Even with the W.T.O. riots going on in the City of Seattle and chaos
reigning in the streets...life goes on and most folks went about their
daily business.
Ours started at about 9:30 this morning as we waited for the stem cell
representative to bring Cees' harvested stems cells to his room from
Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. They are kept about 3 blocks
from the hospital and I was kind of worried as to whether or not they
would have any problems getting them here with all the roads closed
down for the W.T.O. demonstrations.
Our Pastor Steve was there and a very good friend from our church, Ann
Kluth, our son's girlfriend, Jennifer and myself. With Michael, our
stem cell tech and Donna our nurse attendant, it was a pretty crowded
room! Pastor led us in a beautiful prayer as the team stood by in
preparation. The weather was rain, rain and more rain outside but the
ambiance of our room was peace and excitement for what was about to
begin. It was such sharp contrast to what was actually taking place
outside!
Michael had brought seven (yes, 7, my wonderful, favorite number!)
small bags that contained the precious new life giving cells that had
been collected in September. Each one was thawed separately right
before it was going to be infused in a basin of warm water, warmed to
just the right temperature.
We laughed, we hugged, we talked, we prayed. We stood in awe as we
thought about how wonderful it is to be at this place in time when
there is such an explosion of medical technology that can give such
hope to people facing these medical challenges.
Cees' window faces north and overlooks Queen Anne Hill and Lake Union.
When the infusion began it was raining hard outside and then, about the
time we started the first bag of stem cells, a rainbow started to form from the left
side of Queen Anne hill and progressed across Lake Union to complete a
perfect, finished rainbow at about the University area. the
rain continued but underneath the rainbow it had stopped and as we
watched it, the closer it got to each new bag being completed, the more
the rainbow receded to the right side of the sky....here is the most
amazing part...as the 7th bag of cells were emptied and the closer the
cells got to being finished, the rainbow continued to recede. At the
exact time the cells finished, the rainbow had completely disappeared!
The rainbow is a visual sign of a promise from the Lord long ago as a
reminder that He will never break His promises...He will always be
there for us if we look for Him. He was there with us today and Cees
and I truly believe that we are going to make it through this. The
Doctor said he did tremendous today...and continues to call him his
Star!
He was up and awake and waiting for his lunch and his supper. He took a
little walk down the hall and we watched some more of today's goings on
in the news. We watched a little Casablanca; to be finished tomorrow
night and my son and his girlfriend came with a chocolate birthday cake
with a rainbow decorated on it. We each had a piece and gave the rest
to the nurses, they'd take it from him anyway as he has to watch his
blood sugar...
I tucked him in for the night, kissed him goodnight and left to go
home.... Now we start counting up, tomorrow is day 1. About day 14 to
21 we should see some new cell counts coming up. We continue to pray
for his vital organs as they recoup from the heavy chemotherapy and
that he resists any and all infections while his counts are down.
We are so grateful to all of you that continue to keep us in your
thoughts and prayers...we will be so glad when this is behind us. But
for now we're in it and we're in it to win...
started to form from the left
side of Queen Anne hill and progressed across Lake Union to complete a
perfect, finished rainbow at about the University area. the
rain continued but underneath the rainbow it had stopped and as we
watched it, the closer it got to each new bag being completed, the more
the rainbow receded to the right side of the sky....here is the most
amazing part...as the 7th bag of cells were emptied and the closer the
cells got to being finished, the rainbow continued to recede. At the
exact time the cells finished, the rainbow had completely disappeared!
The rainbow is a visual sign of a promise from the Lord long ago as a
reminder that He will never break His promises...He will always be
there for us if we look for Him. He was there with us today and Cees
and I truly believe that we are going to make it through this. The
Doctor said he did tremendous today...and continues to call him his
Star! 
