Specific Prayer Needs

I am happy to report that I am feeling pretty good this morning.  I am a little tired but no nausea this morning.  Praise the Lord!  I realize that I have to take one day at a time.  I am going to post a list of specific prayer needs so that those who have been praying for me will have a better idea what to pray for.

Prayer Needs:
Please pray that I would not have any more delays in getting treatments.  It would be beneficial financially to finish treatments before the end of this year.  Please pray that I would remain healthy.  I will have a compromised immune system during the course of chemo. If I get sick or if my red or white blood cell counts get to low or to high, this could cause a delay.

Please pray for protection from the following side effects: nausea, vomiting, sores inside mouth or body, tooth decay, nerve damage, numbness in fingers or toes, hair loss, joint and bone pain, weight gain from steroids, memory loss, trouble with concentration, anxiety, blood clots, sore eyes, altered taste, constipation, damage to veins, fatigue, trouble breathing, high or low blood cell counts.

Please pray for:
financial provision
complete healing of brachial plexus injury
wisdom for my doctors and nurses
that the treatments would be effective in destroying cancer cells, but not effective in destroying healthy ones.
continued peace for our family and that God would be glorified through out this experience

Thank you so much for taking time to walk with me through this journey. 

Love and blessings to you.







 

One Down and Five To Go

Well, after 14 hours and 14 minutes, I have completed my first round of chemo.  YAY!  It was a very long day, but it went by fast and I had a good day.  I arrived at 9:00 am and they proceeded to do labs.  This is one reason it took longer than expected.  Normally they have me do labs the day before, but since I had to come on a different day they said that they would do them the morning of chemo.  They tried to access my port in the same spot they marked last week when I had the dye x-ray and nothing happened.  She called my doctor, who then called the doctor who put it in and asked him to come down and access it.  He was in surgery at the time so I had to wait about an hour for him to come.  He was able to access it the first time by feeling it,  The point of access was higher than where the circle was drawn and we asked if the port had moved.  He said the problem was when they drew the circle I was lying flat and when I sit up gravity pulls the skin down, so the circle was misleading.  Now I have to admit, I was getting a little discouraged when the nurse had trouble again and even considered pulling the plug on the whole thing.  However, I tried to be calm and ask for God to help.  Once the doctor came and was able to access it successfully, I felt better about it.  The nurses now have and idea where it is and have made notes in my file about how to locate it.  We then had to wait for my lab results to come back and for them to call my oncologist with the results to get her approval to start the meds.  They finally started the pre-meds about 1:10 and the chemo drugs at 4:26.  The first chemo drug was only supposed to take 3 hours to infuse, but it took close to five.  I think they wanted to go slow the first time to make sure I didn't have any trouble.  The second chemo drug was started about 10:20 and during this time I did feel a little bit of nausea, but nothing to bad.  After the last drug finished they had to run some saline through the port for about 15 minutes and then flush it out.  I left the hospital at 11:14 pm.  On the way home I felt ill at one point, but it didn't last long.  I am feeling alright at the moment, and I have medication I can take for nausea as needed.  Fortunately, in the future it should not take near as long, probably a maximum of 8 hours usually, but I am learning to expect the unexpected.  Thanks for all of the prayers. I have experienced peace and joy today.  They say the day or to after chemo can be the worse, so please keep praying.  I will post a list of specific prayer needs tomorrow.  It is pretty late and I should get some rest,  Good night and God bless.
 

This is the Day that the Lord has Made

I woke up this morning and this verse came to my mind:

"This is the day which the LORD hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it." Psalm 118:24

This is a day that God knew about before I was born.  It is a part of my life story.  Therefore, I can go forward trusting in Him to meet my every need.  One way that I know He meets my needs is through the answered prayers of family and friends.  I am so thankful to know that there are so many people praying for me. I hope you have a blessed day.  I will try to post an update this evening.

Post Hurricane Update and Treatments Tomorrow

I am thankful to report we survived hurricane Irene without any damages and our power has been restored after only two days. Tomorrow I will begin chemo treatments.  Please continue to pray for me.

Post Surgery Check-up

It has been almost seven weeks since my surgery and I had a post surgery check-up today.  My doctor said everything looks great and I am free to do whatever I want.  My brachial plexus injury continues to heal as well and I am hopeful that the numbness in my fingers will soon go away.  I have also lost a total of 14 pounds since my surgery.  I am thankful for this good report and appreciate everyone who has been praying for me.

Chemo reumes next week and I'm starting back to work today.

I received a call from my doctor's office and I will resume chemo on Tuesday of next week.  Three weeks after that I will go back to a Monday schedule.  I will also have a post surgery follow-up tomorrow morning.

Today is the first day of school where I work, so I will be going back to work today.  I am happy I don't have to miss the first day.  I had to let my morning job go because I felt like it would be too much to handle with the chemo.  I am thankful for God's provisions and an understanding employer.

