We decided a huge summer of travel for our family. At the end of June, we headed to Telluride, CO, one of my absolute favorite places on Earth. After an amazing 2 weeks in Telluride, we drove to the Grand Canyon for a few hours and then to the mountains of Phoenix, AZ. Here is where Marc sort-of leaves the story. The plan was for him to help me drive to Phoenix from Colorado, to travel for work and then to work back in Texas while me and the girls visited my Dad and Molli for a few weeks.
In Colorado, Marc got sick and we didn't think too much of it because for some super sad reason he seems to always get sick only when we are on vacation. He never really recovered, but we continued on with our month of traveling. We went to Arizona and just as planned he left us to go to Florida for work and back to Texas also for work. He never really recovered from being sick though.
Jump ahead to August. This is a long story that I have to interrupt this one to tell because it adds to the crazy of the situation. After being gone from home for 5 weeks (Colorado and Arizona), it was time to make our 18 hour drive back to Texas. The day before we were supposed to leave, I started feeling sick. I woke up at 2 am with a terrible fever, sore throat and body aches. I missed home and Marc so badly that I decided I would just drive through the pain.
It was 11 am, the car was loaded up and me and the girls were ready to begin our trek home. I pull out of the driveway and my AC goes out. I have to find someone to fix the AC in my car with a 101 fever in 115 degree heat.
I found a place. While I was at the dealership, suddenly I started feeling so bad that I couldn't even sit up. The people in the dealership offered to help me load the girls up in their car so that they could drop me and them off at the nearest clinic because I looked like I was in bad shape. At that point, Marc decided to fly out and help me/come to my rescue. I also called my dad to tell him that I needed help because I couldn't move and I was stuck at a car dealership.
Long story short: I get medicine, McKenzie gets sick; she gets medicine; Marc arrives in AZ to help me get home. The night that he arrived, he told me that he had also been pretty sick. He had actually been getting fevers daily or nightly for about 15 straight days and he was getting consistent night sweats. (On the phone he had been mentioning he wasn't feeling well, but he had decided to go to the doctor so I figured he'd be better soon)
The Tuesday after we arrive home, Marc gets really sick. His symptoms were similar to mine so he got a prescription for Strep Throat (what I had been diagnosed with). 5 days later he was still really sick and still getting fevers and night sweats. It was a Sunday and he agreed to go back to the doctor on Monday... that's when this story gets crazy.
OUR BIG SCARE:
Around 12 noon on Sunday, Marc called to tell me that he needed to go to the hospital because he was having unbearable pain in his abdomen. After some x-rays, they saw that he had a spleenic infarct (blood had been cut off from his spleen because of swelling). He gets transferred to a bigger hospital in Plano. After 5 more days of still getting fevers AND lots of CT scans, X-rays and SEVERAL TEAMS of doctors, we finally have a meeting with a doctor who has answers as to what is happening with Marc.
Pictures from the small ER:
I accidentally brought him socks and flip flops...oops
Trying to smile for me because I love documenting things (thanks love for always being a great sport!)
Pictures from the small ER:
I accidentally brought him socks and flip flops...oops
Trying to smile for me because I love documenting things (thanks love for always being a great sport!)
Being transferred to the big hospital...via ambulance
At 5pm on Thursday the oncologist has a meeting with Marc and me. He tells us that they believe Marc has lymphoma, but that his isn't a classic case so they still need some more tests done. I asked him how much he thought Marc had cancer, and he replied that he was pretty sure it was it. My world shook. Marc and I had about 5 minutes to talk, cry, hug and pray and then I had to leave the hospital. We both handle stressful situations by trying to laugh, so we decided to take a selfie of what your face looks like when you just find out you have cancer/when you find out your spouse does. Here's that crazy picture:
That night was Shiloh's meet the teacher at her new school, so I had to leave the meeting with the oncologist immediately and go pick up Shiloh to take her to meet the teacher. I was trying to hard to be normal but I was freaking out. I barely heard anything that was going on that night. My mind was racing, "were we moving to take Marc to the best treatment facility, what did our future look like, oh my goodness my baby is starting Kindergarten, is she starting kindergarten or are we moving and dealing with this later...etc"
Pictures from meet the teacher:
OUR HAPPY ENDING:
While being in the hospital, they ran SO MANY tests on Marc that some took several days to get the results. At midnight on Thursday, the doctor came running in the room to tell Marc that he had tested positive for a mono-like virus called CMV!!! This is a virus that most people have, but it lies dormant; for some crazy reason Marc got it. It's similar to mono except that it lasts about 6 months and weakens your immune system pretty strongly...I never knew that I would jump for joy with a diagnosis that my husband would be sick for 6 months but that's exactly what I did!
