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Some Closure and Positive News

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A lot has happened in just a few weeks. A LOT! First, I will update you all on Matt, the true reason for this blog. He completed his 96 hour infusion almost a week ago. He checked in to U of C on Thursday 2/18, the day after we celebrated E's 6th birthday. Unfortunately, no visitors were allowed due to COVID restrictions, so he packed plenty of books and a nice qeue of shows to watch on the ipad. He received his PICC line after arriving and settled in to his room mid-afternoon. They hooked him up for his first chemo around 8:00 that evening. Over the following 96 hours he received 5 different kinds of chemotherapy through pills, shots, and infusions. We checked in and facetimed regularly and he was in great spirits the entire weekend. Some nausea and fatigue set in by Saturday and he was beginning to slow down quite a bit. He was able to order food (thanks to so many generous gift cards to Grubhub, DoorDash and Uber Eats) and took a lot of walks on the treadmill. We found out on Saturday that they would be lifting the visitor restrictions on Monday so his dad was able to visit him that entire day before he was discharged later that night. They had originally asked him to stay through Monday night but he explained the crazy situation that had happened the week before. They sped up their process and promised him he'd be home by 8. The nurses pulled through and got him home in time to put the kids to bed. Tuesday was a bit rough. He had quite a bit of nausea and some fatigue but by Tuesday he was almost back to normal. He was up and working, eating regular snacks to keep the nausea at bay, and got a few walks. Each day he improved a little more and by Friday he managed to go for a run! This weekend he went to the climbing gym twice, got a run in and did all the fun household tasks of being an adult. He is feeling really great and (I predict) he's feeling a lot more hopeful of how he will handle transplant. We are hoping the next month will be uneventful until he officially begins the transplant process on 3/26 in Milwaukee. 

reunited after 11 days

 And then there's me. Many of you have heard the story(s) from myself or Matt but for those of you haven't, a lot has happened. In short, they recovered my car on Friday (2/18). A woman had seen my car on the news after the driver had hit a bicyclist the previous Saturday, put her in the ICU and left the scene. Detectives recovered photos from a red light camera nearby and released them to the news outlets asking for the publics help in locating the vehicle and the driver. My (amazing, fantastic, supportive, loving, best) sister-in-laws were with me to check out the damage to my car and find out the full story from the detectives. And what a story it was! While sparing you many details, we were able to go inside the house where the woman who had stolen my car was staying and identify a handful of my items. This was key in tying her to the house and to the car, showing it was the same person who had stolen my car a week prior. The detectives learned the identity and name of the woman and attempted to set up a meeting, which turned out unsuccessful. So we identified my items and went home, keeping our fingers crossed they would find her soon. A week passed and they still had not found her. I got a phone call Friday morning that she has stolen yet another car, this time from a 65 year old woman and they had pulled her over in the stolen vehicle. She had finally been caught! The detective called me that night at 9:00 and asked me to come to the station to be interviewed by the state's attorney as they finalized the charges to be filed. Luckily, my friend Megan was willing to join me on a late night adventure and we headed down to the station. There we joined way too many victims that this woman had inflicted harm against in some way, all since she stole my car on 2/6. By the time we left at 2:00am, they thought they had everything they needed. We received official confirmation on Saturday that she was charged with aggravated battery (higher level based on my injuries), aggravated car jacking (due to H being in the car), and aggravated kidnapping (higher level due to his age). So it was a long, but relieving day. I should also add in here that my amazing husband surprised me with a new car earlier that afternoon. Our car had been a constant source of stress for H and I since the day we got it back between insurance, damages, and reminders of that day. So for now, we will take a little break from all things crime related. She will go to trial in the coming months and I will be required to attend, but that is a ways off. Until then we will continue to heal, enjoy our new car, and resume normal life. Thank you to every single one of you for your love, support and generosity these past few weeks. I hope that someday, we can return the love and support that you have all shown us. 
 All our love, Matt & Mandy

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