Oh dear (and dear and dear and dear)...

It has been quite some time since I updated the blog...this is due to two main things:  tiredness and 4 kids!  You really can't have 4 kids without *some* level of tiredness ;) 

I really haven't talked about how the "4 Kids" factor into this cancer journey I'm on.  Let's make something perfectly clear here in the blogosphere; my kids are my "raison d'être" and keep me endlessly motivated and trying very hard to keep things as normal as possible for them.  I have been very blessed to have a HUGE amount of support both spiritual and physical - this has enabled daily life to be pretty much as it was prior to this bout of lymphoma. 

I could spend a lot of time gushing about how sweet and wonderful my children are :)  I am so blessed to have them!!!!  The older three always pray for me at bedtime - truly a humbling and precious experience.  The youngest (14 months) is just a joy to watch as he discovers the world around him :)  His world has recently expanded as he recently learned to walk :)  Being a mom is certainly the most relentlessly labour intensive job I could ever have imagined; but also has great and lasting rewards.

I've already had two chemo sessions and my first "week off treatment" since I last posted.  The first treatment was a doozy.  It was a long day of "hydration" (intravenous saline solution) and 2 separate chemo drugs, plus one more to take orally at home for 4 days.  I was, in a word, exhausted.  Unfortunately, the first session coincided with a very busy week.  So, truly, I am left wondering if the next round (this coming Thursday, January 26th) will be as exhausting as the original one.

The second chemo treatment was only one drug.  This was followed with 5 days of at home injections of a bone marrow stimulant drug (Neupogen).  I felt much more like my usual self after the second treatment.  I have been very blessed to have had minimal side effects during all of this.  My main worry was about feeling sick.  The anti-nauseants that have been prescribed/taken have certainly been effective :)  I did feel very ache-y after day 4 and 5 of the Neupogen injections.  This was to be expected, and some Tylenol helped me get through.

This battle still feels far from over.  I still have 4 more chemo sessions to get through...and then the bone marrow/stem cell transplant.  I am unclear on exactly which one I am having (sometimes they seem to be nearly the same thing...I really don't know for sure).  I *am* clear that I am the donor for myself.  This is definitely a good thing as it will greatly minimize "rejection" issues.  I still don't have hard and fast dates for when it is to happen, other than "March/April".  I should have an appointment in the near future to find out more.

Stay tuned for more information as I learn more myself :)
May Jesus Christ continue to pour out His mercy on all of us.
Heather