Gizmo Did It...Are You Kidding Me? - July22

From my mom Jennifer:
O.K. I mentioned yesterday that I accidentally sliced Brianna’s morphine line when I adjusted her bed railing. Well, today while nurses Jane and Robin were tending to Brianna it happened again. BUT, it wasn’t me…IT WAS GIZMO!!! He chews the clamp on the line and it cuts it in half. Jane came back tonight and rigged her morphine line so Gizmo can't get to it under the bed! Don’t worry though, Bob suggests we enroll him in a twelve step program :o) (You have to understand Bob’s sense of humor…no offense.) The pharmacy didn’t believe Jane when she called to tell them we needed another line…she said if she didn’t witness it herself she would have thought Bob was just trying to blame it on the dog! Remember, Bob claims to hate dogs…but if you sneak downstairs late at night he is cuddling the dog and feeding him snacks. Yeah, after telling everyone else not to feed the dog “people” food he goes ahead and does it when no one is looking! The pharmacy decided to draw a picture of a dog bone on the delivery bag...Ha Ha, very funny!!
Brianna is about the same nothing much changed. She slept almost the entire day, had two bites of applesauce, and nothing to drink. It appears her body is shutting down, but things are very unpredictable as we have followed many families and every experience is a little different. We pray that she remains comfortable and peaceful. She told me her head hurt this morning so I gave her an extra dose of morphine. She spoke very few words and the only ones I understood all day were, "I wish I could talk!"
I wanted to dedicate this update to the great-grandparents as they have such a special place in our hearts. Grandparents are o.k. (just kidding!), but GREAT GRANDPARENTS ARE THE BEST!!! You can see the words taken right from the dictionary! I am just a guardian…I have a long way to go before I earn any level of “importance or distinction” in the field of parenting :o)
Great: a person who has achieved importance or distinction in a field (i.e. parenting)Grand: magnificent, splendid, first-rate, very good, noble, revered, of great importance or distinctionParent: A father or mother; protector or guardian
Great grandma was diagnosed with lung cancer before Brianna’s diagnosis and they were each undergoing 6 week radiation treatments. Brianna worries more about great grandma than herself. She wanted to call them the other day so I dialed the phone, held it to her ear, and listened to her say, “I love you so much!” It is very difficult to understand Brianna’s speech, but somehow great grandpa understood. I learned today that great grandma has a new mass and the oncologist labeled it stage 4 lung cancer. Brianna would be heartbroken if she was aware of the news.
Brianna is blessed with several great-grandparents she has been able to spend time with: Marjorie & John, Ruth, Margaret, and Shirley. My family was always big on taking pictures of “the four generations.” The natural order of things is not to have the youngest generation leave first. However, maybe it’s the reason why some children are chosen to leave us and become angels? Grandparents & great grandparents need children to love and spoil in heaven! You can only play Bingo and Bridge for so long, and though some may deny it, fishing and golf becomes dull as well! Isn’t life better when you hear a child smile and laugh or watch them play? I don’t imagine people being excited to get to heaven without the smiles and laughter of children.
We have been blessed to have our entire extended family live near us our entire lives. We are what you call, “Naper-villagers” because we were born and raised in Naperville and have lived through all of the growth and change. People “new” to Naperville might be referred as, “Naper-villians” even though they may have lived here for 10-15+ years; because they may not know that the Starbucks downtown used to be a liquor store or that the Ann Taylor & Eddie Bauer used to be Cee-Bee’s grocery store. Seeing the community grow and develop has not changed its small town roots and feel. A city of 150,000 people and everyone still pulls together to help in a time of need. It has happened many times and you might have read about it in yesterday’s Naperville Sun as the Lacewell’s subdivision, then extended parts of Naperville pulled together to help them on their journey. They also took us on and are continuing to support us on our journey as well. Whether it’s neighbors, friends, schools, churches, police, fire, or Mayor Pradel, we have a support system that extends far and wide…it goes way beyond Naperville and we thank you all for continuing to encourage and support us while we enjoy our time with Brianna and continue on this tough road!
We would like to extend our deepest sympathy as CALEB SPADY passed away yesterday morning while his mother Kim was in surgery. She had to undergo another surgery due to a complication from her previous surgery for colon cancer. You might remember me asking for prayers for this family not too long ago. Caleb’s dad, Ken and his three brothers need to be lifted up in prayer. Please pray for Kim to have a speedy recovery. There are no words to describe what this family is going through. It is unbelievable how many families have lost children to DIPG in the past several weeks!! When will there ever be progress? As another parent put it, “Heaven gets sweeter every day!”
God Bless!!