Favor

I am not usually one to ask for favors.  But I need your help!  I would like for you all to shower Jon with cards, letters, and care packages (that include something he can DO).

His address will be (beginning September 1st until mid November)

Canal Square Apartments
359 N. West Street
Apt. #282
Indianapolis, IN 46202

Here is the story behind this idea:

I posted something on Craigslist one day selling stuff for boy/girl twins being born this summer.  I wanted all my cute stuff to go to someone special and not just to the Goodwill pile.  A girl emailed me back and said she was interested in buying them.  I was to text her or email her back.  So being the person I am who doesn't think through things before I do them,  I emailed and texted her.  About 15 minutes after I did that, I started freaking out.  I was thinking O My Gosh, what if this is not a girl named Brittany, what if it's the Craigslist killer.  This is of course after I invited her to my house.  So immediately I started stalking her on line.  I was checking all social media outlets, googling her, any route I could find.  When I googled her name, up came an article from Hilton Head that had been written a couple of years before.  It was about a guy named Ben (her husband) was battling cancer for the 3rd time.  A foundation was raising money for this couple because he had already been treated at MD Anderson, and was undergoing a stem cell transplant at Emory University in Atlanta.  I was thinking OMG, if this is the same girl this is just crazy.  Well, to make a long story longer (HAHA) it was the same craigslist girl!  She was now pregnant with twins, due in early fall and her husband was a 3 time cancer survivor.

Well, in the last few months, they have become great friends to us!  It ends up they are strong believers and actually go to our church.  Our paths would have never probably crossed at church or the community so God had it for us to meet them on craigslist!  Now, please understand that at the time we met them in April, Jon had NO idea he was faced with stem cell transplant.  We do not personally know anyone who has undergone this type of treatment.  The fact that God put them in our lives at this very time is completely amazing and a total God thing!  Because they now have twins (a boy and a girl) and Jon is going through high dose.  They are such Godly people and I love hearing what God has done in their lives through Ben's cancer.  And he is such an encouragement for Jon and someone Jon can talk with and he knows EXACTLY where Jon is!  It's truly amazing.

So, in talking to them recently this is some advice that they gave to us as Jon faces some very intense months of treatment.  One thing is they said for Jon to have something to look forward to at the end of this journey.  I'm working on that piece.  And another piece of advice is just for Jon to feel loved and encouraged during this time. Also, to keep his mind active and alert.  So this is the favor:

I am asking that if God lays it on your heart, to shower Jon with cards, letters, care packages, etc. Get creative in what to send him.  I would love to see him receive something everyday for the 2 - 3 months he is there.  Unfortunately, the reality of his situation is that it is easy to get stale mentally, to get depressed, and just in general to deterioate.  I would love for him to have something everyday to read or do.  Jon will start out as outpatient.  He will be admitted if the doctors feel it is necessary.  Otherwise, he will come home for dinner and to sleep.  This will help because when his counts are ok, he will be able to see the kids.   All in all he will not be feeling well so any encouragement will be appreciated!

Again, here is his address:

Jon Strebe
Canal Square Apartments
359 N. West Street
Apt. #282
Indianapolis, IN 46202

GODSTRONG

A couple of my friends came up with this idea for t-shirts for Jon and ran with it.  Duke is Jon's favorite team, hence the color:o)

Please NO pressure just thought it was something fun for Jon!

You can click on the link and buy a T-shirt for $15 and Jon will get $10 back to fund his Nike fetish. Haha. i'm TOTALLY kidding!  But really, if you buy one, please take a picture of yourself in it and send it to us!

SHIRTS FOR JON

Now I'm going to let Jon tell you all why he chose GODSTRONG!

Take it away, honey!

Well......obviously GODSTRONG is a play on the Cancer foundation created by Lance Armstrong, and partnered with Nike, LIVESTRONG.  Donna was reading excerpts from Armstong's book "Its Not About the Bike".  In it, Armstrong gives credit of his cure to himself, his will power, the medicine, the nurses, and the doctors.  Basically, everyone but God received credit.  I want everyone that sees this t-shirt to know that we are battling cancer, and will beat it by the grace of God.  I want people to know that God is working through the medicine, through the nurses, and through the doctors that He has provided for us.  It is only by the grace of God that I will be healed, bottom line.  Each person that wears this shirt will now have an obligation to tell others that Jesus is the Great Healer, and the Great I Am.  Thank you for joining us in this battle, and on this journey.

HOME SWEET HOME!

We are back home!  We drove home immediately after Jon's treatment on Tuesday.  He did well until about 30 minutes before we got to our house.  He started shaking and shivering.  By the time we got home he was in sweat pants, sweatshirt, covered in a blanket with his fever rising even after taking advil.  Thank goodness I can text his PA.  She said it was most likely a reaction to the bleomycin, the chemo drug he received Tuesday.  She said it can cause chills and fever.  The ordeal lasted about 5 hours and then by 1030PM the fever was gone and Jon was eating spaghetti and meatballs.  It was a crazy experience.  Again, so glad I could reach the PA or we would probably would have headed to the ER.

