Hey, ya'll! Thank God it's FRIDAY!
Sorry I'm writing back a little late, but I've been resting up a bit the last couple of days. I'll try to make this short & sweet.
First, thanks to you all for your prayers. When I went into the treatment
center with my Chemo Angel I was ready for them to send me home & do the
treatment in another week or two. They took another test and had us wait another
hour for the results. In the meantime they went ahead and sent me to my room for
the day in anticipation. Around 9:15 the nurse came in and said 'we're a go!
You're getting your cocktail today!' (That's what they call the combination of
drugs they give the patient) My white blood cell count went up enough that they
felt safe in giving me my regular treatment. We smiled and kicked back for the
chemo.
Another switch is that now I have what's known as a port. It's a device that
makes it easy for nurses and doctors to give drugs to patients who, like me, are
difficult to get needles into without making us into pin cushions. OUCH! It
usually goes into the chest or neck and into a vein that goes straight into the
blood supply via the heart, helping the drugs get into your system faster. We
actually got out before 5 this time!! And the best news....my CA-125 number went
from 15 (already great) to 11. Excuse me while I shout...Hallelujah! :-)
Now the situation changes for me. While my WBC count did go up, I found out
from my friends with cancer that it's normal for the white blood cell count to
go down the further you get into your treatments. That means you're more likely
to catch an infection without the ability for your body to have enough WBC to
fight it as usual. So that means I have to watch out for persons with colds or
other infections, and stay away from large crowds as much as possible. That
means, as much as I'd like to be with my folks at church (especially the Gospel
Choir - singing this weekend!), I'll probably need to stay out of services for a
while. One of my close friends who fought cancer had to stay away from services
because he would have been too weak to fight if he caught anything from one of
the members. Fortunately we have our sermons posted at our website (http://abundantliving.alcf.net/), but there's something about when people come together for fellowship and 'recharging' for the start of the week. If God's there when two or three are together (see Matt. 18:20), you can imagine what it's like with a large group! Also, we'll ask folks coming to visit us to just give us a call if you're sick. We love you, but we don't want to take any chances.
Thanks for your prayers, everyone! Now that I'll be more restricted in where
I can go, I'll be catching up on my reading (thank God for Kindle!) and working
on some creative projects.
Have a good day, and Stay Vertical!
P.S. - In the wake of the Aurora, Colorado shooting last night, I realize more
than ever that we have no idea of how long we have in this life, and that we
need to make the most of it while we have the chance. My prayers go out to the
survivors, victims and their families.
Sorry I'm writing back a little late, but I've been resting up a bit the last couple of days. I'll try to make this short & sweet.
First, thanks to you all for your prayers. When I went into the treatment
center with my Chemo Angel I was ready for them to send me home & do the
treatment in another week or two. They took another test and had us wait another
hour for the results. In the meantime they went ahead and sent me to my room for
the day in anticipation. Around 9:15 the nurse came in and said 'we're a go!
You're getting your cocktail today!' (That's what they call the combination of
drugs they give the patient) My white blood cell count went up enough that they
felt safe in giving me my regular treatment. We smiled and kicked back for the
chemo.
Another switch is that now I have what's known as a port. It's a device that
makes it easy for nurses and doctors to give drugs to patients who, like me, are
difficult to get needles into without making us into pin cushions. OUCH! It
usually goes into the chest or neck and into a vein that goes straight into the
blood supply via the heart, helping the drugs get into your system faster. We
actually got out before 5 this time!! And the best news....my CA-125 number went
from 15 (already great) to 11. Excuse me while I shout...Hallelujah! :-)
Now the situation changes for me. While my WBC count did go up, I found out
from my friends with cancer that it's normal for the white blood cell count to
go down the further you get into your treatments. That means you're more likely
to catch an infection without the ability for your body to have enough WBC to
fight it as usual. So that means I have to watch out for persons with colds or
other infections, and stay away from large crowds as much as possible. That
means, as much as I'd like to be with my folks at church (especially the Gospel
Choir - singing this weekend!), I'll probably need to stay out of services for a
while. One of my close friends who fought cancer had to stay away from services
because he would have been too weak to fight if he caught anything from one of
the members. Fortunately we have our sermons posted at our website (http://abundantliving.alcf.net/), but there's something about when people come together for fellowship and 'recharging' for the start of the week. If God's there when two or three are together (see Matt. 18:20), you can imagine what it's like with a large group! Also, we'll ask folks coming to visit us to just give us a call if you're sick. We love you, but we don't want to take any chances.
Thanks for your prayers, everyone! Now that I'll be more restricted in where
I can go, I'll be catching up on my reading (thank God for Kindle!) and working
on some creative projects.
Have a good day, and Stay Vertical!
P.S. - In the wake of the Aurora, Colorado shooting last night, I realize more
than ever that we have no idea of how long we have in this life, and that we
need to make the most of it while we have the chance. My prayers go out to the
survivors, victims and their families.
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