Counts on their way up!

It's been a few days, perhaps you would like to know where things are at.

Mom was at the hospital yesterday and her blood work shows that her WBC counts are on their way up! So Mom gets three days off and doesn't have to go back to the hospital until Friday. She will receive her final spinal lumbar puncture then.

Mom finished her second protocol of chemotherapy a few weeks ago, and now that her blood counts are on their way back up, she will likely be starting protocol three in a week or so. The doctor explained that this will be the regular pattern, the chemo will eliminate Mom's WBC's and the counts will drop. Once they come back up into normal ranges (a total of about two weeks) they will start the next protocol. Each protocol will be about a month long, but each one is different. They vary all the chemo that Mom receives so the leukemia doesn't have a chance to build resistance.

It's strange how things have settled into a sort of routine. Two months ago I would never have imagined that we would be where we are now. I look back every now and again to the first weekend when Mom was in the hospital and we didn't know what was going on, why she was so anemic. Then she received the diagnosis of leukemia and those first lines in her educational manual that said "now that you are one of us...." My first thought was NO! I don't want to be here, I don't want to join this club. But as we have walked this road I've realized that it is so much better to walk with others who have gone on before you, to be supported by medical staff, family and friends. Old and new alike, people who know what it's like to face cancer. Two of my friends have also recently had diagnosis of different kinds of cancer in their parents, and I find that I am able to relate to them better and understand what they must be going through because of my own experiences.

Mom was telling me about her time at the hospital yesterday. She was talking with her friend who drove her in and expressed to her how grateful she is for the journey she's walking. The conversation carried on, but a few minutes later her friend said, "I'm still processing what you just said!" It is remarkable how God gives us the strength for each path He takes us on. We have seen that so clearly on this journey. God has been so good. Mom is a rock of strength, even when she has tough days she still finds things to praise God for. Her relationship with Jesus has become all the more evident through this, so that she can praise God for leukemia! She is amazing, and God just shines through her.

Thank you for being here and walking with us.

Amy