The past few weeks have been a mad whirlwind of appointments, plans, phone calls, babysitters, updates, and the like, and I haven't had much time for my blog.
Last week we discovered, for sure, that my husband's cancer has persisted. Apparently the surgery with clean margins in January got the primary tumor, but there were more cells lurking that did not get removed, and they're now in his tongue and lymph nodes.
He's set up to begin chemotherapy on Monday and radiation quickly on the heels of that. Life has changed rapidly for us. I have a hazy memory of life when my biggest musings revolved around homeschooling and transplanting coral bells.....seems like a long time ago.
Today we are driving to a teaching hospital at a comprehensive care center three hours away to get a second opinion before treatments begin here.
I suddenly know more than I ever wanted to know about cancer.
My husband is strong and healthy and a couple of days ago he did a hard mountain run to an overlook he loves, and it's incomprehensible to me that soon he'll be a patient in the chemotherapy infusion room. What?
In the midst of it we are blessed by many things. Our family, friends, and church are wonderful.
My emotional state ebbs and flows and I'm so blessed to have friends I can call or text anytime. Thank you, Lord, for my friends. Especially my dear Allison.
Thank you for praying for my husband. Keep them coming. This summer will be very hard, but I am looking forward to beautiful words in November or December, when he has his first post-radiation PET scan: "complete remission."
May it be so.
*******************************
Do you not know?
Have you not heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired or weary,
and his understanding no one can fathom.
He gives strength to the weary,
and young men stumble and fall;
but those who hope in the Lord
will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint.
-Isaiah 40:28-31
Last week we discovered, for sure, that my husband's cancer has persisted. Apparently the surgery with clean margins in January got the primary tumor, but there were more cells lurking that did not get removed, and they're now in his tongue and lymph nodes.
He's set up to begin chemotherapy on Monday and radiation quickly on the heels of that. Life has changed rapidly for us. I have a hazy memory of life when my biggest musings revolved around homeschooling and transplanting coral bells.....seems like a long time ago.
Today we are driving to a teaching hospital at a comprehensive care center three hours away to get a second opinion before treatments begin here.
I suddenly know more than I ever wanted to know about cancer.
My husband is strong and healthy and a couple of days ago he did a hard mountain run to an overlook he loves, and it's incomprehensible to me that soon he'll be a patient in the chemotherapy infusion room. What?
In the midst of it we are blessed by many things. Our family, friends, and church are wonderful.
My emotional state ebbs and flows and I'm so blessed to have friends I can call or text anytime. Thank you, Lord, for my friends. Especially my dear Allison.
Thank you for praying for my husband. Keep them coming. This summer will be very hard, but I am looking forward to beautiful words in November or December, when he has his first post-radiation PET scan: "complete remission."
May it be so.
*******************************
Do you not know?
Have you not heard?
The Lord is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He will not grow tired or weary,
and his understanding no one can fathom.
He gives strength to the weary,
and young men stumble and fall;
but those who hope in the Lord
will renew their strength.
They will soar on wings like eagles;
they will run and not grow weary,
they will walk and not be faint.
-Isaiah 40:28-31
How wise of you to look to the end at the beginning. You are in my thoughts and prayers.
ReplyDeleteStill praying for you all. I have a friend on that road this summer with myeloma.
ReplyDeleteIt’s hard to really know what to say. Nothing I write seems right. I hope and pray for your husband’s full and complete recovery. God bless.
ReplyDeletePolly, you and your family have been in my thoughts the past few days. I truly hope that things are going well and that you're able to bear it. Today I was thinking of my favorite hymn "How Firm a Foundation" and wanted to share with you a scripture the text is taken from:
ReplyDelete"When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee." —Isaiah 43:2.
Oh Polly, I've definitely been praying for you all! We live north of Seattle...Swedish Hospital(in Seattle) specializes in treating cancer(people from all over the world go to Swedish for cancer treatment)...I went to a Naturopath M.D. who worked closely with Swedish, as a cancer doctor. He said that cancer starts in the gut with candida...so a No-yeast diet is a must--(No sugars-not even natural ones, no fruit, no yeast, nothing fermented, no dairy, no wheat, no grains except brown rice and quinoa). Swedish hardly ever does chemo...as the longevity rate after it is too low. I've known too many people who After they did chemo, radiation, surgery and still were going to die, say "I wish I went the all natural route". Cancer is a degenerative disease and as such can be healed naturally with the right supplements, diet etc. My husband worked with a man who got tongue cancer...he went the AMA route...surgery, chemo, radiation. It came back within months and he wished he had gone the natural route...he was dead within a year.(and they ended up cutting out his tongue) Please check out the natural cures thoroughly before you start chemo...it could save your husbands life. I know you probably don't want to hear this. I won't mention it again. But cancer doctors really use fear to get you to do chemo(and act as though you have to decide immediately), and they get a monetary kickback once you decide to do chemo. Chemo destroys your immune system...just when you need it most. Continued prayers, Linn
ReplyDelete