Did I Mention the Worse is Over?

I did make it through this past weekend. It was rough. When I blogged on Friday, I was feeling really good. I was hoping for a good weekend but that was not the case. Sometime in the middle of the night, the chemo made me sick. I was sick enough to wake up Kevin (who graciously let me have the whole bed to myself) to come and get my back up nausea medicine. It really didn't help because I was still nauseated most of the night. The nausea finally subsided enough for me to get back to sleep. I slept the whole day on Saturday. I wasn't just laying in bed dozing, I was asleep. I finally got up around 4:00 in the afternoon and stayed awake for about one hour. I fell back asleep and didn't get up again till about 12:30 on Sunday. I stayed awake most of the afternoon on Sunday but still went back to sleep really early.

On Monday, I had a 3 month check up with my breast surgeon, Dr. Lawson. She did a thorough check and found everything satisfactory. I go back to her again in 3 months. I did find out that I will not have to have a mammogram again since there is (her words) "no mammo to gram"

I did start feeling a little better on Tuesday. I did not want to do anything so I didn't. Kevin had to make a trip up to Louisville, KY so it was just me and John Derrick at home. He was really good, we just sat and watched cartoons all day and I ignored the complete wreck that my house was in. That has been one of the most annoying things, seeing how messy a house can get when no one is doing anything. By the end of the day, I was exhausted so when my dad brought Faith home from school, I let him take both kids away so I could try to take a nap. Of course, I couldn't get to sleep but I did have about 3 hours of complete peace and quiet which I needed.

So it is Wednesday now. I spent my whole morning cleaning house. It was pretty nasty. The bathrooms were gross, there toys EVERYWHERE, and the dog decided he needed to shred everyone of his chew toys. I had a lot to do this morning and I did make myself tired but it is worth it now because the house looks SO much better.

It is finally fall. It rained for two weeks straight. I was beginning to wonder if I needed to start building an ark. All the rain was worth it because now the weather is crisp and cool. The windows are open at home and the everything smells so fresh. I love fall.

This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. (Psalm 118:24).

The Worse Part is Finally Over!

I had my final round of chemo yesterday. Yipee! I pray that I will never have to have these drugs pumped through my system again. They are not fun. Although this treatment does not seem to be bothering me as much as they did last time. I am pretty much wiped out but I haven't slept all day like I did last time. All that I have done today is go to the get the neulasta shot at the doctors office this morning. Kevin, John Derrick and I were able to stop at Chick Fil'a and get breakfast after my shot. I got home and put on some extremely comfortable clothes and sat in the recliner for the rest of the day. I played on my laptop, read a book, and napped a little. John Derrick sat in my lap alot and watched his favorite cartoons on Boomerang.

The kids will be spending the weekend with Grandmommy and Granddaddy again. This will give me a much needed day to rest without having to worry about the kids. As much as they love their daddy, whenever they want anything, they always come to me first and I always feel the need to help them. They love going to Grandmmommy and Granddaddy's house. John Derrick has been asking ALL day when he was going to leave.

A special thanks again to Margaret McPeak for driving me to my treatment yesterday. Also to Autumn Roeder for fixing a delicious dinner last night for us. Such a simple dinner but it tasted sooo good and we ate it all up. Tomorrow night, a new friend Scarlett Meadows will be bringing Kevin and I something to eat (more about her below). Lori Knox will be bringing us supper on Monday night. I am getting so spoiled with all the dinners that all my friends bring during this time.

About Scarlett, I met her at the Breast Cancer Friends meeting this past Monday night. Breast Cancer Friends is a a breast cancer support group that was started by a few ladies at the Maple Hill congregation where Kevin and I worship. This is the first meeting that I have been able to attend and the first meeting for Scarlett also. She is also a young mother with two children, ages 3 and 17 months. Her breast cancer what caught early and she had a mastectomy just three weeks ago. What made this tougher for her was that she had just moved from Kentucky just recently. We exchanged emails and have emailing each other over the past few days and she offered to bring supper over this weekend. So lets keep her in our prayers as she is also going through this difficult time.

I also want to mention my beautiful daughter Faith. She has been extremely sweet over the past few days. She has done everything that we have asked her to do without one word of complaint. She helped Kevin set the table for supper last night and cleared the dishes. She even wiped the table off with an extremly wet rag without being told. She did her homework and took a shower without complaining too much. While I was laying on the couch after supper, she offered to get me a pillow and cover me up with a blanket. She is so special and wonderful, and I love her so much.

I go back to the doctor to see Sarah, the nurse practioner in 2 weeks and will work out the details of the rest of my treatments. There a still things that I am confused about but we will work those out later. BUT the worse part is over!!!! Yipee!

Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth. Worship the LORD with gladness; come before him with joyful songs. Know that the LORD is God. It is he who made us, and we are his;we are his people, the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. For the LORD is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations. (Psalms 100)

Three down, One to go!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I had my third chemo treatment last Thursday, September 3. I think this was the worse one out of the three that I had. The first treatment was bad because I did not know what to expect and the exhaustion was horrible. The second treatment was very easy. I was tired a lot but nearly as bad as the first time and I did not feel the need to sleep all day. This time, I don't know what happened but have not been able to keep my eyes open for longer then 2 hours.

My chemo treatments consist of 2 nausea medicines, then one chemo drug, then a bag of fluid and then the final chemo drug and then I am done and I can go home. I take with me to my treatments, my Ipod and a book. I also have a cross stitch project that I have wanted to work on but have only worked on it one and this is the time that I worked on it. The nausea medicines were no problem but halfway through the first chemo drug, I started feeling sleepy and I knew then I was in for a long weekend. When I got done, I went home and made myself some lunch and I think I feel asleep around 3:00 and pretty much stayed asleep till the next morning. I was in and out of consciousness occasionally when one of the kids or Kevin would ask me something but I would fall right back asleep. This time I was a bit nauseated and I did not want to eat anything. I fortunately did not get sick. Friday morning, I went back in for my nuelasta shot and then after that Friday and Saturday are pretty much a blur to me.

Faith did not have school on Friday and Monday is Labor Day. My sister-in-law, Penny, came and took both Faith and John Derrick home with her to spend the weekend since mom and dad are on vacation this week. Faith of course was excited to go. John Derrick was excited at first but I didn't think we would last all weekend and he did not. He wanted to come home on Saturday morning. So Penny brought him home and Faith is still with them. Since I was so out of it on Thursday afternoon, Faith picked out her own clothes to take and I so scared of what she is going out in public in but oh well, at least she has clothes.

Thank you to Cynthia Cluck who made some delicious ham and biscuits for us to eat. Thank also to Heather Wamble who brought dinner over both Friday night and Saturday. Kevin was extremely happy with the chocolate cake on Saturday especially since sweet does not taste very well to me right now. Thank you to Margaret McPeak who has graciously driven me to my last two treatments so Kevin doesn't have to take time off from work. Thank you also to the Maple Hill Church of Christ congregation for the beautiful prayer book that you put together for me. The prayers and scriptures are inspirational and mean so much to me. I don't know what I would be able to do without all the love and support that all of you have given me.

Because of the Lord's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness, I say to myself, "The Lord is my portion; therefore I will wait for him." The Lord is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him. (Lamentations 3: 22:25)