Hurdles

Tim and I are sitting together watching "19 Kids and Counting," at the hospital. Tim has been here since Tuesday morning. They started the remainder of round 2 chemo, and he is doing great. He's had two types of chemo, and has his last dose this evening around midnight. After that, he is a free man until the end of April when they begin chemo again and he has his transplant.

So on the show, they've just had their 19th child, and moved the entire family closer to the hospital where their baby is getting well. They have to be in the hospital for three months. They can't hold their baby yet, and have had to move 18 kids to a new home. What an adjustment! Tim and I can relate, but are so thankful for the situation we are in. There are only a few more weeks left until we can return to our home for good....that in itself is a blessing. It's so easy to get bummed, but then we realize that this is so temporary compared to the years we have ahead of us. God is such a faithful God.

What is new...hmmm...

Tim has a brand new blackberry bought for him by a group of friends from Springs Church. He was having huge problems with his other phone, so our friends took it upon themselves to bring a little bit of joy to Tim. They did...he's so glad to have a reliable working phone!

My amazing mom surprised Tim and I with some new books and CD's, which have been such a blessing. It's amazing what a little bit of good music can do for the soul, and the books...we love em! It helps pass the time in the hospital.

Tims brother Andrew is getting ready for his donation day on May 5th, and going to appointments throughout April to prepare him for it. Andrew and his wife are moving to Calgary really close to the hospital! It will be so nice to have them so close. I cannot wait for the day when we get to see Andrews cells going into Tim to give him another chance at life, a long long life. How cool. What an amazing thing! What an amazing process!

Tim and I have been chatting alot about moving away! Right now its only a dream, but we, as well as the hospital staff encourage us to start fresh when this process is done. We have our ideas about what that means, and we are so excited!

(Tim is watching Elmo's World...o goodness!)

All in all, we are both doing fantastic. Tim is overcoming every hurdle infront of him and we are jumping high over the hurdles that stand infront of us as a couple. So many people see hurdles as road blocks...things they panic over and can't face, but we see them as an athlete does..something to conquer! I remember in high school jumping over hurdles, and how much fun it was so look back at the end of the course and feel that amazing accomplishment. THAT is what we've chosen to do, and nothing will get it our way...bring on the hurdles...we will blow over em! :)

Point Form Update...

-Tim is doing really well...! (As usual!)
-He and I both had food poisoning. I got over it, his body couldn't handle it, so he was in the hospital from Tuesday night at 3am till this morning (Friday). He was only sick Tuesday night, they just wanted to watch him till today.
-His counts dropped with being ill, but are slowly coming up. We'll need lots of prayer to have them up by Monday.
-Chemo starts again next week. He has one day of chemo, three days of stuff to get it outta him, then home.
-April is full of tests and stuff leading up to his BMT.
-Life is good!

-Tim is in remission! His bone marrow aspirate came back clear :) No more cancer!

There is a quick update! We will write more soon!

42.8

It has been a crazy week! Tim and I have been chatting about how quickly everything comes and goes. We are thankful for that, it makes the entire journey easier when the days don't drag out. Tim was feeling fantastic, and early last week woke up feeling "strange." His temperature kept jumping around, and eventually reached 39. We jumped in the car and arrived at the hospital. The blood work came back showing Tim was neutropenic, which is having almost no white blood cells and no neutrophils, the infection fighting cells. That is a common and expected result of the Chemotherapy, so they started an antibiotic right away.

I think it was that night, or the next night that he started getting really cold while under about five blankets at the hospital. After I took his temp, which was 39.2, I grabbed the nurse. She was in the room only about 2 minutes later, and it had climbed to 41.5. His skin was hot to the touch but he was shaking like I've never seen anyone shake. The nurse grabbed Tylenol and was going to get Demerol to calm the jitters. When she left, I put my hand on his head and prayed that the shakes would stop...now...and they did. His body began to calm down. It was SO neat! She came back about a minute later and said "O, he stopped shaking?" Yes he did, because our God is just so cool! :) Later on, he emerged from his high fever which reached 42.8 and was stripping off the blankets and eating ice cream. The Tylenol did the trick! Here is a picture...

From there, each day was an adventure of its own. The important thing is--all of our prayers were answered and Tim is home. His fever left, his counts are coming up and he is feeling so much better every day. In spite of everything he went through last week, the doctors are still amazed at how well he is doing!

O...and did we tell you...BOTH of Tim's brothers, Andrew and Jerry are 100% matches! There are a few more tests to find out which one they will choose, but the transplant is in the works.

