May 3, 2007

My sore throat and fever were caused by an upper respiratory infection, so I’ve been treated since Monday and feel much better in that area. No change on the cough, though, so the detective work continues. I saw the ENT doctor yesterday, and he was great. God is certainly blessing me with kind, sincere and caring doctors.

I don’t have too many answers, and I’m not sure I understand everything he told me, so I hesitate to try and relay information that may all be wrong. The ENT doctor said that my vocal cords or nerves in that area could have been damaged by chemo or the enlarged lymph nodes in January, which would cause the cough symptoms I have now. He is scheduling an MRI of my throat to check this out, but I’m not sure what the solution would be if he finds it to be the cause. He prescribed two new drugs that help suppress the cough and send a signal to my brain not to cough from the irritation. I’m not too much better, but I was able to get 2-3 hours of sleep at a time last night between coughs.

I saw Dr. Aggarwal again today and she has decided to restart my Herceptin treatments next week. She said she was nervous having it stopped for so long, and she didn’t want to take any chances and wait longer for the tests. This will be a every-three-weeks treatment, instead of weekly, so I can cut down on how many times I go to their office. Yippee!

Your prayers, cards and emails mean so much. I needed the extra encouragement this week. The ENT doctor apologized for the medical system that is dragging me through so many tests, and I almost cried. At the end of the day, God never lets me go through any of this alone. Besides my incredible husband who rescues me on a daily basis, I received this verse in my daily email last week, and I have come back to read it many times over the week: And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus. — Philippians 4:19

Take heart and persevere through your trials.

Sandy