More from Fort....

Well. I know how much I miss reading what Melissa wrote, so when someone sends me HER WORDS, I feel like I need to post them. What follows was a personal email to a friend of Melissa's from high school. Both were written only a couple of months before Melissa passed away. When Mindy sent me the emails, I asked if it was ok
if I posted them on the blog. She felt like I do - she loves reading what her mom wrote as much as I love reading what Melissa wrote...and there is good advice from
Melissa. It just amazes me that it was only a couple months before she passed away.
She was amazing. ALWAYS positive.
Boy do I miss her. EVERY SINGLE DAY.

Just a note - Donny found a site through google - Blogs to books. Publishing this blog might become a reality a lot sooner than I thought. Anyone interested? Thank you for continuing to read her blog. I know it helps me get through every day.
Her headstone/memorial is ready. Will be installed within a month.
I'll post a photo when it's in. It's simple, but beautiful. Just like her.

Here's the email from Fort to her friend Mindy (interesting note here - the charm bracelet she talks about- the one with pictures? Jeanette, a rugby friend of Melissa's gave ME one about 3 weeks ago - 18 pictures of FORT -Fort & me, Fort & John, Fort & her dad, her brother, Drew, a family photo, Rugby photo....it is BEAUTIFUL...THANKS JEANNETTE!!!!)............

Date: Wed, 5 Nov 2008 05:31:05 -0800
From: ruggergirl8@yahoo.com
Subject: Re: Chemo/Radiation
To: mindy
Things are going good! I have ONE more treatment left on Monday. I had my 4th blood transfusion in three months this past weekend. I guess the good thing to come out of it is that Karen (Frick) works at Deaconess, and since we dont play in our volleyball league anymore, I get to see her every three weeks...she actually sticks me and takes my blood. It just sucks because Im sooo fatigued all the time....I have no oxygen so walking up a few stairs really winds me...and I still have to walk from Deaconess garage to the middle of campus everyday, but I guess that little walk is probably good for me, but its a fricken workout.

Probably sometime next week Ill get a PET scan scheduled to see how things are getting better. I was reading about all the things that happened with your moms surgery and I couldnt help but think about how God's funny like that. Maybe she missed the surgery for a bigger reason. Things miraculously clear up all the time. Its all about attitude. Thats all I kept thinking when I heard she missed her surgery....that there was a reason.

As for the basket, you might want to find out how long her treatments are going to be....and maybe find out if they're going to jack her up with some benadryl before hand. I brought a laptop to my first four hour treatment all ready to get stuff done, and they give me benadryl and Im knocked out for four hours! But if she'll be awake, I think one of those personal DVD players with some movies would be a very handy distraction during chemo. And if she's in to pop culture, People & US magazines are fun, brainless entertainment. Maybe some hard candy too. Some of the chemos cause mouth sores. And comfy slippers! And chocolate! Im getting carried away.

Ew, you know what would be a cool gift? One of those charm bracelets that can hold photos! I just googled and found this one online: http://a1giftidea.com/product_info.php?products_id=5573 then you could put all your family members in it with pics of the grandkids...that would be very cool, and she could wear it to all her treatments and brag about her kids and grandkids.

Ok, thats about it with me. Ill be heading off to my big scrapbook weekend with my aunts this weekend. Im finishing up my OU scrapbook, and Im working on one for my nephew called "WHO LOVES DREW"? and it will be a scrapbook of all of his family members, and all of Nick & Mere's friends, so as he grows up, he'll know who the hell all these people are.

Tell your mom Im thinking about her - Are you guys Catholic? I cant remember. Someone told me the Saint you need to pray to is St. Raphael....just a heads up!

have a good week.

fort

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Date: Thu, 9 Oct 2008 05:30:15 -0700
From: ruggergirl8@yahoo.com
Subject: Re: Please read...
To: mindy
Mindy -
Im sorry to hear about your mom....as someone who deals with statistics like that everyday, I can tell you that I belive in miracles. Make sure she knows just how powerful her own willpower is. When I had metastatic cancer in my lungs, I used to talk to my body in the mirror each morning - cheering it on, telling it that it HAD to work with the drugs, and killl all the bad stuff. It sounds stupid, but I found help through chi-gong, and one of their big messages is that your MIND needs to communicate with your BODY.....they are two separate entities. And if you're persistent enough, your BODY WILL LISTEN!! While the mets in my lungs cleared up after treatment, im still dealing with some bone issues.

If your mom wants to email me if she has any chemo-related frustrations (or if YOU have them...and you will have them) tell her she can email me.

Ive got five years of this shit under my belt and Im still going strong and she can do it too!!!

Ill be thinking about you and sending lots of positive energy your way.

Hugs,
Fort
*****************
And of course, a post on this blog is not complete without pictures of Drew (and now
Max too! Fort would expect no less.



Drew and Pop pop in the snow...they were out for about 1/2 hour and Drew DID NOT want to come in...SCREAMED for about 10 minutes, ate lunch and fell asleep..along
with Pop Pop and Max!



Max is starting to crawl (he was 5 mos. Jan. 20) almost sitting up too! Fort would
have LOVED Max - he is the HAPPIEST baby! (I know she's watching over him!)