This past week was considered a recovery week, during which the clinic gave me iv nutrition and treatments that will help my body recover from the chemos and procedures I've been receiving.  I had more bloodwork done, as well as oxygenating the blood, a final catheter dressing change (those are painful!), and then a big 4 hour procedure called Apheresis.  So now my blood should be clean and healthy after all that filtration and oxygen!  We met with my doctor to go over my treatment so far, as well as discuss what to expect when I go home.  She is very pleased with the progress, but there is more work to be done, so she'll be sending me home with endocrine therapy (pills), referrals to iv treatment nearby, and checking back in with my oncologist in Plano.  In 3 months I will be having another PET scan to see how well these treatments have worked at killing off the tumor.  My antigen numbers are nearly back to normal, which means the cancer is dying off, praise the Lord!

Wow, time is flying by!  We have just welcomed Spring after a very mild and pleasant winter in Southern Arizona.  Another perk of being out here during this time is that we didn't have to endure time change, either!  Arizona isn't on board with time change since they don't prefer an extra hour of extreme heat in the summer.  So we didn't have to make that adjustment a few weeks ago when the rest of the country was dragging themselves out of bed at a horrendously early hour.

The weeks are slipping by in a slow but quick succession, very repetitive but thankfully with little to no pain.  It feels like a long, long day each day, but yet two weeks have passed since I wrote an update! 

Last week was another slow but steady week of treatments, with only one day off on Tuesday (they only do one chemo day when it is a harsher regimen).  I was very sore all week from the new permacath, but each day it got a little better.  The first dressing change/bandage change was incredibly painful because one of the stitches was tangled up in the bandage!  And then afterwards I went to my lymph massage and her electric wands zapped me several times - not my favorite day.  The good news is that Jason and I got to meet with one of the surgeons at our clinic to discuss the chemo injection surgery and biopsy of a spot they found on my left side.  He is going to try to get us scheduled within the next week or so.  

These past two weeks have been busy and productive.  I've received over 15 hours of infusions, chemos, and other therapies, and have spent time hiking, cooking, and exploring as well.  The doctor has adjusted a few of the treatments based on my twice a week bloodwork, adding in large amounts of Vitamin C, and upping the dosage of some of the other infusions.  

This week was full of treatments and scheduling, and although I'm getting used to everything, it's also getting to be difficult to have patience on the journey.  If things go according to plan, I'm only about 1/3 of the way through.  But I keep reminding myself it could be much worse, and I'm having almost no side effects at all!  I'm definitely getting plenty of time to rest, listen to podcasts, sew, and read!  

So week four started off great, we got to attend a local church and enjoy the singing and preaching here.  It was good to see that God's Word is preached all over the world, and that we can be fed spiritually even in a desert.  :)  We heard about how the Apostle Paul spoke to the Corinthians about he was gladly going to spend and  be spent for them, and that he is a good example for all Christians in our acts of service to others, even if they are ungrateful or critical.

This week started off with a lot of illness, I was feeling very nauseated from the various treatments I had received, plus just adjusting to the line and the pain that caused.  The clinic scheduled me for a week of treatments, so I arrived on Monday for my first bloodwork and immunotherapies of the week.  I spent 3 hours receiving treatments, then went back home to rest. 

So week 2 started out rough, the kids caught the Flu, and out of empathy, so did I.  Thankfully Jason stayed well, and he's kept very busy taking care of us!  We all had separate trips to the walk-in clinics or teledoc, and got on some good medicine to knock it out quick.  Meanwhile, we finalized our Christmas shopping (mostly online) and got things wrapped.  As a funny part of this trip, I bought us a cactus shaped Christmas tree, and it works perfectly!  We set up our Christmas things on a desk in our new town home, and enjoyed a lovely Christmas together.  We exchanged books, crafts, electronics, and some fun treats.  Our week was mostly medical-free in order to celebrate the coming of Jesus!  On Christmas evening, we cooked some T-bone steak to perfection, then went out and looked at some neighborhood light displays before the season ended.