Honey I Shrunk The Tumor

I noticed I was more active with keeping my blog updated in December, January, and February when this was all so new to me, but then nothing in March, so I figured I better fill you all in. I just recently completed my 5th round of chemo (5 of 12 so .4167% done) and as expected it becomes worse and worse. It has been pretty consistent though - super nauseous and completely drained of energy the first week, then the nauseau goes away the second week but the lack of energy remains. However I do have more energy the second week compared to the first - just any activity requires a nap, I'm not complaining though. It has only been 5 days since treatment and the nauseau is much more intense this time - I have heard time and time again though that it gets worse each round as your body continually is worn down from all the poison going into your body. Not to worry though, soon I will be through all of this and back to being me - almost half way done! Now for the good news...before treatment number 4 (Friday March 04, 2011) my oncologist ordered a chest x-ray to see how much, if any, the tumor has shrunk. Though an x-ray is not as clear and precise as the PET Scan which really showed the extent of the tumor, we were able to see that the tumor has shrunk about an inch all around! That is exactly what we and the oncologist had hoped for, especially considering the tumor originally spanned from my breast bone to my spine. It's still errie to know that there is something that big inside of me - must be what it was like when Kathryn was pregnant with Kendall and Karson - WEIRD! The blessings continue to come in, thank you everyone for all your continued prayers, thoughts, dinners, generous gifts, phone calls, and friendship. It has been such a help to have dinners on chemo day and weekend - that one less thing Kathryn has to worry about makes the weekend that much more easy to tolerate, afterall, a happy wife is a happy life right : ) I did have another unique experience which kind of opened my eyes, or rather just made me more appreciative. A business colleague took me out for a cup of coffee to share with me some information regarding cancer, health, etc. and to pray for me. I of course was accepting of any prayers I can get, I did however think he meant when he went home that night he would pray for me in the comfort of his own home - NOPE, wrong again lol, he meant right there right now in the coffee shop. The best part of it was there was a pastor from a local church having coffee there with another sheep of the flock unbenounced to us. My colleague introduced me to the pastor and his friend and shared with him my trial. Then right there in the coffee shop the 3 men layed their hands upon me and offered a prayer. At first take I was so embarassed as we were in a public place but I thought to myself, these are good christian men who believe in God and the power of prayer and faith just as much as I do, and what humility and compassion they hold that they are willing to pray for a man they do not know in the middle of a bunch of random people. It was such a cool experience, I will never forget those men, and learned to be appreciative of whatever it is people are willing to do for me. Well it is late now, I am exhausted, and ready for bed. I hope you all share the joy I do knowing that therapy is working. Thank you all once again for all you do.