He got every germ we had last Fall, so unfortunately for him he had CMV and just about everything else you can have (every cold, stomach bug, virus etc.). BUT here it is January of 2016 and it seems as though Marc is fully recovered!! Praise God! He has one more follow up soon, and I would love for all tests to come back completely clear! Then we can fully close this chapter in our story. :)
I don't know why we got to dodge this bullet, but I am grateful that Cancer is not our story! Thank you Jesus!
More pictures from the hospital:
My bed
The day that Marc got to come home!!!
Some final thoughts:
Our family, church and community took such good care of us! Marc's parents, my mom and our friends helped out so much with the kids! I cannot thank our church, family or friends enough for loving us so well through this challenge! I feel so grateful to be surrounded with such love! Thank you Frank, Connie, Mom, Sami, Jackie, Melissa, Sara and the members of Woodcreek Church! Thank you for taking care of our kids so that I could be with Marc, cooking for our kids/family, for praying for us and for loving us well!!
At 5pm on Thursday the oncologist has a meeting with Marc and me. He tells us that they believe Marc has lymphoma, but that his isn't a classic case so they still need some more tests done. I asked him how much he thought Marc had cancer, and he replied that he was pretty sure it was it. My world shook. Marc and I had about 5 minutes to talk, cry, hug and pray and then I had to leave the hospital. We both handle stressful situations by trying to laugh, so we decided to take a selfie of what your face looks like when you just find out you have cancer/when you find out your spouse does. Here's that crazy picture:
That night was Shiloh's meet the teacher at her new school, so I had to leave the meeting with the oncologist immediately and go pick up Shiloh to take her to meet the teacher. I was trying to hard to be normal but I was freaking out. I barely heard anything that was going on that night. My mind was racing, "were we moving to take Marc to the best treatment facility, what did our future look like, oh my goodness my baby is starting Kindergarten, is she starting kindergarten or are we moving and dealing with this later...etc"
Pictures from meet the teacher:
OUR HAPPY ENDING:
While being in the hospital, they ran SO MANY tests on Marc that some took several days to get the results. At midnight on Thursday, the doctor came running in the room to tell Marc that he had tested positive for a mono-like virus called CMV!!! This is a virus that most people have, but it lies dormant; for some crazy reason Marc got it. It's similar to mono except that it lasts about 6 months and weakens your immune system pretty strongly...I never knew that I would jump for joy with a diagnosis that my husband would be sick for 6 months but that's exactly what I did!
He got every germ we had last Fall, so unfortunately for him he had CMV and just about everything else you can have (every cold, stomach bug, virus etc.). BUT here it is January of 2016 and it seems as though Marc is fully recovered!! Praise God! He has one more follow up soon, and I would love for all tests to come back completely clear! Then we can fully close this chapter in our story. :)
I don't know why we got to dodge this bullet, but I am grateful that Cancer is not our story! Thank you Jesus!
More pictures from the hospital:
My bed
The day that Marc got to come home!!!
Some final thoughts:
Our family, church and community took such good care of us! Marc's parents, my mom and our friends helped out so much with the kids! I cannot thank our church, family or friends enough for loving us so well through this challenge! I feel so grateful to be surrounded with such love! Thank you Frank, Connie, Mom, Sami, Jackie, Melissa, Sara and the members of Woodcreek Church! Thank you for taking care of our kids so that I could be with Marc, cooking for our kids/family, for praying for us and for loving us well!!
