Best and Worst Day

Saturday, September 15, was a special day for our family. Our oldest daughter, Kylie, turned 8 on September 11, and thus had reached the age for baptism in the Church of Jesus Chris of Latter-Day Saints. (Courtney and I both joined before we met when we were 19 years old, but that’s a story for another day). So, in a beautiful ceremony in which Kylie sang with a friend, I was able to baptize her. After the ceremony I stood to share with our friends some remarks about Kylie. I briefly described how the day she was born was both the best and worst day of our lives. Kylie was born with a full blown Strep B infection that nearly took her from us the same day she came into our lives. It seems somewhat ironic now, that on a day in which I share dark chapter of our lives, the next dark chapter truly begins.
Saturday night Courtney and I took advantage of having my mom visiting and went out to see a movie. We saw Bourne Supremacy; great flick. Afterwards we stopped at Walmart to grab a few things. As we were leaving, Courtney commented that she suddenly felt sweaty – that cold, clammy sweatiness that makes you know that you’re coming down with something. Sure enough, the next morning Courtney woke up with a severe sore throat and mild fever. She was convinced she had strep, so first thing Monday morning she made an appointment to see our family doctor. Thirty minutes later, our doctor called back, not to ask about her throat, but to share with us the results of CBC #2. Over the phone she proceeded to tell Courtney that results had come back more abnormal than the first and that she was concerned that “she might have Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia (CLL)” and that she would need more tests.