THE BATTLE GOES ON

The battle goes on, but we are up for it.  After more tests this week (blood, CT scan and an MRI), we found out that the tumors in my leg are still increasing, so I will go back to the more aggressive chemotherapy treatments that I started with last year about this time.  The one chemo drug is just not doing the job.  I am very excited that on Monday, December 10, I will have a port surgically placed in my chest that will make the whole process much easier, as it has become increasingly difficult to get IV’s placed.  Last Monday it took four tries before it worked, and with the stronger chemo drug, it is almost essential to have either a port or a pic line.  I will be as happy for the nurses as I am for me.

For those of you like me who had never heard of a port until a year ago, it is a device which is surgically placed in the chest below the collar bone underneath the skin.  A catheter connects the port to a vein.  The drugs can then be injected by inserting a needle into the port.   Blood samples are also taken by using the port.  It can be left in for months or even years.  I have a friend who has gone through a lot of treatments and to quote her, “I love my port.”

 

The thing I felt the worst about is how this dominates our life and especially Daryl’s life, but he continually reassures me that the thing he wants most is for us to be together.  We do have a lot of togetherness, as next week we will spend fIve days at MD Anderson with the port placement, Echocardiogram, Dr. Homsi, chemo treatment and two days following, more treatments for anti-nausea drugs.  Luckily, that isn’t every week. 

It was exactly a year ago now that I was about to lose my leg, so this is an alternative that I can deal with.  I am grateful every day that I can walk and do most of the things that I want to do.  But I will have to admit that I was a little discouraged as I felt the change in my leg, then I spent an evening looking through last year’s Christmas cards and many other cards and notes I received at that time.  Your love and kindness totally buoyed me up and made me want to be half as strong as many of you think that I am.  THANK YOU SO MUCH!

We hope you are having a wonderful Christmas season.  We know that many of you are dealing with more difficult problems than we are, and we continue to pray for you.  It is a beautiful season which gives us hope, as we celebrate our Savior’s birth and think about how he suffered for each of us.  We love you and wish you choicest blessings now and in the year 2013.   

An added note:  Our granddaughter, Kylee Garn, (Greg & Rebecca's daughter) received her mission call to Morristown, New Jersey, Spanish speaking.  She will enter the MTC on February 6 and already knows Spanish quite well.  We are so excited about her call.  Our grandson, Josh Peterson will have his papers in soon, and we love receiving letters from our grandson, Jason Garry, who is serving in Tampico, Mexico.  These are great blessings for grandparents as many of you know.