Tag Archives: cancer

November 12, 2014

my superhero went home to daddy

By arlynnpresser

my superhero ashton flew away last night.  he was five years old.  he had battled cancer for the past several months.  he had endured a stem cell transplant and lived at the dayton children’s hospital and then at cincinnati children’s hospital with his mother erin.

when i visited ashton at cincinnati, he had a favorite friend isaac. both boys are superheroes.

when i visited ashton at cincinnati, he had a favorite friend isaac. both boys are superheroes.

 

ashton was diagnosed in a particularly horrific fashion. he and his mother were going to his sisters confirmation. ashton and erin were going to stay overnight with me but ended up in the hospital because ashton had an ear infection. the doctors figured out he had cancer. i'm sure i would have broken down a dozen times if i were erin but she has become the strongest woman i know.

ashton was diagnosed in a particularly horrific fashion. he and his mother were going to his sisters confirmation. ashton and erin were going to stay overnight with me but ended up in the hospital because ashton had an ear infection. the doctors figured out he had cancer. i’m sure i would have broken down a dozen times if i were erin but she has become the strongest woman i know.

ashton’s father passed a number of years ago and so i would like to believe that he will be there to greet ashton in the city of remembrance that exists.

goodbye superboy!

goodbye superboy!

 

 

 

 

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October 1, 2014

prayer chain

By arlynnpresser

if you’re reading this, you’re a friend.  or my exboyfriend.  and if you’re erin carley and you’re reading this, you need to know you’re someone i’m praying for.  erin has helped me through the last year and a half which has pretty much been the worst i’ve experienced.  i only hope in some small way that i have returned the favor.  because her worst year and a half makes my crazytown stuff seem like a jennifer aniston sitcom.

erin’s son ashton has cancer.  he has had a stem cell transplant but his body is rejecting it.

ashton is really not doing well today. he was diagnosed in march and he and his mom have spent most of their time living in dayton hospital and cincinnati. i've been to see them at dayton. what a smile this kid has no matter what life has been throwing him!

ashton is really not doing well today. he was diagnosed in march and he and his mom have spent most of their time living in dayton hospital and cincinnati. i’ve been to see them at dayton. what a smile this kid has no matter what life has been throwing him!

 

i don’t know where you are about prayer.  i sometimes feel like God doesn’t listen to me because the cacophony of prayers from six billion folks has got to be pretty intense.  but i suspect that God wants this boy to have health, strength, and peace.  so if you are indeed a reader/friend could you do a powerful act of prayer by asking the archangel michael to intervene?

the archangel michael is a badass saint in the islamic, jewish and christian traditions. heck, even the jehovah's witnesses believe in him and that he is the incarnation of jesus before his birth. so consider praying to this dude on ashton's behalf.

the archangel michael is a badass saint in the islamic, jewish and christian traditions. heck, even the jehovah’s witnesses believe in him and that he is the incarnation of jesus before his birth. so consider praying to this dude on ashton’s behalf.  if you’re an atheist maybe you could just picture this michael guy standing over his bed saying “cancer, back the hell up!”

from cincinnati children’s hospital, all the positive energy in the world.  wouldn’t it really be cool to have prayer make such a difference?

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September 14, 2012

when a cake tells a story!

By arlynnpresser

the trip to florida has not been anything like i expected–and instead of fulfilling my mission of meeting all the facebook friends i know in florida, i spent the week with my father justin.  my father is undergoing a new cancer treatment called provenge.  it is the first time this treatment has been made available in tallahassee.  justin’s wife barbara was on a business trip and not available to go with him for the first phase–when the technician extracts blood over the course of three hours, harvesting white blood cells to be shipped to a laboratory in georgia.

justin’s white blood cells, the fighter leukocytes, will be enhanced in the lab and are being shipped back to tallahassee to be injected back into his body.

