Rock This Town

What a busy week!  On the 22nd we had the benefit. I spent a few days recovering from that benefit, and at the same time had my brother here with me for a few days.  I knew Friday and Saturday were going to be busy days.  I thought I knew what to expect, but more was in store for me than I knew....

I got out of the hospital Thursday the 20th.  Due to the antibiotic I was on, my doctors did not feel comfortable sending me home on it.  So I was able to go home un-accessed and off meds.  Yay for me!  I liked this idea anyway because we were going to be busy with a lot of stuff and I really didn't want to have to be doing antibiotics at the benefit.  Friday Jason took a half day so we could go down to Dunkirk and do some last minute arranging.  After that we all had a dinner planned at my grandma’s.  My grandma's brother Jim and his girlfriend Sue were flying in from Minnesota and my Aunt Danielle was coming in from Syracuse.

Friday morning I was getting everything together so we could leave when Jason got home.  I went into the bathroom to get a nebulizer and Jason comes in behind me saying, "Hi, what are you doing?".  My head was under the sink and I told him I was getting a nebulizer.  He then asked me again and I went to answer him again as I heard another "Hello".  I knew the voice instantly and turned around and low and behold there was my brother standing there!  He had come in from Florida to surprise us all.  What made it even more of a surprise was that I had tried to set it up for him to come up a couple weeks before that, but found out he could not get off of work.  Come to find out three days before I mentioned we should fly him up here to Jason, Jay had already arranged it.  So Bobby just played like he couldn't do it.  I was upset when he told me he couldn't come, but I understood.  So when I saw him on Friday I was so excited.  I hadn't seen him since January and I know he really wanted to be here for the benefit.

We all went down to Dunkirk and he surprised the rest of the family throughout the day.  We then had dinner at my grandma's house with a whole bunch of people, fifteen total.  We all had a good time talking and catching up.  Jason, Bobby and I stayed until about 9:00 and then we went over to see my dad.  We stayed over there for a little while talking and playing with our little cousin Christopher and then went home.  We rented Cabin in the Woods (the most ridiculous movie ever!  I do not recommend) and then went to bed.

We wanted to be up and out of the house by 9:00 so we could be in Dunkirk somewhere around 9:30...that did not happen. We had forgotten to do a few things the night before, like print out the thank you brochures, my lungs were not cooperating and when I went to go put the pants on I wanted to wear for the benefit I found out they were still wet.  Jason had forgotten to turn on the dryer the night before.  He turned it on and let it run for a few minutes, but we were already late so I just threw them on.  Luckily they were leggings and were mostly dry.  We got down there a little after 10:00.  From 10:00 until 2:00 everyone was running around getting last minute things done.  Starting the chickens, placing the thank you's on the tables, setting up for the bands, setting up the baskets...there was a lot still to do.  We ended up having 75 baskets for this benefit.  We set 22 aside for future use (more on that later), because 97 baskets was just too much, plus we had no more room for them.  It seemed like we got everything done just as people started to walk into the door.

After that things went smoothly.  People started coming in and it continued the entire time! I was surprised by how many people were actually coming through the door.  The tables were constantly full of people.  Every time I turned my head I saw someone else I had not talked to yet.  People I didn't know kept coming up to me and telling me how they are thinking of me and praying for the best.  All of this meant so much.  I was looking around and realized all these people were there for me.  Rooting me on and wishing me the best.

Not only the turnout, but the benefit itself turned out wonderfully.  When I looked around and talked to people, they all seemed to really be enjoying themselves.  The food was delicious.  It was a chicken dinner that came with two sides and a roll.  There were multiple tables of desserts to choose from.  There were cakes, cupcakes, cookies, breads.  A lot of people helped out with that.  There was beer, pop, and apple juice to drink.  The people seemed to really like the baskets and we had four separate 50/50 raffles.  

We had two separate bands play.  The first one is called Boomerang.  However they changed their name to MAC (Musicians Against Cancer) for a benefit they had played at before so for mine they were calling themselves MAC II (Musicians Against Cystic Fibrosis).  I thought that was pretty awesome.
The second band is called Mood Swing.  This is the band that my Aunt Danielle sings in.  They are out of Syracuse, NY and play for a lot of different places.  Feel free to check them out.  The whole night I was hearing compliments and praises on both bands.  Towards the end of the night Mood Swing was playing "What's Up" by 4 Non Blondes.  During one of the choruses, the power went out completely.  My aunt continued to sing, the drummer continued playing and the whole place started singing along and pulling out their cell phones and lighters waving to the music.  When the chorus was over the power came back on and the band finished the song.  The timing was perfect.  My cousin was sitting with me at the time and when it was over told me, "That was freaking awesome!"

For me I did pretty well getting through the day.  I had a portable oxygen concentrator and two liquid oxygen cartridges with me.  Between the three of them they lasted the day.  I just had to keep swapping them as one ran out.  I was pretty tired halfway through the event, but I was able to remain perky.  With the help of the chair I was able to move around and talk to as many people as I could.  By the end of the night though...I was exhausted.  It took me a couple of days to recoup, but it was worth it.  If you want to see more pictures of the benefit, I have some more on my facebook page.

I had a great time!  I can't express how much this whole thing meant to me.  All the people that showed up to support me whether they knew me or not.   The people that worked throughout the whole thing, the bands that played, the people and businesses that donated.  All of this for me?  It is still hard for me to wrap my head around.  I also found out that a lot more people read my blog than I thought.  I just figured a few friends and family kept up with it and that was it.  I was surprised to hear people tell me they were reading it.  I will definitely continue to keep you all updated on what is going on with me. Hopefully it is not a long wait and I will soon be writing to you all about my recovery.  Right now I am not enjoying this part of the journey as I am getting sicker, but I am enjoying sharing it with all of you.  I am really looking forward to sharing the other side of this.  I guess I am just saying the support I am getting from everyone means so much and I thank you all from the bottom of my heart.