How much hurt can a heart take?
I come to you today with this exact question...a question that weighs very heavy on my heart today. I am going to try to keep this post as positive as I can, but want you to know what is going on in our lives today! As you all know we have had a really rough 18 months and were VERY hopeful for a HAPPY and HEALTHY 2014...
Unfortunately, God had different plans and we have found ourselves falling to our knees in much needed prayer this week!
On Sunday February 9th, just a little over a week ago, Grandpa Bradley was admitted to the hospital for what we were hoping was going to be a quick stay for some hydration and a blood transfusion. We had known that these were some of the possible side effects of the chemo and radiation.
Unfortunately, with a shock to the system, these hopes and dreams were quickly squashed as we were informed on Monday that the lymphoma in Grandpa's knee was progressing quicker than any doctors would be able to treat for a man of his age. Basically the lymphoma was causing his body to reject much of the progress that the chemo and radiation were doing. His body had become very weak, tired and VERY sick.
At that point Doctors were saying that we had a few months of time to treasure with our precious Grandfather, Dad (Denise's father) and Husband (Grandma and Grandpa have been married for 60 years!). Obviously this was a hard pill to swallow! We had found ourselves in this exact same situation just a year ago with Uncle Denny. We were devastated, hurt and even a little angry! It felt like our hearts had broken into a million pieces. Why God, Why!
We had known all along that while this was a "treatable" cancer this could be the end result....but you don't want to think of this until you have to! As the week progressed we all were able to see that this statement of a few months was probably not realistic...we were looking at more like a month; however, we are not God and cannot begin to predict how much time we have here on earth. GOD HAS A PLAN! Much of this weekend was spent making decisions as to where Grandpa would go after the hospital. Our options were going home with home care or hospice care or a hospice facility. These again were very difficult decisions as all parties involved had different opinions of what was best...but Grandpa wanted to go home so that is where he is going. Today he is will be transported back home for what could be the last few days, weeks or months of his life. He will have hospice care.
We will see how this goes and re-evaluate as needed.
At this time I am asking, no who am I kidding... BEGGING, my prayer warriors to cover our home and family in a blanket of prayer. No, this is nothing something that can be changed but we have many difficult weeks, months and even years ahead as we prepare to loose our Grandpa. Grandpa Bradley has always been a father figure to Jason so this is extremely hard for him. (Not to mention that this will be the 3rd major death in a year for us) I am trying to be the best support system that I can be to him, but I too will need prayers for strength and courage as we embark on this upcoming journey. I am continually comforted by the scripture in Matthew 5:4 that states "God blesses those people who grieve! He will comfort them all!" I ask and pray that God provides comfort to our hearts and minds as we prepare to grieve.
Praise God Almighty for his loving arms! I will continue to update you all as things change with Grandpa Bradley for now...
Let your prayers arise...we love you all!
