Blazer Lady

Ready for making a better future.

I will starting writing again now.  There will be two types of blog posts — Health updates and philosophic meanderings.  Anything not labeled a Health Update will ramble at least some.  Promise.

Thank you.  Thank you.  Thank you.  To all of you that have been calling and emailing, organizing and worrying, to those who shared food and stories and deep-risk honesty and listened when we cried.  Thank you.  I got through my first “bottom-out”, a time two weeks ago when it seemed to me that my body was ready to lay me down and die.

THANK YOU for getting me through that horrible week.  My bowels were not working.  I had a DNF (do not feed) marker on my chart because all food that went in came right back out.  So no food went in.

Finally we moved into action Read More →

Another guest article by my husband. – Marta

By the end of last week, were struggling at home — keeping Marta from food and hydration failure — and landed back in the hospital on Saturday (4/27) afternoon. Herein lies a story of success. Getting Marta stabilized. Getting healthcare forces marshalled. And by today, she is much better.

By better, I mean she can breath and eat and do the normal bodily functions… just not in the quantity and quality necessary long term. But that will come. She’s going into some more chemo next week. We are confident in our doctors, nurses and grateful for the huge support we’re getting from the hospital community and Marta’s community at large.

Marta has a confounding disease. Read More →

Just a quick update: Marta came home last night from a two week stay in the hospital. She is handling her symptoms well and is eating some fairly bland foods. She aspires to eat more advanced stuff… like butternut squash with goat cheese. I’m not making this up.

We want to broadly thank all of her well wishers and community prayer that helped sustain her and me over the past several weeks.

First solid food.

Another guest post by David Frackelton, upon my instructions and taking my dictation – Marta.

Quick update: So Marta’s gut is beginning to work. We’ve got consistent output. Marta ate her first solid food this AM (English Muffin). Now she is eating the basmati rice pictured to the left. This is what progress looks like!

Marta says: “Having run out of steam for my own life over the past two weeks, I find I’m being nursed back to health through love of my friends &hellips; and Dave. The hands on caretaking is not something I’ve ever had in my life, in quite this way. It makes me cry when I reflect on that. Friends stroking my hair, massaging my feet and kissing my forehead. It makes me wonder why we don’t do this more frequently with each other.”

“But the stories are luring me back to health. Remembering and feeling life outside my sick room. My friends bring their stories and spread them like jewels, a necklace of color for me to pick up and put on again.”