I had
my tenth Taxol treatment today and all my numbers were normal! The PA said up
to 85% of patients have neuropathy, and is amazed I haven't had anything. I
continue to praise God and give Him the glory. I think the cold gloves are also
helping, although, to be honest, it's torture wearing them.
Food
still tastes good also, which is a bonus. I'm wearing the arm sleeve through
chemo treatment as the physical therapist said it would help to prevent
lymphedema. I use it with captioning - most of the time. It's very hot to wear
in Florida. The radiation will increase the risk of lymphedema, so I need to do
what I can now to prevent it.
Only
six more chemo treatments. Two taxol followed by four Adriamycin and Cytoxan.
The Ariamycin doesn't cause the neuropathy, so I should not have to worry about
that once I finish the Taxol until I start radiation. But Adriamycin can cause
LOTS of other problems.
 |
| Joy drew this for me for Mother's Day during chemo treatment |
In the
meantime, I feel attacks in other areas. I've had major on-air tech issues
while captioning -- things becoming strangely unplugged, communication issues
with printer and computer, that suddenly start working after many many
attempts, icap issues with audio (I heard I'm not the only one with this one),
incredibly slow issues with my internet provider, computer lock-up, captioning
software lock-up, and I've had disappearing files (never happened) requiring me
to rewrite shows that I've cleaned for repeat shows. and a couple of brain
freeze things.
I came
back from the infusion today and went to sleep for three hours, turning on my
alarm to wake me up before MLB captioning. I woke up, looked at the clock, and
it said 7. I thought it was the morning and didn't remember why I set the
alarm, so I turned it off. I woke up ten till 8pm. I went on the air at 8.
Well, that's a terrible thing to do. So I worry about stuff like this.
My car
is also on the fritz. I'm pretty sure it's the transmission. I had it repaired
once which cost $3,000 about five years ago. How much more money should I put
into it with 230,000 miles? Last year I lost a few thousand because a company ripped me off. I was fixing to file a lawsuit with their corporate
offices when I was diagnosed with beast cancer, so I ended up settling out of
court with their corporate offices for $2,000, but I gave half that money to a
retired lawyer friend that got my car fixed. Otherwise, I would have been
forced to buy another car because of the shop's malpractice. The worst part is
my car was unreliable and broke down all over town the entire summer as we
tried to figure out what the store did to it. We did find everything they
screwed up and fixed it, but I just can't go through the stress this summer of
a unreliable car when I'm dealing with cancer treatment.
Another
prayer request. In my last post, I loaded an excerpt from "The
Prescience" and sent a copy of it to a good author friend in Indonesia who
is involved in Muslim-Christian relations as a missionary. He pretty much
ripped apart my chapter, and, to be honest, I think he's right. So I spent
hours reworking it, and then got another email from a good author friend in
England who loved it. So then I questioned if maybe I should rethink
everything. Both authors had great insights, and they aren't necessarily
mutually exclusive, in some respects, so please pray for me to find the balance
I need in this chapter.
I
continue to keep my eyes on Jesus, knowing He is the Author and my Redeemer. I
have to remember that all redemption may not occur in this life. But I also
know Hope never disappoints, and the Comforter's ways are better than mine. So
with prayers and God's wisdom I hope to beat every attack on me and give God
the glory. He is teaching me many things though all of these struggles, and
that brings me supernatural joy.
