Update 3.25

Hi!!

Just sending a quick update. I had full chemo on March 8 but had to skip it again on March 15 because my counts were too low again. This week has been the scheduled non-chemo week. It's been nice to get out a time or two a day, though I admit I think I have pushed it a little too far and my body is letting me know it. I haven't left the house today to let my body recover a little.

I saw the genetic specialist on Monday. Unfortunately there is enough cancer on both sides of my family that there is a 10-20% chance there was a genetic cause to my ovarian cancer and a 10-20% chance there was a genetic cause to my uterine cancer. That means I have to get genetic tests for both. I had the blood taken Monday and will hear back in probably 3-4 weeks. A positive result on either would mean further testing for my family to see if they have the gene as well as bad news for me: such as an incredibly high, like 85% chance, of cancer for me again in my life time. We'd have to discuss significant preventative matters. Therefore, I'd really appreciate the prayers that both genetic tests (and any additional ones I may take after these come back) would be negative!!

This Monday, March 28, starts the 4th cycle of chemo. I'll have chemo the 28th and April 5th and then (hopefully!) be done with chemo.

As always, thanks SO much for the prayers. And may I say a special thanks to Annalise Dansby. She is two and a half years old and prays for me every night. Not only that but every time I see her she (unprompted by her parents) asks me how my body is feeling or tells me that she's praying for my body to feel better. I know she's not the only child praying for me so please (even though some of them can't read yet) let them know how much I appreciate it.

Love,
Kathy

Hannah's Faith

During chemo I often wake up between 10 and 11 and mornings are really hard for me. So when Joy told me that her daughter’s (Hannah) baptism was at 9am at their church (about 40 minutes from my house) I knew it was next to impossible that I could go, regardless of how much I wanted to. In “normal” life you just push through and do what you want to do but not in “chemo” life; there’s no “pushing through” the fatigue and pain.

Due to my sleeping habits of late, when I woke up at 7:30am on Sunday I was shocked. I ran to take a shower, half expecting my body to crash and force me back into bed. But it didn’t and I made it to Hannah’s baptism! (I of course left right after the baptism to come home and rest but at least I made it).

Upon arriving at the church, I immediately began looking for Hannah, who is 5 years old. Obviously I had gone to be there for her big day. Yet the first thing she said to me was “How are you feeling?” Also I wanted to get her something for her baptism so I gave a verse of Scripture to be translated in her honor. (I love giving to Bible translation and I often give to the Ning people on oneverse.org to help the Bible be translated in their language.) I wasn’t sure if she’d understand the gift and I was even more unsure if she’d like it. But I did it anyway. Joy helped explain to her that the gift I’d given in her honor was helping a child in Africa have God’s Word. Hannah’s response: she said it was the best gift anyone had ever given to her. I love it when kids get the simplicity and significance of God. And it might not surprise you to learn that Hannah’s middle name is Faith.

Update 3.14

Hi!

Thanks for your prayers this week! It has definitely been the best of the three weeks when I've gotten both the Carboplatin and Gemzar. It's still been miserable but slightly less than the other two times. I head back in tomorrow (Monday) for the just Gemzar treatment. For many the "just Gemzar" treatment isn't too bad but my body doesn't like the "just Gemzar" weeks either so I know it'll be another hard week.

Last Monday I did have an appointment with my doctor Kent and got some questions answered. I will not have to make up the treatment that I had to miss because my white blood counts were too low; needless to say, Kent is now my favorite person on the planet! I had a couple questions about symptoms I'm experiencing (hair gradually shedding, significant fatigue, and super-hungry on non-chemo weeks) which he said are totally normal; the fatigue could easily least 6+ months after treatment ends and people can easily gain weight on chemo because of the significant hunger on non-chemo weeks (every two hours I could eat an entire cow!). I asked if we could tell yet if the treatments are helping and he said that we'd only know that over the long-term. Meaning, the blood tests to measure my cancer, even at the time of surgery when we know I had cancer, were just on the high side of the normal range. After treatment I will just have to go back in periodically to see if the numbers increase; if they do, that's a sign the cancer is still there. Obviously we'll hope and pray they don't.

This week has been significantly frustrating for me mentally and emotionally...really wanting to feel ok and be able to get out of the house or have a normal conversation. Yet I am often too fatigued to have a normal conversation and getting out of the house is hard physically. Plus the nausea meds (which I need for the nausea) make me feel bad physically. I would really appreciate your prayers for me not just physically this week but mentally and emotionally, especially because my counts will be really low this week so I'll be on germ restriction as well. One praise...I was able to sneak into the church and make it to my friends' Maggie and Mark's wedding on Saturday! I'd had a rough time late Friday night and Saturday morning so didn't know if I'd get to go but ran up there for an hour and was thrilled to celebrate with them!

Thanks, thanks for all the support and prayers!

Love,
Kathy

Update 3.7

Hi!!

Thanks so much to all of you for the encouragement and prayers. Until now I have never been in a place in my life where I felt like my life literally depended on people's prayers so I value them more than you know.

Just wanted to send a quick update. It has been incredibly nice to have a two week break from chemo. And yet it has also been a reality check as to how long this recovery will really take. Even after a two week break I get incredibly tired very quickly and can only be out of the house a couple hours before I need to rest. I usually need to rest for twice the number of hours that I was out of the house. So even when chemo is done you all are not allowed to stop praying for a really long time! :)

I head into cycle 3 of chemo tomorrow (each cycle includes two Mondays of chemo and then a week off). That means I have wretched chemo tomorrow. Hopefully I'll need only 4 cycles so this is the halfway mark. I'll be meeting with Kent (my doctor) as well so I will get to ask questions about how things are looking and if I'll need a shot to help boost my white blood count. His pathology report from his surgery looked great! However, it is really, really important that the cancer not recur in the first year so we're definitely praying for that.

I must admit that my my exhaustion and pain still overwhelm me at times and I wonder when my body will ever feel normal again. This morning I kinda wanted to crawl into a hole but made myself go to church. Because of the pain and my white blood count I rarely get to go to church and more than anything I miss the corporate singing. So I figured I'd go for the singing and stay as long as my body would let me. Early this morning while looking at the week ahead I prayed, "God, I need a little something extra to make it." One of the songs we sang at church was based off of Isaiah 40:

28 Have you not known? Have you not heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He does not faint or grow weary;
his understanding is unsearchable.
29 He gives power to the faint,
and to him who has no might he increases strength.
30 Even youths shall faint and be weary,
and young men shall fall exhausted;
31 but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength;
they shall mount up with wings like eagles;
they shall run and not be weary;
they shall walk and not faint.

Thankfully He has all the extra I need.

Love,
Kathy