Day +28

 Well, no news is good news, right?!

Mom is plugging along, overall feeling pretty good.  This weekend was a blessing as she was able to see family and enjoy some grandkids and watching college football on Saturday.

This time with family is such a boost for her and encouragement.  We do not take these times for granted and know every day is a gift! What precious memories we are still getting to make. Thank You Lord.

Joy and her crew with the newest grandson!!

Mom and Jase.

Ray stopped by Dallas to see Mom on his way to see his parents in Tyler.

Today Mom will have a Bone Marrow Biopsy to see what is going on with the donor stem cells, her old stem cells, and see if the new is producing.  If all goes well, this will be the last one for about a year!! 

This can be a little painful, but they do give her medication before and after the procedure.  

Please join us in praying that we have great news, that her donor's cells have taken over and are producing strong healthy blood to replenish Mom's body and replace the cancer cells in the blood.

Love,

JJ

Day +23

Mom is still doing very well. She and Caralyn are enjoying their days and getting into a routine for the most part.  Caralyn said she thought she was going to be taking care of a sick lady, but instead she feels more like a personal Uber!! They get out and run errands around Dallas or go walk at the mall.  

It has been such a blessing to have family come to visit too. My cousin Mike and Michelle Morgan stopped by last weekend and then Tully and Tara came to visit and bring some things from the ranch this week! What encouragement that is to Mom! Joy’s crew is coming this weekend and Mom will get to meet her newest grandchild and addition to the Janszen Family, Jase Russel Sugg!!

Mom’s bloodwork continues to be good and we praise God for the good reports. 

We will continue to pray for healing and no rejection. 

God keeps sending His people to care for Mom. She said this week they had a maintenance man, Daniel, who came to take care of a few things in the apartment. He noticed mom reading her Bible. He asked her about it and said he loved to read his too. He shared with mom that he was a follower of Christ and mom returned the sentiment. She said he was anxious to share his testimony of how God saved him from alcoholism 17 years ago. What a blessing!  He invited mom and Caralyn to his church and said it was a Spanish-speaking church but they had a translator there to translate into English! How sweet to know we are surrounded by such a body of believers in so many unexpected places!! 

Thanks for continuing to pray for Mom and check in on her!

Love,

JJ

Day +18 Home away from Home

Friday Mom and I left the hospital!! Her numbers were good enough to leave, but because the ranch is 1 hour and 45 minutes away from the hospital and Dr. Bhushan's office, she has to stay closer.  This was something we had to agree to before they would do the transplant.

So many provisions from The Lord again as we found out there is a wonderful ministry in Dallas that provides apartments for a very minimal amount for families that need to stay close to the hospital for medical needs.  It was started by a Sunday school class from a church in Richardson in 1985.  The Ark House has apartments close to treatment hospitals that are fully furnished, with almost everything you need, set up for patients and their families.  What a neat ministry that we never even knew existed!  

By the grace of God, the morning of Mom's discharge from the hospital, one of these apartments became available.  We were able to leave the hospital and move right in.  It is only a mile from Medical City Dallas.  It is very comfortable and will meet Mom's needs very well.  I told her it isn't the ranch, but there are live oaks right outside her front door.

The apartment where Mom is staying.

The other thing we had to come to terms with was that Mom, for the next 100 days after the transplant, needed family or a care taker with her 24/7.  This did not need to be a nurse, but someone that could be with her, help her, and be available to take her to the doctor appointments, or hospital if something went wrong.  This was Mom's biggest hangup when considering her transplant.  She did not want to be a burden to her family, which we assured her she would not! But She didn't want any of us to have to be away from our families for long periods of time.  As she researched the options of "fill in care givers" for the times we couldn't be there, we found several companies that provided people just like this for situations like this.  We began to pray that God would provide the right fill in person or people.  Mom had lined up an interview with one of these companies, back in June.  We were anxious to see how this would work out.

But God stepped in, I love it when He does that!!  I was down visiting friends in Dallas in June, and went by one of my friend's mom's gift shops in Carrollton, The Vintage House, owned by Nan Walvoord.  We were catching up on family news and Ms. Nan asked me to fill her in on Mom's health.  I shared with her what we were facing and that Mom was about to start interviewing "fill in" care giver services in Dallas.  Nan said, "Oh JJ, I have the perfect person for that, Caralyn Cody!!" What?! She told me this was a dear friend of hers who she had gone to church with for 45 years.  Caralyn had stayed with their pastor's wife when she was sick with cancer and others too.  She was retired and had the time to do this.

