God Brought Me Through It

In the time between the last blog, lots has happened. I’ve had the stem cell harvest, my first chemo treatment, blood & platelet transfusions, and am now at home on a break before my next chemo treatment.

The stem cell harvest process was boring, just like my psychologist told me. I took a book (thanks Rachel Moore), my phone (for music), a couple magazines, and some dvd’s. Mom and I ended up watching Narnia together over a couple of nights. One of the side effects I had during the harvest was my feet and hands would get really tingly. Like when something falls asleep on your body. When I felt that, I had to eat a handful of TUMS. They worked. The stem cell harvest process started on my birthday, May 16 and was supposed to take as long as needed to get the 10 millions stem cells required. It took my 2 days for all those to be collected. Answered prayer right there that I didn’t haven’t to stay in the hospital for a week just for that. Now I don’t remember the placing of the catheter for this process. I had two plastic tubes sticking out of the left side of my neck. I couldn’t really straighten my head because of how it was taped, so it was pretty uncomfortable. I DO remember when they took it out. That hurt quite a bit. It felt like the doctor was putting his thumb in a hole in my neck. He probably was to stop bleeding or whatever. Ugh ... don’t like to think about it. God brought me through it. :)

Between the stem cell harvest and chemo, I went to the dentist and had a disappointing appt. It was found that I have 10 surface cavities. My own fault. I had not been to the dentist since I’d been married. I knew better. At least they’re all surface and easy to fix. Also, while at the dentist, we were told about a mouthwash called Mugard. I would swish or swallow if that’s where pain was for a minute. It’s supposed to be a help with one of the chemo’s side effects of your mouth swelling and essentially being burned. Mouth blisters and stuff like that. This Mugard wash is supposed to coat my mouth and protect it from all that rough stuff happening. I had a taste of that with radiation and it was pretty painful. It was very difficult to eat because of pain when swallowing. So even with a dentist visit that revealed way more that I wanted ... God brought me through it. :)

Next was the first chemo treatment Tuesday, May 22. I went in the night before to be admitted. The next day we started and they gave me the “big guns” with the nausea medicine. Man did that stuff work. I asked them why they couldn’t give it to me all the time since it worked so well. The doctor said it was because they wouldn’t have anything stronger to give me if I was feeling even more sick. It was supposed to last 5 days. I have 3 more doses of the 3 different kinds of chemo. After that, I should be done! Through the weight loss, I’ve still been able to eat. God has brought me through it. :)

I went in for some labwork last Friday thinking, “Oh, I’ll go in and then come home and start my weekend.” Not the case this time. My white blood cell count is almost not detectable, which is normal, according to my oncologist. Still kinda scary hearing your body has nothing to fight anything off. So now is the time I have to be SUPER careful around anyone with the sniffles or has been sick. Especially Jonathan. As a result of a   .1 white blood cell count showing up, I had to have 2 units of blood and 1 unit of platelets. That was an all day process. We arrived at the lab at 8:30 and didn’t leave until around 5:00. Totally wasn’t expecting that which meant I didn’t bring anything to pass the time. I’m learning how to fall asleep sitting up more and more. My nurse was wonderful. She reminded me of a sweet woman I grew up with, so that helped my anxiety. She brought me a pillow and blanket and was just great. She had to take my vitals it seemed like every 5 minutes. It was probably more like 10-15. I felt so much better as I was leaving then when I had come in. Getting blood was what I needed most I guess. Maybe it was the platelets. Let’s just say both. I joked with Andrew in sending him pictures each time saying I was getting pineapple juice and and strawberry daquiri. Ugh ... I don’t wanna talk about that anymore either. I learned boredom on a whole new level! Mom was with me the entire time and helped me in whatever way she could making me comfortable. God brought me through it. :)

So that’s why I have the title of this blog God brought me through it. A lot has happened.

My next treatment should be around the end of the month. I’ll keep you posted when it gets closer.

Here are some new things to pray about ...
Weight gain - I still need to gain weight. Every lb. is essential. I’m at 100 right now, I need to be a little bit more. With nutrition, not with fluid.
Digestive system to work the way it should. Just being real with y’all. With nausea and constipation together, it makes for a pretty miserable feeling. Makes it hard to do a lot of stuff.
Thank God for my Momma being here and doing so much. Oh ... and for my family that allows me to have her. I love them in a new way because of this.
Thank God for Andrew’s boss being so understanding with all of this medical stuff. She’s been great with letting him come be with me or watch the baby to give Mom a break.
Jonathan - he’s been acting out a lot lately. I know he’s only 1 and 1/2, but a whiny baby all day is tough to rest with. I’m sure he’s just thrown off with all this stuff going on.
GSF shots - every night, Mom has to give me a shot (you guys know how I LOVE needles). I dread it each time. But God helps us both. I can’t imagine what she’s going through with having to give them knowing how I feel about it. We always pray afterward. Pray that these really boost my counts.