MaMa Bird's Blog

OUR BACK STORY:
It came into our lives just as we had moved from St. Louis to Denver and were finally settling into our new home. We had so much to look forward to as my husband had finally landed his dream job as a pilot for Frontier Airlines. Six months later, we were planning a big party in New Orleans at Maw Maw and Paw Paw’s house for our daughter’s first birthday party and preparing to pick up friends at the airport that night who were flying in from St. Louis to go skiing in Vail. As I bathed Reagan in the tub, I heard my husband, Danny dropping something over and over again outside the door. I looked out to find him slumped up against the wall; one side of his body completely slack. He was picking up and dropping a screwdriver repeatedly in the hallway. I had no clue what was happening to him. Did “stroke” enter my mind? Maybe. But, only briefly. After all, he was only 38. But, never did I imagine that the “C” word would ever touch our lives at such an early age. That only happens to “other” people, right?

After 2.5 weeks in the hospital from the night I drove Danny to the ER, Reagan in tow, our lives were turned completely upside down. Danny’s original brain scan from the ER that night had revealed the tumors in his chest at the edge of the x-ray. We were told that, not only had Danny suffered two separate mini-strokes, two weeks apart, but, he also had Non-Hodgkin Lymphoma. He became quite the case-study at the University of Colorado Hospital. Fortunately, he didn’t suffer any permanent damage from the strokes, but treatment for the fast-growing cancer occupying 2/3 of his chest needed to be started immediately. The Lymphoma had caused his blood to clot and travel from his heart directly to his brain when he did the Valsalva maneuver during flight. It made sense. Both episodes had begun while Danny was at work. Ironically, Danny’s stroke was a “stroke of luck,” because it meant the cancer had been found at only stage 2. Cure the cancer – no more strokes. What followed was six rounds of intense chemotherapy that caused severe daily nausea, weight and hair loss, fatigue and depression. Danny spiked a fever a few times which warranted two separate trips to the ER, one landing him in ICU. After that was 3.5 weeks in the hospital for an autologous bone marrow transplant, and then four weeks of daily radiation therapy.

New to Denver, we relied heavily on one new Mommy friend God had graciously brought into our lives and Danny’s sweet cousin who drove up almost daily from Colorado Springs for multiple months to help watch Reagan. Danny’s parents flew out from New Orleans several times to help out and be by his side, and his comrades from the 731st Airlift Squadron at Peterson AFB in Colorado Springs provided much needed support and home-cooked meals. We also received generous donations from the unit, from friends, family and even strangers. My brother and three of my personal friends each flew out at different times to help with the cooking, cleaning and “Reagan care” for 3-5 day stays. It was a very humbling experience and made us so very grateful for good friends and the love of family.

It was a year of asking God for strength just to get through the day, each and every day. The road ahead looked so long, dark and unending. I can’t say it passed quickly, because it didn’t. Taking care of a toddler alone is a task in itself, but doing it with a sick husband was my beyond what I ever thought I was capable of. God gives us what we need when we need it though, because here we are on the other side looking back!

Danny is now cancer-free and enjoying life at home as a stay-at-home Dad. He should be allowed to return to work at Frontier Airlines in approximately one year.