I have been feeling great for the past several days. I have been able to do my household chores, cook and bake, play games with the kids, and even go shopping. This has been such a blessing after being shut up in the house for so much of the time. I’m sure that the switch in chemo drugs is what has made the difference.

Last Thursday, Mark and I got the results from my CT scan, and they weren’t very good. The spots in my liver have gotten larger, and there are more growing there too. A couple of the areas are over 1 inch in diameter. I also have spots growing and spreading in my uterus area. Dr. Aggarwal is most concerned with the liver area, so she’ll be doing weekly lab tests and rescanning in about three weeks. She also kept me on the new chemo drug I started two weeks ago, so it will have a chance to hold back these areas.

It’s such a crazy contradiction to feel great but also get bad news from the scans. For now, Mark and I are happy with the good times, and we’re taking as much advantage of this time as we can.

Have a wonderful week, and thanks for your continued prayers.

Sandy

Thanks friends …

Thanks friends and loved ones for sticking with me on this journey of pain and triumph. I am so humbled by the many comments and encouragements that you’ve shared both in the blog and in person or by card to our family. We never expected this journey to last over 8 years, but we are even more convinced that God has a plan for all of this as long as we keep trusting Him through it. We have had really good days and some very bad ones, to be honest, and I’ve tried to share these with you since you are sharing with us.

Last week I was feeling terrible and lost almost 10 pounds because I couldn’t keep food down or in my body at all. My doctor let me stop taking the Tykerb drug on Monday because it was causing so many problems, and I literally started feeling better the next day! We saw her on Thursday, and she changed me treatment to another drug and had the girls give me fluids to replenish my system. By Saturday, I felt almost back to normal health. I actually cooked, cleaned, did chores around the house, and was active all day. This lasted through Sunday and Monday, which has been a welcome relief.

Mark took me to Ft Wayne for a CT scan yesterday, so the doctor could look at how things were going, and we’ll hear back the results this Thursday. For now, I’m on a weekly treatment again and even have a better appetite to eat without throwing up. Praise God! I’m still not at 100% in strength or energy, but I’m not spending the whole day on the couch at home either.

I look forward to continuing to share our journey with you, and I sincerely appreciate your love and support every day.  Mark, me and the girls couldn’t do this without you.

Sandy

This has been a bad day so far, and no sign of it improving. I’ve been throwing up everything I tried to eat, even my “best thing to eat when I don’t feel good,” peach fruit bars. I also have serious bowel problems that take any other liquid in my body down the drain. My fingers and heels are also splitting and this is painful…especially when it is the thumb and first finger.

This has become more like a typical day over the last two weeks, and Mark wants to talk to Dr. Aggarwal about it at my appointment this week. The drug that I’m on can cause these side effects, and I’m getting tired of it. We’ll be asking her if there is something else we can do, because I’m really worn out and dragging quite a bit.

Please keep these issues in your prayers this week.

Love ya,

Sandy

2011 in review

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2011 annual report for this blog.

Here’s an excerpt:

The concert hall at the Syndey Opera House holds 2,700 people. This blog was viewed about 16,000 times in 2011. If it were a concert at Sydney Opera House, it would take about 6 sold-out performances for that many people to see it.

Click here to see the complete report.