Fourth Treatment

 Written by Alyssa



Ups and downs. Some weeks have positive things to tell, and other weeks have less positive things to tell. This week we have a bit of both.


The less positive is that Mom has had more moments of her blood pressure dipping, which can be scary and means she has to be very careful to not move too quickly so as to allow her body time to adjust. This is especially important when she is getting up quickly from sitting. It’s not uncommon for Mom to get up to greet someone at the door and have to immediately go to sit down on the nearby stairs because of her blood pressure dipping. Another thing is that she has developed a cough which was sort of puzzling to us because she wasn’t feeling sick (thankfully!). After her appointment with her oncologist on Monday, Dr. A told her that he believes her cough is a side effect of one of her medications. While that isn’t awesome to hear, we are thankful to have an answer to that. Her lower blood pressure is believed to be caused by her chemotherapy treatments. Mom’s doctor has her monitoring her blood pressure regularly as well as trying other things to boost it, like drinking more water and adding a bit more salt to her diet. 


On the positive note, she received some of her blood work results back this week, and one of her blood markers for Amyloidosis has shown significant improvement! We praise God for answering our prayers so abundantly in this! Some have asked if this means she can stop treatment now, and while that sounds great (especially with the recent negative side effects), these results weren't back yet yesterday when she saw Dr. A so we have no idea how this will play out. The bloodwork results that they use to make decisions is based on 14 different bloodwork results, and this is just one of them. We want to ensure that these positive results continue, and the best way for that to happen is for Mom to continue with her current treatment plan. We will, of course, leave that up to the doctors to guide Mom through. 

Last week Mom completed her first “round” of three treatments. On Tuesday Mom received her fourth treatment, the first of this second round.  It was again one treatment of chemotherapy and the other immunotherapy treatment. This all went well, and we are again so thankful that Dad is able to go with her to these appointments.


While the road ahead is long, we know who has set this path before Mom. The scripture passage we chose to include at the top of this blog was chosen because it serves as a reminder to Mom (and the rest of us!) that all our days were ordained for us from the beginning of time. Nothing that happens today or tomorrow is unknown to God, and what a comfort that is! While we don’t know what the future holds, we know we can put our trust in Him because He knows what is in store for each of us.


”I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be”. Psalm 139:14-16 NIV


Prayer Requests:

  1. That God will bless the treatments so they may be successful.

  2. That mom won’t feel too discouraged when experiencing moments of weakness and anxiety.

  3. That the side effects mom has been experiencing will be as minimal as possible

  4. Pray that she will be able to sleep well.

  5. That she will be able to share the gospel and encourage those around her who are also receiving treatment.  

  6. Praise God for the good blood work results!

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