Giving Thanks to God

Hope your Thanksgiving was filled with great God-moments, fond memories, and good food!

We celebrated throughout the week with awesome friends and a week long visit with Tim's mom!

We met with the Deb's chemo oncologist Tuesday and received news that the CA125 is back up since our last visit. It was 147 and now it is 278. However, the doctor says she is not concerned about the number increase and therefore we will address what was discovered in the CT scan last Friday. The scan did NOT show any cancer (thank you Lord) however there is another fluid sac or "cyst" growing in the pelvic area.

The symptoms Deb is experiencing are very similar to the last fluid sac she had -- pressure, pinching, cramp-like sensations, and tender right side -- so we will be going in on Wednesday (Nov 28) to have the fluid drained. It's an out patient procedure so Deb will have to be under local anesthesia while the radiologist uses the ct to guide the instruments to the right spot. We pray that the radiologist will be able to access the area to drain it. Last time Deb had this done there were 2 fluid sacs -- one was accessed and the other was too close to the sciatic nerve to have anything done. The draining of the one fluid sac provided relief from the pains.

Apparently it is common for these "fluid sacs" to build after lymph nodes have been removed. The lymph system is still trying to figure out a path where there once were nodes.

We continue to appreciate prayers. We are thankful that God has a purpose for all this (although we have no clue what that is!) and we lean on His everlasting love. Every minute of each day.

My favorite place....with friends and family

Hard to believe Thanksgiving is just 2 weeks away! I don't have any health-related news since chemo  ceased in early September. Currently I am on a "2-month" watch cycle. I am eager to learn what my blood count is and that will be Nov 20 at my next oncology meeting.

I was able to enjoy the beautiful beaches of Amelia Island, Florida thanks to long-time friend, Laura Bordeaux-Stavrou, who graciously invited us to enjoy her condo on the beach for 2 weeks!! Laura met David and me there for the first week and then Tim met us there the second week. Both Laura and Tim were there to help celebrate my 49th birthday. What a great place to be...with friends, family, AND at the beach! Joy, joy, joy!!

We visited Tim's Uncle Gene while in FLA. What a Godly man. Sure wish he would come live with us!! He is an inspiration!

The morning sun rising -- from the deck

David gets a ride on the boogie board.

Tim, David and Laura enjoy the surf

Laura keeps David snugly warm!

Tim and Deb enjoy a stroll at the pier at sunset.

David ready for the waves!

Tim's Uncle Gene, Deb and David at a Arapaho Botanical Garden in Gainesville

The Botanical Garden's alligator at the water's edge

Chemo #8 completed - no more chemo!

We continue to appreciate and need your prayers. We met with the oncologist yesterday afternoon and told him we decided not to do any "maintenance chemo" since there is no benefit to me...just more side effects.

So we are not doing anything...which the doctor said is fine. He said "...when it comes back...we hope and pray that it won't...it could show up in a couple months or a year...if you hit the 2 year mark of keeping the cancer at bay then that is a big marker..."

I am not encouraged by man's declaration about this cancer. We do take into consideration the doctor's experience with patients who have the same type of cancer. So it brings bad news to us. At the same time we turn and rely on God's power and His will for our lives. We continue to pray that God's will for me is to be the mom to raise David well into his adulthood. And to "grow old together" with my husband Tim, the man God brought to me after years of prayer and waiting.

My dear friend, Karyn Elliott came for a visit as well as "nurse-maid" to me and David. She arrived the day that Cecilia left - Sept 6. I had my last chemo on Sept 7, so thankfully we had someone to care for us. I am so blessed to have such wonderful, caring friends to support and pray for us. Thank you Lord:-). Thanks Karyn, we love you!

Making a yummy dinner --Spring Rolls!

Enjoying a yummy dinner on a beautiful fall evening. 

David was "making Karyn a princess" by brushing her hair

Riding the tricycle to pre-school.
Another beautiful day!

Boy it's a sunny morning!

So thankful for Karyn's friendship of 20 years!

Needing God's wisdom

God's guidance is indeed what we are praying for. Friday will be chemo #8. My oncologist said that the normal number of chemo treatments is 6. So the more treatments I have the more side effects and lasting side effects I am subjected to.

The oncologist has presented 3 options: continue chemo on a "maintenance level" which means getting one chemo drug instead of two. The drug they would continue with is the one that causes all the side effects -- neuropathy, hair loss, fatigue, constipation, nausea -- but less duration (if that's any consolation); option 2 is to get involved in a drug study and option 3 is to do nothing. We will get the results of the CA125 on Friday before chemo. Hopefully it will be in the normal range of 0-35! Three weeks ago (after treatment #6) it was 325 I believe. Which is higher than before surgery, but "normal" to be higher.

I am not in remission yet, so I don't know what to do. I do believe God knows my future so I trust in His answer...I just need prayers to hear Him!!

