I'm sitting here in the transfusion room, with Amanda receiving her fluids while she and Tom try to figure out what game to play. They are waiting to go check out the various board and card games in the youth room, which happens to be full of people, so for the time being they decide on I Spy. Much to the entertainment of the nurse and myself, this has resulted in Rock, Paper, Scissors to see who gets to go first. Never a dull moment with these two.
We had a great weekend, starting with Saturday in College Station celebrating my aunt and uncle's 50th wedding anniversary. I always enjoy spending time with family and often wonder why we don't do it more often.
I had hoped that Sunday morning we would all make it to church, but unfortunately, Amanda wasn't feeling well. After an afternoon of rest, we did make it to the evening service for our Palm Sunday service and observation of the Lord's Supper. Tom was the deacon serving our table. What a special moment of worshiping together as a family.
That brings us to today, and we are at Dell for her last infusion and white blood cell booster shot for cycle ten. Officially only two more cycles to go!!
At her weigh in today, Amanda has put on three pounds in two weeks. Completely caught me by surprise - happy, happy, happy!! Earlier today at lunch, Amanda said her jeans were fitting her a little tighter today, so she said she wasn't too surprised. :)
She did great during her port access and her labs came back looking good. Already, we are almost finished with her infusion. I am so thankful for these quick appointments!
Despite our numerous trips and hours spent in the clinic, on the drive here it was as if she just emotionally wilted the closer we got to Dell. Ten months into this and the apprehension and anxiety is still going strong. I can understand that, but it still breaks my heart.
These next two weeks will tell us if the increased dosage will make any impact on her counts. Dr. Harrod doesn't anticipate a big change, let's pray for that to be true! Overall, I think it has been a smooth cycle ten and it would be great to finish it out the same way, with no surprises or complications.
A few months ago, Amanda had her picture done for the Children's Blood and Cancer Center for publicity use. Today, we got to see the finished product. I think Amanda was a little taken aback by how big her photo was!
Well, that was pretty much our day. Another smooth appointment behind us. Amanda will start cycle eleven out of twelve on May 2.
After today, we still have a busy week ahead with ROCK and her monthly physical therapy appointment for Amanda. I will work at Grace a couple days this week and Tom is working an overtime shift in the middle of all this. Throw in a couple of meetings and a short week at school and we have organized chaos! The kids have a four day weekend to celebrate Easter so needless to say I am looking forward to the long weekend.
While I still have my moments of struggle and panic, I am thankful to be at a point where I can battle those feelings with scripture and prayer and somewhat quickly regain my footing. Thank you for your continued prayers and encouragement! Please don't stop praying. Prayer is powerful. Prayer strengthens our faith and sustains our hopes. Prayer brings us closer to God. Prayer can move mountains.
I have really been enjoying Twitter lately with all the various quotes from the recent pastors' conference, Together for the Gospel (TG4). Now, understanding that these were said at an evangelism conference, they still jumped off the page at me, to meet me in my personal journey:
"We have nothing in our arsenal but the word of God and prayer. And it is enough." - Kevin DeYoung (I couldn't have said it better. I need reminding of that often.)
"To be bold is to be clear in the face of fear" Kevin DeYoung (Clear for me is trusting in God's plan and staying bold in my faith in spite of the fear.)
"Satisfaction in Christ severs the root of temptation." John Piper (What tempts me is worry and anxiety, but satisfaction in Christ destroys the temptation before it has a chance to establish roots in my thoughts. It is so worth the battle, yet so hard to achieve.)
And I have already posted this one by David Platt, but I have gone back to to time and time again:
"Let us be done with our dependence on our human ability and plead with God to do what only he can do." (Acknowledging God's awesome power and my, lack thereof...and pleading for his healing mercies.)
As I close I just have to add that after the last two weeks, I am so thankful for my times of peace, because this is a peace that passes all understanding, especially my own.
God is good. All the time. And today, His grace was more than enough.
After today, we still have a busy week ahead with ROCK and her monthly physical therapy appointment for Amanda. I will work at Grace a couple days this week and Tom is working an overtime shift in the middle of all this. Throw in a couple of meetings and a short week at school and we have organized chaos! The kids have a four day weekend to celebrate Easter so needless to say I am looking forward to the long weekend.
While I still have my moments of struggle and panic, I am thankful to be at a point where I can battle those feelings with scripture and prayer and somewhat quickly regain my footing. Thank you for your continued prayers and encouragement! Please don't stop praying. Prayer is powerful. Prayer strengthens our faith and sustains our hopes. Prayer brings us closer to God. Prayer can move mountains.
I have really been enjoying Twitter lately with all the various quotes from the recent pastors' conference, Together for the Gospel (TG4). Now, understanding that these were said at an evangelism conference, they still jumped off the page at me, to meet me in my personal journey:
"We have nothing in our arsenal but the word of God and prayer. And it is enough." - Kevin DeYoung (I couldn't have said it better. I need reminding of that often.)
"To be bold is to be clear in the face of fear" Kevin DeYoung (Clear for me is trusting in God's plan and staying bold in my faith in spite of the fear.)
"Satisfaction in Christ severs the root of temptation." John Piper (What tempts me is worry and anxiety, but satisfaction in Christ destroys the temptation before it has a chance to establish roots in my thoughts. It is so worth the battle, yet so hard to achieve.)
And I have already posted this one by David Platt, but I have gone back to to time and time again:
"Let us be done with our dependence on our human ability and plead with God to do what only he can do." (Acknowledging God's awesome power and my, lack thereof...and pleading for his healing mercies.)
As I close I just have to add that after the last two weeks, I am so thankful for my times of peace, because this is a peace that passes all understanding, especially my own.
God is good. All the time. And today, His grace was more than enough.
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