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doulos
Joined: Feb 25, 2006
Posts: 141
Location: Springfield, MA
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 Posted:
Mon Sep 10, 2007 2:10 am |
 
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A Crash Course in Cancer – Part II
We thought we’d had our crash course in cancer when Wayne was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2000. But two words stand out in this course with breast cancer – unpredictable and intense. It’s hard to believe that Monica was diagnosed only on May 17th. We finally had an entire week with no hospital visits and no appointments at Dana-Farber at the end of July!
Unpredictable - We were warned that Monica would need to watch her response on the 7th-to-10th days after her treatments. On Sunday, June 24, day 3, she and Wesley, her son, took off for two weeks at Lakeside Christian Camp in Pittsfield, MA as planned. She packed a thermometer knowing that if her temp reached 100.5°, she was to call Dana-Farber and go to an emergency room. She got through days 7-10 just fine.
On July 4 we went out to visit; it was a very cold, rainy July 4th so we weren’t surprised that she was chilled. The next morning she mentioned that a sore throat had kept her awake all night; when her temp was 100.1°, it seemed time to ask her doctor’s opinion. The short story is that she ended up in the Berkshire Medical Center for four night (days 14-17 in the cycle!) on broad-spectrum antibiotics to combat a general infection. Her white blood cell count was the lowest the emergency room doctor had ever seen. This didn’t happen again during Cycle #2 due to a shot following chemo that encouraged her body to produce more white cells, but she was very sick the three days following the treatment; she had had a biopsy the day before and a port put in the morning of chemo necessitating her to get up at 4:30 a.m. – so her body was worn out!.
So it was an answer to prayer that she feels much better this time after chemo treatment #3 on Thursday. The unpredictable this time was that the person who was going to take her to Boston got suddenly sick with flu the night before; thankfully I had the day free and Wesley was going to a friend’s. Please pray especially for treatment #4 which is Thursday, August 23 – as school starts for her new group of 2nd-graders on Tuesday, August 28! This is the last treatment on this chemotherapy; she then switches to other drugs and will go to Dana-Farber weekly for 12 weeks.
Intense - One week after her first chemo session we had an appointment with her surgeon. When she compared her findings with her original diagnosis, she mentioned that the entire mass had gone down from 5 to 4 centimeters. And, by now, the mass has gone down even further. The Monday after the 2nd session we met with the radiation oncologist; she definitely recommends 6½ weeks of radiation after surgery! We so appreciate your prayers – this won’t be over for awhile, but the most intense part is first (and almost over!).
During her stay at Berkshire Medical Center, Monica kept praying for grace to endure the sore throat (a side effect of chemo). So it was very interesting when on the final morning, the doctor put his hand on her arm and commented that he hoped if he were ever confronted with anything as serious as she has, he would show the same grace. She told him it was all of God. Thank you for your prayers that sustain and uplift her and allow God’s grace to shine through her.
We’d appreciate your prayers for us as we are taking a six-month leave of absence in order to care for Monica and Wesley during this intense portion of her treatment. This means that we have no salary or benefits from the mission from July 1 – December 31, although we have been able to buy health insurance for the first two months. The good news is that salary and benefit money is now going into our ministry account and will be used for our 2008 trips to Ivory Coast and Uganda. This time will also increase our faith as we see how God will provide for our needs. Please pray that our support will continue so that we can return to Africa as soon as possible in early 2008.
Sustained in His grace,
Wayne & Melody |
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