2nd Infusion - July 14, 2014

     I received my second chemo infusion yesterday... one full round finished! My port was installed last Thursday (see the picture below) so set-up was much smoother and less painful. Bradley started out with me this morning then tag teamed with Emily (Amerine) Kelly who brought lunch from LaRosa’s.  I took a nice nap after lunch, had a good conversation with Liesl Grause (an old friend and Hodgkin’s survivor) on the phone and before I knew it I was ready to go home.  

 

Some of my blood counts were low so I am going to have to start taking a white blood cell booster (Neulasta) on the day after every treatment. It causes achiness in the bones for many so this is an unfortunate addition to the treatment regimen but not out of the ordinary. Add another set of side effects to the pile!

The meals have continued to roll in which has been a HUGE blessing from our community of friends. It saves precious time so that we can devote attention to the little ones instead of having to plan, shop for, and prepare meals every night. For those who have already brought a meal and to those who are set to bring one in the future, I truly cannot thank you enough. It may not seem like much but it is literally gifting us time to love our babies and there is nothing more valuable than that. 

Speaking of babies. It has been a rough week so far with the sleep situation. Mae has been waking at least twice a night and last night she was up almost the entire night. Bradley, being the good daddy and husband he is, hung right in there with her and even walked away with some of his patience left.  Austin hasn't given us much of a break either. He woke up Monday morning at 5 AM (thanks Gramps for getting up with him!) wanting to talk about Johnny Cueto. I think it was a little leftover excitement from going to the Reds game on Sunday! We could all use a little shut eye around here.   

“Give thanks to the Lord, because he is good; His love endures forever… Let the one who is wise heed these things and ponder the loving deeds of the Lord.” Psalm 107:1 and 43.

The "…" in the verse above is a collection of stories of God’s faithfulness. It is a reminder to us to always live our lives in a posture of gratitude making every effort to incorporate giving thanks into our day to day. With this in mind we wanted to include some things we are thankful for in these posts both to declare our gratitude in writing and to share that gratitude with our extended community.

My Parents.  They have graciously opened up their home and rearranged their entire lives both literally and figuratively to support us during this time.  We couldn’t do it without them.

Chemo Drugs.  Though the drugs make me sick, without them we would be facing something much more grim. How lucky we are to live at a point in history where a cure for the Hodgkin’s in my body is not only possible but highly probably.

Daycare. It is such a burden off our backs to be able to send our kids to a place where we know they are loved and cared for each day.

Our prayer requests for this week are for:

• Healthy little ones that don’t bring home germs from daycare (yeah right!)
• Sleep for everyone!
• Energy to be Mommy and a good patient and work
• Minimal side effects from the Neulasta
• God to reveal himself to us in new ways this week