PET Scan tomorrow, Thus 7:45 a.m.

Busy last two and a half weeks! 

Flu for 1 1/2 weeks - with residual effects still

Flu has diminished thanks to z-pak and your prayers — still very droopy tho - 

     slept 11 hours and then napped for 45 min by mid morning!  

Healthy enough for chemo last week which went fairly well

Sleeping well 

Mouth tender but no sores 

Palate is finicky as ever - hard to find things I like to eat

Loved the olympics

Liver area is very achey

Liver levels are up in blood work - definitely a concern...

Weight holding

Not walking enough - need accountability!

Finally got PET scan scheduled after 3 weeks....

Really struggling with drinking - looking for anything that will make fluid go down easier

Doing hydration at home which helps

Loving our California Winter with  lows in the 30’s and highs in the 60’s- praying for rain. 

Fighting  sadness and melancholy - tears are always near -

   tear ducts, not tear damns! as a friend of mine says - lol

Two weeks ago, I thought I had a cold and treated it like a cold from Monday to Thursday.  By then I was feeling so tired, so to Dr Google we went and low and behold - it was flu...A flu with no puking and diarrhea is foreign to me, but that’s what it was.  A call to the oncologist to ask if there was anything different that I should be doing - and she said zpak to prevent pneumonia!  Friday and Sat were really long days where I was just praying to stay out of the hospital.  This flu just sucks the life right out of you! It leaves you feeling so weak that walking to the bathroom feels like a 5 mile trek.  My energy still has not returned.  3-4 naps per day are normal and I wear out super easily...ugh

On another note, we got another miracle!  The Docs wanted to send my tissue out (the frozen tissue from the original March’16 surgery) to be tested for the Foundation One test.  It was a very expensive test ($15,000) that is not covered under insurance and we had to apply for financial aid.  We were turned down for the financial aid.  So we waited to get the estimate to see how much it would be so that we could decide what to do - and we heard nothing.  Last Tuesday, at my chemo appointment, my PA told me that not only had we been approved for financial aid!!! But that the test was already done!!  I was stunned!  She waved a stack of paper about 1/2 inch thick in front of me and said we would talk next time about what it said.  So we went from completely unfunded to totally funded and done in 2 weeks!  That’s God!

AND

We were also blessed by some friends who came to us saying that if money was the problem, they would be happy to help us pay for the tests!!!! (Tears...lots of them). 

So really we got 2 miracles!  Just had to share them with you so you could rejoice as well!

By the way, the test is to see which specific receptors I have, that will respond to other chemo’s.  Yes there are other chemo drugs for colon cancer, contrary to what I originally thought!  Hopefully the 1/2 inch stack of paper yields something that I will respond to if my PET scan is not great...

Speaking of PET scan, I am finally scheduled for tomorrow morning at 7:45.  I cannot begin to tell you the levels of frustration and stress trying to get this scheduled.  Many phone calls involved and finally got squeezed in (which I am thankful that they got me in, but I got a lousy time slot and it messed up my blood draw appointment and I had to scramble to get friends to help me - frustrating when the process started February 5th!)  It should not be such a big deal, and never has been before!  And I m not supposed to have stress - ha!

Ps 118:17 I will not die but live and will proclaim what the Lord has done!  

Truthfully, I am pretty scared/nervous about this PET scan.  I dwell on this verse when I am fearful over a sore liver....it is like a dull ache - just aches pretty much all the time... I had been writing it off to two weeks on the couch and coughing a lot but the elevated liver levels contradict that and fear raises it’s ugly head again.  It is never far away...kind of like a sliver on your foot that just wears away at you, making you limp and walk out of kilter and throw your back out because of it...It grates at you, sapping your energy and emotional strength...

I trust you Lord....repeating this helps....

There is one friend who usually goes with me for my PET scans and she cannot go.  We are so blessed that two different people are tag teaming with Todd to provide rides and company for me.  On the one hand I feel so babyish that I am not just doing the scan by myself.  On the other hand, it is hard to be injected by a robot and then wait and then have to be still in that tiny little tube...I am just grateful for not having to do it alone - they do not get easier...if anything, I think the anxiety levels increase...

Jer 17:14 Heal me Lord, and I will be healed.  Save me and I will be saved, for you are the one that I praise.

Please pray for a better attitude, more joy - I have been so bummed out....

less stress through this journey

emotional energy for both of us and of course, 

a miracle that I am able to continue to live life and serve God.  

     Thank you so much!

  

As often happens, I started this one day, but it did not get posted for several days as I finish it — so by now I am on the upswing after the flu - only 2 naps today—but they were long ones and the energy still is not there!  A trip to the grocery store totally wore me out!  

Thank you so much for so many praying for me in response to my facebook posts - I could barely type that much and the thought of a blog was completely overwhelming!  But, as always, the prayers made all the difference! 

Y'all are our greatest blessing! Thanks for walking this difficult walk with us!  Thanks for checkin’ in!