--Shaving the last of the hair!

--Tim having an ECG done after a funny reaction to blood products, but don't worry, no more reactions since then!

--Tim and I at North Glenmore Park for a walk.

Team "What If"

With the riders Kevin and Kenzie

Telling Tims Story

Hey Guys... :)

A friend of ours recently invited Tim and I to attend her fundraiser for The Ride to Conquer Cancer. Tim was originally supposed to be the speaker at the event, but couldn't attend. The two riders, Kenzie and Kevin are riding over 200km to raise money for those battling all types of Cancers. In Tims place, I spoke about the journey he has been on and thanked the group who came to support the riders. . like I said in the speech, people really don't realize where there efforts are going. That weekend, they raised $5,400! Anything you can do, from giving blood to donating to the cause makes a big difference.

Kenzie and Kevin began with a goal to raise $10,000 before the start of their ride, they are $3,500 away from reaching that goal--and because they are doing this for people like Tim, I told them we would bring it to your attention in case any of you wanted to help. You can contact Kenzie at 403.478.5369 if you do!

Kenzie also decided to dedicate her two day ride totally and completely to Tim, and Kevin is riding in memory of his brother. Cancer effects everybody in some way, but its people like Kenzie and Kevin who make a true difference! Thank You!

-Tim & Christa

Platelets going In!

Here is a video from the Tom Baker the other day of Tim getting some much needed platelets. There is still a great need! If you want to donate platelets call 1-888-2-DONATE and tell them you are interested in helping with the platelet shortage! Thank you!

Also, I grabbed that picture off of my friends facebook page. This is her donating her platelets in order to contribute to Tims battle. We love you Kailyn!

If you have any pictures, send them to us! timandchrista@gmail.com

Low Counts Mean Transfusion!

(Platelets and blood, from YOUR donations! Keep them coming!!!)

Hey Everybody!

After watching the Bachelor last night, (what an ending huh?) Tim and I headed to the comfort of our bed only to be rudely awoken at 7:00am to embark on another journey into Calgary.

Okay, it wasn't THAT bad.

Tims counts have been slowly dropping, which is expected and wanted. That means the chemotherapy is doing its job, and the healing has begun! Today his platelets were only 7, and his hemoglobin had dropped to 70, both very low. His doc ordered more platelets (keep donating! We will need LOTS, along with the other patients on the unit too!) and whole blood. He had one bag of platelets and two bags of blood. I'll admit, my stomach turned quite a bit seeing someone else's blood being pumped into Tim. It looked like a big nose bleed dripping into the IV pump. Blah. My head is spinning even thinking about it, and I am not a squeamish person whatsoever. Tim very obnoxiously said "GROSS!" when they pulled out the bag. What a goof I've got! ;)

After a full day at the hospital, Tim was released again for a few more days off. He is feeling super, no side effects or symptoms. Keep those prayers coming...we know you guys are praying because his doctors are so pleased with how he is doing. One of his doctors the other day said to us "I just love seeing how well you are doing! It does me good to see patients who respond so well!"

It only gets "gooder and gooder" from here...as Tim would say.

Home

Today we are home. Enjoying every hour that passes. Home is such a place of comfort and relaxation for us. We'd rather be here than anywhere else.

Tim is currently humming some Miley Cyrus (oops, did I say that!??) and trying to fix his phone. Telus has really given him the run around...giving him a "new phone" that turned out to be a USED phone. Real good Telus...this is where our friend Jody steps in. Hahahahaha.

We went to the hospital Sunday morning for blood work, and then were sent home again. We will return tomorrow morning for more blood work and possibly some platelet and whole blood transfusions. Praying they send us home again after. As long as Tim stays fever free..he can be at home. Yahhh!

Tims new best friend has become food--he is eating like a horse and has gained quite a bit of weight in the past week. This is a good thing for him as he heads into transplant. His body will come out strong if he enters the transplant strong. Like last night, I came home from church and found that he had eaten wings, two plates of nachos and had been eating the entire night prior to ordering Boston Pizza! His belly is much bigger than a few days ago...he is starting to resemble Santa.

For those of you praying, keep it coming! Tim is doing PHENOMENAL considering what his body has been through. He is experiencing NO side effects from chemo. We celebrate this every day. Our God is bigger than that crap!

I just turned to Tim and asked if he had anything to say to you guys...he said ...

..."no."

There you have it! Profound words from Tim Harriman himself! Hope that inspired you!

-Christa