Day Two
Catie’s Family,
We began the day this morning with a phone call from the 7 year old with the cell phone asking me to bring her to the bathroom at 4am.At 4:30 she called back and said that she could not get back to sleep because she was in pain.We gave her some pain medication which quickly gave her relief and put her in bed between Christine and myself and spent the next half an hour giggling and laughing and just enjoying the carefree spontaneity of the moment.I believe that God has many of these little glimpses of heaven in store for us as we chronicle the next chapter of her journey.Please join us for as many of them as you can, and pray for us that we do not miss them.
We met with Dr. Gajjar, the head of Neoro-Oncology at St. Jude today and settled on a framework of a plan for Catie as we move her from treatment to this next phase.The number one factor as we move forward now is keeping Catie pain free.We have to find the right medicine and dosage that keeps her from feeling the pain that will continue to increase as the tumor grows around the nerves in her spinal column.After that meeting and a great lunch that Catie ate with joy, Catie announced that she wanted to go to Lasertron and play laser tag.10 of us went and donned vests and laser pistols and spent 30 minutes shooting each other.For being in a wheelchair, Catie did remarkably well and her team won 3 of the 4 battles.We then shared a meal with 18 of the 21 people who will be gathering for Thanksgiving tomorrow in Memphis, drove back to Target House, changed Catie’s central line bandage and put her and M.E. to bed.At midnight, she is sleeping soundly and the pain has not caused her to wake up as yet. I am ready for the next cell phone call and we will start a new day.We will go to Mass at 10am, share our meal, take a ton of pictures so that we can share the day with y’all, and keep her comfortable and as full of joy as we can.As I read many of the messages that have recently been added to Catie’s guestbook, I started feeling a little sad, so I went back to the link of the commercial and watched her 30 seconds of stardom with Jason Taylor again, and after watching the commercial, I noticed for the first time that when the commercial ended there was a link to watch the outtakes from the day of filming.It offered some great footage of Catie, Jason, and the other kids and filled me with joy as I watched her and remembered that day.Please take a look, I am sure you will enjoy it.http://www.tg.stjude.org/celebfriends.html
We are bringing her home.By the middle of December, she wants to be back at school.She will be in a wheelchair, and I am not sure how much she can handle, but it what she wants to do and where she wants to be, and we will do what we can to make it a reality.For today, as I notice that it is Thanksgiving now, I realize how very blessed I am.Christine is the most amazing woman, Christian, wife and mother I have ever known, and I get to spend my life with her.I have 6 amazing kids who know how much I love their mom and how much I love them.I have family and friends who have been and continue to be there for me and have given me a sense of purpose in that they have at times allowed me to be there for them as well.We do not know God’s plan for tomorrow, but today looks pretty great from where I sit.I pray that the view you have is equally fulfilling and that your gratitude is as well.
God bless,
Christine, Kevin, Maggie, Max, Catie, Mia, Molly, and M.E.