Since Tuesday night Jon has been feeling good.  He is still weak and feels fatigue.  But he is eating normal and able to be up and participating in our crazy lives!  His goal is to be back to work Friday.

Please pray that Jon will gain some weight back before he starts his high dose in less than 2 weeks.  Pray also God will protect him from germs as he works and that he will continue to gain strength.

Again, thanks for joining us on the journey!

We are GODSTRONG!

This isn't the greatest picture but it shows all the kids--including my nieces--praying for Jon.  We lay hands on him every night and pray for him.  It is a precious time!

Jon is better!

His fever has been normal since about 2pm today.  He is feeling a little better and has a tiny bit more energy.  He was also able to eat today!  And we both took naps today!!

We really appreciate your prayers and your encouragement!

Reality has set in

I am not going to sugarcoat this.  Life is tough.  These past few days have been tough physically and emotionally.   Reality of our lives for the next 3 months has definitely set in as Jon has faced obstacles with this last round of chemo.  We are still in Atlanta.

This new chemo drug that he got last week can cause severe constipation.  Well, it did!  By Thursday night he was in so much pain that we ended up taking him to the ER.  When we got there we realized he had a low grade fever.  Not good for a chemo patient that has almost no white counts.  The ER helped him with his constipation problem and sent him home.  When I talked to the PA Friday morning she wanted him to come in and get IV antibiotics and fluids.  He will also be on oral antibiotics for 7 days and will also get shots of neupogen every day to get his white counts back up.

In the meantime, yesterday I was trying to get housing situated.  God totally opened a door for us!  The housing situation has been difficult to say the least.  We need a large home, furnished, near the hospital, with a short lease.  O and did I mention it has to be pet free because of Luke's allergies.  We quickly realized all these things weren't going to happen.  So we were trying to figure out the best option and had some possibilities through friends of friends.  But yesterday I made a phone call to a company that I found out about through the IU Cancer Center that rents out furnished apartments.  At the beginning Jon and I were opposed to apartment living with small kids because it would not give them enough space, no yard, etc.  Now we are all about it!  It is very difficult to find a 3 bedroom apartment downtown and impossible to find a 4 bedroom.  So we are going to rent 2 furnished 2-bedroom/2 bath apartments.  They are in the same building a floor apart.  The one that Luke will stay in has been remodeled, new carpet, etc.  The family living there now does not have a pet and the girl in charge of renting these assured me she would have it cleaned well!  It is less than a mile from the hospital.  Kids will stay in one apartment and Jon in the other!  This week has been tough.  Jon LOVES seeing the kids and they always bring a smile to his face.  But he HATES hearing them fight, yell, whine, cry and scream.  You probably get the picture.  This will give the kids an opportunity to ride the elevator and go see their daddy in a good mood and return to their own apartment to whine, scream and cry!  We quickly realized this week that the hospital will be a place we will frequent often even in the middle of the night so being right next to it will be a HUGE blessing.  We can make apartment living work for 2-3 months!

We are also going to take advantage of "city" life.  We live in a small town so we do not have opportunities that a big city offers (but we do have the beach, golf and pool year round!!).  I have enrolled the kids in kindermusik, gymboree sports class, we will do CBS, the zoo is within walking distance, the children's museum is the biggest in the world, etc.  The kids will have an activity everyday to get them out and about.

Jon will start out outpatient.  Which means, he will go to the hospital every morning around 8am.  He will be there until 3 or 4 getting chemo, fluids, meds, transfusions, etc.  He will return to the apartment for dinner and to sleep.  If he has any "issues" they will admit him to the hospital.  I will be with him most days.  Another blessing is that we have a full time live in nanny from Hilton Head that is going with us.  She will be with the kids everyday along with either my mother, Jon's parents or Jon's sister.  They are all rotating.  And then on the days I am with the kids a family member will be with Jon.  It should be interesting to say the least but we will make it work and help Jon through this time.

Please pray for Jon.  He is very sleep deprived.  He is very weak.  He has lost 10 lbs since he started this round almost 2 weeks ago.   He has been nauseated today.  He needs nutrients.  His body has virtually no immune system.  His fever has gone up to 102 today.  Currently as I am typing this we have it down to normal!  Praise God.  Please pray it will stay 100 or below.  Otherwise he will be in the ER again.  Pray that along with the antibiotics, his body will be able to fight this infection.  We are finding out quickly this is very different than 1st line chemotherapy.  When he went through this the first time, he gained 10 lbs, his counts never got as low as this time,  his doctor told him he was text book perfect. This is extremely difficult for Jon mentally and physically.  Jon is not a lay around person.  He has tons of energy and is on the move all the time.  It is very difficult mentally to try and fight through every day.  He is miserable!  Physically he already feels his body being depleted.  He wants so badly to be at home but the doctors have suggested we stay here because we need to be near the hospital.  He will get another dose of chemotherapy on Tuesday and we will figure out if we can go home.  Lots to pray about.  Thanks for being prayer warriors on our behalf.

I will leave you with some pictures.

When I got home from the hospital this morning at 1am, this is how i found Luke sleeping, hugging his little Clifford.  It made me smile!  I miss my children intensely right now.  I absolutely know I am doing the right thing by taking care of Jon, but I miss being with them during the day and even sometimes at night when I am not around.  

