3/9/12 to 3/11/12

Post One ~ Kate

To the ends of the earth…..

It is six a.m. I am reclining on a futon a few feet from Dannie’s hospital bed having sleep allude me all night. The college dorm sized refrigerator next to my head is vacillating from a hum to a percolator… bubbly then hissing… oddly soothing against the back drop of the early morning birds, automobile horns, the white noise of the air conditioner. Dannie is seemingly finally resting, I hear an occasional deep breath, but unlike when she was a baby and satisfied from nursing and we would both drop off to sleep for the two hour break, I am wide awake, with swirling thoughts and feelings competing with the ambient sound. We are in India to save her life.

Gratitude~ a string of miracles culminated in us arriving here, on the other side of the world. I am in a state of awe and wonder. Ordinary middle class, Santa Rosa girl. Nothing extra ordinary about me, or my life, until this surreal unraveling of Dannie and Ari’s health swept us up, rearranging everything measureable… the only thing left in place, seriously challenged but remaining,  is our love for God and each other and belief, despite circumstances portending the opposite, “that all things work together for good…”

We have been shown extraordinary love. When I think of it, I still can’t grasp it. I know I will be unable to express the ineffable gratitude to each of you, for prayers, for kind words, for grace when I have been less than I wanted or you wished, for practical help, for listening, for standing the gap when this all was simply too big, too long, too much of everything.

There have been twelve years of agony, floundering, finding our way only to have the path cut off again, twelve years of the “nothing else could possibly happen” with something else happening, the torment giving entrance to twelve years of miracles bringing us to this moment.

The last few days before the departure~ travel donated in full, hours of calls and coordination to get the right flights, the right lay over, the right seats- a crew of self-selected and recruited saints (although some would say they were “called”)  put aside their lives to make saving Ari and Dannie’s  life possible. Denise running from place to place gathering medicine, finding lost paperwork,  a dozen other things, scooping up our kitty for care while away, arranging for us, with help from her sister, Diane,  to be ushered like celebrities from the curb to the plane (by way the British Airways first class lounge a glass of merlot and cheese, thank you Lorri, Harold and Wayne),  Dannie being escorted by Dr. Brandeis who made sure she was as comfortable as possible on the flight to Ari having arranged for a car, days in advance and personally checked out and instructed the driver as to what his sister would need so that her suffering would be lessened by as smooth and calm a ride as possible. Sheila while available and willing to return to India when needed, now providing a vacation to our dogs, Lily and Wesley, and Glenn keeping the process going at home, to move toward the required follow up care. This has taken more than village…Lyme Light Foundation and hundreds of donors who opened their hearts and contributed to making this possible. So many I haven’t mentioned here…

To see Ari, again! To embrace him, to observe the tender reunion of Ari and Dannie, and see him fully engaged in life!! Living in New Delhi, on his own, with a month off from treatment. He will have an additional month of transplant in April. Ari carefully paved the way for our arrival, with his two month of experience he was able to ensure that each detail was taken care of, the clinic “knowing” his sister already, taking charge and having the energy to do it.  Dannie next.

The first few days were rough, Dannie’s pain unrelenting. Hours of unspeakable suffering, no sleep. Yet, when the nurses, called sisters here, and doctors ask, she reports her pain, but always ends, “but I am so happy and grateful to be here.” She has begun treatment and a new medication to manage her pain seemed to be help some today.

Ari is staying across the street, and will return to NuTech the first of April for his first “follow up” treatment, saving him a trip back and forth and allowing us to be together during this most meaningful time.  It is beyond expression what it is like to see him dashing up the stairs, free of back pain for the first time in 12 years, with energy to carry him through a full day.

Signing off for now. Finishing this writing at 3:04 a.m. New Delhi time… and very happy.

K