Rebuilding After Having Cancer

I've been enjoying posting about our outings, especially our bike riding at Zion National Park. It has been so wonderful getting out again, but I'm concerned that I may have given a wrong impression. 

Yes, I have been blessed to still be alive after having stage 3 ovarian cancer this last year, but it has not been easy getting to the point where I could do things again. The chemo treatments I had and the chemo medication I am now taking both can cause debilitating fatigue. Many times, I felt that I just couldn't move, then I'd remember that movement was supposed to help this fatigue, so I'd get up and make myself start walking. I'm grateful for my husband who was my exercise partner and insisted we get out for walks even when I grumbled or tried to persuade him that we should wait for a better day. Though my enthusiasm was barely a flicker, I kept walking and it helped me move past the fatigue and feel better.

I had to Go Beyond Logic to Heal from Cancer

 

When I saw this video, The Binding, about Abraham and his son, Isaac, I cried.  Abraham knew that it didn't make sense to offer up his son. He knew that he had been promised a posterity as numerous as the sands of the sea through Isaac. Amazingly, he had the faith to do what the Lord asked of him no matter how illogical it seemed, because he knew he could trust the giver of the promise.

Less than a year ago at the time I became ill with cancer, I was given a promise from the Lord that I was being given a chance to heal. I also knew that my stage 3c Ovarian Cancer had spread throughout my entire abdomen giving me a high cancer count of 1,900 (35 is the point where you have cancer) and just three months to live. How could I possibly be healed?  

Second Chemo

I had my second chemo dose last Wednesday. I am tired and am doing well, but we had more difficulty this time. 

A few moments after the chemo IV was started, I felt that something was wrong. I started to cough and suddenly felt my face and neck become hot. The nurse, who was caring for another person, turned toward me when I coughed. When she saw my pink color, she rushed over and stopped the chemo IV. She immediately began an IV of Benadryl and steroids.  My back arched into a sharp cramp of pain then my hip flexors cramped. My chest was tightening and breathing was becoming difficult. By then, the Benadryl was taking affect and the cramping quickly subsided. Wow! I'd never experienced an allergic reaction like that before! 

We waited an hour for my reaction to settle down, then the nurse began the chemo IV once again. As soon as it began, my chest began to constrict again. Though I tried to relax, I was frightened -- frightened that I wouldn't be able to breath and frightened that I wouldn't be able to have the chemo treatments. 

My doctor had told me that I only had a few months to live if I couldn't do the chemo. I also knew that the Lord had promised to help me through these treatments. I had to be able to do this chemo treatment. I prayed for help and strength beyond my own. Suddenly, there was a "leap of faith". I felt moved from where I was to where I needed to be. It was as if I had been picked up and actually moved. I've never experienced anything like it before, but I was able to continue with the chemo for three more hours and complete it. I feel that I have been very blessed.

Good News!

Before my first Chemo my cancer marker count (a protein) was over 1500. Before my second Chemo it had dropped to 830 (normal is 125 or less).

Also, my red and white blood cells have not dropped as much as expected, and I have lost the rest of the extra fluid in my body. I have ankles again! Without the extra water, it is evident that I have lost a lot of weight during these last three months of abdominal swelling and difficulty eating. The good news is that I can now eat more normally, so I hope to put the weight back on and get back to a normal weight for me. All is looking very good. 

This a a photo of me the day after my second Chemo and yes, I do still have hair though it is thin, white, and wispy. 

The day after Chemo, I will now have an injection to encourage the growth of my white blood cells. It is painful afterward, but a real blessing that they can get my white bloods cells growing again.