She asked if I wanted to meet her, which I did, what could it hurt?? She called her and asked what she was doing right then.  Amazingly she said she was right around the corner at the post office and would stop by the store in a few minutes!! Unbelievable!! She came by a few minutes later and we visited.  What a precious lady.  I took a quick picture to send to Mom and they connected later on via phone and then lunch.  They both felt a peace, prayed about it, and knew that this was a God provision.  Thank you Lord, we could not have orchestrated this if we had tried!! Amazing how He brings His people into our lives at just the right moment! 

Caralyn Cody and Mrs. Nan at the Vintage House, the day we met.

So, back to Friday. That morning we woke up and saw that Mom's numbers had gone back down.  We were dissapointed and fighting discouragement.  Crud! We were so excited and then the drop! We stood there looking at each other and said, Ok, God has this, we will trust that the Lord gives and takes away, we will trust Him.  The nurse came in and asked if we were excited that we were leaving today.  We said, "well, we were excited but look at the numbers, maybe not, we will have to see what the doctor says." He started looking at some things on the computer and then realized he had mis-read the numbers, it wasn't a 2 but a 7!  Mom's numbers hadn't dropped, they had almost doubled!!! Oh praise God, we were so excited! I said, maybe that was our Isaac, that we had to be willing to give that up and let go, and then He gave it back to us!  Yeah, we were leaving!!! So we packed up from the hospital, and headed to the Ark House.  

Packing up!!

First time out off of floor 11 in almost a month!! Fresh air!

We got out of the hospital on Friday much earlier than we anticipated, so after getting Mom tucked into the apartment, I headed North toward Tulsa, where my youngest son was playing football, Friday night.  How fun to surprise him after the game!! What a sweet reunion.

Mom and Caralyn are getting settled into a routine, and Caralyn will be with Mom during the times when one of us kids cannot come stay with her.  We are so grateful to have Caralyn there, available, and Mom's main caregiver while we are away.  What a gift.

Mom and Caralyn.

The Ark House apartment were Mom is staying is very comfortable and will be a blessing to her to be so close to the hospital.  She will be going into the doctor 3-4 times per week for a while, as they will be checking her blood, making alterations to her medications, and giving her platelets if necessary, while her body begins to make the new bone marrow.  

Our biggest hurdles now and focus of prayer is:

1. That Mom would continue to heal and rebound from the Chemo.

2. That the new stem cells would start making strong new healthy blood.

3. That she would not suffer from GVHD (graft vs. host disease)

4. That she would remain infection free, since she is very vulnerable to any germs.

Mom's mailing address is:

Seville Apartments

Jan Janszen

Building J Apt. 1100 

10651 Steppington Drive

Dallas, TX 75230

Thank you again for praying for Mom. She is happy to be through this first hurdle and onto the next. 

Love,

JJ

Day +16, Ups and Downs

Well, the last few days have been a rollercoaster (emotionally and literally with her numbers and side effects.)  We settled back in to the fact that we were going to be here for a little while longer and watched Mom's numbers go down and then finally start to turn back upwards.  The mouth sores seemed to begin to ease yesterday, which coincided with the numbers starting to creep back up.  The tough thing was that as the mouth sores got a little better, her hair began to let go.  It was an emotional couple of days, as we reflected on the verses about a woman's hair being her covering and her glory.  But we also fully believed that God had lead Mom down this path, and that this was part of the journey.  We took one last picture yesterday evening before today, Mom wanted to be able to look back and remember.  

One of our techs, Uche', from Nigeria, had been taking care of Mom on and off for the last 3 weeks.  He had given us a speech on Day +13 about how her hair was starting to come out and we should just go ahead and cut it.  Honestly, we didn't really like or appreciate his speech! Mom just wasn't ready, but Uche', who is also a believer, reminded Mom that he knew and understood about a woman's hair being her crown and glory, but he also said that God is the one that gave her the hair and He would give it back to her again, even more beautiful, like Job! 

Mom needed to stew on that for a couple of days, and as her hair continued to come out, she finally decided that today was the day.  And guess who was the one to cut it? Uche!! 

We talked about the Lord and His faithfulness as he slowly shaved Mom's head.  We told him as hard as this was, that there was a comfort knowing he was a believer and hearing his encouraging words.  As soon as he was done, he told Mom how beautiful she looked and that she must have really been a looker when she was young, if she is this good looking at age 72!! 

