Please Pray for Tim

Tim has my prayers Pam! And you too---I know this is such a difficult time for both of you. Thanks for keeping us posted on his progress---he's on my mind often.

Tim will be in my prayers, Pam.

I'll be praying

Tim did get a call back from work at the end of the work day on Friday. He is able to start this coming Wednesday, but he is very disappointed and upset because he found out they are going to put him on nights all by himself in his department. They never had a night shift for what he does since he started working there several years ago. They had thrown some talk around about it every now and then, but nothing ever got started. He feels like he won't be able to see the kids since they'll be at school, and then he will have to go to work around the time they get home and he really feels like he needs to be around his family as much as possible while finishing up treatment, not stuck by himself in a part of the building at his job. He also worries about whether he'll be able to to adjust to the shift, since he has been going to bed between 8 and 9 o'clock at night because he still gets pretty tired (and he hasn't even started the second round of chemo yet). And then they also threw at him that all hourly workers are getting a 10% cut in pay. A lovely welcome back. The last thing he needs right now is more stress when he needs to be concentrating on getting better. They made it seem like they were doing him a favor so that he can get all of his hours in while he is undergoing chemo, even though his treatments are only Mondays and Tuesdays for 4 out of 8 weeks (every other week), and he'd still be able to put half days in on those days and work Saturdays. They didn't even give him a choice. I hate this, "You should feel lucky to even have a job" society we live in these days. People are having to deal with all kinds of unfairness because employers know there is no place else for their workers to go.

Companies have no loyalty, especially in this kind of market. My husband had to layoff one of his employees this year and she had recently finished up chemo. Do these people have any heart at all?

I'm so sorry to hear of this Pam. I hope it doesn't stress Tim--or you--out too much. He needs to concentrate on getting better. I'll be praying that he'll be able to adjust and concentrate on his recovery. Hugs and prayers go out to you too.

Thanks, Cheryl.

I can't imagine how tough it was for your husband to be in that position to have to let his employee go. I know there are people all over the place put in those difficult situations lately. Things are really tough right now and I believe the economy has a lot to do with these kinds of things going on. It has certainly exacerbated these kinds of situations.

I am so sorry about what they're doing to Tim. You're right Pam, in their minds they think they're doing him a 'favor'. Yeah right. I can imagine he's upset about not seeing the kids...that would be so tough. I start daycare again this week for a dad who was laid off many months back...he has been fortunate to see his girls all the time, but this new job will be nights---his daughter will no more get home from school and he'll have to take off, and his younger daughter will be with me while he gets his sleep during the day. But it's the first job he's found that has looked good enough to take pay-wise; they've got him over a barrel. In Tim's case, he especially didn't need this right now. I am so sorry you're both going to have to deal with this. I am praying.

I'm keeping you and Tim in my thoughts and prayers, Pam.

Pam, did Tim go back to work on Wednesday, and if so, how has it been going?

Yes, he did, Teresa. It hasn't been too bad so far. Right now, through next Friday, he is working from 1:00 - 9:30 p.m., to train on a new software. So, he hasn't had to worry about staying up too late yet. We'll see how it goes when he's on the 4:30 p.m. - 1:00 a.m. shift. He says a lot of the guys on nights work a 12 hour shift, but there is no way he can make it 'til 5 in the morning, especially while going through chemo. They said he could work what he wanted though, and he's working 8 hours now. He's in a little office near the shop, so while he's alone in there, there are guys right out in the shop. He kind of likes being by himself right now, while he's adjusting to everything. Thanks for asking!

WOW Pam sorry to hear about Tim's shiftwork. I know this seems very unfair, but try to hope this will have some good come from it. So many people are out of work, and we all just have to be thankful. I know you both are going through mud right now, but stay close to one another and God will carry you through.
In the meantime, there is a strong prayerline here on the Prairie.

I'm glad he's not trying to work until 5:00am Pam...a 12 hour shift is crazy hard for a healthy person to achieve on a daily basis, let alone a family man going through chemo. I continue to pray for you both.

Amy wrote:

I'm glad he's not trying to work until 5:00am Pam...a 12 hour shift is crazy hard for a healthy person to achieve on a daily basis, let alone a family man going through chemo. I continue to pray for you both.

I totally agree. And I'm praying, too, Pam. {{{Big hugs!}}}

I just wanted to update that Tim's chemo will be going through until the end of the year, rather than until November, as we thought. We just misunderstood the time frame. We thought he would be done in 8 weeks, but it's actually 8 treatments every other week, so a total of 16 weeks until he is done. But, he is doing well so far. The only side effects he has noticed up until now is feeling tired and a sensitivity to cold. So, no ice cream for him! It's an odd side effect, the other day he took a frozen meal out of a box and dropped it like it burned him. He said that was exactly how it felt, like it was burning him. So, he better bundle up and invest in a good pair of gloves with this cold we've been having.

Work as been going good for him too. The owner took him aside one day last week and told him his father went through the same thing when he was Tim's age and told Tim not to worry if he couldn't make it in because he wasn't feeling well. He also told him that he put him on nights because he felt it would be less stressful for him, which it really has been. So, Tim felt much better after talking to him.

So, things are going good and I thought I'd post a positive, non-stressed update for a change!!

I'm Glad to Hear that

Oh, I'm so glad to hear that work is going well, and that it's not too stressful for Tim. I'm glad that he is feeling well, and having minimal side-effects to the chemo. I pray that continues for him. Thanks for the update, Pam.

Wow, that IS some good positive news! Too bad the treatments are going longer, but I'm glad he's doing well with them. This hot and cold sensitivity must be so weird! I'm happy that work is going ok for him too...that is wonderful that his boss can relate with him. Thanks for updating Pam!

That's great that Tim is doing so well and that he has an understanding boss.

I'm so glad Tim had a talk with his boss and he is being understanding. That's one less thing for him to worry about.

I'm glad to hear Tim is doing well and that his boss talked to him about what is going on. I hated to think they were being so insensitive to him during this time.

I realized I left off here without ever updating. This past Fall Tim was officially declared in remission. Needless to say, he was thrilled and very relived. So excited he sent an invitation to every FB friend he has to celebrate with us at Buffalo Wild Wings that night, his treat. We did end up having a pretty big crowd too, but his brother and a friend insisted on helping with the bill, just as I was wondering how long we would have to do dishes for to help work off some of the bill. Honestly though, it was so nice to be able to go out and celebrate with family and friends like that, who had really been there for us.

Last Friday, he was able to get his medi-port out, as his oncologist felt he has been cancer-free long enough (2 years) and has been in great health. He does still have the neuropathy in his feet, and at this point he feels like it will just always be. They've tried adjusting medication, but nothing helps. He's gotten used to it, but sure does wish the feeling would return to normal, or at least improve. His hands are much better now, thankfully, as he plays keyboards and that was one source of comfort, for him to be able to play.

He has also returned recently to the day shift at work, so our family life is back to normal again, which is really nice.

We are really counting our blessings over here. For awhile we felt like we were always waiting for the next crisis, it seemed like so many things had gone wrong at once. I'm finally to the point where I am just going to let myself enjoy the good times because we really have no control over what happens anyway and worrying all the time just adds to the stress.

I just want to be sure to thank all of you for your prayers and support. It really did make a difference to know we had so much support.

REMISSION!!!!

Such a beautiful word to my ears!!!

Thank you so much for updating us, Pam. I'm so happy to hear how well Tim is doing and feeling. How nice to finally be back on the day shift at work!!

That's marvelous, Pam!!! As Rhonda said, REMISSION is one the best word of English language...I'm so glad of reading your update!

Vanesa.