Results of Dye Study

I went in this morning to have the dye study of my port to check for fractures or leaking.  Immediately they were able to tell that the port had not been accessed in the right place.  The surgeon who placed the port put the access point below the incision and very deep, so it is very difficult to tell where it is from the outside.  The nurse had actually accessed it through the catheter and that is why she was able to get a blood return.  They rely heavily upon the blood return to tell them that the port has been accessed properly but in this case it was not enough.  They removed the needle from yesterday and accessed the port in the proper place using the x-ray as guidance.  They used a needle that was one inch, but it was not long enough.  They went to find a longer needle and then tried again.  This time they were able to access the port properly and inject the dye.  The results showed that the port did not seem to be damaged and there was no leaking.  He then marked a circle around the port area and advised me to keep it marked with a Sharpie when it begins to fade and always make sure they use a longer needle.  It is possible for them to go in and try to raise the port, but at this point I am comfortable with them trying again with the knowledge they received today.  I am waiting for a call from my oncologist to let me know her opinion on how to proceed.  I am thankful that God is in control and resting in his promise that "All things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose." (Romans 8:28 KJV)

The Diagnosis

For those of you who do not know how my journey came to be:

On July 7th I had surgery to remove a 15cm mass on my right ovary. I was also going to have an elected hysterectomy. The Dr. did not think it was anything to worry about based on blood tests and ultra sound. Well, the surgery that was supposed to take 2-2 1/2 hours ended up taking 6 1/2 hours because I had so much endometriosis everything was kind of stuck all together. They had the mass tested while they were operating and said that it had some cancer in it, she then proceeded to remove everything (ovaries, tubes, uterus, some lymph nodes and part of the cervix, it took a long time to carefully cut out everything. It was all done laproscopic so they had me in an inverted position called Trendelenburg's position. This caused my arms to be in a T position which caused a Brachial Plexus Injury. Which basically means a pulled or strained nerve in my shoulder. When I woke up my arms were in pain and my hands were numb and I could not move my right arm without help. My left arm was better pretty soon however my right arm is still not completely recovered, all though it has improved greatly in the 6 1/2 weeks since my surgery.  At my two week follow-up appointment, the doctor went over the results of the biopsies taken during surgery with me. The cancer was contained in the mass and everything else tested was negative. She diagnosed the cancer that was removed from me as Endometrial Carcinoma of the ovary Stage 1C grade 2 and recommended chemo as a preventative measure.  I will be receiving 6 rounds of Carbo/Taxol given once every three weeks.

Everything happens for a reason....

Well today I went to receive my first chemo session.  I arrived at the infusion center to a beautiful decorated room.  There was a cup with my name decorated with flowers, a cup with various snacks and grapes, a monkey that said hang in there on its shirt, and a hand made hat and blanket. Those that know me, know that I love little planned details to make the occasion special. I never realized being in the hospital could be so nice. The nurses were amazing and very kind.  I felt like I was on vacation!  I even had breakfast in bed.  Anyways, they accessed my port and I barely felt anything.  They did spray some medicine to numb the area first.  The port had a good blood return, which would indicate it was working.  The nurse began to run saline through it while waiting for the meds to come from the pharmacy.  A little while later she started the first med.  It was for nausea.  Ten minutes or so went by and I began to feel a little burning.  I reached up and felt around the port area and it felt like it was getting swollen.  I called the nurse and asked if this was normal.  She said no and decided to stop the infusion and call my doctor.  We waited a little while for the doctor to call and she said that I need to have a dye x-ray tomorrow and make sure the port is working properly before proceeding.  If the port is damaged, I guess that means another surgery to replace it.  If it is working properly I will probably resume chemo next week.  While I hope that another surgery is not required, I am thankful that the doctors are taking great precaution.  I am also thankful for a "trial run" which alleviated any fear of the unknown.  However, I have to say that I was in perfect peace today and credit that to my Lord Jesus for answering the prayers of my faithful family and friends.  So for now we wait and will see wait tomorrow brings. 

First dose of meds

I took my first dose of chemo meds tonight.  There were ten tiny pills called Dexamethasone to help prevent nausea and vomiting that can occur as a side effect of chemotherapy.  They left a nasty taste in my mouth, which I quickly got rid of by eating an Oreo. :-)  I only take these the night before chemo.  Next time I think I will take them with some applesauce.  


Well, I better get to bed.  We have to be at the hospital at 8:30 in the morning.  

The Journey Begins

I have decided to start a blog to document my journey through chemotherapy.  I have named my blog "I'm His Favorite" as a reminder of God's unfailing love for me.  It is so awesome that each of us who know Jesus as our Savior can say we are His favorites.  I am so thankful for all of my family and friends who have prayed for me and who have been so supportive during these past few months.  Most of all, I am thankful for my Savior who knows how I feel and will be with me every step of the way.