In Honor of Christopher Louis McGargill

My Dad is a hero to me. Like most people, life has handed him lemons and he has always done his best to make lemonade. When it comes down to it he is a stronger person than he knows. This past year has been particularly full of lemons. My Dad has been diagnosed with Myelofibrosis, which is a disease of the bone marrow. Essentially, due to scarring of the bone marrow his body is no longer producing the red blood cells that it needs to support his vital organs. He noticed a lack of energy and general feeling of illness. After a battery of tests, to include more than one bone marrow biopsy, it was determined that this is his diagnosis. Unfortunately, there is no cure for Myelofibrosis. The treatment is experimental at best and is designed to treat the symptoms, not the disease. Lemon.

It has been determined that my Dad was diagnosed at a later stage of this disease. He and my Mom endured multiple trips to the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota in hopes of finding something that would enhance his quality of life, but to no avail. As the disease has progressed, his platelet count has steadily declined which opens the door to a whole new host of potential health risks. Lemon.
Due to the decline in his platelet count my Dad no longer qualified for the clinical trials at the Mayo Clinic. While he has a fantastic doctor here in Omaha, there have been very few options for treatment. Lemon.

In order to support his declining red blood cells my Dad has grown dependent on receiving blood transfusions. This process started as a transfusion every three weeks or so and is now down to every 6-7 days. He has had a port installed to assist with these transfusions as his veins have had a hard time keeping up with the volume of blood being transfused into his body. Every time he receives blood he also receives a whole new set of antibodies. In order to match his blood for the next transfusion they must evaluate the antibodies and attempt to match those as well. Lemon.

Everyday my Dad has to muster up the energy to get out of bed knowing that a productive day might include mowing ¼ of the yard and running some errands for his Mom. My Dad has always been the King of productivity; up at sunrise and going non-stop until his work is done. This has been a major adjustment for him.

Here is where we get to the lemonade. Despite his utter exhaustion, my Dad lights up and smiles from ear to ear when he is able to coo at his new grandson. He talks about my sister and her nursing career as though her accomplishments are his own. He continues to care and worry about those that he loves as though he doesn’t have worries of his own. And while he struggles with the fact that he is dealing with a disease that has no cure, he goes on with his days as best as he can.

Once a week my Dad heads up to the hospital to first get his blood typed. The next day he sits for a good 6 hours while receiving someone else’s blood. This blood supply is what keeps him alive and available to us. This blood is what has allowed him to bond with my daughter and to be around for the birth of my son. This blood is what has allowed him to continue to be an active part of this family. He may be only putting on a brave face for our benefit but it’s a brave face that I will gladly greet. Lemonade.

I am asking all of you that know my Dad to please donate a bit of time and a bit of blood in his honor. There is no cure for his disease but we have blood donors to thank for the time that we have been blessed with up to this point. The blood drive is Wednesday, December 29th from 6:30 am – 6:30 pm at Millard North High School. The entire process—from registration through snacks—only takes an hour of your time. You can register by clicking here* and scheduling an appointment for the holiday community blood drive. (You can also call 1-800-RED-CROSS if that is easier for you.) When you register, be sure to write “donating in honor of Chris McGargill” in the comment box so we can track accordingly. If you register by December 3, you will be entered into a drawing to win a cool, custom Husker shirt, designed by Sabrina Ahern. We’ll also have a special table of snacks at the blood drive dedicated to those donating in my dad’s honor, and child care will be provided by Red Cross volunteers!

If you have any questions on eligibility or blood donations, please click here.

Thank you for donating blood and saving a life—including my dad’s. Lemonade!

*If the above registration link does not work, please copy and paste the following into your browser: https://www.membersforlife.org/midamerica/mobilesch/bdc_sc.php?sponsor_code=1620&id=3&__utma=1.1077117365.1279591678.1289846769.1289961579.3&__utmb=1.17.9.1289962594718&__utmc=1&__utmx=-&__utmz=1.1279591678.1.1.utmcsr=redcross.orgutmccn=(referral)utmcmd=referralutmcct=/portal/site/en/menuitem.d8aaecf214c576bf971e4cfe43181aa0/&__utmv=-&__utmk=67484049

Back to Work I Go!

The time has come for me to head back into reality and get back to work. Not too excited about that. I have recently spent a lot of time reflecting on the past four years. When McKenna was a newborn and I was home with her I had a difficult time. We had a lot going on in a short amount of time; moving back to Nebraska, Matt getting deployed, a job search for me, and adjustment to life as a single parent with the added stress of not knowing whether my husband would return home alive. Looking back, I feel like I didn't get to enjoy that time with McKenna to the full potential. At that time, I prayed for a distraction because every day that went by without hearing from Matt was a day that I looked at sweet McKenna and wondered if she would ever actually know her daddy. By nature I am an anxious worry-wart. I worried that this time around I would suffer from the same anxieties even though the circumstances are completely different. I prepared myself for the worst and ended up with the best.

These past eight weeks have been heaven and it really has nothing to do with not working. I love my job and the opportunity that I have everyday to help children and families. But to have the opportunity to bring precious Max into the world and watch McKenna embrace every aspect of becoming a big sister has been priceless. McKenna adores her little brother and wants to help in any way possible. She told me that she wants to help me so that she can be a good mommy when she grows up. Does anything compare to that? We have been so very blessed.

