Round 5 is all done and round 6 is underway, with a few hiccups to start. Week one was postponed a week because my ANC (absolute neutrophil count- the mature white blood cells) was in the 600's. For treatment, they want it to be above 1500 so treatment was delayed a week.
Since I had little to no immunity, I was out of work for the week and wore a mask around the kiddos. Parker had a snotty nose and we just wanted to be careful.
The following Monday (8/19), Wil and I prayed for my labs to improve enough to get chemo. My ANC only came up into the 900's, still too low for treatment. We had to wait awhile for the decision for the treatment plan.
I just broke down in tears. I wanted my poison, I wanted to be done with chemo and we are so close to the end, Lord willing.
Thankfully, we have an amazing oncologist and pharmacist in our corner. The plan was to have chemo and then come back for the following three days to get a shot to boost my while blood cell production. We had to wait for insurance approval before the premeds could infuse, so it was a very long day.
The main side effect I had from the shots was bone pain. I felt it mostly in my hips and shoulder, nothing unbearable but not comfortable.
The plan moving forward is have two more weeks of chemo. The week of August 9th, I'll have a CT scan. We will meet with Dr. Skinner on August 16 to review labs and the scan. Then we will decide if we move into maintenance Avastin and stop the Taxol infusions or if we do three more months of the same regimen.
The last month has been a whirlwind. We were able to go to the mountains with our friends, Harrisons and the Hemphills, for several days over July 4th. We had cool weather, able to unplug, s'mores, and fireworks. Later that week, our family enjoyed another minor league baseball game.
Wilson has also started swim lessons at the YMCA this past week. We have seen improvements in just the week he has done them so far.
A huge praise to be able to have such a wonderful husband and caretaker by my side. He is my pack mule for treatment days, I have a lot of stuff I like to have!
Prayer requests:
1. Praise that I was able to have chemo last week.
2. Pray that my ANC (mature white blood cells) stay up for the remaining treatments.
3. Pray for upcoming CT scan and cancer markers to show NO EVIDENCE OF DISEASE and we can move into maintenance mode! Pray that if we need to do 3 more months of chemo, to have strength and endurance.