Cecilia has been our visitor since Labor Day and it has been a very short but absolutely a lovely visit. We had some people over last night to hear what God is doing through Cecilia in Greece. To make a long story short she is teaching Bible in a private school for those who cannot afford to go to the Greek schools or other private schools, she conducts Bible studies on Tuesdays and Saturdays, she works with refugees, and she is beginning a ministry among young women involved in illegal human trafficking. In addition to her full-time job of teaching she is finishing her masters degree in Christian counseling and helping young women learn to sew so they can earn some income. She brought some hand bags and is selling them while she is here in the states.

Report received

The fluid is not cancerous! Just normal lymphatic drainage with no where to go! We still don't know what to do with the 2nd fluid sac, but at this time it's not bothering me too much. Thanks to God.

I have chemo tomorrow, and from "the chair" I will head to my friend's house and head to Park City for our church Women's Retreat!! I am very excited. I hope my body will respond as it has in past experiences -- I will feel energetic the night of chemo and the next day.

We had had some wonderful news too. My friend who is a missionary in Greece (I met her while I lived in Africa) is coming for a couple day visit before she heads back overseas. I haven't seen her since Morocco (2005)!

The day after Cecilia leaves us my dear friend Karyn is coming from Indy. We are so blessed to have these opportunities to be with friends. Thank you Lord!!

Chemo on Friday

Friday's fluid drainage went as well as to be expected. They collected 60 ccs. from one fluid sac. It was the size of a softball. The 2nd fluid sac is not easily accessible at this point so they could not do anything with it. It seems to be entangled with the sciatic nerve therefore they don't want to risk hitting that. The good news is that THAT may be the cause of the numbness in my right leg.

The fluid should be diagnosed by Wednesday. They are thinking it is not cancerous!

I am scheduled for my 2nd round of chemo (post-op) this Friday (Aug 17). I am looking forward to meeting with the oncologist prior to the treatment to see if she has spoken to the surgeon about how many rounds of chemo they recommend. The surgeon wants me to have a total of 6 rounds of post-op chemo and the oncologist suggested 3. I am hoping for 3 only.

Those chemo days are tough. Tim continues to remind me "it's only 5 days and you can do it!!" The 1st 2 days are manageable but by Sunday (day 2) I am in bed until about Wednesday/Thursday and those days are filled with feeling hopeless. It's miserable.

This week I will have chemo on Friday and then I will head to Park City for our church women's retreat. I am so excited. Please keep us all in prayer.

Enjoy the pictures. David and I enjoyed a morning out with 2 other families (9 kids under the age of 9). It was fun but my child was out of sorts when he had to leave the indoor play area.

My hair is/was starting to fall out so Tim shaved it for me. Back to wearing wigs or being bold to go bald!!

David ad his buddy Tayven

It took me about 8 weeks to get my hair this long!!

Here come the waves...

the mohawk...Not keepin' it!

 

Tim, you oughta be a barber in your spare time!!
Thanks Honey, you're the best!

Back to the operating room -- just a small needle drainage prodecure

So I had a CT scan last Friday (Aug3).

On Tuesday I got a call from St. Mark's Registrar to schedule a "fluid drainage". I inquired if they have the right patient. I had not been informed of any procedure that needed to be done. I was going to be seeing the oncologist that day at 4pm to see the results of my CT scan. So I was a caught off guard with this info and strange call! The registrar said I was the right person and she would call my surgeon to confirm and have them call me.

The GYN-Oncologist nurse had left a message on my voice mail during the day - which I did not check, so I had no idea she had seen the scan and gave me results and scheduled this procedure -- my bad.

Once it was all straightened out why this procedure was requested I found out that my CT scan revealed pockets of fluid that should be drained. I had been having abdomen pains for a couple weeks and had left a message for the nurse on Monday to tell her again of my ongoing symptoms.  The nurse assumes these pockets of fluid are causing the pains. So I agreed to go in Wednesday and have the procedure done.

The oncologist meeting Tuesday afternoon didn't reveal much. He said my blood count and white cell counts were good. The pockets of fluid -- he could not tell where they were, how big they were, how they got there, etc. :-(. He explained that  these "fluid pockets" may be in the area where lymph nodes were removed, so the fluid that typically flows through the lymph system is trying to figure out where to go since those nodes are gone.

I checked into St. Mark's Wednesday to have the procedure done. They told me I had to fast for 6 hours prior to procedure. Too bad I was told I could eat. The procedure was rescheduled for Friday -- today. It seems the pockets of fluid are in the pelvic and one may be deeper than the other so the fluid drainage may be painful . The PA was kind enough to give me the option to get it done with a local anesthesia or come back Friday with an empty stomach so I can have a little more anesthesia.

Well I opted for more anesthesia. I really don't want to feel any more poking and prodding in that area thank you very much. So I am leaving in half an hour to go get checked in for this "outpatient procedure".

We are having  our Small Group over tonight for a potluck dinner! So I can't wait to get home and EAT. Thank you God for working things out with babysitters and last-minute rides to the airport and Tim's work. I pray for Your hands to guide this procedure so that I will have relief from this pressure and pain:-) You are Good.