Today, in the clinical trial that I am part of, I took the last of my Cycle 1 medications. We now get 7 days off before beginning Cycle 2 on March 4 in Edmonton! We are #thankful!
The treatment is going well from the perspective of how I am feeling. There
have been a few bumps along the path such as a night in the ER with fears of an
infection or a dizzy (fainting?) spell that sat me on the floor in my bathroom for a
period of time. Mostly however it has, if I may co-opt a well-known saying, been
"side-effects by a thousand cuts." Heartburn, fatigue, back pain, bladder irritation, muscle cramps,
upset stomach or bowels, irritability (okay, that one may just be me being a grumpy old man), poor sleep, etc. Even the combined effects of these
"thousand cuts" is tolerable and again we are #thankful. God has answered many prayers! We don't yet
know if the treatments will have cumulative side effects that will become more
noticeable in further chemo cycles. More importantly we we don't yet know if
the treatments are working to deliver the knockout punch to the cancer (pardon the language, but in my head those words are "kick cancer's ass.") I suspect we will find out more
about the state of my cancer's backside and the health of my blood and bone
marrow in cycle two. Keep praying that this new drug will be a miracle
drug on this journey. Thank you!
I continue to struggle at times to find my way into God's presence in all of this. That seems especially true on nights like the one I spent in the Emergency Room. I think, however that by grace this new phase of life is slowly teaching me about God's great desire to walk with Kathy and me. I want to write a bit more about that in the next post. Until then, may we all keep the faith!
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| In a treatment room at the Cross Cancer Institute |
I continue to struggle at times to find my way into God's presence in all of this. That seems especially true on nights like the one I spent in the Emergency Room. I think, however that by grace this new phase of life is slowly teaching me about God's great desire to walk with Kathy and me. I want to write a bit more about that in the next post. Until then, may we all keep the faith!
Brian
Brian, it's great that you have been given the opportunity to try a new drug. We have come a long way in fighting cancer, and the fight is far from over, but what you're doing will help others as well as yourself, I hope and pray.
ReplyDeleteThanks Paul! We are hopeful and prayerful as well. Included in those prayers today will be a prayer for Jean and you as we also know that life is not free from health concerns for you either. Keep the faith!
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