Mom handled it like a champ, and after cleaning up, she fixed herself up with a darling scarf that my daughter-in-law, Hannah, had given her for this reason.  (Hannah had ovarian cancer at age 18, and was able to understand more than any of us, what to expect, and teach Mom how to tie and twist the scarf to look cute!) How precious that God prepares those before us to go though something so that they can then turn around and help others.  

"Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort,  Who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God." 2 Corinthians 1: 3-4 (NIV)

"Your beauty should not come from outward adornment, such as elaborate hairstyles and the wearing of gold jewelry or fine clothes. Rather, it should be that of your inner self, the unfading beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is of great worth in God's sight." 1 Peter 3: 3-4 (NIV)

And even though Mom has her big EB Design earrings on, and cute scarf, her true beauty is from that big smile and eyes! Jesus is indeed shining through her.

This evening, we received so many loving messages from my siblings, grandkids, and close friends who knew this had happened today.  What an encouragement!  

Jesse, oldest grandchild, his wife Hannah, and Lillian, oldest great-grandchild, showing support for their Babe.

And if that isn't enough, "Boots"(that is what we call Dr. Vance because he wears cowboy boots every day and we can hear him coming down the hall) came in today, and said Mom's numbers were looking so good and trending in the right direction, that he is discharging us from the hospital tomorrow! We are thrilled, and as long as the bottom doesn't fall out tonight on the numbers, we get to leave tomorrow and go to temporary housing close to the hospital for the next 2 months.  This is the next step in the process of the transplant.

We are excited and prayerful as we get ready to pack up and move tomorrow.  

Thank you so much for praying Mom through the last few days, the last 3.5 weeks, and the ups and downs.  Thank you in advance for continuing to pray as she moves into this next phase.  We KNOW so many have been lifting her up.  Thank you for remembering Mom and loving her.

Love,

JJ

Day +12

 

Thank you for covering Mom in prayer!  Mom still has the sores in her mouth, but they didn't seem to be so extreme in the pain today.  They are still making it difficult to chew and swallow, but she didn't feel as miserable today as yesterday.

We spoke with Dr. Matthews today, the "on call" doctor, not Mom's doctor, and when we told him her mouth wasn't hurting as bad today, he said that was probably "mind over matter." I said, "well, we had lots of people praying for Mom," and he said, "oh yes, Divine over matter!" Mom then asked him if he was a man of faith, and he quickly said yes, that he was a PK (preachers kid) and went to a non-denominational Bible church now, here in Dallas.  It was just so encouraging to Mom and me to see how God continues to bring our brothers and sisters to walk along this path with us.  

Mom felt like walking our 2 miles again, 52 laps around the nurses station!! Then this evening, one of our favorite techs, came back on duty, and brought us his homemade brisket sandwiches!!  Besides working as a tech, he also owns and operates a food truck here in the DFW area, Chris Q's On the Go!! The meat was so tender and tasted amazing.  We are looking forward to enjoying these tomorrow.

Just wanted to give a quick update, and also send a picture of Mom.  Yesterday's post had a weird image, not sure what that was, so I thought I would leave you with a pretty pic of Mom from today, and Mom and Chris this evening!

Love,

JJ

Day 11+

Ok, latest update on Mom…..

Day +8 - They started Mom on shots that would stimulate cell growth from the stem cells taking root in Mom’s bones.  

Day +9 - Mom’s numbers from blood work were way up so the nurse taking care of her that day said we were going home soon! She said these were going home numbers! (Going home meaning, leaving the hospital and going across the street to the long term medical apartments for patients and family who must stay close. Not the Ranch yet.)  Our hopes were up! 

When the doctor was rounding that morning, we asked him if those numbers did indeed mean she was going home and he said “we will see.” He said we needed a few more days, numbers can go up and down like this. But they did decide to skip the shot that day. 

Day +10 - The next day her numbers dropped.  When the doctor came around that morning, which was a different doctor, but happened to be Mom’s doctor, he said he was thinking Monday we would still get to go home (a week earlier than they even originally planned) but added the shot back in. 

