Keep on Dreamin'

This post is for Tennessee.

This is what I will remember of my latest trip to visit Jon: Muddy shoes and straw-covered pathways winding through the fair in Centennial Park. Rocking chairs made of moose antlers and twisted wood. The gilded colossus of Athena standing in the hall of the Parthenon. The twisted fountain of colorful glass flowers, the endless waterfalls, the purple and white orchids in the glass roofed gardens of the Grand Ole Opry. 

I will remember what it felt like to be there with you, and what you told me that day. And whenever I remember that, I smile real big.

I love you, Tennessee.

"Some dreams stay with you forever,
drag you around but bring you back to where you were.
Some dreams keep on gettin better,
gotta keep believin if you wanna know for sure.

Ohhh, I can hear em playin.
I can hear the ringin of a beat up ol guitar.
Ohhh, I can hear em singin,
'Keep on dreamin, even if it breaks your heart.'"

And I do dream. It doesn’t break my heart, but it does bring tears of happiness to my eyes every once in a while.

Please consider donating. Even if you can only afford five dollars, every little bit will help Jon and his family pay for medical costs as he continues to battle Burkitt's Lymphoma. Giving to Jonathan Minner and his family during this time of crisis is easy and safe. Click on the "donate" button below. You will be taken to the Paypal website to complete your transaction using your Paypal account, credit card or bank account.

If you have any questions or concerns, please don't hesitate to contact Bethany Culp at polymediastudio@gmail.com.

Celebrity Bartender Night

Join us and support Jonathan Minner and his fight with Burkitt’s Lymphoma. Enjoy happy hour specials, raffles, and a silent auction as we raise fund and gain awareness of this disease that affects many.

Please consider donating. Even if you can only afford five dollars, every little bit will help Jon pay for medical costs as he continues to battle Burkitt's Lymphoma. Giving to Jonathan Minner during this time of crisis is easy and safe. Click on the "donate" button below. You will be taken to the Paypal website to complete your transaction using your Paypal account, credit card or bank account.

If you have any questions or concerns, please don't hesitate to contact Bethany Culp at polymediastudio@gmail.com.

Bone Marrow Biospy

Recent updates on Jonathan Minner's progress as he continue to battle Burkitt's Lymphoma: 

3.26.13: "Right now, as I am typing this, Jon is getting his halfway bone marrow biopsy to see how well his treatment is progressing. New test results show that his platelets are up to 38 and his white blood cell count is up to 1.3 ... Jon did great with bone marrow bx. My friend gave him sedation and he never knew he had it done. Oh by the way, his LDH on the 24th was 640!" 

3.28.13: "Preliminary Bone Marrow results: No live lymphoma! Great news."

4.5.13:  "Jon Update. He just got discharged from the hospital after completing round five-week of chemo! Yeah! He will have to go back on Monday for an intrathecal (spinal) chemo, for the day , then again on Thursday for an all day chemo then hopefully he will have 1 1/2 week rest. His counts are reasonable at this time and he is feeling good, not great but he's still very fatigued has low level nausea most of the time. The good news is that it's manageable for him."

Please consider donating. Even if you can only afford five dollars, every little bit will help Jon pay for medical costs as he continues to battle Burkitt's Lymphoma. Giving to Jonathan Minner during this time of crisis is easy and safe. Click on the "donate" button below. You will be taken to the Paypal website to complete your transaction using your Paypal account, credit card or bank account.

If you have any questions or concerns, please don't hesitate to contact Bethany Culp at polymediastudio@gmail.com.

Roller Coaster

Updates this weekend about Jon from Marie Minner, Jon's mother: 

3.23.13: “Busy week for Jon and the blood bank. He was admitted for platelets on Monday. His platelet count was 14 thousand with normal range 150-450 thousand. We knew they were low because his nose kept 'spotting' all weekend, a sure indication of low platelets. 

He was admitted again on Friday this time for platelets and red blood cells. His platelets were still 14 even after the platelets on Monday. His hemoglobin was below 8 so he needed red cells (packed RBCs) 

Both visits required admission for the day, it's outpatient but because he has to have special radiated blood due to his immune-suppressed state it takes hours to get from Red Cross. It's typically a 12+ hour stay. He certainly looks "less pale" after getting blood and has more energy. He has another week off before starting round five on Monday, April 1. 

We are hoping for no more hospital visits until then.”

3.24.13: “Unexpected admission to the hospital. Jon has an infection requiring antibiotics and IV fluids. Luckily he will not have to have surgery tonight but he will be checked by general surgeon tomorrow. We are praying that the antibiotics will be enough. He's really disappointed that he didn't get to stay home for the two weeks off chemo as planned. His next session is scheduled to start April 1.” 

3.25.13: "Good news, no surgery need, Temps 103 all night which delayed getting blood, normal now. Plan for some scans today."

Life has its highs and lows. You don’t have to be old and wise to know that much, but when cancer touches your life those ups and downs can really make you want to yell “STOP THE RIDE, I WANT TO GET OFF!”

I don’t know what it’s like to be the one who’s sick. I can only speak as someone who is cheering Jon on from the sidelines, wondering every day how he manages to maintain his cool. I don’t think I will ever forget the night he told me that he was sick. I remember feeling my heart sink as he told everyone else to leave us alone in his hospital room. When they had gone, he held me tight in his arms, my head against his chest, and he said, “Babygirl, the doctor came in and spoke with me today. I have Lymphoma.” Even then, his voice was so calm and reassuring. We will make it through this, and we will do it together. Jon’s strength is inspiring.

Every day something new happens. We rejoice at the good news, we make the best of the bad. Ups and downs, highs and lows.

