Monday, June 2, 2014

6/2/14 Happy June!

Dear Friends and Family,
 
Gabrielle here.  It's a beautiful, sunny Monday morning and I am so thankful for the gift of life today--and for a free day with nothing on my calendar!  I get to rest, do little errands, read, walk, and if I have enough energy, I plan to make "Greek Cod Gabrielle" for dinner.  Yummo!

Last week was a whirlwind.  I did a "bit" too much, though all of it fun.  In the last four days I have had single chemo, gone to see the ballet Giselle, cheered on the Mariner's, enjoyed dinner and canasta with our neighbors, gone boating, and attended a beautiful wedding.  I loved it all (except the chemo), but boy, am I tired. 

A little glitch occurred on Saturday.  The day after "day 8" in the chemo cycle, aka single chemo day, I am supposed to go into the hospital outpatient surgery center to get my neulasta shot to build up my blood counts.  They called me at 1 to be sure I was still coming at 2:30.  I showed up at 2:30.  They put me in the chemo chair, took my blood pressure, and said they would run to the pharmacy to grab the medicine.  They returned (two nurses) saying the pharmacist had the order but forgot to order the drug and there was none in the hospital.  Very frustrating. 

So first thing this morning (Monday), I went into my own oncology office and got the shot, but now my triple chemo is going to be pushed back by five days until the 17th.  The three days of bone pain from the shot will be on Thursday, Friday, Saturday this week, so I will plan accordingly.

On a very happy note, my little grand-nephew, Jericho, was born to my niece Molly last Thursday while I was watching Giselle!  He came a month early, weighing 4 lbs, 3 oz.  He's in the infant ICU at the moment, with an oxygen assist.  To feed him, they put a tiny bottle nipple in his mouth, then squeeze in half a syringe of milk into the nipple for him to learn to suck out.  Please pray for him to gain weight, breathe well on his own, and have a safe, healthy transition home, which may be as soon as this coming weekend. Pray for Molly too, as she is a single mother and needs all the help she can get.  By the way, Jericho is the cutest little miniature baby you every did see! 

Looking ahead to this week, I have a huge prayer request for Thursday.  I have completed three cycles of chemo and Thursday at 9:45 I get my contrast CT scan to see if the drugs are working or not to shrink my cancer.  We meet with the doctor at 11:30 to go over the results.  We all have pits in our stomachs because most of the time, scans don't seem to produce the happiest news.  Please pray for some encouraging news on Thursday and for God's peace to rule in our hearts and minds this week.  Thank you!!

One other important piece of news is that both Renee and Daniel are now officially moved back home!  Hooray!  It is such a joy to have them here with us so we can support one another on this cancer journey.  I will say, our house is a bit of a disaster zone at the moment with stuff from both their households scattered about as we try to assimilate three homes into one.  If you stop by, just ignore the chaos!  Also, I'm pleased to report that Daniel finished his first year of med school last Thursday, acing his finals (90-100% on all) and he is now officially an "MS-2."  Today he began his summer job at Children's doing research with the pediatric otolaryngology team.  They will be studying laryngeal clefts in infants.  Questions?  Ask Daniel! 

Thank you for all the kindnesses that came our way this last month.  The cards, meals, flowers, desserts (!), etc. have been SO appreciated.  I am not going to name them one by one anymore, as I am too afraid of missing someone.  But believe me, we have been so blessed to know you are walking this journey with us and supporting us in so many loving ways.  Thank you again and again!

"For I am the Lord, your God, who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you."  Isaiah 41:13

Much love to you all,
Gabrielle

1 comment:

  1. We just prayed for you this morning as an office, Gabrielle! Praying for good, encouraging results this morning.

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