it has been a crazy week- the kids have been out of school due to snow and that makes for absolutely crazy-busy days. i go, go, go until 6:30, and then i come home and i DROP. anyway- i don't have a ton of time to write this morning, but wanted to share something that's been weighing on my mind and my heart for months now.
the doucette family was one that i met when i was probably 14. i was living in colorado, and we all went to church together. lisa (the mom) and mike (the dad) were seriously some of the nicest, and sweetest people i had ever met. their kids (jordan, who was 6, and katie, who was 2) were absolutely beautiful- inside and out. i babysat for this family on a very regular basis, and of course loved every minute of it. almost a year ago, i was reconnected with the doucettes through facebook. something called "life" got in the way, and caused us to loose touch for a long, long time. i was so thrilled to find mike on fb and to hear all about how everyone was doing. i was shocked to learn that jordan was graduating and heading off to college soon, and that katie was a teenager! (man- i am OLD!) i learned that mike was body building regularly and placing in competitions. this man was BUFF! reminded me of hercules actually. it was awesome just to see this family i adored so much, doing so well!
skip forward a few months and that's when things got hairy. i had moved in june and for some odd reason took my sweet time to get my internet at home hooked up, which meant i had limited to no access to fb. i was able to have some connection- but only through my crackberry and so that just wasnt the same. when i finally got the internet up and running, i was excited to get back on the computer and get to catching up with people. i was SHOCKED to learn that mike was struggling with some health problems! though it was troubling, i just knew that this man would survive! he is a fighter, and deserved to live and have a healthy, happy ending... well- here we are months later, and mike is still fighting. every single solitary day, this man fights for his life. he spent much of his time waiting on a match for a bone marrow donor and when he did, we all breathed a sigh of relief, praising god and knowing the ride was almost over. except it hasn't been so simple after all- apparently his body isn't entirely rejected the marrow (since his blood counts are going up and are good) but he is struggling now with things like brutal blisters all over his body. the blisters make him feel as though he's covered in 3rd degree burns. he is also having terrible trouble with his eyes- what started out as awful burning, has turned into a situation where he can barely see at all. my concern is that he might feel he's loosing his battle. and he can't loose this battle- he just can't. for the longest time it seemed everyday we learned of these new, totally out-landish symptoms... symptoms im not sure he ever could have seen coming and prepared himself for. right now, mike is in the hospital, surrounded by his loving family. they are literally trying to convince him to keep fighting. apparently, the doctors do see recovery and healing in the future, but mike is depressed and he is discouraged.
there are 3 things i want to say in response to having shared this crazy story with you:
1) isn't it funny how life can just seem SO terrible? SO overwhelming? SO annoying? and then you step back and look at things and realize "woah! it could be so, so, so much worse. shame on me for even allowing myself to feel bad for me! pull it together!" this situation has done exactly that for me. these past few months, ive been reminded of things that would normally drive me nuts.... but then i think of mike- a good, good man, fighting for his life and in pain. i think of his precious family- consumed with worry, spending every waking moment at his side trying to lift him up, when they themselves are the ones who need lifting. there's nothing like a good reality check, huh?
2) when i learned initially of mike's battle, eric and i both immediately registered to become a part of the bone marrow registry. seriously guys- this takes maybe 5 minutes of your time, and it could SAVE A LIFE! you fill out a brief questionnaire, and then they send you some swabs you use to get your dna by swabbing in your mouth. you send your sample back to them and BAM- you're done. the organization will contact you if they think you could be a match and help someone in need. i want to urge each of you out there to DO THIS! seriously- it's easy, it's fast, it's free and could really, really help. to do this, go to bethematch.org and it will easily walk you through the steps.
3) lastly, i want to ask that each of you begin to pray for mike and his family. mike is tired and so are they. mike's sister keeps up with a website where she provides details on his progress and the status of things. please take some time to check it out- make yourself familiar with him and his family... read his story... PRAY. go to caringbridge.org and enter in mikewdoucette- they will ask for you to sign up or whatever, but this is just so you can receive his updates, etc. i believe it's easy to read my blog, and say 'aww, how sad, that's terrible' and then move on without thinking of these poor people again. but if you GO to the site and get to know them- i just KNOW that you will for sure be compelled to pray.
thank you friends for reading. be blessed, and as always BE THANKFUL.
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