One more to go
Today's Herceptin treatment means I only have one more left. I will finish 3 weeks from today, Lord willing. Before then, I have appointments to have a mammogram, see my GYN, get bloodwork done and have another MUGA (heart) scan. I realize that it seems like a lot to do, but it all needs to be done as I will also see the oncologist before I get my final treatment that day. They want to have all the latest results available for my visit. Then, after that Monday, I will see the radiation oncologist later that week for a 3 month check up.
Gradually, I see myself being weaned from the safety net of the medical community that has been monitoring me over the past year. We will keep in contact over the months, and I will be diligent in getting whatever tests done and appoinments made. It just seems a bit
weird to be "on my own." I know that I am not truly on my own, though, and so grateful that I have the widest safety net available to me in my Heavenly Father's loving arms.
Unfailing mercies.......
Today is the 1 year anniversary of my official cancer diagnosis. Not that we didn't already have a notion because we did. But today marks the day, a year ago, that I sat in the surgeon's office and heard the official pathology report....."You have inflammatory breast cancer."
I am not one who celebrates seemingly inane anniversaries such as "5 months since I met you" or "2 years and three months since we began dating." This date marks something different. This date marks survivorship. This date marks God's grace in allowing me 365 more days on this earth with my family and friends.
So today, I think back over all that has happened in this year. I visited more doctors last year than I did in the total 48 prior years of my life. I learned about a disease that has stricken just about every family I can think of, in one way or another. I laughed; I cried. I prayed, and I stood in awe of a Heavenly Father who held my hand every step of the way (and continues to do so). He has been gracious to me in ways I could never have imagined and probably wouldn't have noticed, if not for the cancer.
I've made many new friends along the way, many of them members of the same club. I appreciate their humor and support. And I thank God for the friends and family that He's given me to help hold me up, like Aaron helped Moses, long ago. What faithfulness!
While I have no guarantee that I will be around to mark this date next year, I am confident that God's plan for me is better than anything I could plan on my own. He has proven that to me over and over this year. In that, I can rest and be grateful for each day more that He gives me.
"It is of the LORD's mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness."~Lamentations 3: 22,23
An even quicker check in......
The race is on to complete all the preparations for our trip to Chicago for my dad's funeral. The week has been filled with
so much activity, it has been hard to think. I shudder to think what the week
might have been like had we not already done a lot of planning.
I had another Herceptin treatment on Tuesday, moved from Monday due to the holiday. I have only 2 more left! It was a quick time in the clinic and quiet, too. But I did get to see a lady whom I had missed seeing for a while. It was nice to see a familiar face. Please pray for Janet as she struggles with cancer which has metastisized.
I also picked up a compression sleeve today, as I realized yesterday that my plane flight might require one. Thankfully, they had what I needed in stock at the boutique, so it was a relatively "in and out" trip.
Many thanks for the cards and prayers that have already been extended in sympathy for my dad's passing. It is a comfort to know that you all are keeping us uplifted when we need it the most.
Off to pack for cooler temps - yea!
