A snowflake in summer

8/3/08 Sunday
We learned another lesson regarding this farm. It wasn’t a pleasant one. As is often the case we learn from our mistakes. We were excited about going to the farmer’s market as there were more blackeyed peas than we had ever had. Picking them is a painful proposition for both of us so we have been doing an hour or so every day all week. Needing a place to store them we got this huge cooler from Janie. It was full to the top by Friday when Cherie started to package them up for sale at the market. I heard her cry of despair so ran out to see what was wrong. The top layer of beans were fine but under that the beans were moldy and rotting from the moisture that had built up. Now we know that the beans need good ventilation when they are stored green. I got up at sunrise Saturday morning and picked what I could for the market. Being in a hurry I didn’t use the stool I usually have to ease the pressure on my back so by the time we got to the market I was in pretty bad shape.

We bought a laundry basket today to put the beans in. When we talked about having folks come out and pick their own one of our friends said that was a really bad idea because they would tear up our plants. Fact is the two of us can’t pick them as fast as they grow because neither one of us is in good shape. Losing a few plants would be better than watching beans drying up on the plants and not getting picked at all.

So Saturday wasn’t a fun day. We left the market as soon as possible and came home so I could take a pain pill and lay down. Cherie went to do something and I tried to rest. It was hot. Real hot. After turning my pillow, that was wet with sweat, over I got up to see if the evaporative air unit was on. It was on but blowing hot air. I went out to see what was wrong and found the water pump had frozen up again. I also could see that the filters had become almost completely plugged from the hard water build up. I knew it was getting bad but when I took the panel off saw just how bad. Here’s a couple of pictures. The second one is the inside of one of the filters after I removed it. Had to use a pry bar to get it loose. We got replacement filters at Lowe’s and I’ve spent a couple of hours getting them in and freeing up the motor of the water pump. So we have air now. It was a hot muggy night but with the humidity high the evaporative unit wouldn’t have worked good anyway.

There are often things that happen around us that really put what I call problems in perspective. In comparison my issues are like a snowflake in the summer, real fleeting, and my complaints become the whining of a three year old. Vickie is in our Sunday school group and we haven’t had the privilege of meeting her and Robert, her husband, but I’ve been following their fight with leukemia for quite a while and think I mentioned them for your prayers. Her strength in the face of this has been inspiring and things were looking up, but we got this email a few days ago. For those of you who pray, Pray.

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My precious family and friends....
As you know, we had a dr appt today. Rob was supposed to get another bone marrow biopsy and infusions today.
However, we got the full report on the previous biopsy and the XY test. The initial assessment was that there were some 'different' cells from the biopsy, but they only had a preliminary report. They had to wait on the other 2 reports.
So today, the dr came to talk to us. The results are heart breaking. The XY report showed a significant amount of Rob's cells (instead of all being his sisters cells) and the biopsy confirmed it all too...the leukemia has returned.
There are no more treatments that can be done. He had the most invasive, most radical, most aggressive treatment as he was a very high risk patient. With type M6, and the 5-7 chromosones, it was always a small chance that he would go into remission. We knew the odds were low, but we have been covered in prayers that he would be healed.
It may be in our will, but God's will is what matters and we accept his will in our lives.
Of course, we were devasted. We had really thought the leukemia was gone. I cried all day with Rob saying, honey please don't cry. My eyes are swollen and burn. And I just don't have any energy right now.
The doctor will continue to give him what he needs as far as medications, blood etc, to help prolong his life just a little more. And we will be seeing the cancer doctor in Midland I believe for a while. We don't have a 'time frame' so to speak. It could be several months or a year. Only God knows that.
We will be going home next week. Certainly not in the manner we would have hoped. There seems to be no joy in going home now. We have lots to do in preparation and Rob is very adamant about making sure everything is taken care of for me. He will try to work as long as possible. He is worried about me...and wants to make sure that all is in place. He talked about all these plans today and it was so hard to listen. Things like funeral services, cemetary plots, pall bearers, insurance, etc. Things I did NOT want to hear. I won't have insurance (health) either, I'll have to get a job with insurance somewhere as I have lots of medical issues myself. And I haven't worked in 10 years, so that will be a challenge in itself...and my age too.
He went over all this stuff today while he was getting his infusion.
So, I am mentally and physically exhausted. Please keep praying for a miracle in his life! We know God is in control, and if it's time for Robert's Journey to Heaven, then we will accept whatever he has planned for us.

Love and Hugs Vickie and Robert