Thank you everyone for your kind and generous donations toward helping us with our flying challenges. Maggie and I are very touched by your generosity. Gosh, thank you. But here’s a funny twist. Gratitude aside, please hold off on your gifts. While every single one is very, very appreciated, we think they may be unnecessary for right now. The volunteer agency Angel Flights is living up to their name. They have arranged for volunteer pilots to fly Maggie to and from Houston next week at no cost to us. They are even working on covering ground transportation in Houston so that she can get to and from the airport. Crazy cool. Of course, there’re some caveats.
The flights are limited to good weather days only and can be canceled last minute with little warning. Our plan is to use Southwest as our backup plan. Six non-stop flights leave about two hours apart for Houston via Southwest. We may have a few morning scrambles but, hey, what’s a backup plan for if not to be unexpectedly put in play. For you who have already sent flight certificates or gifts, these backup flights is how they’ll be used.
Of course, any flights back to Austin that are canceled are less time-sensitive since she doesn’t have an important needle with her name on it waiting at the other end of the flight. My welcome-back hugs and kisses can wait for hours, rain or shine.
We don’t know for certain that Angel Flights will be a dependable option for us as of yet. But for right now, let’s see what happens. And, again, thank you very, very much.
Now, in other news…..
Maggie is back home. She missed her 4:40PM flight yesterday so she caught the last flight out of Houston. It was late leaving so she didn’t get into my warm car until just after 11PM, tired and cold. We came home, got ready for bed and just before turning out the lights she gave the toilet a good night vomit. The romance is gone.
This morning she’s got a new pain toward her back. We think it’s more of the same caused by her swollen liver rubbing up against her diaphragm. We threw a steroid pill at the problem and she’s staying in bed and very still. Hopefully the steriods will continue to provide the same amazing benefits we’ve seen in the past.
All-in-all, her spirit is good. She has smiles on and off but they are forced smiles when the pain is bothering her. No kidding. Me, I’m on and off, too. But at least, for now, we can be on and off together. Things are just a whole lot better when we are together.
Thank God for Angels and angels! Sending much, much love, prayers unceasing, and serenity for you both –
just wanted to stop in and tell ya I love you both & hope to see y’all again soon.
Chris, you and I went to high school together for a year. My name is Terry Yoakum (Knight now). I’ve been keeping up with your mom and sister via facebook and, subsequently, keeping up with you. I am SO impressed at how eloquently and calmly you recount this most difficult journey. What I gleen from this life you two live is that there is joy abundant and love galore between the two of you! I am so happy that you found each other and have one another to lean on in this time. In reading your story, I’ve learned to let go of “sweatin’ the small stuff.” Thank you for sharing so freely and I wish you two all of the angels that can come your way!
Love,
T. Yoakum Knight
Maggie and Chris: It sounds like it’s been a tough week. I am thinking about you and sending you as many good vibes as I can from NYC. Keep kicking those tumors’ butts. They’re no match for the two of you.
I have been reading a little each day trying to catch up with your story and I see a lot of my own pouring out on the pages. I have been going to MDA (from Cedar Park)for 15 mths for treatment of colon cancer, now in lungs and liver. We are still fighting it and we have a battle plan in place; including clinical trials if they can find one for me, if not it will likely be HAI. I just cannot believe that someone so lovely should be tested this way. I wish for you the best and pray for the treatments to kick in and knock those tumors out!
Dear Maggie and Chris,
You had mentioned your concerns about getting Maggie to and from Houston on a couple of occasions, and several people came forward to offer their assistance. I, too, wanted to help, and so I did something before you posted your “Thank You” entry. Then, of course, came your entreaty telling us to hold off on our gifts. I thought about putting a halt to my contribution, but then decided better of it. Read on, and I’ll tell you what I did, and why I wish to proceed.
I opened a bank account for you and Maggie, but for now it’s in your name, Chris. You can add Maggie later if you choose to do so. It’s not a huge amount, but perhaps it’s enough to make at least some difference. I thought that in doing so, I could post instructions for others to make deposits to it as well as me, to help pay for Maggie’s flights to Houston. I wanted to call it “Wings for Maggie,” but I learned that there were all sorts of legal hurdles to simply give it a name. It would have to be turned into a trust; a lawyer would have to be involved, etc. I would rather spend money on you or any other cancer patient who might need a flight than pay lawyer fees simply to accomplish what I feel can be accomplished in a much simpler manner (in this case).
I’m delighted that Maggie’s flights will be provided by Angel Flight, and that you won’t need the money for this purpose. However, the money is still yours to use as needed. I know that insurance pays for much of what Maggie needs, but I’m sure that there have been enormous incidental expenses that insurance doesn’t cover. Perhaps our contribution can help. If you truly find that you don’t need it, then I would ask that Maggie choose a charity or foundation of her choice (Lance Armstrong Foundation? Angel Flight?) and donate to the money to it.
I know you have asked us to hold off on our gifts, but I ask you to keep this, just in case. You and Maggie have given me—and your other readers, I’m sure—your own gift in sharing your journey with us. You have helped me to look at the gifts in my own life with a greater appreciation than before. I strive to take things less for granted. And you have deeply touched my heart with the love you have for one another, the greatest gift of all. I know this sounds incredibly ironic, and I hope that you will take it in the spirit it is intended, but the two of you are very lucky. I think a love like yours is rare.
I know I am not the only one who feels compelled to help out in any way I can. I’m sure others would like to reach out to you in a more personal manner than that provided by your blog. I ask you to please let us help where we can because, though I know you say you do not need it, we would genuinely like to help in some way, and if we cannot help you directly, then let us help others through Maggie’s choice of foundation.
For that reason, you also now have a P.O. box, where others can send a card or (as I originally intended but you now say you do not need), a contribution for Maggie’s flights.
I hope I have not overstepped my bounds, and if I have I hope you will forgive me. My intentions were and are only the best, which is what I wish for you and Maggie. Your blog touches hundreds of people, and I know that there are, among those, a desire to do something for you. I thought that in setting up this account and postal box, I could help them to help you, without posting any personal information that you wouldn’t want published on the internet.
For those wishing to send anything to Maggie and Chris the address is 5501-A Balcones Drive; Box 136; Austin, TX 78731.
If you wish to make a deposit directly to their new account you can mail a check to National Bank by Mail; KY1-0900; Chase; P.O. Box 36520; Louisville, KY 40233-6520. On the check, in the memo space to the lower left, you MUST remember to write “Chris Weaver, #810368241.
I’ll post these addresses in the comments section of your blog from time to time just in case somebody misses it in this entry. After all, I certainly lack Chris’s flair for the dramatic, and I likely have lost many by now.
Chris, I will be mailing you a package with instructions about the account and the mailbox in next day or two.
My heart is with you both.