My Little Explorer

This little guy likes to explore every area of the house these days. Yesterday I found him in the laundry room with his eyes glued to the washer and dryer spinning around. I wish I could be so simply entertained. 

"Look Mom, this is so neat!" He's such a cutie! (I know I'm biased).

I'm guessing many of you are wondering how I am feeling after my second round of chemo. Before I started my chemo treatments, I remember some people described having "good days" and "bad days", and I guess that's how I would describe how chemo is working in my body. Except, I think I'd say there are good parts of the day, and bad parts of the day. For instance, I woke up this morning and felt fine. Then as the morning wore on I became very tired and needed to take a nap. I also get bouts of nausea. When the nausea sets in, I usually have a warm cup of ginger tea (ginger helps greatly with nausea) and take another type of ginger supplement that I suck on. So far, these two things seem to help me with the bouts of nausea that seem to come at any given time. I have to say that so far, the side effects that I've experienced haven't been as bad as I expected. I'm not holding my breath though, I have 10 more rounds to go. I am ever grateful that I have my mom here with me this week - it has been so nice to know I can rest and have the boys well taken care of and not have to worry about them. Praise the Lord!

In His Care,

Debbie

God is good ALL the time!

Round 2

A friend sent me beautiful flowers, I found them on the porch as I came home from round 2. Such a blessing!

Today I started round 2 of chemo. Fortunately my first infusion was shorter this week, it only took 3 hours. Now I’m at home receiving my 5FU chemo for the next 46 hours. Fun. My CEA number (a tumor indicator) was really low this week (this is good), 1.5 to be exact. This is good news. My liver enzymes were elevated, but this is supposedly common because of the 5FU medication. The doctor will lower the dosage of the 5FU if the liver enzymes continue to climb. All the other blood work was normal though, Praise the Lord!

I love this poem that I found in my Streams In The Desert devotional, it’s so comforting and so true:

When is the time to trust?

            Is it when all is calm,

            When waves the victor’s palm,

            And life is one glad psalm

                        Of joy and praise?

No! For the time to trust

            Is when the waves beat high,

            When storm clouds fill the sky,

            And prayer is one long cry,

                        “Oh, help and save!”

When is the time to trust?

            Is it when friends are true?

            Is it when comforts woo,

            And in all we say and do

                        We meet but praise?

No! For the time to trust

            Is when we stand alone,

            And summer birds have flown,

            And every prop is gone,

                        All else but God.

When is the time to trust?

            Is it some future day,

            When you have tried your way,

            And learned to trust and pray

                        By bitter woe?

No! For the time to trust

            Is in this moment’s need,

            Poor, broken, bruised reed!

            Poor, troubled soul, make speed

                        To trust your God.

When is the time to trust?

            Is it when hopes beat high,

            When sunshine gilds the sky,

            And joy and ecstasy

                        Fill all the heart?

No! For the time to trust

            Is when our joy has fled,

            When sorrow bows the head,

            And all is cold and dead,

                        All else but God.

Excerpt taken from Streams In The Desert, p.282, by. L.B. Cowman (amazing devotional by the way!)

God is good ALL the time!

Trusting in Him,

Debbie

Ten Things

1. Chemo wasn’t that bad the first few days…then it hit. The nausea, the tiredness, other side effects etc…, bleh.
2. Round two starts Friday, double bleh.
3. My wonderful mother is here helping me for round two.
4. Last week, we went to City of Hope for a second opinion. The doctor said he would be doing the exact same treatment for me at COH as they are at my doctor’s office. The clinical trials that are currently available did not appeal to me, so I’m not      missing out on any cutting-edge treatment.
5. It’s been a ridiculously hot summer where we live. Like triple digit hot for many days in a row. It's cooling down now, praise the Lord!
6. I have been continually blessed by friends and family who have been an ongoing encouragement to me.
7. My parents brought me an exercise bike for me to use. I’ve used it and I love it. Hopefully this will help the fatigue and keep me from withering away. 
8. Keeping up with a blog while raising 2 little ones is harder than I thought it would be. Maybe throwing cancer/chemo in the mix doesn’t help either? I'll keep plugging along and posting when time allows.
9. I finished a photo wall {finally} in the living room. I’m quite happy with it. Photos to follow in another post.
10. J.D. turned 1 year old! We are so proud of him. He’s truly a gift from God. 

Here are a few pictures from our small 1 year birthday party for J.D.

Teaching him how to show he's 1.

 J.D. can now tell you he's 1 year old!

J.D.'s first taste of refined sugar. 

Inspecting.

What is this stuff?

Mmmmm! 

J.D. doesn't know how he feels about eating all that frosting.

My First Chemotherapy Infusion Picture

Me getting my first chemo infusion. I have a port that was surgically installed, this is where all of the medication will be infused over the next 6 months.

Here I sit...

Finally- a blog. Here I sit at the infusion center receiving my first round of chemo for stage 3C colon cancer. Actually, I have been here for about 2 hours and yet, the chemo hasn't even started. They first gave me 2 kinds of anti-nausea medications followed by folic acid that opens my cells up to welcome the chemo in to do its work. Exciting.

Yesterday I received two boxes, one large one small. The small box had a pump in it and the large box had my chemo treatment for home and medical supplies. When I get home tonight a home health care nurse will come over and hook me up to a bag of chemo and it will be pumped into me over 46 hours. Currently the chemo is sitting in my fridge right behind the eggs. Maybe I should toss the eggs? Hopefully they will not be polluted. Just kidding, I don't think that's possible unless I actually tossed the eggs into the chemo. Speaking of eggs, want to come over for breakfast tomorrow morning? I'll make you an omelet. ;)

K just brought me a Chipotle burrito bowl- vegetarian style. I'm trying to refrain from eating dairy and animal protein- it's part of a new "diet" that's supposed to make the body 'Alkaline'-supposedly cancer cannot grow in an alkaline environment. 

Some good news is that I had a bone scan yesterday to see if there was any tumor growth on any of my bones, and that came back negative. I also had my blood checked and my 'CSA' level was very low and in the 'normal' range. CSA is a test they do and it is an indicator of tumor activity for colon cancer. I'm very happy the number was so low. I told the doctor it was because I have been drinking 36 ounces of carrot juice every day. Then I asked if I still had to go through chemo with my numbers being so low - she told me that yes, I would still have to do chemo treatments despite my low number. Sad Debbie.

This blog will not only be about my journey with cancer, but will also include happenings with the kiddos, my attempts at DIY projects around the house and maybe a smattering of other things. I'm kinda indecisive as can be deduced by the name of this blog. More on the blog name later, there's a story.

I shall conclude my first NGHAB ("Never gonna have a blog") entry with a verse: 

2 Samuel 22: 2-4

The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer;

The God of my strength, in whom I will trust;

My shield and the horn of my salvation,

My stronghold and my refuge;

My Savior, You save me from violence.

I will call upon the Lord,

who is worthy to be praised;

So shall I be saved from my enemies.

John 14:6

Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me." - Now that my friends, is the truth.

God is good, ALL the time.