Zac, Sarah, Tom & Lisa
It is tradition that as the seniors proceed into the sanctuary that each one gives their mother a long stemmed rose...I was a bumble of tears as Liz Bookheimer and Cathy Smith (Tom's secretaries) presented Sarah and I each with a beautiful rose!
It was at the end of the service that John Foreman, superintendent, presented Tom with the ACSI Lifetime Achievement Award! What an honor for him to receive recognition for his 23 years of faithful service in christian education.
Thank you to Brian Shindle for capturing this special moment and sharing with us so we can share with you!
Congratulations Morgan...job well done!
Saturday we travelled to my brother's home in Brimfield, Ohio for our niece's graduation party. What fun we had, on a beautiful day, celebrating Morgan's accomplishments and visiting with many relatives and friends. We are so thankful to my brother and dad for putting up a temporary ramp so Tom could get into the house. Thank you to Mike and Cheryl for their incredible hospitality...they know how to "feed the masses" and do it with such class, style and cleanliness!
Mike, Cheryl, Tom, Morgan & Lisa
Sunday we enjoyed our worship service and then an afternoon of rest. The WCHS Graduation ceremony was Sunday afternoon at 3:00. It is the first graduation in 17 years that we have not participated in. We knew with the timing, the busy previous week and the busy day ahead on Monday that it would push Tom too hard to make the graduation service...bittersweet.
Monday started early at our home and we had the pleasure of Sarah joining us for this "all day" excursion. Tom had a 9:40 a.m. MRI at OSU East, you see Tom doesn't even wake up until 10ish, so this was a task! The MRI was done in a timely manner and we rejoiced that Tom did not vomit this time after the MRI. From OSU East we headed to the main OSU Medical Center for a 12:00 noon appointment with Dr.Cavaliere, Tom's neuro-oncologist. It was a record time visit...I guess they knew Tom had chemo scheduled for 1:00...we are thankful that the MRI was much clearer this time and wasn't directly bad news. Healing continues and less swelling was evident, however the tumor is still there with concern at the epi-center...meaning change since the last MRI. Dr. Cavaliere wanted "his" radiologist to read it and he will get back to us today (Tuesday). We continue to pray for God's best and trust that the radiologist will not find any further concerns. We left the doctor's office and headed upstairs to the infusion lab. We checked in early praying that would get us back home sooner...well, it didn't. After settling into Tom's room the nurse started the blood draw process only to blow a vein. The charge nurse then took over and we wish she would just be our nurse since she seems to have a better grasp on getting the job done right, the first time! When the lab results came back there was hemostasis, which meant the blood vessel was damaged and they had to draw again! All of this to say...it takes time before they can start the chemo...once chemo is started it's only 30 minutes. To pass our time we enjoyed lunch together, with Sarah going down to Cheryl's Cookies to get us treats, playing Skipbo and Tom even getting in some sleep. We arrived home around 5:00 and Tom went straight to bed for his late nap while Zac, Sarah and I scoured the Bob Evans menu in search for dinner!
Thank you for joining us in prayer as we continue to walk by faith and not by sight the journey God has placed before us. Today Tom will have his first vision exam since all this began over a year ago. He is excited at the prospect of better vision...however, the doctor has already said that the vision is gone and due to the surgeries, etc. there probably is not much they can do to help him. We are taking a step of faith and giving Tom hope that just maybe there is something, even if small, they can help make better...we'll see.
2 comments:
What a wonderful photo! So that's your Mom and Dad 25 years ago. They are as 'cute' today as they were then! Love the family!
Congratulations to Tommy on his lifetime achievement award! He certainly has given back in gratitude for all that he was given. I think of y'all often. Last week I was going through treasures of my 16 year old self and found a funny picture Tommy drew. It made my daughter and me laugh out loud! Leslie Wade
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