Day +11 - This morning, Mom’s numbers were the lowest they had been! 😞 The doctor who rounded today (we saw all three in the group over the last 3 days) came by and said this up and down is normal and to not even look at the blood counts as trending until day +15! This was a little encouraging again as we were, of course, disappointed seeing those low, low numbers. So, on this we will wait, pray, and trust that God is the God who sees what is going on inside Mom’s body and knows what is happening. We can’t see, but He can, and we trust Him. 

Also, today, is the first day that Mom has truly felt some of the more severe side effects of the chemo she received over 13 days ago. She has felt a little more fatigued, but the worst part is the sores in her mouth that are really bothering her and painful. This is a very common side effect of the type of chemo she received. It was difficult for her to eat supper tonight, and she just, overall, did not feel that good.  

We spent the day watching Anna's VB tournament online, OSU football, and of course our BU Bears this evening.  We got out and walked 2 miles in-between games, but it was just harder on her today.

Please lift Mom up before the Lord, asking Him for strength for her as she faces the challenges that lay in front of her. 

Thank you for your prayers,

JJ

Day +7

 Well, another day down in the hospital. Mom is still, overall doing well.  Yesterday was very uneventful, but we are very thankful for boring days! 🙂 She had a few concerns last night with some digestive issues but they were quickly resolved today by tweaking her medication. They ran a test to see if it was something more serious, but it was negative. Praise the Lord!

We spent the day getting to take a walk, doing laundry and watching Anna play volleyball online back up in Oklahoma. 

Go Neers!!

Mom was craving a Rueben sandwich so we ordered some to watch the game!! 

Mom has felt so much better this afternoon. We are thankful and we continue to feel your prayers lifting us up before the Lord. Thank you for loving Mom and continuing to pray for her. 

His mercies are new every morning, and we praise His name as we reflect on this beautiful sunset from our window!

Love,

JJ

Day +4

Well, same old same old.  We are getting use to our days in the hospital, 11th floor.  Mom is still doing very well! I am tempted to video the Dr. as he makes his rounds on us every day, because he does this little groove walk thing as he comes in and fist bumps mom and me before he starts checking in with her asking all the questions.  We get tickled every time, but he doesn't know!!

Mom has truly had very minor side effects so far, a little muscle cramp and a slight headache.  They keep telling us the tough days are coming, but we are not worried.  If they are, then they are, but if we get all anxious about it, then it would be like doubling those bad days, one today worrying, and the 2nd, on the actual bad day, so we are enjoying and thankful for today. " Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself.  Each day has enough trouble of its own." Matthew 6:34. 

Last night we wore our Stillwater blue and cheered on Josh (my soph. son) in his first varsity football game for the Pioneers.  We were so thankful the Lord provided a way for us to watch the game online instead of just listening on the radio!  And today we sported our green and gold and cheered on, not only our Baylor Bears, but also the Longhorns and the OSU Cowboys.  We have gotten to face time with all our family the last few days, and it does mom's heart good to see all those smiling, loving faces and get to tell them how she is doing and hear how they are face to face.  So thankful for technology sometimes!  

Making the best of this time together, and praying that we and all those that come in our room will feel the presence of the Lord.  We know He has a purpose in everything in our lives and He has brought us to this place for this time.  God is good.

Love, 

JJ

No news is good news

     We are day +2 and there is no news.  The doctor came in this morning and said she was a boring patient! Mom, so far, is doing really well.  I told her I feel like I am watching a ticking time bomb!! But she is doing really well.  So far our days have consisted of laundry, reading our Bibles, walking the halls, or watching a show on the computer.  Tonight we got to watch Anna play volleyball in Stillwater, via facebook live.  Sometimes technology can be a blessing!

    This morning Mom got a sweet text from our friend Freddia who said she was reading about Moses and the first Passover and how it reminded her of how Mom's bone marrow transfusion is like Passover.  A sacrifice had been made, blood had been shed, and smeared over the doorposts of the house so that the angel of death would pass.  She said our donor made the sacrifice to spare his blood for mom, and she would receive this blood, so that the angel of death would pass over.  So awesome to think about the sacrifices made for her and for all of us.

Mom talking to her brother, J.B.

    Thank you for praying and checking in on her!! I will keep updating, and maybe it will keep being boring, let's hope so!! 

Love, JJ

Here is her mailing address, which we will be at for the next 3 weeks: 

She can receive letters!

Medical City Dallas Hospital

Attn: Jan Janszen Rm#1108

7777 Forest Lane Bld. A, South Tower

11 South

Dallas, TX 75230