Max is growing and changing all the time. Just today he gave me his first giggle along with a big ol' smile. It's amazing to me how those smiles and giggles can warm my heart. I recently was discussing this with my parents because those first few weeks you spend so much time cuddling and caring for your child as they stare at you with a blank expression. When you experience those first smiles it is a feeling of success. You know that all you have been doing has made your baby happy.

Matt is doing such an amazing job as a father of two. I think McKenna expects that my attention might be on the baby so she has been quite demanding of Daddy recently. He has been so tolerant of her need for attention even though her most desired activities revolve around role playing. He plays an excellent restaurant waiter as well as grocery store cashier! ;) As we have moved into football season, Max should be well versed on the game. Matt spends a lot of time explaining the game to him.....clearly excited to have another boy around!

And my sweet McKenna.....she is the ultimate big sister. Some day her love for Max will likely drive him crazy. Right now it is just plain cute. She loves to lay on the floor and talk to Max, which typically makes him grin from ear to ear. We have definitely seen some changes in McKenna as she is no longer the one and only. But honestly, I can not complain. She is adjusting very well and clearly loves her little brother!

As I head back to work, along with praying for the winning lottery ticket I am also counting my blessings. The challenging times with McKenna when she was a baby made me a stronger person and the bond between McKenna and I rock-solid. This time at home with Max and McKenna has been the best way to comfortably transition from a family of three to a complete family of four. We have had so much support from family and friends that love our children as their own. On that note, I should mention that I am terrible at thank you notes. Please know that we appreciate your love and support more than anything! Again, we are so very blessed.

Sidebar: In no way am I trying to suggest that we have this perfect life. Bringing a new child into the world brings some stress and a lot of sleepless nights. But as I sit and type this post I don't think about all that and I think that is very telling. Family is everything and I feel so lucky to have a happy one. Wishing the best for all of you!

Megan

Welcome Baby Max!!

Hello! What a life altering couple of weeks we have had! Max Christopher Miller was welcomed into our family on August 18, 2010 at 8:40 am. He weighed 6 pounds 12 ounces and measured 20 inches long. Max has already been such a blessing to our lives! The surgery went smoothly and we are all happy and healthy. McKenna has really embraced her new role as big sister and is taking it very seriously. Already she has been so nurturing and protective of her baby brother. She was such a big girl even in our absence while Max and I were in the hospital. We were so lucky to have my parents and Matt's parents here to help and support us as we welcomed Max into our lives. And of course we have such amazing friends that have been bringing meals, calling to check in, but most importantly loving our little ones like their own!

We are adjusting to life with a new baby and I am absolutely enjoying my time at home with the kids. I watch McKenna coo at Max and talk to him with such a loving tone of voice and my heart melts. Not sure how I got so lucky to have two of the best kids in the world! And of course Matt is so proud of his baby boy. He is such an amazing, hands-on father. I couldn't ask for a better man to raise a family with. I am healing well from the surgery but Matt has been more than helpful in picking up tasks that need to be done and his willingness to tend to spit-up and poopy diapers helps too!

Maybe it's the hormone changes I am experiencing or maybe it is the miracle of life that I have just been blessed with, but I have been thinking a lot about how lucky I am to have a loving family. We all know that life is short and time is precious but the birth of a second child and the completion of my family has really made me think about what is important in life. My heart is full and it is full because of the people that surround me. I am so thankful to all of you for your love and support. I am so thankful for all the blessings my family has been afforded!

As you can see....we just wrapped up McKenna's birthday week extravaganza! She turned four on July 14th. We celebrated with lots of friends and family and ended the week with a birthday party at Premier Gymnastics where the kids bounced around on trampolines and ran off all kinds of energy. McKenna is so excited to be "a big girl" and is so looking forward to her new role as a big sister. All along we have been telling her that the baby will come after her birthday so now she is really anticipating his arrival.

I am 35 weeks pregnant and feeling pretty good! We are slowly but surely getting the baby's room put together and just can't believe that in a month our family will be blessed with a darling baby boy! We set the date for the c-section and as long as everything goes as planned, we will welcome the little guy on August 18th.

Hope you are all having a great summer and keeping cool!

Love,

Matt, Megan, and McKenna

Happy Summer! We have been very busy around our house getting ready for our baby BROTHER that will be here in just a couple more months! McKenna is so excited to meet this baby she can hardly stand the wait! We were back in North Platte for Easter and then we headed to Kansas City to spend a couple days at the Great Wolf Lodge. We had a blast! McKenna has zero fear and went down the big slides with Matt hundreds of times.

The beginning of June brought McKenna's first dance recital. We were so fortunate to have lots of friends and family there to cheer her on. Quite the little performer she has become. McKenna has decided that she wants to dance again next year so she must have enjoyed the experience!

Now that summer is in full swing we have been trying to stay cool with sprinklers in the backyard and pool time as much as possible! McKenna is a little fish and would stay in the pool all day long if we would let her. We are all doing well, looking forward to welcoming the new addition to our family in the next two months!