 

later this morning,  justin and i will go to the clinic to complete the provenge treatment.  the lab wants him to have a chaperone and in general it’s always a good idea to have an advocate, a helper, someone to make sure you get home safely.  justin’s wife is back from her business trip but she is a professor at florida state university, in charge of a department of three hundred people, and must take a conference call.  otherwise, she would be there for justin.

one of the treats, and it really is a treat, of the florida trip is getting to know my father better.  he and my mother put me up for adoption when i was three years old and i didn’t meet them until i was twenty five.  it is always interesting to spend time with either of them.

but a treat i missed was finally meeting facebook friend jennifer brand clair with whom i have been corresponding.  she and i were going to bake a cake together in her home in tampa.  she bakes cakes for all occasions and could bake one for you too!  but this is what she baked for me–

this cake is a book that i will write about my year and a half of meeting facebook friends. on the left hand page are two computers–mine and jennifer’s–joined by facebook. on the right hand page is a plane traveling to florida, where i will meet her. not this trip, maybe, but next one!

it’s a beautiful story and i have had a beautiful time in florida and i must look at it this way–i have one delicious reason to come back!  thank you jennifer!

 

 

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September 13, 2012

white knights. . . .

By arlynnpresser

i came to florida with my usual mission:  meet facebook friends face to face.  learn from them.   enjoy their avocations, their joys, their fears, and their lives.  and take friendship out from behind the laptop or the cellphone updates and into reality.

but i got a little sidetracked.

my father justin is receiving provenge treatment for cancer. experimental? yes. expensive? try ninety thousand a pop. weird? yeah, they take all your blood out and ship your white blood cells to a lab to be enhanced and reconfigured and then they put those white blood cells back in your body and say “cancer begone!”

 

i arrived in tallahassee and was a bit surprised.  my father’s wife was heading out on a business trip and asked me to take him to his first appointment the next day.  this required a cancellation of friendship appointments for monday and tuesday but i still figured i could do wednesday.

white blood cells (leukocytes) are the ruthless knights of our bloodstream. they fight diseases–cancer, strep throat, ebola. without them, we are without defense. tomorrow (friday) my father’s white blood cells–with new shields and swords–will be reintroduced to his body.

 

my father was feeling poorly and i cancelled the rest of the week’s travels through orlando, spring hill, tampa–but two facebook friends stopped by tallahassee to take me to lunch.  bill taylor, who lives in the city, and ron winegar who drove in from panama city.  the distraction was a great gift!

tomorrow i will take justin to his appointment to get back those white blood cells back into his system and then. . . alas, i’ll try to make it out of the state of florida!

 

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September 12, 2012

provenge, the white knights, and my friends

By arlynnpresser

i know what i planned to do–drive from tallahassee to orlando to spring hill to tampa and back again to tallahassee and then fly to chicago–but then there was reality.

the provenge treatment my father justin is engaging in requires that his blood be extracted from one arm and then processed in a machine which sorts out red and white blood cells.  the white blood cells are harvested and then couriered to a lab where, even as i write, they are being enhanced and changed.

leukocytes, or white blood cells, are the fighter cells and without them we have no immunity to disease.  the provenge treatment means an enhanced armor, a better sword before they are shipped back to tallahassee.  my father is the first patient to have his provenge treatment conducted in tallahassee, as opposed to jacksonville which is several hundred miles away.  provenge is a treatment which costs approximately ninety thousand dollars. 

 

justin was feeling pretty awful afterwards and when he has the white blood cells reintroduced into his system, he will not immediately feel better.  in fact, he might feel quite a bit worse.  i have been told that he will need a chaperone as he did on tuesday–this time, there will be a sedative.  for him, not for me, damnit!

we came back from the clinic and justin immediately fell asleep.  i cancelled all my facebook friend plans and was so grateful that everybody was so understanding.  sure, i felt guilty but i was the one creating the guilty–nobody was putting more on me.

but there was one friend i was too late to be able to cancel.  facebook friend #330 ron winegar and i have been facebook friends for about a year.  he drove in from panama city to meet me for lunch.

ron is an air force and marine veteran. he was initially stationed in alaska and we shared stories of our common experiences of the 49th state. he’s a firm believer in ufo’s because when he was stationed there, he had some experience with them. i was fascinated! so much so that for nearly an hour i forgot that i was supposed to be taking care of justin. no worries, justin was still asleep when i returned to the apartment.  sometimes a knight in shining armor is just the friend who has lunch with you and let’s you forget the real world! 

 

i am so grateful for my facebook friends, the ones i see and the ones i haven’t had a chance to see. .. . yet.

 

 

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