Seconds away, round #5

So chemo's on tomorrow - Karena has lost all her hair again over this last week, but other than that she is fighting fit, feeling really well (apart from the night time hot flushes that is!!). But we have the fan out of the attic so that's good (apart from feeling like you're in a wind tunnel as you drift off into sleep!).
I read this morning from Psalm 62 which says :-
"My soul finds rest in God alone, my salvation comes from him. He alone is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will never be shaken".

Karena read today from Psalm 71 which says :-
"Though you have made me see troubles, many and bitter, you will restore my life again; from the depths of the earth you will bring me up. You will increase my honour and comfort me once again".....

So, tomorrow is another day...Jesus is alive and we're ready to rock....bring it on.....

CT scan results

Results from the CT scan are not quite what we wanted/hoped/expected....what we wanted was for them to tell us that there are no traces of cancer...what the scan report actually says is :-

• Only small areas of nodularity within omentum noted
• No free fluid (a good thing)
• Further response to chemotherapy

Nurse was very up-beat but I guess we wanted to feel like everything is sorted and that the operation had definitely got it all out....not sure we can be quite that confident....so the journey goes on....still no decision yet on whether they will do another 2 chemo's or another 5.

Karena seems generally very strong and significantly recovered from her last chemo. She still gets very tired at the end off the day but is taking the dog for a walk every day which is a good thing (for the dog too !) In many ways life seems very normal. Karena's hair (which has grown quite a lot) will start to drop out again in the next few days.

Stuff I'm grateful for :-

• Karena's strength and recovery from chemo #4 has been good (tks for praying for that!)
• My children's primary school teachers who are simply outstanding
• Windsor triathlon completed in record time last weekend (even though I was unplaced for going through a red light without stopping-doh !)

Stuff to pray for :-

• Continued strength leading up to next chemo (planned for 26th June)
• An enjoyable week for the babe before the onslaught starts again...we have a family outing at the weekend...

Chemo #4

Chemo went ahead as planned last Friday...all went well...a bit of a long day but ok. She has been relatively well over the weekend but it's been quite tough for her to be feeling poorly and weakened again (along with the menopause kicking in) - she'd forgotten how rubbish chemo makes you feel. She's had quite a bit of stomach pain too. Karena, being Karena, managed to mess up how many pills to take and so was taking less of the steroids than she was supposed to for the first couple of days....anyway, today she finishes them which potentially means feeling sicky tomorrow...we will see. This Friday 12th she will have a CT Scan to see how things are now looking inside.
Stuff we're thankful for :-

• Once again...for good friends and family who support us in so many ways
• Watching Ben's team become County netball champions today !
• We now have a teenager !

Stuff to pray for :-

• CT scan this Friday to find no trace of cancer
• Continued good health,& recovery from this chemo
• Only 2 more chemo's rather than another 5.

Another week...

Another couple of weeks have passed....lots more normal stuff has gone on which is good.
Kidney function test last week was uneventful - no results received and no news is good news I think. Saw the oncologist today which was pretty much a waste of time - a new chap who didn't know an awful lot about what treatment Karena had had...the only new thing we found out today was that Karena's blood 'marker' is now 13. Originally back in January it was 2000+. Normal women (who don't have cancer) are in the range 0-30....no idea what it all really means medically but it's a good sign !
The next phase of the plan is still no more firm really - Karena will have between 3 and 6 more chemo's...starting this Friday 5th.
And she was just getting more energy back - over the last week her energy levels have significantly improved which has been great because it's been half term so she's had a good time with the children.
We're so pleased with how everything has gone so far - we just want it to keep getting better....
;-)
but it's a tough thing for Karena to go back to the chemo's as she's had almost a 3 month break from them now (and her hair has even grown back quite a bit !)...but we're hoping that it's the pathway to full recovery...

Stuff we're grateful for
Strength returning & good recovery from the operation
A fun half term

Stuff to pray for :-
Chemo this Friday - nothing to prevent it from going ahead, treatment to go well, no sickness, quick recovery etc

Love to you...and thanks for walking along this long long pathway with us in prayer and friendship....