|
|
 |
Musings Archive: January 2005:: James Keddy Jr. (1957-2005) :: I had expected to post an update this morning and fill you in on Jim's condition, which post-angioplasty had been rapidly improving. He had come home last Friday, and things had been looking very positive, the doctor's telling them that with diet change, exercise and medicine Jim could have a full recovery. We're all a bit in shock, as you might gather, and their eldest son Curtis and his wife Christy-Rose are in Hong Kong with Sue, already helping with arrangements and trying as best they can to hold her up even while engulfed by their own grief. I spoke to CJ, their other son, this morning; he's in shock--he was very very close to his father and being so far away feels desperately helpless. For those of you in Canada, please tell anyone who knew Jim, and as soon as I know anything about arrangements, I’ll pass it along. Right now all I know for sure is that Sue and Christy-Rose are flying home mid-week, and that Curt will follow later in the week with Jim's body. I don't know when any viewing/wake or service will occur, but do know that it will be in Burlington at the Burlington Pentecostal Church. So, obviously, I write to ask you to please pray for all of them, and their friends, for Jim’s parents, sisters and cousins. And pray for my parents too (who are on their way back to Canada after their two weeks of babysitting me here in Philly) and who have borne enough worry of late for three lifetimes. And again, pray for my sister Sue. Posted by Dwight Ozard (1/24/2005 11:30:09 PM | link) :: Health Update; :: Friends: A very brief note to tell you two things. First, I’m doing ok. Still waaaay too tired, still not eating as much as I wish I was, still not patient enough with myself, but, all that being said, seeing the slow signs of recovering from this nasty brut of a treatment. I keep reminding myself of my doctor’s mantra for measuring and monitoring recovery: Weeks not days & months not weeks. My parents are still here, driving me to the Cancer Clinic for blood work and transfusions, cooking and cleaning and otherwise babysitting, for which we are both amazingly grateful. They’ll leave at the end of the week, so we’ll have to arrange for the transportation bit starting next week, since I’m still officially too weak to drive (even I wouldn’t trust me with a car right now). And Sheri’s amazing, as always, responding to having her life stripped from her for the past three months (uh, years, Dwight….). I’m a lucky man. Coming home last weekend was such a gift, and as worn out as I feel, I’m so glad to be here—and to be able to say that I believe the turnaround that let me get released was a direct answer to this prayer from the old Book of Common Prayer, prayed at a time when I most needed to pray it, and heard when I most needed to believe again. For Trust in God O God, the source of all health: So fill my heart with faith in your love, that with calm expectancy I may make room for your power to possess me, and gracefully accept your healing; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. No big claims here, only this: that I have never been more shaken than I was at the start of last weekend, and I was praying for faith to have faith for a reason. I’m glad to be home. ***** The second thing is a family thing, and tough. My sister, four years my senior, has lived in Hong Kong with her husband Jim and family since 1990, first venturing as “missionaries” and then eventually quitting their gig to just work as teachers and “be” among the Chinese and Pakistani communities they’d become part of. I’m very proud of them. Anyway, on Friday Jim, who is 47, had a major heart attack and was admitted to a big HK hospital, where they discovered he had major blockage in most arteries—bad enough that the docs are quite amazed he survived the attack at all. On Monday morning (Sunday night our time) he was given an angiogram and angioplasty (stint/balloon in the artery thing), and while it’s going to be a tough road, they’re looking at full recovery over time—with diet change, exercise and drugs. Sue & Jim’s oldest son Curtis and his wife Christy Rose live in Hong Kong right now, and they’ve been invaluable help, as have their amazing network of friends. But to go through this so far from “home”—even when you’ve been away for so long—it’s tough on all them. I know these things. Well, anyway, I tell you these things because I believe you will pray, God will hear and draw near to them, and they will find comfort and healing and a way to make this an opportunity to continue to share the graces they’ve been given. This, I know, is the first of their prayers, and I do so admire and see them as an example for Sheri and I to follow. Pray for my folks too, who are feeling a bit under assault, what with instead of spending their January in the south somewhere with other retired types they’re baby sitting their 42 year old son in Philly and spending their savings on hotel rooms and phone calls to Asia where they wait news on their son-in-law. And, of course, remember those who have no one—to baby sit, to feed, to care and clothe and house and nurture and pray or even just say their name. Or, as is the case of so many in the wake of that horrible wave, even to know they are gone. That part of Thailand hit was not just a major tourist/resort area for families and “good” people. It was also the center of that country’s elicit but tolerated child-sex/prostitution “tourism” trade. This is why there is so much fear for those orphaned by the Tsunami, as aid groups try to protect kids from kidnapping and a shortened life of slavery. Pray, give and stand up for these kids. Ask our leaders to make our aid dependent upon the Thai regime actively and aggressively fighting this awful scourge. Again, we love you.
Posted by Dwight Ozard (1/20/2005 12:53:03 PM | link) :: I'm home!!!! :: Good news! It’s a long story, but after some of the darkest days we’ve had--emotionally, spiritually, mentally, physically--and some of the more discouraging setbacks imaginable starting around Christmas, this past Friday night there I had a sudden turnaround in my critical blood platelet count. (Until then I'd needed nearly daily transfusions which "bumped" my counts for a few hours and then seemed to almost as quickly “eat” those cells--thus never getting them up to a “safe” level. This continued, as I said, until Friday/Saturday, when suddenly I began to maintain my counts. That stability meant this: I got sent home. Yeah. I’ll post more info over the next few days--give me a day or two to rest and catch up--but I can tell you it’s a pure gift. My folks arrive today to babysit and cook and help me rediscover my appetite (I've gone from 195 lbs to @ 167 lbs--I'm SKINNY) and help me exercise and take some pressure from Sheri (and let her go to work). There will be more to come, but first allow us some emotional and spiritual snoozing/catching up and let us have another week or two of rest and low-level socializing.In the meantime, please don’t send a lot of letters. I’m just anxious to chill, and eventually finally find the energy to sit with a couple of pals and watch some new dvds. Thanks for your prayers. Pray esp. for the nose bleeds. And for giving to the victims of the Tsunami.
Posted by Dwight Ozard (1/10/2005 12:04:26 PM | link) Musings Archive |
 |
|
|
