Update On My Daddy

Two years ago this June, my daddy was diagnosed with Stage 4 (terminal) T-Cell Lymphoma. This diagnosis came on the heels of many months of trying to battle something that we knew was making him really sick, but certain doctors believed to be an infectious disease. They treated his cancer with antibiotics for 9 months before one night he began running 104 fever and turning yellow.

At this point, my mother took him to Vandy in Nashville and he began the battle of/for his life. When he arrived, his liver and kidneys were failing and the doctors did not expect him to make it. Nashville is approximately 6 hours from home for us, but my baby brother lived on the outskirts of that beautiful city at the time, so mom and dad did have one of us close.

My daddy was very clear from the beginning. He was not going to lay down and die. He would fight and my God did he. Months of chemo ensued... with every treatment that killed off his blood cells, came blood transfusions. It's all kind of a blur to me, because although my sister and I drove up VERY regularly, my mama kept us very sheltered from my daddy at the time. They did not want us to see him in the state that he was in.

After months of chemo, my daddy was able to receive a stem cell transplant. The doctors used his own stem cells that were extracted from his bone marrow (I think, but can't say for sure where they came from, just know they were his.) My parents rented an apartment close to Vandy for the duration of the stem cell transplant. They knew they would be there for 100 days.

As I write this, I cannot help but cry because it was a terrifying time for my family. However, our small community rallied around all of us and lifted us up like nothing I've ever experienced before.

To this day I am grateful and I will forever remember the many acts of kindness towards not only my mother and daddy, but to me because I was in the midst of finals and FINALLY graduating from college with two kids in tow and trying to do all of this during the weeks that daddy was being diagnosed at Vandy; and the acts of kindness toward my baby sister who was completing her senior year of high school while my parents battled this disease many hours away.

Through the entire battle, I sent regular emails out to a list of well over 100 people in our community which in turn were forwarded on and on and on... You can imagine. This was before I discovered blogging, but I would like to tell his story in more detail one day... based on all of those emails that I sent during the course of 2006.

On January 5, 2007, my daddy was released and allowed to come home. His cancer was in remission. He beat it despite all of the odds being stacked against him. My daddy turned 50 six months later and returned to Nashville for a check up which he must do every 6 months so that he can be monitored to make sure that the cancer stays in remission.

My parents arrived back in Nashville today. They are at the Hope Lodge tonight and I could tell in talking to him earlier (to brag about BK) that although it is not home, they are definitely back in a place that is close to their hearts and mine as well. His pet scan was done this afternoon and we are waiting on results.

Please pray for the best.

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