Tests--Passed and Failed

Thursday I had my fourth round of chemo--YEAH!! That means I am officially 1/2 done with chemo. They will start me on another round of chemo drugs for the next half. That means no more Adreimisum (I am sure that is spelled wrong, but I can't find Bill's drug book), or the "Red Devil" drug as they call it in the infusion clinic. It is aptly so named because of its side effects, but it has also done a wonderful job in shrinking my mass. I will gladly deal with those if it heals my body.

Now to the tests I was referring to in my title. On one my scans they thought they saw an abnormality on the base of my tongue that they felt should be checked out. So on Thursday I went to yet another Dr. to get this done. The intern came in first and tried to get all the background info she could and to do an initial exam. I warned her that I have a very sensitive gag reflex, and wan't sure how this would go. First she tried to exam the area with a tongue depressor with no success. I won't bore you with the details. Then she tried her gloved hands. That was even a greater disaster. I confess, I think I may have even clamped down on her finger briefly. I was so embarrassed. I am afraid that chalked up as a test failed. When the Dr. came in, he tried very briefly. He quickly resorted to having a tube with a camera stuck through my nose. They were able to do the exam. Everything looked perfectly normal. I passed that test.

I admit--I was a bit of a grump this time around. It was hard to go in there and go through this all again. I felt like I failed the test of cheerfulness, especially around my poor hubby, and he was trying to be so supportive. But I felt like he blew it when the nurse said we will have to wait a while to see the Dr. as she is doing a bone marrow biopsy, and it will be awhile. I thought she said she was going to give me a bone marrow biopsy. Right after she walked out the door, Bill told me how horribly those things hurt. "You ask anyone who has them and they are very painful." I thanked him for his "fine" encouragement. It wasn't until about 20 minutes later that we discovered the misunderstanding. We had our first good laugh for the day. The infusion itself went quite well, and we got home a half hour earlier we ever had before.

This past week has been a good reality check for me. In my world of friends and acquaintances, there are so many needs--some of are carrying much bigger burdens then I am bearing. As I pray for them, I often ask for God to give them grace. He promised to give it at the measure it is needed. That is such a comfort. We personally have felt the reality of that promise. Some of them need so much right now.

Happy Anniversary to Us!!

Saturday we went to Bill's nephew's wedding. It was good to hear another good wedding sermon. It was also great to see a lot of his family and to interact with them again.

I was feeling especially nostalgic about the wedding because our anniversary was yesterday.
It is wonderful being married to such a kind, thoughtful, helpful, loving man. Oh, and did I mention he is a great leader in our home, and an awesome provider. He takes family responsibilities very seriously. I am blessed abundantly!! Marrying Bill was one of the best decisions I ever made.

GOOD NEWS!!

I went to see my surgeon last week. He gave us some great news. The tumor I have grew very rapidly. It was quite frightening. That is one of the main reasons we decided to go with chemo before surgery. He told us that the mass had shrunk from 8 cm. to 2 cm. after just two rounds of chemo! We are so happy, and so grateful! God is answering so many of your prayers and our prayers. It is a humbling experience. We promised that God would get the glory for whatever He chooses to do. We want to be sure that He indeed does get the glory. He is the Force behind all healing. Join us in thanking Him!!

Switching subjects--My in-laws are here. We had a very enjoyable peak in history yesterday. We went on a drive through the Catlett area. Bill's dad pointed out all kinds of interesting things along the way. That was the farm his father was going to manage when he moved to Catlett. After he found out what the job involved, he decided he couldn't work there afterall. That was the house Uncle Harvey or Uncle Davey or "you name it" lived in or built. This was the farm that his Dad bought. This is the farm that he worked on for four years. He was so disappointed when he got to the place where he and Mom had first lived when they got married. It had been destroyed so they could put in a development. He talked about when Cora was about to be born. He had taken Anna Mary to the hospital. They told him that the baby wasn't going to be born for awhile, and that he needed to go home. He walked all the way from Warrenton to the the other side of Nokesville to go home. As the roads go, that would have been at least 20 miles. I asked him why he didn't call someone to pick him up. He said, "You just didn't do things like that." He said it was a horrible walk because he was sure Anna Mary was going to die in childbirth. She lived, and she went through childbirth twelve more times. I don't know how many fields he plowed, basements he dug, woods he hunted in, in the Catlett area.

I could tell he was feeling a lot of nostalgia and wistfulness of days gone by that you never go back to. So much of his life history is here. A lot of his children and grandchildren are still in the area. Anna Mary (Bill's mother) passed away in 1991. He then married a wonderful lady we call Fannie or Grandma. He now lives in Minnesota and they get back here once or twice or a year.

It makes me wonder what my perspective of life will be when I am 72 years old. We need to live well now, so we can look back with fondness, not regret.