Sunday, January 30, 2011
Blood Draw and Dora the Explorer
9:13 PM
Today’s blood draw was made better as I got to leave the lab sporting a very special Dora the Explorer Band-Aid.
Ken arrived home from church with a very special bag of band-aids sent to me from Emory and Aubrey. I decided to take one of them with me to see if it could be used. The Lab Tech was very impressed that I arrived with my own bandage. It sure beat the paper tape which is usually used!
How fortunate as well that I have such a host of friends of all ages praying for me. Thank you Emory and Aubrey, not only for the band-aids, but for your prayers, I’m very blessed!
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Good News!
8:28 PM
We just arrived back from the Oncologist and received the good news that the tumor is shrinking. Yeah!!! I also got a very positive report from my surgeon regarding the port.
I’ll see the Oncologist again in two weeks which will be the halfway point of this part of the journey. Thank you to everyone who has been walking along with us thus far. The adventure has just begun but it is good to know that it is going in a positive direction. Thank you for your prayers.
I’ll see the Oncologist again in two weeks which will be the halfway point of this part of the journey. Thank you to everyone who has been walking along with us thus far. The adventure has just begun but it is good to know that it is going in a positive direction. Thank you for your prayers.
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Angels of Hope
8:15 PM
Wednesday proved to be the most challenging day thus far of this journey. It seems that one of the side effects from the Decadron, the steroid I’m given to decrease the sensitivity to the Taxol, is a headache. I’ve had one each Wednesday after the chemo treatment but this Wednesday was the worst. I was able to enjoy visits with two different friends before eating lunch and crawling into bed for a long afternoon nap. What a treat!
When I awoke around 4:00 pm the headache had intensified and was affecting my outlook on life. Isn't that when God seems to be at His best? Earlier in this process a friend gave me a note with I Corinthians 10:13 written out for me. It reminded me that “God is faithful. He will not allow you to be tested beyond what you can bear. But when you are tested, He will provide a way so that you can endure.”
Not only was I reminded of this verse but Kedrick arrived home with a basket sent by my “Angels of Hope.”
Some dear friends sent me a Longeberger basket filled with strips of hope via prayers and Bible passages. I’m to take one out on the days I’m feeling hopeless to show me just a tiny bit of how much I am loved by my friends. Talk about God seeing to your needs and making sure you feel loved!
I feel very blessed and want to send a great big THANK YOU to my Angels of Hope. I look forward to finding out who you all are.
xoxo
When I awoke around 4:00 pm the headache had intensified and was affecting my outlook on life. Isn't that when God seems to be at His best? Earlier in this process a friend gave me a note with I Corinthians 10:13 written out for me. It reminded me that “God is faithful. He will not allow you to be tested beyond what you can bear. But when you are tested, He will provide a way so that you can endure.”
Not only was I reminded of this verse but Kedrick arrived home with a basket sent by my “Angels of Hope.”
Some dear friends sent me a Longeberger basket filled with strips of hope via prayers and Bible passages. I’m to take one out on the days I’m feeling hopeless to show me just a tiny bit of how much I am loved by my friends. Talk about God seeing to your needs and making sure you feel loved!
I feel very blessed and want to send a great big THANK YOU to my Angels of Hope. I look forward to finding out who you all are.
xoxo
Monday, January 24, 2011
Three Down
11:29 PM
Three treatments down, and a snazzy new haircut!
Chemo round #3 is now history. It will go down as my fastest round thus far. We checked in at 9:30 and left at 12:30, making it a three hour session. Using the port makes the entire experience much more enjoyable (?) and easier. I had the same nurse, Anna, that helped me with the first round so that help to make it more familiar. So far, I have had no major reaction to the drugs and even have my hair still. Praise the Lord! I know the reason that it is going so well is because of the enormous amount of prayer that is being heard by God on my account. Thank you for continually lifting our family up in prayer. What a humbling experience.
This week Kenna took me to Chemo with Kendall bring over Kedrick and Kalyn so they could see the infusion center and see what it was like. Kalyn summed it up by saying “this is boring”. It doesn’t seem so bad to me as I usually end up napping for about an hour once they push the Benadryl into my system. It’s amazing that the effects of drugs can be felt so quickly.
Today I was also blessed by meeting Kathleen, the Breast Cancer Nurse navigator. She will be another wonderful resource that will interface with the medical team and help our family as we complete this journey. She gave me another folder full of wonderful info, reliable websites, and great explanations of breast cancer complete with pictures and diagrams. Now I have two binders, one folder and a book or two to help keep me organized along with several pads of post-it notes as I’m having challenges remembering what I need to do or meds I need to take.
