The countdown continues --- 3 down 9 to go!

The countdown continues .... I am in single digits!!!  I had a pretty good week.  Wendy and the kids came up and visited last Saturday and I overdid it a bit.  I was fine on Saturday, but Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, I was soooooo tired.  I think one of the hardest things is to know my limitations.  It is going to take some time to gain back my strength and be able to do what I used to be able to do.  You know it's funny, you don't even realize you're getting weak.  I'll just have to be patient and gain it a little at t time.  As the countdown continues, I'm one step closer to the final phase of my treatment.  I have gone two weeks with no catastrophies (hospital stays) and I'm praying that it will continue for the rest of the treatments.  Thanks for the prayers because they are definitely working.  I pray for you each and every night.  :) 

2 nd chemo in progress ..... 10 to go!

You know I was going to blog during the past week to tell everyone that things were going well.  I was worried I would "jinx" it.  But I am getting my second dose and I'm here to tell you last week was really pretty good.  I had a couple of days where I was kind of achy and my fingertips and tongue were (and still are) tingly, but that's the extent of it.  I am praying that this week mirrors last weeks' chemo and all I'll get is those couple of side effects.  It feels good to feel somewhat normal.  I know it will take a while for me to gain all my strength back.  When I'm tired, I nap and if I feel like sleeping until 10 in the a.m., I do.  I'm just letting my body dictate to me what it wants to do.  I say "Thank You, God" for every day that I get closer to when I can say "LAST CHEMO" day!!!  Right after I finish with the chemo I will start radiation.  Today I had my doctor send a referral to Hope Lodge.  Hope Lodge is where cancer patients can go during treatment and stay for free.  Being I live more than 40 miles from treatment, am in the middle of treatment and treatment is daily for 6 1/2 weeks, I qualify to live at the Hope Lodge for those 6 1/2 weeks.  It is like a hotel room.  There are 6 kitchens you can cook meals in, a dining room, a library, fitness center, media room, etc. that can be used by everyone.  We have to bring our own t.v. for the room but bedding and towels are supplied.  It will be nice to be able to stay down in the cities for the treatment.  Things are falling into place and I see God's hand on every single thing.  Pray I'll have another uneventful week (thank you for that) and I'll blog more next week!

One Chemo down .... Eleven to go

One chemo down with eleven to go.  These chemos will be weekly.  I have to admit I was rather nervous to have it yesterday.  I feel really good today, so am hoping for an uneventful chemo for a change.  This is a chemo called Taxol and doesn't attack the white blood cells as much as the other chemo did.  That was where I'd get my socks knocked off ... the white count.  I could get achy in the next couple of days, but I can take Tylenol if that happens.  I get to go on coumedin instead of the shots too for thining the blood for the blood clot.  I'm happy about that.  No more shots in the stomach once my blood starts clotting between 2 and 3.  My poor stomach is just green with bruising and I don't know where to give the shot anymore!  Hopefully, I will be off the shots by the end of the week.  Just wanted to keep you posted on what was going on.  Keep me in your prayers .... please.

Just an update ...

Got out of the hospital yesterday.  We stayed at Erin's last night and got home today.  Good to be home.  Feeling pretty good.  Have to remember to walk around on my leg and not just "veg" out .... which I would much rather do. 

The Journey just keeps getting longer ... with more and more twists and turns.

You know a journey is never a straight road from Point A to Point B, but enough of the "scenic route".  I want to get there as quickly as possible now.  After the last chemo, I had an appointment to see the dr. to "prevent"  having to go into the hospital again.  Well, that didn't work, although my hospital stay this time didn't have anything to do with the chemo.  How ironic is that?  Tom and I went to my brother's house to stay for a couple of days because Tom thought I was getting sort of down.  Well, I was down all right.  I couldn't walk from the bathroom to the bedroom without having to sit on the bed and huff and puff for 3 minutes.  Anyway, my very astute and watchful sister-in-law, Diane, saw this wasn't right and she called the dr. and INSISTED (and I do mean insisted) that I get 10 minutes of the dr.'s time.  Well, the dr. said of course come in and within 1/2 hour of seeing him, I had an EKG, an ECHO, an ultrasound of my leg and after figuring out what it was, I was in surgery having a filter put in my main artery (in the stomach via the neck) to catch clots.  They found a PE in my lung (which will dissolve now that I am on blood thinners) and a BIG clot in my right leg.  I was put in ICU.   My leg was a little sore, but it felt like a charlie horse that needed to be straightened out.  My hemoglobin also was low again, so I got another blood transfusion.   I'm in the hospital now and should be out tomorrow.  I will be giving myself bloodthinning shots in the stomach twice a day from now until my chemo is done. Actually I gave myself my first one today and it isn't bad at all.   I will be starting the new chemo on March 11th, so please everyone continued prayers.  God has been with me all along and I have to tell you that even though this was very serious, I had such a sense of peace and calm because I KNEW God was carrying me every step of the way.  As I said in the very first blog of my journey .... God must have something very special planned for me because he is bringing me through many many trials and situations for a reason.   Shhhhh ... I'm listening to Him.