Welcome! My name is Becka Nelson Taylor and I'm creating this Caring Bridge page on behalf of our daughter Robin, her husband Jarret and my wonder granddog Ashe.
As many of you are already aware Jarret is in the boxing ring with cancer. Acute Leukemia to be exact. Around August 4 of this year (2018) Jarret's questions about his overwhelming fatigue, breathlessness and overall feeling crummy were answered by his doctor who recommended he waste no time checking into the Knight Cancer Center in OHSU, Portland, Oregon. The next day they loaded their car (mostly granddog) and travelled 7 hours from Gold Beach to Portland where he did in fact take up residence in room 21. This was to be his home for the next 50 days.
Now if you think sugar is poison to your body then you must do all you can to avoid chemo. After several rounds of chemical cocktails, each round becoming more intense, the cancer went into remission. Acute leukemia is the Mohammad Ali of leukemia cancers however, so remission has been temporary and a bone marrow transplant is required to deliver the knock-out punch. The bone marrow transplant (hereafter referred to as bmt) is to take place in mid-November. Around 11/15 Jarret will return to OHSU where they will feed into his body lethal amounts of chemo. Lethal that is, to all his contaminated bone marrow. The next step is life-giving - the infusion of healthy bone marrow.
On a side note: the generosity of complete strangers, willing to donate blood, marrow, money astounds me. Please don't believe anyone who tells you this world is going to hell in a hand basket. Simply not true. The new marrow is being donated by someone unknown to us. In the words of Willie Wonka "So shines a good deed in a weary world."
Toward the middle of December Jarret will be released from hospital. One of OHSU's post-transplant requirements is that Jarret stay within 20 minutes of the hospital for at least three months. At this point in time R & J have secured a small furnished home in Portland. Another OHSU stipulation: Jarret must have a caretaker/giver residing with him 24/7; finding a place to accomodate Jarret, caregiver and wonder dog is a great windfall. Robin will spend the first month with Jarret as caregiver and after that family and friends will take shifts as caregivers during those weeks when Robin returns to Gold Beach for work and home upkeep.
Long story made less long :), they have a long and windy road to travel, not unlike the road some, probably many of you have been down. God bless you!
I've included a GoFundMe link if wish to make a financial donation to reduce their increasing pile of expenses. Robin and Jarret have excellent insurance and outstanding employers (although Jarret won't be returning to work for quite a while). Extended families and friends have contributed both financially and emotionally to their ongoing expenses. Their friend Jennifer Rushton created a GoFundMe page for Trooper Katter at the outset and we are grateful for the many generous contributions and kind words of encouragement. I've included the link below. Btw, last year GoFundMe removed their platform fee of 5%...yay GFM. They still take a processing fee of 2.9% and .30 per donation. That's a positive change in how they operate.
https://www.gofundme.com/trooper-family-fights-leukemiaWillie Wonka is quotable , as is a man of old, David, who had no end to troubles, many self-induced I might add. He said in one of his life/death moments "I would have lost heart, unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living." Our eyes are fixed on God...I'm learning to focus with a lot less blinking by imitating wonder granddog as she relentlessly tracks my every bite of juicy steak. You know the look.
Thank you for your time and loving concern. I thought a Caring Bridge site would be an efficient way to keep you updated on events involved in
Jarret's healing process. Feel free to post your remarks to Robin and Jarret. Your encouragement works like medicine. I will attempt to keep this page updated.