When I arrived home from the chemo round I was able to tear off another chain from my countdown chain. That means three chemo round completed, only nine rounds left. God is good – I’m one-fourth of the way done with part of the treatment!!!
Random thoughts on last week (1/17 to 1/23)
11:15 PM
Sunday - Started with the anticipation of all the children returning!
Monday – Chemo with Carlene complete with being in the private room (nicknamed "the party room") for the infusion. This room even has a camera to keep watch on the patient. Chemo took longer than expected but was easier since the port was used.
Tuesday – Carlene left L. Kenna worked on getting settled in her room. Donna had some nausea which was controlled with meds. We had a family picture taken since Donna still had her hairJ
Wednesday– A good day! I was a little tired but only napped once J
Thursday – Was “walked” by Kalyn
Friday– Got “walked” by Kenna
Saturday – Donna woke up at 5am very hyper. Got to visit several nurseries to purchase blueberry bushes. Went to Kalyn’s futsal game – It felt good to do something “normal”.
Sunday – Got a new hairstyle! Thank you to Iris for using her God-given talents. In the evening, I got to go to AWE, worship with my family and celebrate communion. I really do think it’s the little things in life that are important. J
Sunday, January 16, 2011
Chicks Under One Roof
10:05 PM
Today is a wonderful day:
All of my chicks are going to be sleeping under our roof this evening. Praise the Lord! Kendall, Kedrick and Kalyn arrived home around 5:30 from Southern California after an exciting speech tournament. Kenna arrived in SFO around 9:45 pm and was picked up by her dad. What a blessing to have our entire family together during this challenging time. God is gracious to give us this time together to encourage and grow together. God has great things planned for us, we just have to be patient and see what the plans are.
Saturday, January 15, 2011
Stitches of Love
10:01 PM
Today began as a special day. Carlene was here visiting and we were getting ready to go shopping together. The day got even better when I received a call from my brother and then discovered both Brent and Janet standing on my front porch! What a surprise, especially since they live in Grants Pass, Oregon. The even bigger surprise was the gift they had brought me:
Beginning Jan. 1st of this year, Janet had started stitching together a quilt top. Each fabric that she used has some special meaning, complete with a key on the back. After she finished stitching, Brent took over stitching together the top and flannel backing. It is beautiful and I know that it was created with lots and lots of love. We then got to spend the early afternoon with Aunt Shirley and Uncle Bob. Carlene fixed us an unbelievable dinner of crab rolls, pot stickers and other Asian specialties.
Friday, January 14, 2011
More answered prayers!
11:44 PM
Thank you to all of you who continue lifting us up in prayer! I wanted to share with you the answers to more of your prayers today:
~The Mediport was inserted today without any challenges; all went well and I was at the Surgery Center less than 3 hours.
~My sister, Carlene also arrived safely, and it will be an added blessing to have her here for a few days.
~As if that weren’t enough, we received great news from the Concordia Speech Tournament: Kalyn moved into the next level of competition!! Kedrick also moved up with four of his five speeches so far!! He will find out tomorrow if he will move forward with his fifth speech!
God continues to be so gracious! Thank you!
Thursday, January 13, 2011
So proud of our kids!
11:44 PM
Yesterday marked another interesting part in this new adventure. I watched as Kendall, Kedrick and Kalyn packed up the car to drive down to the Concordia Challenge Speech Tournament in Irvine, California. Kedrick and Kalyn will be competing there, and Kendall will be filling in as their supervising adult, cheerleader, and driver. He will also be assuming the judging responsibilities and hopefully will receive some of the perks of being an adult judge at a tournament, including free food and goodies after completing the ballots!
Normally I would be the supervising adult, cheerleader and driver, and I am sad to have to miss Kalyn’s first speech tournament. A few weeks ago we weren’t even sure if or how Kedrick and Kalyn would be able to attend this tournament. Yet God is faithful, and knowing how important this event was to our family, He has provided in ways that have blessed our family and made Ken and me very proud: Kendall stepped in so willingly to take on this role of great responsibility for our family. Kedrick worked hard to prepare his multiple speeches, and Kalyn is bravely jumping into territory that is new and uncharted for her. We are so proud of them for going out and sharing the talents God has given them!
Monday, January 10, 2011
Chemo, Day One
10:31 PM
Today the journey began. Ken and I arrived at the Mt. View Center of the Palo Alto Medical Clinic at 8:45. At my 9:00 appointment with my surgeon, he showed me a mediport and went over the pros and cons of having one installed. More X-rays followed for the bone scan, which I will get results for on Thursday.
The surgeon's nurse was able to get me an appt. in the surgery center so the mediport will be implanted on Friday. Next week I won't have an IV - Yeah. Another victory.
