God of All my Days

This most recent chemo course (Cycle B) has been difficult especially with fevers as was expected. Unfortunately, I had to be admitted to HUP this past week for several days as the docs did various infection work-ups to find a source of the fevers but to no avail.  This was probably the most disheartening time in the hospital I’ve had as it started with going to the ER at 1am on a Friday night.    I was literally dragging my feet not wanting to go but knew I had to as I was severely neutropenic at the time (thanks to Grace for pulling me out of bed, driving me, and staying with me in the wee hours.) In the ER, I was poked and prodded with various swabs, blood cultures, and other tests (which all came back negative). That was a long and unpleasant night. After a day in the ER, a room thankfully opened up.  I was started on some IV antibiotics. But as my fevers continued, I received more tests including a CT scan of my chest/pelvis/abdomen as well as a ...

It’s been about 2 months now since I was diagnosed and it’s been a journey filled with ups and downs. Wanted to share a bit about the latter. It’s been hard missing multiple kids events, worshipping with my church, etc. It’s been hard to feel wiped out most of the time due to the chemo. I long for a sense of "normalcy" and want to get better so I can get back to things in life.  Even as I write this, I’m humbled though because I realize that my journey has not been as long or difficult as many others whom I’ve gotten to meet. Their persevering battles make mine pale in comparison. And I’m inspired by these fellow fighters. But, it’s still hard at times when I’m in the depths and trying to press on. Please pray for patience, perspective, and faith in this process and journey.  I’m reminded of 1 Thessalonians‬ ‭5:18‬ - ...give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. ‭‭ Though this is difficult, there is obviously Godly wi...

I came home this past Wednesday and the past few days have been a brutal blur.  Not sure how I was allowed to be discharged with my fevers and all, but so glad to be home.  ☺️  And thank God my fevers have finally broke so I didn’t have to go back in today to Perelman!  🙏 .  My good friend Trent was also discharged yesterday after being in the hospital for an entire month! Please continue to pray for his blood levels to go back up in the time to come. He is such a trooper as is his dear wife Kayla.  What a special Valentine’s Day gift for us to all be home with our loved ones!! ☺️🙏 I’m so thankful for Grace who was with me during the darkest of times especially the past few days when I could barely sit up and drink or eat. She wouldn’t let me stay down. And she sacrificed her own sleep to make sure my fevers were in check, to give me cold compresses, to give me eye drops, etc. I’ve made it this far cause of her faithful and steadfa...

This place is awesome. Nurses are so caring and have great bedside manner. And can’t say enough about the rest of the staff. My first night here, Vic from food services said I missed the cut for a dinner tray and the kitchen was unfortunately done making hot food. But Vic said he could bring me a pizza. When I saw it, I noticed it looked different than their usual... turns out it wasn’t from the kitchen but he said he went to get it from the cafeteria and delivered it to me himself! And deep dish, my favorite. 😋👍  I told him he made my day! Unfortunately since then, nausea has begun to creep in and I’m taking an additional stronger medicine for that.    And, I have not been able to get more than but several hours of sleep the past few nights which hasn’t helped. Please keep in prayer. My first of two spinal taps went well yesterday with no headaches thank God.    But my neck/back has been getting stiff again like last time.    I hope to visit th...

Several of you have let me know that you’ve been unable to leave comments on my blog. I just changed something in the settings so hopefully now you’ll be able to comment. I love to hear from you and thanks for sharing! Forgive me for being technically challenged. One of the reasons I chose Blogger was cause it’s so user friendly and requires the least amount of technical skills to use!  ☺️  Anyway, please let me know if you have any other issues. Thx!

I was admitted to HUP today for my next round of chemo which I’ll be starting tonight and should be here as an inpatient for about 3-4 days.    I was hoping to be back on the 7th floor like my last few times but there was no room in the inn. So I’m on the 6th floor with a whole new group of nurses and staff, but thankful nonetheless.    Cool thing was that I got to reconnect with my friend Trent (who is on this floor!). He has been here at HUP since January 15th for his Car-T therapy which he has successfully completed, but his discharge has been delayed due to issues with fevers and his levels. He has lost 20 pounds since he’s been here. But, he is doing better recently and is hoping to be discharged tomorrow and then finally go home to Kansas in the coming weeks! It has been such a long journey for him and his family. In fact, yesterday was 8 years since he first got diagnosed. What a trooper he is!  Thankfully, I've been feeling much better thi...

Thank you for your prayers. Looks like my cultures and labs were all negative so no infection. Praise the Lord! My oncologist said that my fevers were most likely side-effects from the Neulasta injection I got a few a weeks ago to get my levels up. He said the peak of potential side-effects are around days 14-21 post injection. So fortunately, he said these particular fevers are “normal”, but unfortunately, I would just have to persevere through them.  😚 With that said, the past several days have been better overall in terms of fevers and my diarrhea has also settled down a bit. We’re realizing that everyday is unpredictable esp. with the side-effects, and there are just some good days and some bad days. So we’re learning to take them as they come.    In general, evenings seem to be harder especially with fever for some reason and just feeling wiped out. Also learning to be thankful for daily grace and strength.  Got to enjoy cheering on Christian this past...