No chemo- but GOOD NEWS!

Well, the counts are in.  While her platelets have gone up a little, we still are not close to the level needed for chemo to start.  However, because they have gone up, no infusion was needed, nor did she need fluids.  That is a praise.  Another HUGE praise in my book is that she GAINED A POUND!  This is her first significant weight gain since she started chemo.  I know, I know - a pound may not seem significant, but when we have been dealing with gaining and losing ounces, and mostly losing, an entire pound is enough to make me do the happy dance.  And a high five.  At the same time.  :)

Our visit was very short today and that is always a good thing.  Amanda did great with her port access and handled the day well.  Thank you for praying for her today.  If you don't mind, I have a new prayer request.  Please specifically pray her counts will once again skyrocket before next week's visit.  We saw this same situation last month, low platelets one week and a huge surge in them the next allowing us to start chemo, so we know it can be done.  The higher her platelets can go, the better off she is when she starts chemo.  It simply puts her at a better physical starting point for the next cycle if we can begin with good, strong numbers.

I have hit some emotional bumps in the road lately.  There are no new concerns or complications, it just seems that something will take me by surprise, or if I let my thoughts wander a little too much I end up in places I don't want to be and it hurts.  The physical side effects she experiences are sometimes especially difficult for me to see.  Bruises, petechiae or even some hair loss will at times take my breath away.  I guess because she is doing so well and looks so good, that when even these small symptoms of chemo appear, it can catch me off guard.  Funny, isn't it?  Our whole lives have been altered by this one thing, but often, this one thing can still be pushed to the back of my mind and "overlooked" as we go about our days. 

So we are back in our waiting pattern of watching her closely, letting her push her own limits and praying that her body is on the rebound this week.  I'm so glad that our God is a God of details.  It is a reminder to me that not even the smallest thing (or in Amanda's case - cells!) goes unnoticed by Him. 
 

Isaiah 26:3

You keep him in perfect peace

whose mind is stayed on you,

because he trusts in you.

Psalm 139: 1-14
O Lord, you have searched me and known me!
² You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
    you discern my thoughts from afar.
³ You search out my path and my lying down
    and are acquainted with all my ways.
⁴ Even before a word is on my tongue,
    behold, O Lord, you know it altogether.
⁵ You hem me in, behind and before,
    and lay your hand upon me.
⁶ Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
    it is high; I cannot attain it.

⁷ Where shall I go from your Spirit?
    Or where shall I flee from your presence?
⁸ If I ascend to heaven, you are there!
    If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!
⁹ If I take the wings of the morning
    and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,
¹⁰ even there your hand shall lead me,
    and your right hand shall hold me.
¹¹ If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me,
    and the light about me be night,”
¹² even the darkness is not dark to you;
    the night is bright as the day,
    for darkness is as light with you.

¹³ For you formed my inward parts;
    you knitted me together in my mother's womb.
¹⁴ I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
Wonderful are your works;
    my soul knows it very well.