Week 11 & 12

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! 

I'm starting to really feel the side effects of the hormone blocking medicines, so my family gets to deal with those fun moods.  We're still attempting several family outings and hikes in nature, and have been able to visit a museum and some other touristy places like a ghost town and some shopping malls.  Everyone is pretty homesick.  This adventure is really helping us to think of all the blessings of home and helps us plan how we want to live once we get back there.  The doctor has said I have at least 4 weeks of treatment left, and she would like for me to stay for 6 more weeks if I'm able.  She wants to send me home fully well or very nearly there at least. 

The cancer tracking numbers are steadily dropping, and I'm gearing up for the Chemo Injection surgeries, the first one hopefully next week.  I have about 3 chemo days left (one or two per week) if the original schedule stays in place, followed by a couple of weeks of recovery treatments and detoxification of my bloodstream.  They have a machine that cleans and filters the blood over several hours to get out all the dead tumor cells, along with the leftover chemo poisons and anything else that may not belong.  I'm looking forward to getting that done, and to finally getting this permacath removed for good! 

I may end up needing a small port placed instead for any continuing treatment once I'm home.  The doctors here like to send all their patients home to connect with an iv nutrition clinic for some continued help in order to keep the cancer on the run.  Of course the cancer journey is never simple or short, so I am bracing myself for many scans and blood tests and treatments in the coming years.

All of our family and friends continue to bless us with check-ins, gifts, and prayers.  It's so good to know we don't have to do this alone.  Jason, Camille, and Connor are all so good to me and take great care of me when I'm feeling badly or just too tired to function.  I'm very blessed!