Matthew had labs drawn today, platelets are normal and ANC is over 2,000, which is very good. He looks great and is wearing me out. He doesn’t start his next chemo cycle until August 7th.
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Eric and I have been busy getting Christ and Cancer ready to be revealed to the public. I’ve been doing the ground work, he the tech work. We are aiming for August 1st as our deadline, at least that is the one I gave Eric. August 1st is my birthday, so that is why I chose that date. We are spending our nights working for the ministry, it is so much better than watching TV.
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The organization will not only provide physical support, but will be an online ministry that I hope to extend into cancer hospitals around the country, basically a support group that talks about Christ and Cancer all in the same room. We hope to accomplish the same kind of support group virtually. Usually support groups for cancer don’t mix in religion, we want to change that. I am excited to have a “job”, many of you know I was pursuing a legal career. God had much better plans in mind for me.
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Eric and I will be celebrating 11 years of marriage this Sunday. We are having a kid free dinner on Saturday and will spend Sunday with the boys, Matthew has already instructed me that I must buy an ice cream cake. No one really like ice cream cakes expect Matthew, we prefer regular cake. Odds are we will have an ice cream cake on Sunday, maybe both?
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Have a great rest of the week.
God bless their journey. It hasn’t been an easy one. And the losses that they’ve seen on their way leave me breathless.
As shallow as it may be to focus on this one boy and this one family, I am thankful that he’s still with us. Keep them in your prayers if you are prayerful, and in your thoughts if you are not.
A RELATED COMMENT:
None of you owes me a thing. You’ve been kind enough to take me in, and that’s more than I can ask. And I admit that I’m not always the easiest person to get along with, and also that I’m a sentimental slob. I do want you to consider, though, that it’s always been a point in PW’s favor that we’ve given a lot of slack to dissenters. You may disagree with them, you may find them obnoxious, and you may very well be right that they are [fill in the unflattering adjective here]. Still. For example, thor is the one who went out of his way to buy Keith a stuffed monkey in his hour of need, and that kind of act of corporal mercy goes a long way with me. There are others here, too. And it is something to extend hospitality to those with whom you affiliate, but something more to extend it to those with whom you disagree. Please show yourselves to be magnanimous, because I know that you are. I don’t mean to say that you mustn’t defend yourselves; you should. Your largeness of heart I rely on to give color to my faith in you all, and what you signify. And now, I am drunk.
It’s in no way shallow to focus on stuff like this. This is the kind of stuff that matters, and I would be honored to have someone care that much for anyone in my family. Don’t sweat the blogspace, since it’s only electrons going to a screen anyhow.
Thanks, jon. Scary is what it is. Great people.
This is in no way “small”.
I have been following Mathew’s progress since before you first posted this.
It is heart breaking, but it also stiffens my faith and determination. I let the Ragers know that I am praying for them quite often. This family is amazing, but my prayers are not enough. I send them emails regularly, marvelling at their faith, and trying to give them one more millimeter of hope.
Thanks Dan, for keeping this situation in the spotlight. When I get the e-mails, as much as I am upset about my own situation, it doesn’t even qualify as “bad” when I think about the Ragers.
God bless them and heal them. As I wrote a while ago, my good friend’s 13 year old son was basically murdered, and things like that make me pray harder for people who have real problems. As upset as I get about politics, it can’t touch the pain of real people with real problems.
Children should never have to go through this, but, apparently, that’s what “is is”.
My prayers always include the Ragers, and I believe that if enough of us do the same, this little boy will be OK.
I am a little sentimental, because I have a young son, and would probably lose it if this happened to him. Nobody deserves this, but it just happens.
Thanks for the reminder, Dan. We all need to remember who’s in charge here.
God bless and keep the Ragers.
What I have said for many years is (since I was “awakened”):
“Fake it ’til you make it”
It/He/She/that is not a fantasy. Too bad we have no way to prove faith, eh? It is a magical thing that too many Americans think is a sham.
I pray for them, too…
And that’s wonderful of you, too, considering what you’ve been going through. And so it goes, around and around.