It is coming up altogether too often lately – cancer.  Striking far closer to home than we'd like.  Rob is still fighting for his life having undergone several rounds of chemo and two major surgeries, with two more to follow.  Another friend is in Munich this month while her husband receives treatment there.  Two close family members of my husband have underdone surgery and/or other cancer treatments in the past couple months.  We have prayed and prayed.  St. Peregrine has heard a lot from us indeed. 

We were running errands Saturday, leaving a deposit for the temporary furnished place we will be staying in between the time our things are moved out and we leave the country.  The cell phone rang with very bad news.  Jemma, my friend Julie's littlest one, had been hospitalized a few days earlier for what had become a really significant infection.  There had been no apparent cause however and by Saturday morning they had to begin considering ominous explanations.  Scans and bloodwork confirmed she has ALL – Leukemia  I choked over the words when I called home to tell the girls.  Not Jemma. : /

Julie, you might remember, is the creator of the Speed Math card game.  We spend Tuesday mornings together over cameras and knitting needles.  Tomorrow her older daughter comes for her last piano lesson with Alannah.  Then life changes.  She and her brother will press on with a prearranged vacation to family in the States to be cared for there. Julie, meantime, will be bedside with Jemma through a 35day in-patient course of chemo which will be followed by many times weekly outpatient visits for 6months and 18 months of regular appointments after. Assuming all goes well of course. 

Jemma is a curly-topped blonde dynamo, the bitty one pictured below and here.  She speaks good German which will help a great deal at the hospital.  At just five she performs with the local German folk dancing club, kicking her tiny feet over head and spinning in time.  She is a classic girly-girl, loving dress-up and hairbows and handcrafts – which she is remarkably good at for such a young age.  We would like to see her be able to enjoy as much of the things she loves in life as possible while going through treatment. 

We are leaving very soon but I wish to continue to walk this road with Julie's family if we can help in any way.  If you would like to support Jemma and her family also, we have thought of some ways to do that.  Jemma will be losing those lovely curls to the chemo.  We would love to shower her with accessories to wear in their place.  Hats, elasticized hair bows or flowers, costume jewelry, wings/feathers etc. These things are harder to come by in Germany.  

She has an ipad so gift certificates to the itunes store for educational apps or audio books would bless them too as they pass the hours at the hospital. Small handcrafts. The children in Julie's family absolutely love to get postcards from around the world.  Jemma loves mail. (I am going to suggest that if you were thinking of purchasing a pack of Julie's math cards maybe go ahead and do that now too : ))  I know a lot of creative women read this blog, some of whose families have weathered cancer as well,  and will have ideas I haven't considered too.  If so, please contact Julie or I and we can give you their mailing address which is an American address and will not cost more to send to. 

edited to correct email to

jmommymom@gmail.com

Highhill Homeschool blog