Let me tell you a story about my cousin Marci Lapinskas and her husband Jason. A little over a year ago, Marci was pregnant with her second child. It had been quite a year for Marci and her family. Her father had been in and out of the hospital and her mother was recovering from breast cancer.
The shining spot in this family’s life was that she was expecting. One day, she was with her mother and she asked her mom if you could get bruised from the baby beating you up in the inside. Her stomach was covered in deep purple bruises. Marci went to the doctor and found out she had a rare form of leukemia, it was aggressive and needed to be treated as soon as possible. However, Marci was just over 7 months pregnant and they would not be able to start chemo until the bambino was out.
The doctors checked her in and found a way to keep the leukemia at bay until the baby was developed enough to come out safely and her blood levels improved enough so she wouldn’t bleed out during delivery. Marci was put under for her delivery and she was scared to death that she wouldn’t wake up given the potential complications. Jacob “Jake” Lapinskas was born on December 21, 2010, seven weeks early. Immediately after he was born Jake was whisked into neonatal intensive care and Marci began a harrowing chemotherapy treatment. This left her hospitalized over Christmas away from her other son, Andrew who was four. She was not allowed to be with either son for six weeks due to the chemotherapy weakening her immune system so much.
Marci spent the majority of the first half of 2011 in and out of the hospital due to complications from her chemo. During this time, her husband wore himself to a frazzle trying to be a good father to a four year old and a newborn and still be the great husband he has always been to Marci. As if things couldn’t get worse, they did. Marci was a middle school counselor and was obviously on leave during this time. Her husband Jason’s company relocated to Las Vegas and he was now looking for a job with two young kids to take care of and a wife to visit daily at a hospital over an hour away.
This sounds like a made for tv movie, doesn’t it? The average family would be wailing and gnashing their teeth if they had to deal with these situations. But not Jason and Marci Lapinskas. They handled it with such grace and dignity and made it through this awful year.
So why am I writing about this family saga? Marci and Jason are nominated for a Chicago-area television station’s WGN’s Cutest Couple contest. Dorky, I know. However, the winner of this contest gets a trip to Cancun and they really could use vacation. You can help Marci and Jason Lapinskas get that break they need by voting for them. You don’t need to register at all, simply click vote. You can vote more than once in the spirit of a true Chicago election. (I obviously have full permission to publish their story)
