Long Day, but Cycle Eleven has started!

What a day.  We have officially started cycle eleven!

This morning started off very rough.  Amanda woke up with a headache and was sick before we left the house.  She didn't want to go and her anxieties were getting the best of her.

While Amanda started the day off the rough, so did I.  Overwhelmed by fear and worry, it was to the point that I was struggling to hold it together and failing miserably.   Every other thought was a prayer for strength and peace.  Just when I needed it, I received texts from different friends letting me know they were praying for me!  Throughout the morning, the encouragements were such an important reminder for me to keep my thoughts in line and where they need to be.  "Praying for you to remember what you know and for it to be peace and your anchor."


Amanda did well getting her port accessed, but it was painful and uncomfortable for her.  Frustrating start, but thankfully she went to sleep fairly quickly after her initial dose of Benedryl.  Have I told you that we have an amazing team?  I know I have, but I had to say it again!  The nurse in the transfusion room, Sarah, knows that day one of Amanda's chemo is very rough for her because of the large dose of Benedryl she gets, so she had one of the private rooms saved for Amanda.  I was incredibly grateful for that because the transfusion room was crazy!  It was full and noisy.  When Amanda gets that Benedryl, she becomes a little grouchy and sensitive and the business of the transfusion room makes the situation very hard for her. 

Her counts came back good and although her platelets were lower than normal they were still high enough to start chemo.   Since Amanda is feeling so poorly going into chemo, Dr. Harrod wants us to come in next week to see how she is doing.  This is not the best way for her to start out, so we will keep a close eye on her this week.

I stepped out to talk to Dr. Harrod privately, and it was a great conversation for me to have.  Basically, she said that in her opinion, all the symptoms we are currently seeing are not tumor related, more likely to be chemo related or even a virus since she has sinus congestion. (Along with headaches, nausea, "babying" her left arm and leg...) That was such a huge relief to me. I know, I know - these are things out of our control and I shouldn't get wrapped up in the worry of it.  It. Is. Just. So. Hard.

As of now, we are still looking at a June MRI.   Dr. Harrod feels that because her scans have been good and have continued to improve, there is no need at this time to move it up.  That is what we must stay focused on - her amazing progress.  We are going to keep praying that we will continue to see those amazing results as we finish out her treatment.

So here we go - cycle eleven.  One day at a time, day one down.

1 John 5:14-15

And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us. And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him.