SSSHHH!!!  Don't tell Jon I posted this picture.  This was us at the Piedmont ER.  They had pretty purple masks.  

This was us at Gwinnett Medical where we originally went.  When they were checking Jon in and checked his vitals, we realized he had a fever.  I kinda freaked out because I knew they would admit him, starting crying and explaining to the nurse his situation.  I told him his doctor was at Piedmont.  He looked at Jon and said do you feel like driving 40 minutes to Piedmont?  Jon told him he did (LIAR, haha) and the nurse told us we needed to go to Piedmont where his doctor was.  I signed papers refusing service and we left!  It was definitely the right decision.  At the moment though Jon was not real thrilled!

This was a rainbow we saw driving in to Piedmont one day.  I could literally see the whole rainbow.  It was gorgeous.  I was reminded of God's promises.  He stays true to His Word always!  He keeps his promises.  During this journey, I love to be reminded of God's promises!

Stuck in Hotlanta

Jon got worse throughout the night and this morning.  By the time we got to the doctor's office for his bleomycin this morning he couldn't even lift his head off the table.  He broke out in a rash overnight and was feeling lightheaded, dizzy, weak and extreme fatigue.  The PA told us absolutely not to go home until he was feeling "good."  She also put an 86 on the P90X!  For those of you who do not know my husband well, he tends to take things to the extreme!:o)  So she told him going on walks at the most is the only approved exercise while he is recovering from this round.  The doctor told us this is a VERY tough regimen of chemo and in fact is not used often anymore.  They also told us his white counts are SUPER low, like almost 0 so we have to watch him closely for any signs of infection.  This is the lowest they have ever been since he started chemo back in February. 

PLEASE pray for his body to recover quickly.  He is extremely frustrated and discouraged.  This is also making him become very fearful of the future of high dose chemo.  For me, it is so difficult to watch someone not have any interest in "life."  The only thing I see that he has "interest" in is his kids. Pray that mentally he will stay strong and that God will give him LIFE and LIGHT each day.  This is also confirmation for both of us that we are sticking together during this time and that taking our kids to Indianapolis is definitely the right decision.  They bring much happiness to Jon and his face lights up when they walk in and talk with him, dance around, make a joke, or hug him.  We are both so thankful for them and their sweet, sweet spirits.  They are truly gifts from God.

Thanks for lifting Jon's name up to the Father!!

Some sweet moments

This weekend and today was rough for Jon.  We ended up staying in Atlanta and Jon went in to the infusion room today to get extra fluids.  He is just feeling pretty bad in general.  It's been tough for him for sure.  The first time Jon went through this a few months ago, he had a total of 20 days of chemo.  This time (high dose) he will receive 5 times the amount of chemo in just 6 days.  It just makes us even more anxious as we think about how Jon's body will respond to this amount of chemo in such a short time.  Please pray his body will rebound from the standard dose round so that he will feel good on September 3rd going into the high dose round.  Also please pray that he will begin feeling good quickly so that he can go back to work before we move to Indianapolis.  He just wants to be "normal" and go to work and do what he loves to do, teach those precious children.  Jon will get a shot of bleomycin (one of his chemo drugs) tomorrow and some fluids.  After we have Luke's allergy appointment we will head back to HHI.  Pray the trip will be smooth and the kids will not be too whiny!

I have some cute pictures of the kids I wanted to share.  When I watch them with Jon it brings me joy and is a reminder that they will never be the same after going through this experience.  Our family is "sticking together like glue" to help get Jon better.  The kids follow Jon up to his room when he gets home from chemo.  They love when he walks downstairs to say hello.  And they come snuggle with him in bed.  They love helping serve him and get things for him.  It is so cute and I know they are learning life lessons that they otherwise wouldn't be learning.  None of us will be the same after this, and I know that we will be a stronger, closer family through serving each other and putting others needs above our own.

Here is Emma Kate snuggling with her daddy.  They have missed him so much this week.  They call his port his "doodles" so everyday when he comes home they ask if he got his doodles taken out.  They know that the port is a sign that daddy is sick and has to go to the doctor all the time.  We have been extremely open with our kids about what Jon is going through.  They see all of our emotions about the situation.  We do not try and hide anything, although obviously we tell them what is age appropriate.  But unfortunately Luke over hears a lot more than he probably should.

The kids like bath time so much more with Mikayla!!  She puts LOTS of bubbles in there and it's a great hour long activity!!

Take a look at Luke's black eye!  He had a collision with Emma Kate.  But don't worry, she told us she was just fine an not "crying"  But Emma Kate wasn't fine the next day when she got stung 4 times by a hornet on the hand!  I felt SOO bad for her.  She cried and cried!

Yes this is Jon THIS WEEK.  He has done P90X everyday except Sunday. And he looks dang good!  He said he is in the best shape of his life!  Below is Jon's first day of chemo.  Doesn't he look handsome?

We stopped at my grandfather's house on the way to Atlanta.  He gave the kids a tractor ride and the LOVED it.  They were so excited to see great-grandaddy!