Fourth Day After Treatment

Staying encouraged through the prayers of others and God's grace. Nausea as usual--- to be expected. I'm on a nausea drugs regimen for the first four days but will stop taking those RX's tomorrow as I think they just put too much "junk" in the system after those first few days to hurdle. It seems as though just after the nausea days pass the low counts days/fatigue sets in. But, it's par for the course. I'm thankful to not get sick to the point of vomitting like some folks do.

I went to the surgeon's this morning for a check-up. He thoroughly checked for lumps, etc. and gave me a good report.

Yesterday, I wanted the twins to have something fun to do. I rested til 1 PM and then we took them to the Build A Bear Workshop to make animals with some birthday money. They had so much fun, and it did my heart good to maintain a sense of normalcy for them.

I came home and rested for a few more hours. Then, invited all five kids out for ice cream together. A friend had given us a gift certificate to an ice cream shop. What a blessing! We were able to make a little family memory together. Since Tyler lived away for most of the past few years the kids haven't gotten many times together like that. I'm thankful!

Also, just before that friend popped in with a sweet card and the gift, another friend had brought by a delicious meal. YUM! It's such a blessing to receive this type of encouragement from people who not only care, but they love the Lord and want to serve Him by helping others.

The more that time goes on these days the more I realize that the body of Christ is all in the "struggle of life" (human experiences such as loss, sickness, etc.) together and we all NEED each other. Everyone's facing challenges of some sort at one point in time or another.

One verse that has really helped me through the past few days is ... I forget the reference and the exact words...it's the one about not worrying about the things of tomorrow because today has enough worries of it's own. Whenever I start to feel overwhelmed or worried--- I claim that verse. If God's giving us that advice, it must be good! :-)

My grandbaby is being released from the hospital today. It's been 1 1/2 weeks. Kaylee and I washed three weeks worth of laundry for his family yesterday. They're expecting grandma and auntie to visit from Japan this weekend, and it's been hard for Kanaho to prepare as she's been at the hospital with the baby. They're coming by here today to visit and bathe Aloysius.

My goal for today and tomorrow is to rest as much as possible in order to be able to enjoy the boys' birthday party on Sunday. Afterward, we're invited to a family BBQ. I hope to make both events and for everyone to have a great time together!

Another thing that helps me tremendously with rebounding from treatment... an added note here... is to eat well balanced snacks and meals EVEN THOUGH I don't feel hungry for the first week. I feel much better once I eat something, just the same. It's a trick to balance the electrolites and nutrients following a chemo blow to the system, but good nutrition definitely makes a difference for me. I wanted to note this in case it helps someone else.

Thanks for continued prayers for me and for my 'close person' who's also facing breast cancer and chemo on Monday.