Good afternoon friends! I apologize for the lack of update yesterday. I was planning on typing something out while in the oncology infusion chair, but I couldn't keep my eyes open once they started the pre-medication drugs. I got knocked out, got home just before 3, accepted a delicious meal from a sweet friend and then fell asleep. I was exhausted and highly drugged. :-) I woke up at 5:30 with a start, so confused about what day it was, and even thinking it was 5:30am. I asked Drew if he could drive us to church at that point to watch Luke and Abbey in the worship band for VBS at 6pm. Hearing them lead worship makes my heart so full of joy! We made it just in time and got to see them even though I was in a bit of delirium. I needed to wake up anyway, so that I could actually sleep at night.
I was pleasantly surprised that the first cycle went just fine. Not too much pain, no nausea, and just a little fatigue (I actually took some naps.) My biggest complaint was the severe abdominal swelling, which I am not sure if it's from liver issues (cancer) or taking so many steroids. I receive steroids through my IV two Mondays in a row, with one week off. Then, I take steroids orally on days 2-5 after each treatment. I will say the abdominal swelling improved towards the middle of week 3. I also had some trouble sleeping once I stopped the anti-nausea drug that I take on days 1-4 of treatment week. I'm guessing that lack of sleep is due to steroids also.
My liver enzymes are still high, but they were slightly lower than the previous labs. The trend (of the enzymes going down) is good though, and I pray that it continues.
Anyway, I just wanted to update friends, family, and prayer warriors on what life was like around here. I am at that oncology office often---so far EACH week. I am hoping and praying I can get a week off periodically. We are trying to figure out how frequently I need the bone marrow stimulating injection, as gthat also determines how frequently I am at the oncology office. So far, I was able to convince them I only needed it Friday of week 1. We skipped it for week two as the labwork showed it was still on the lower end of normal. I went back on this past Thursday and had labwork, which showed I needed the injection--I received it again. I was just within range with my neutrophil count on Monday. So, this week the plan is just to be really careful this week and go for labwork and the injection on Friday.
I will finish this post by showing a video I took of Luke (on keys) and Abbey (on vocals) at youth worship practice, which occurs each week prior to "Powerhouse" (youth group). This band was entirely made up of youth. There is nothing sweeter to me than watching my kids worship the Lord. If anyone local is looking for a youth group for their kids (I know a lot of groups take off for the summer), please feel free to reach out to me. Just comment with your email and I can send you information. They have some awesome fun events all summer even outside the normal Wednesday evening "powerhouse" youth group meetings. It's the best group, led by the most amazing youth pastor and team!
(Please ignore the weird angle, as I was trying to be sneaky. ;-) ) Youth Worship Practice
As always, thanks for your prayers!! Love y'all.
