chemo. We have a plastic rolling cart with drawers for all the other supplies she has. (I'm pretty sure the Vedra Family can relate to this - even on a bigger scale!)
I'm tempted to tell those of you with kids who throw a tantrum about taking medicine to use Meghan as an example - you know... "If you consider everything that Meghan Haan has to go through, taking one dose of this medicine really shouldn't be that big of a deal" but I've tried that already with Rileigh and Aidan and it really just doesn't work - it's like the equivalent of telling your kids to eat all their vegetables because there are starving children in third world countries. The most ironic thing for us is that Meghan was "that kid" for a very long time. When she was small, she flat out refused to take medicines and would inevitably throw up after being forced to do so. She's come a loooong way! And for the record, I think parents who have to do all this medical stuff with their kids should get some kind of honorary medical degree :)
P.S. Meghan is doing well - resting and sleeping a lot.
I think the poem posted on April 20 went jiggety jog, but we can overlook that due to lack of sleep. Appreciate that you still have your sense of humor and philosophical reasoning. I figured out that you are posting after the midnight hour for us; when do you get your sleep mother. Meghan, you looked amazingly, unbelievably gorgous being wheeled out of the hospital on Sat. night. And the people behind you look cool too. And you are setting new records of three days of chemo in the hospital, and the length of that incision scar. Way to go girl; keep it up. Romans 15:13.
Posted by: Don Koopman | April 21, 2008 at 10:09 AM
Michele, I agree that you have TOTALLY earned your crisp white labcoat with name embroidered,
correctly spelled and all. However, we all know that white just is NOT one of your colors.
And, black, purple or green just would not have the same effect. :-)
Also, I just cannot resist defending my friend and her previous witty blog title,
having read the nursery rhyme dozens and dozens of times:
"To market, to market to buy a fat pig;
home again, home again, jiggety jig.
To market, to market to buy a fat hog;
home again, home again, jiggety jog."
So, Don must have just momentarily forgotten the first verse of the rhyme....
Glad everything is going okay on the home front! Enjoy the spring weather, Meghan!
Love,
the Hunter Fam
Posted by: Kristin Hunter | April 21, 2008 at 03:48 PM
Wow, I'm impressed with all of the drugs and medical equipment involved in all of this. God certainly gave you the gifts, talents and personalities to handle it all so graciously. You are a witness and example to others going thru a similiar experience. I stand corrected on the jigitty jig. Thank you, Kristin.
Posted by: Don Koopman | April 23, 2008 at 09:41 AM
My pleasure. ;-)
Posted by: Kristin Hunter | April 23, 2008 at 10:56 AM
Dear Haan family,
Don't know if you remember Ken and Joan Buiter, but you went to 1sr CRC in Byron with us. Met your Mom (Elaine) again this year at the Philadelphia Conference at our church and she updated us on your family and directed me to this blog. Thank you for taking the time to journal your family's journey through an unimaginable valley and I just wanted you to know that Meghan and all of you are in our prayers.
Joan Buiter
Posted by: Ken and Joan Buiter | April 25, 2008 at 08:31 AM
It was great to see you at that wonderful 5 star restaurant! You'll be in our prayers!
Marc & Gretchen
Posted by: Gretchen Driesenga | April 28, 2008 at 03:53 PM