Finally got a connection.....

Well after hoping to find a internet connection in a very nice Courtyard Marriott of Shadyside I searched and searched to no luck...so I am illegally connecting wirelessly with my brothers laptop and very slow wireless connection. But talk about about a sweet laptop.....Ailenware!!! Oh yeah!!! I would give you all links to this stuff, but it takes so long that it would not be worth it.

So, yesterday we left very early to get to the hospital and man oh man did we wait. When we first arrived we went into he room and got settled in. You should have seen Sheila...she has this Hospital stay for 5 days down to a science. Have they moved in....I mean literally moved in with a airbed (for Sheila), suitcase, and even a shower pillow.

We waited and waited and waited then Sheila went to go get some USB cables to be able to watch a few seasons of Deep Space 9 (Star Trek for you non-geeks out there) on the laptop, and she brought back Popeye's Chicken and dang that was good, and Jay ate around 7 biscuits with honey, heh. Then we waited some more as I played Jay's Gameboy and Sheila and her mother played Scrabble Deluxe. Then they played solitaire on Jay and Sheila's Ipaq's, ha ha.

Then. Sheila's father came by after work and stayed for a while. We all stayed around and just supported Jay with our presence mostly...We all got tired of waiting after a while. But then the Chemo was ordered after he finally got seen by one of his Dr's (he has like 12 of them, heh funny, but nice to have them all)

They finally ordered the Chemo Cocktail (the Dr.'s words not mine) and They started pumping it all into his body last night around 7:00 pm. To help calm Jay down we all watched Star Trek. There were really no effects to the Chemo yet. Well, I stayed for as long as I could and then I went to the hotel room (the shuttle ended last night @ 11:00 p.m.) Well, they put 5 of the 7-10 Chemo drugs into him last night and they started the High dose of Methotrexate last night around 11:00 pm. This dose is so big that it will given to him (via IV) over the course of one day so this huge bag above him will be empty @ 11:00 pm tonight.

Well, I got tot he Hotel room (BTW: Sheila's boss is awesome because he pays for the room everytime Jay is @ the hospital and is allowing me to sleep there and Sheila to shower there everynight or day (whenever she has time) I forgot that I had not eaten dinner. I so found a microwaveable pizza and heated that bad boy up and scarfed it down....needless to say I was still hungry, but too tired to care. I slept very good last night and work up to what I thought was a spot light in my window, but when I pulled back the curtains it was the sun, heh heh.

I went and bought Jay and Sheila some Starbucks coffee and a lemon poppy seed muffin for Sheila and a apple Fritter for Jay...Little did I know that lemon poppy seed was Sheila's fav, and apple fritter was Jays, heh.

When I arrived in their Hospital room this morning Jay was getting some MRIs done for his legs (they have really been hurting him) and Sheila loved her coffee and muffin. Jay came in the room after the MRI long enough to be moved to touch his regular room bed, and then they said, "get back on the gurney to go get your LP" (lumbar puncture Chemo) So I got to kiss his bald head and watch him be wheeled away for the LP. I sat and played GB, and finally he got back. I have enjoyed being with him sooooo much!!! In a way he is one of my heros! He helped God make me and mold me into who I am today, and I owe a large part of what I like and enjoy to him. I love computers, Star Trek, Star Wars, Video Games, D&D (yes, yes, I know all you crazed Christians out there can ask me questions galore about how a D&D playing youth became a pastor, heh) etc....
There is a huge part of me that is made up of Jay, and I would not have it any other way. Thank you Jay for helping God make me who I am. (I hope in some small way he uses me to help you be all that He is calling you to be in relationship with Him and in relationship with others.)

After you get a LP they make you stay laid down for 3 hours so Jay is on his back. Another Dr came by to see him and checked his legs (this guy was an internal Dr) and he was really wondering if his problems with his legs is with a spinal disc in his lower lumbar region. So he left to go check the MR scans to see if he could notice anything. (so that would be good news if the pain in his legs was not cancer or chemo relater and just a slipped disc or something like that. (up that is up in the air right now)

Well, he was starting to feel a little stomach sick, and got some medicine for it and that got him tired enough to eat a chicken salad sandwich, and maybe he can get down the apple fritter I bought for him.

Well, I love you all, and I need to go get lunch now. Jay's 3 hours is up and so I feel better about leaving him alone for a few secs.

Sheila is @ the hotel room doing meetings with her work and on the phone and she will be back around 4 or 5 and hopefully she can bring Jay's fav Italian food with her tonight for everyone. O yeah looking forward to that one tonight.

When Jay woke up this mornning he was feeling great, no pain anywhere and was feeling very good! His legs started bother him again, but that is typical after the LP. And now he is eating his apple fritter and feeling very good (probably because his three hours is up and can sit up again.

Well, I will try to give another update tomorrow morning with this wireless stuff, but not sure. I am leaving Tomorrow afternoon to get home so sadly and happily I will return to home.

Thank you for your prayers!!!! Jay is now in for the long haul. His has started his kick butt chemo and really needs your prayers now! The chemo is is on now probably will start showing him it effects tonight and tomorrow. He will probably start feeling VERY sick and loose all of his mucus glands. This means no spit in his mouth, and entire GI track. They say it can get bad enough to cause bleeding in the mouth because it is so dry. (very hard to swallow for food needless to say too). He is feeling very good right now, but I think it is because a lot of the steroids they are giving him with the chemo, but I know it is most due to your prayers. Now this is the 1st section of Chemo that will last for 5 intensive days and then a few Rituxan IV injections over the course of 7 more days. Then he gets to do this all over again 10 days after the end, and then do it all again for a third time. So this is the first round of three that he will go through. (Yes, hard.... very hard) That is why we desperately need to continue our prayers for him!!!

Jay says thank you to all of you who are praying for him and Sheila, and I can say the same for me and my traveling and Tiffany @ church camp that went well! We all love you all, and please take care! God bless you all, and please know you are in Jay's prayers too. (He is constantly praying and thanking everyone for their prayers and gifts. See....told you he is awesome, heh I love watching God work through him!)

BTW: Christy and Kevin sent a next day delivery to the hospital, it is the Kick Butt Chemo Survival Kit! Jay loved it so much (all of the toys that I have already played with, heh) and he immediately started reading "The Next Door Savior" by Max Lucado. He loves it and you!!! Thank you everyone!!!

If any of you want to contact him his direct phone number in the room is: (412) 578-1201. Take care and God bless yall! Love ya!