Going to Rochester.

Sondra Blumke (now Grotz) pictured below will be 30 this weekend. She is Dan's niece. She is a miracle. When she was 16 she was diagnosed with leukemia and immediately underwent treatment. The treatment nearly killed her and she still has residual effects from missing most of her pancreas which is gone due to infection. Sondra is married to Travis who is an orthopedic surgeon at the Mayo. They are friends with Jamie & Ryan ( Jamie being her first cousin) and they have fun times as couples boating together on the weekends.

Sondra is the niece who is now looking at adopting a child. She & Travis have tried every avenue to conceiving their own child including invitro i don't know how many times. The last viable embryos were implanted last spring but Sondra got sick and they didn't take (again).


It is so ironic that it is Sondra who can't have a baby. When she was little she bugged everyone including me because whenever a new baby was introduced to the family at a family gathering Sondra would "hog the baby".

So the birthday party tomorrow is a surprise and we are all to have a story about Sondra to share. It won't be hard... she is quite the character...a real firecracker. VERY outspoken & opinionated. She has pissed me off with flippant remarks regarding teachers whenever the topic has come up. You have to realize that this illness of hers went on for over two years in HS , she was home schooled and wanted to graduate with her class so there were bound to be some conflicts. She has been cancer free for over 5 years now. So the story I will share:

At the end of a school year and after Sondra was on the brink of death twice she finally stablized and was in ICU. She was in a diaper, she had a colostomy but she was DEFINITELY SONDRA!!!! Lippy and bossy. It was quite impressive.

The plan was to give Bob & Paula a much deserved break and family members were going to take turns staying with Sondra a few days at a time. There was a regular, very nice motel room right in the hospital for just this situation. On the very last day of school I left FROM school for the hospital. I went directly to Sondra's room & we started visiting when the nurse came in and said I had to leave the room and that it would be awhile, at least an hour before I could come back. So I went to the motel room , layed down and proceeded to fall asleep.

The phone rang. I woke up looked out the window and though "OMG! It's almost dark!". I had been sleeping for AWHILE! I answered the phone and the nurse said. "Sondra wanted me to call and check on you. She was worried about you". I'll never forget it. She was worried about ME! Here she had nearly died , the whole family on eggshells worried every day for months that the dreaded phone call with bad news was here ( we all just KNEW it was a matter of time & she would be gone) and she was worried about ME! I felt so guilty! That's it. That is my little story I will share & it may seem lame but man, for me (and the rest of the fam I think) it will speak VOLUMES about just how lucky this young lady is. I can't wait to see her.

Flash!