For me, it’s been a steep learning curve, but I am beginning to believe that every moment of my life has been preparing me to better deal with new situations during Jon’s treatment as they occur. When it comes to coping with stressful situations, I can confidently say that I have more experience now than I’ve ever had.

Don’t get me wrong, I still have days when I just don’t want to get out of bed. The difference between me now and a younger me is that I don’t do it. “One day at a time” is a great thing to say if you’re having a good day. But I’ve found that it’s actually a lot closer to one moment at a time when you’re having a really bad day. When I’m tempted to shut down and wallow in self-pity, I turn my attention outside myself. Often, I grab my dog, Lindy, and we walk over to the hospital to visit hospice patients. It makes me feel better to know that I didn’t succumb to the temptation of doing nothing for myself — that what I chose to do instead was help others and by doing so, help myself. Because I chose to help myself, I am more prepared to be there for Jon when he needs me, which is what I want more than anything.

Please consider donating. Even if you can only afford five dollars, every little bit will help Jon pay for medical costs as he continues to battle Burkitt's Lymphoma. Giving to Jonathan Minner during this time of crisis is easy and safe. Click on the "donate" button below. You will be taken to the Paypal website to complete your transaction using your Paypal account, credit card or bank account.

If you have any questions or concerns, please don't hesitate to contact Bethany Culp at polymediastudio@gmail.com.

Halftime

An update on Jon from Marie Minner: "Jon is scheduled to come home today after he finishes the second unit of blood. His LDH is down to 794! He feels good, just a little "chemo-ey". He is really ready to go home. Each hospital stay gets harder and harder but the good side is that he has finished the forth round and is half way finished. Yeah for the half-way mark! Can I get a hallelujah!!!"

Please consider donating. Even if you can only afford five dollars, every little bit will help Jon pay for medical costs as he continues to battle Burkitt's Lymphoma. Giving to Jonathan Minner during this time of crisis is easy and safe. Click on the "donate" button below. You will be taken to the Paypal website to complete your transaction using your Paypal account, credit card or bank account.

If you have any questions or concerns, please don't hesitate to contact Bethany Culp at polymediastudio@gmail.com.

Round Four

According to Marie Minner, last week Jon had “a bit of a set back, Jon's platelets are too low to start this round of chemo so they are sending him home until Monday. His LDH is 1510 but Dr Murphy thinks he's far enough along that he will be able to wait until then.”

Today, Jon returns to the hospital where his blood will be tested again. If his platelets are high enough (he had a transfusion to help increase his count), his can begin his fourth round of chemotherapy.

Last time, this was a difficult course of chemo for Jon. He developed sores in his mouth and throat that were so painful he could not talk or eat for days and had to be fed intravenously, and his legs would give out beneath him if he tried to stand. They say that each round of chemo gets easier. I hope that it is the case this time around.

When his blood is tested, the level that I watch with the most interest is his LDH. LDH is used to to check for tissue damage. Accoring to MedlinePlus, “The protein LDH is in many body tissues, especially the heart, liver, kidney, muscles, brain, blood cells, and lungs.” In Jon’s case, it is an indicator of how well his treatment is going. The typical “Normal” range is “105 - 333 IU/L (international units per liter).” When I first brought Jon in to the hospital, his LDH was close to 3000 IU/L.

If you pray, please keep Jon and his family in your prayers. If you think, please keep them in your thoughts.

Please consider donating. Even if you can only afford five dollars, every little bit will help Jon and his family pay for medical costs as he continues to battle Burkitt's Lymphoma. Giving to Jonathan Minner and his family during this time of crisis is easy and safe. Click on the "donate" button below. You will be taken to the Paypal website to complete your transaction using your Paypal account, credit card or bank account.

If you have any questions or concerns, please don't hesitate to contact Bethany Culp at polymediastudio@gmail.com.

Facing a Fear

“On our darkest day 
When we're miles away 
So we'll come 
We will find our way home 

If you're lost and alone 
Or you're sinking like a stone 
Carry on 
May your past be the sound 
Of your feet upon the ground 
Carry on, carry on, carry on” 

I used to get scared when I was alone at night. I asked a good friend of mine, Colleen Downey, (who confided that she used to experience the same feeling) how she managed to overcome her fear. She told me that one night it just dawned on her that she is never actually alone.

There are over seven billion people in the world tonight. No matter how I feel — happy or sad, scared or angry, lost or alone (or sinking like a stone) — somebody out there has felt the same way before at some time. This person may even feel how I am feeling right now. Songs like, “Cary On” by Fun, remind us that we are not alone and encourage us to remain hopeful.

Then, instead of thinking about how scared and alone I feel, I think about all of the people who love me. I think about my friends and my family. I go through the list one by one, and I visualize what each of them might be doing at this moment. Watching TV, laughing over a beer with friends, playing a board game at a comic book shop, returning from a long day at work to an empty house… By the time I get through that list, I don’t feel alone or scared any longer.

So I dedicate this song to Jon, who is about to go through another brutal round of chemotherapy. And I dedicate it to anyone out there tonight who might need to be reminded that we are never really alone — simply because we are all human.


Do not worry, love. I am here.

Please consider donating. Even if it is only five dollars, every little bit will help Jon and his family pay for medical costs as he continues to battle Burkitt's Lymphoma.

Giving to Jonathan Minner and his family during this time of crisis is easy and safe. Using the Paypal Giving Widget to the right, select the amount you wish to donate and click on the "give" button. If you are on a mobile device or, you may alternately use the "donate" button below. Please note, if you use the button below rather than the widget, your donation and name will NOT display to the right.

You will be taken to the Paypal website to complete your transaction using your Paypal account, credit card or bank account.

If you have any questions or concerns, please don't hesitate to contact Bethany Culp at polymediastudio@gmail.com.