Last Saturday was a day Lindsey has been counting down to for a long time - she got to go back home!!!! She will still be coming to Memphis for a few days every two weeks or so for treatments, but there's something to be said for being in your own
HOME the majority of the time.
A lot of people are under the impression that now that Lindsey is at home, life is back to normal. But she still has to stay EXTREMELY isolated. The doctors said her immune system is comparable to that of a very premature newborn. So public places, even walking around in the fresh air (I guess because of mold, spores, etc) is a no no. It's just going to take time for her immune system to get stronger, so pray for those cells to get going!
She and my mom lived at the Target House while they were here. The Target House is designed specifically for long term and bone marrow transplant patients at St. Jude. They do so much to make the patients' time there as enjoyable as is possible given the circumstances. When a patient leaves, Target House asks that they leave a 12x12 "artwork" of what the Target House meant to them. Lindsey wanted pictures of family and friends and words describing her time there. We got together and made this for her collage.
It's so great that they got to go home. But I was sad to see them go. I've gotten to spend more time with my family these past few months then I have in years. Aubrey is always saying "I want
GiGi" (our name for grandma) or "I want Papa" (grandpa). If I need to bribe her, saying "Do you want to go see Lindsey" gets her to do just about anything I want. My family has been such a huge help to us. The night we pulled in here from Pittsburgh, they were at our house with the essentials-toilet paper, dish washing soap, and take out. And so many more things since then! From spending days on the phone helping us sort out a brief medical/insurance scare to reorganizing my entire kitchen to babysitting Aubrey, no wonder I'm sad to see them go :) I look forward to visiting in a few weeks!
The last couple days my family was here, we went to a fiesta put on by St. Jude and then a carnival put on by Target House. We met a few famous faces, Shaun White, Amy Grant, Blake Lewis (hello, from American Idol! The white beat boxer). And Aubrey had a blast with my family. She wants little to do with me when they're around. Does it hurt my feelings? Heck no, it's bliss!
In case you didn't recognize her, that's Amy Grant singing and playing the guitar below. We were waiting in line to get our picture with her, just behind a family with a small boy, probably 4 years old, in a wheel chair. Lindsey had met them a few times, and his situation was not good. Besides a cancerous tumor wrapped around his
brain stem, he was partially paralyzed, had a
trach and oxygen tank, and was barely cognitive when I saw him. After the parents told Amy that they planned to play one of her songs at his wedding for the first dance, she sat down and sang to him. I think about that wedding dance a lot. I hope it takes place one day. I think about that family's 12x12 artwork that they will make when they leave the Target House. What will it say? Will they be leaving on a happy note? And I think about those parents, and my parents and parents of kids with cancer in general. If you're looking for an example of someone courageous and strong and completely selfless, look no further.
You can tell it's still summer time here, oh and we need to cut our grass, and maybe put pants on our daughter!