God continues to be faithful. We received a call that Blue Shield had approved the second chemo drug so I was able to receive both at the infusion time. Yeah!! My angels at both the Water District and Blue Shield made sure this happened this morning. I'm sure all the prayers God heard about it didn't hurt one bit!
By 11:30 a.m. Ken and I were settled in the Infusion Center. My nurse, Anna, was wonderful. Another angel sent by God. She explained everything that was happening and understood my anxiety and raw emotions. It took about an hour to get the IV started and the beginning drugs to be administered. I have to have three drugs before the chemo drip can begin. We started with Taxol, the more toxic of the two and with more reactions. The drip went very well and should be able to go even quicker next time. Praise the Lord that so far there has not been any complication: Another testimony to God's faithfulness in answering prayers. The Herceptin drip was a starter dose today so it took 90 minutes. If it continues to go well then it will be increased and be able to be infused in 30 minutes. That means that the whole procedure could happen in about 3 hours - what a special way to spend every Monday...
The Journey Begins
9:18 AM
Dear Family and Friends,
Blogs are not my usual way of communicating, as most of you who are familiar with me know. Yet my life, “as usual,” flipped over on its head on December 14, 2010, when I was diagnosed with breast cancer. This was completely unexpected since there is no family history of breast cancer, and my mammogram in December 2009 showed no abnormalities. This has turned my and my family’s lives completely upside down.
As I prepare to begin treatments on January 10th, work at keeping up my strength, and do my best to stay and get well, I will also be learning how to establish a ‘new normal’ and continuing to be wife, mother, daughter and sister. I value my family and friends enormously. Yet, as much as I would like to be in touch with each one of you individually, I know that I will not be able to do this effectively if I am to learn to take care of myself and continue caring for my family.
Our Heavenly Father has blessed me with His assurance that He is in control, and has provided a loving Christian family to hold us up in this challenging ‘adventure.’ Thus, the purpose of this blog is to share the story of my journey, and to keep each of you informed. I would prefer to tell you all in person but that is beyond what I think I can do, so by reading it and keeping me and my family in your prayers, you will be supporting us enormously and helping us to conserve strength. This is also a place for you to share your greetings, thoughts and prayers for me and my family; I will look forward to reading your words often.
Words cannot express the gratitude we feel for all you have done and will continue to do. Thank you for keeping your arms lifted up on our behalf, just as was done for Moses himself so the Israelites would win the battle (Exodus 17:10-13). After that battle the Lord told Moses to “Write about this battle…so people will remember” (Ex. 17:14). This blog will be the record of our battle, which the Lord has already won.
“Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear; then your righteous One will go before you, and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard. Then you will call, and the Lord will answer; you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.” (Isaiah 58:8-9)
We love you with the love of the Lord!
Donna, Ken, Kenna, Kendall, Kedrick, Kalyn
Blogs are not my usual way of communicating, as most of you who are familiar with me know. Yet my life, “as usual,” flipped over on its head on December 14, 2010, when I was diagnosed with breast cancer. This was completely unexpected since there is no family history of breast cancer, and my mammogram in December 2009 showed no abnormalities. This has turned my and my family’s lives completely upside down.
As I prepare to begin treatments on January 10th, work at keeping up my strength, and do my best to stay and get well, I will also be learning how to establish a ‘new normal’ and continuing to be wife, mother, daughter and sister. I value my family and friends enormously. Yet, as much as I would like to be in touch with each one of you individually, I know that I will not be able to do this effectively if I am to learn to take care of myself and continue caring for my family.
Our Heavenly Father has blessed me with His assurance that He is in control, and has provided a loving Christian family to hold us up in this challenging ‘adventure.’ Thus, the purpose of this blog is to share the story of my journey, and to keep each of you informed. I would prefer to tell you all in person but that is beyond what I think I can do, so by reading it and keeping me and my family in your prayers, you will be supporting us enormously and helping us to conserve strength. This is also a place for you to share your greetings, thoughts and prayers for me and my family; I will look forward to reading your words often.
Words cannot express the gratitude we feel for all you have done and will continue to do. Thank you for keeping your arms lifted up on our behalf, just as was done for Moses himself so the Israelites would win the battle (Exodus 17:10-13). After that battle the Lord told Moses to “Write about this battle…so people will remember” (Ex. 17:14). This blog will be the record of our battle, which the Lord has already won.
“Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear; then your righteous One will go before you, and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard. Then you will call, and the Lord will answer; you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I.” (Isaiah 58:8-9)
We love you with the love of the Lord!
Donna, Ken, Kenna, Kendall, Kedrick, Kalyn
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