Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Howdy y'all! It's my first blog post..... like EVER! WHOOP!!!

Today was a pretty good day. Bri has a.... we'll call it a "healthy" appetite. Meaning, everything sounds good to her, and she wants to eat everything in sight... which is a good thing......... for her. Not so much for me. While she loses weight, I'm finding it! She had a good breakfast, while I had to do some running around for a couple hours. After I came back, the psychologist came in and we chatted for a bit.

We sat on the couch and looked out at all the people walking around and while Bri checked out all the nearby restaurants wishing she could order in, we made up life stories and dialogue for the people going about their busy lives 11 floors below us and laughed. Then we cut a sweet deal with the nurse and her doctor to get her unhooked from her stupid IV pole unless she's getting her antibiotics. So with her new found freedom, we took a stroll around the floor looking for some sweet old school VHS movies to watch. We ended up with Liar Liar and The complete 1st and 3rd season of Friends (DVDs). We even checked out a magazine that has hats, scarves, etc for cancer patients and picked out some cute "dome" covers for when she loses her hair. She's already noticing that her hair is thinning and she's starting to get worried about it, but says she hopes it comes back straight instead of curly. Erica and I teased her yesterday that it's gonna come back fiery red and she'd be a redhead. Poor thing. (Just kidding... shout out to the gingers in the room!)

Bri was supposed to get another dose of chemo, and this was one that goes in her spine and injected into her spinal fluid, but they ended up switching it to Thursday instead. So, she had another day off from chemo, but she'll get 2 doses tomorrow.

Our old buddy Josh Sosa graced us with his presence for a while. We chatted for a while and then Bri got in the shower and Josh and I caught up a bit. Josh is no stranger to visiting us in the hospital. When I was in the hospital for a month after I'd broken my back, Josh came and hung out pretty much every day and kept me company and kept me laughing. So here we were again, 10 years later, sharing laughs again, except Bri was the patient instead of me. (Which is still really weird for me).

Bri took a nap and I ran home to shower and do some things. I decided I was going to bring my XBox in and we're gonna play some games. All I have is shooting and war games, and Bri isn't too keen on those, so I stopped at Game Stop and got a couple more games that she might like. I'm looking forward to bringing down the house with our killer karaoke skills while we play my karaoke games! Bri is a little apprehensive about it, but I'm just plain excited! I also picked up some other games... card, dice, board... for us to do to pass some time.

I have to say, I'm so grateful for the time that I've gotten to spend with my big sister. It's been a long time since we've gotten to hang out, just the two of us. We've gotten a LOT of time, and while the circumstances aren't the best, I feel truly blessed to be able to be here with her. She's pretty stinkin awesome! While not having a job has been stressful, it's been a blessing to be able to have the time off to spend with her and going through this has put things into perspective for me. So, even though things aren't how we'd like them to be, good things are coming from it. I think we're all learning and growing. At least we better be! ;o)

I'll leave you beautiful people with my favorite verse, so important to me that I've had it tattooed on :o)
2 Corinthians 12:9-10
But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.

6 comments:

  1. The curly-hair thing is totally a possibility-- one of my best friends had a mastectomy last year and chemo, and her stick-straight hair came back in super curly ...

    Bri is so lucky to have such an amazing sister who can not only support her but also relate to this situation in such a personal way... You girls stick together!!

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  2. Thanks Jeanette. My hair was blonde with little curls and mine came back dark and straight... so we know it's possible! haha

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  3. Hi Brooke,
    I am one of your mom's friends, at least last time I checked;-) Yeah, her and I go way back...don't tell her I said that cause she might think I really like her a lot and admire and respect her and I don't want her knowing that, K?? **wink**

    You are such a lovely young lady and a fabulous sister, Bri is blessed to have such a wonderful and loving family and I bet she is feeling so much better just having you all surround her with love.

    Thanks for the update, keep up the good work and before ya know it Bri will be home and all will be right again~~Prayers going up!
    **smiles**
    Marylou

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  4. What an uplifting post! God works in mysterious ways enabling you to have this time off to be with Bri - things happen for a reason. Enjoy the day playing games with her, sounds like fun!

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  5. Great post Brooke, your a natural! It is wonderful that you are there for Bri. I am glad that you are able to spend so much time with her. Time with loved ones is a valuable treasure. All of you are in my heart and prayers. May the days to come hold much laughter, hugs and good news.

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  6. Goodness sakes, I can hear the cheers now when you two bust out those karaoke tunes! You'll have to start an American Idol......I KNOW you could pull off Niki Minaj if you tried real hard! ;) How proud I am to know you guys...to see this journey unfold with the Grace of God leading you through each step! Stay strong, love one another and know that your faith is a mighty testimony to those around you!
    Much love!
    Amy

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