Sorry for the silence. This is the first moment I’ve really felt like sitting up and writing anything. Second treatment has been different in a number of ways. The same cruddy feeling took over by about 8pm Monday night. This time I’m on stronger anti-nausea meds. Still nauseous, just not throwing up. So I guess there’s something gained there.
In particular this treatment hit harder in terms of just wiping me out. I was in bed until about 1pm today (Wed.) when I finally had a little energy. I went into to work for a couple of hours, had a couple of meetings, dealt with a variety of details, and then started listening to my body again. Right now I’m just a whipped puppy. Feeling bad comes in waves with more mild breaks in between.
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Here’s a quick recap of treatment day #2, so far. Had a good morning at work and in meetings. Then at lunch time had blood work done. Dana and I decided to go to Panera Bread for lunch, figuring that soup and bread would be mild enough for treatment. I was surprised to see Dr. Birhan, my oncologist, directly in front of us in line. So, as the Lord led, I gave the lady the card and paid for his lunch as a gesture of thanks for his kindness. He was surprised and appreciative.
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It’s been nearly a week since my portacath surgery. I was sore and groggy on Wednesday, and then sore for a few more days, but other than that, felt well. Dana and I were able to enjoy some fellowship with our pastor and other pastors and their wives at a retreat. It was an encouraging time.
Saturday we got back in town, helped some with the musical rehearsal, and enjoyed the day Sunday in church. By Sunday afternoon I was starting to feel sick and more sore. My neck (where the upper incision is) was starting to hurt, and I felt sick. During the song service Sunday night I could tell I was straining my incision in my neck while leading singing—probably shouldn’t have done that.
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Note: If reading about medical procedures makes you queasy—you’d better skip this one.
Here’s a quick wrap up of the portacath day. We arrived at Kaiser Sunset in Hollywood this morning at about 6am. By 7am, we were through the admitting process, and by about 7:30 I was laying on a bed, IV inserted. A few moments later the surgeon came out and met with us, and by about 8:15, Dana kissed me and they rolled me into the operating room. For the next 45 minutes two guys prep’d the room and me in a variety of ways—finally covering me with a large blue plastic sheet, including most of my face. By about 9am the surgeon came in and the procedure began. I had to turn my head all the way to the left for the entire time—a bit uncomfortable after a while.
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Went in this morning for what I thought was my second treatment—you know, got all psyched up, prepared, ready for Dana to be real nice to me all evening while I fought off being sick. No go. In the nurse’s words— “Your blood work came back abnormal…” Don’t you love the way they just throw around these words. Nothing else. No additional information. Just leave me hanging… “ABNORMAL!” Yikes… I’m a freak!
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This second week since treatment life has been a lot better! We’ve had a great Thanksgiving break with Dana’s family, and today were able to go take some family photos—something of an annual tradition. Other than a bit of fatigue and chest congestion, God has given me good health and strength. We’ve had a great trip and I’m thankful that all the Thanksgiving feast had it’s usual great taste!
Thanks to so many who have been upholding us in prayer. A big day is coming this Monday— treatment number two. Praying that my body will respond better than treatment number one.