One Word Wednesday: Gift

GIFT

This week's word is Gift.  Today I want to talk about the gift of life, in particular, the incredible gift that John was given last year, the summer of 2009.  


John was diagnosed with Diffuse Large B-cell Lymphoma in June 2007.  It was all down the left side of his body, in his neck, chest, abdomen and pelvis.  John underwent 6 months of chemo and went into remission. Over the next 2 years John's cancer came back twice.  He had his spleen removed in Jan 2009.  

Three months later it was back.  He went to the University of Pennsylvania, where a Lymphoma specialist told him she could do a stem cell transplant and get rid of his cancer once and for all.  She was going to completely destroy John's immune system and then do a stem cell transplant to build a brand new immune system, using John's own stem cells!!  However, it was a dangerous treatment and it could possibly kill him.  If the chemo didn't kill him, he could possibly develop Leukemia 10 to 20 years down the road.  John said,  "You can give me 10 to 20 more years?  Let's do it!"  Who know what strides the medical community can make in 10 years?


The summer of 2009, John went through 3 rounds of very high dose chemo.  He handled it like it was nothing!  His bone marrow was still good, so they harvested his own stem cells for transplant in August.  

John, recovering at home after the transplant, Sept. 2009

John was supposed to be in the hospital, following the transplant for about a month.  He was released in 12 days!  He entered the hospital for the last round of chemo and transplant on August 21.  He went back to work on September 21!!  John's re-birthday is August 28, and we celebrate it every year!  

John, boogying with my daughter, Gina at my niece's wedding October 2009

He looks like Daddy Warbucks!

John was getting PET scans every 3 months for a year to check to see if his cancer has returned and so far, it hasn't!!  It's been 16 months and John's been cancer free all this time!

John, October 2010 just after learning he's till cancer free!

Dr. Sunita Nasta has given John the gift of his life!  We appreciate every day and celebrate John's good health!

Jill, at Jillsy Girl is the host of One Word Wednesday.  Every week, she gives us a word to blog.  We can write a story, post a picture, a poem, a song.  Whatever we want!  Check her out!!  You can also see what everyone else is blogging about too.

We are a military family

I didn't realize just how many of my family have served and are serving in the military until I posted a thank you on Facebook this morning.  My dad served in the Navy during World War II.  


When I was in high school, not a lot of kids went on to college like they do now.  If you didn't go to college, you either got a job or went into the military and earned money for college via the GI bill.  I very nearly went into the Army myself after graduation.  I had the lucky fortune to earn a full scholarship to Cosmetology school, so that's what I did instead of a career in the Army.  Who knows where life would have taken me had I not gotten that scholarship!  


Three of my four brothers went into the Marine Corps following high school graduation.  Michael served in Viet Nam, Jimmy served in Desert Storm.  Marty, the only one to make a career of the Marines and stay 20 years, managed to miss each and every conflict.  He was either in Okinawa, South Korea or in Parris Island, SC working as a Drill Instructor (he did that for 3 years.... he was there while our youngest brother and nephew went through basic training)


My sister's husband, Jim spent 29 years in the Army.  He did 2 tours in Viet Nam while with the 101st Airborne Division.  Later he went on to become an Army Ranger and finally a Green Beret with the Special Forces.  He retired in 1995 as a full Colonel.  


Two of my sister's 3 kids have served in the Army and the Marines.  Steve went into the Marines right out of high school and became a helicopter mechanic and served on the President's helicopter fleet.  He always wanted to pilot, so the Army made an offer he couldn't refuse and after 9 years with the Marines, he switched to the Army's 82nd Airbone and has been flying Blackhawks ever since (11 years)!  Steve served in Iraq, worked with the DEA in the Bahamas, chasing drug runners and he also served n Afghanistan, flying medivac.


My niece and Steve's sister, Marianne served in the Army Reserves until she had her first child.  She is an attorney by profession, so I think she did something in that field, but I'm not really sure.


Still not finished!!


John, my significant other, went to the University of Miami for 2 years right out of high school.  Then the money ran out, so he enlisted in the Army and served 20 years. Fourteen of those years with the 82nd Airborne Division and the last 6 with the Lance Nuclear Missile System.  While with the 82nd, John was part of the Grenada Invasion in 1983.  He nearly went to Iraq for Desert Storm, but his group didn't need to go. He retired in 1993.  Ironically, if I had gone into the Army like I had originally planned, John  and I would have gone through basic training at the same time!


John's son, Mark is serving in the Army with the 82nd Airborne Division.  I don't know what it is he does, but he has served 3 tours in Iraq, a tour in Haiti after the earthquake last year.  He no sooner got back to NC when they were sent to Afghanistan!  I do believe he is stateside once more.


So I have a lot of people to thank for their service to our great country!  Without men and women like these fine folks, who knows what our lives would be like today.  So thank you, from the bottom of my heart, Michael, Marty, Jimmy Mack, Jim Roach, Steve, Marianne, John and Mark!