April Immunotherapy

Written by Dawn.


My treatment today went well, and we were even taken on time again. Andrew was able to go with me today, which was nice. My nurse was great, but it was more painful this time; it wasn’t the worst either.  I do find treatments more difficult when they’re not weekly.  Being out of the routine makes for more apprehension when it's time for treatment again.  I felt discouraged today, so I had to get more into the Word, prayer, and music. It is such a comfort to trust in God throughout this journey.

It will be interesting to see how my body reacts this time to the only-Dara treatment.  Had my first only-Dara last month, but I had a bad cold at the same time, so it was difficult to tell. Side effects are said to be EXHAUSTION.  I hear it from patients in our support group and from reading online.  Officially, the side effects of Daratumumab are “exhaustion, diarrhea and vomiting.” Somehow, “exhaustion” sounds like the best 😉.  

This past month, Andrew & I celebrated our 39th wedding anniversary – another milestone that we didn’t know if we would get to celebrate.  I remember going to chemo on our 35th wedding anniversary back in 2022 with the future looking pretty bleak.  God has been so good!  I’m glad that we can trust in His sovereignty and not worry about “tomorrow”.  All of our days are already planned – what a blessing that is!

I have been going for walks again, which has been a great pick-me-up after a rough-ish winter!  I have always loved walking and always walked a lot but it’s different with a damaged heart and weakness.  BUT I still love it – just have to look forward, not back, at how I’m improving my stamina after 9 months of treatments, and not look back at what I used to be able to do! Sometimes that’s hard because my “progress” can feel pitiful!  I’m reaching my 6,000-day step goal about 4x a week and even had a 12,000+ step day once last week!  It IS hit and miss as some days I have more energy than others.


Often one “event” per week is enough for me and more is too much. That can feel like I’m missing so much and can be discouraging. My goal is to attend in-person church on Sunday mornings, and it is very discouraging when I can’t.  It helps that I know that I truly can’t.  I have become good at managing my limits, but that doesn’t take away the disappointment that I feel.  I often say that what my mind wants to do, my body disagrees with!  I’m enjoying the weather being more “springy” but I find the work that I see needs to be done to be overwhelming.  I am teaching myself to do a little each day and see slow but sure progress. Not easy for me but certainly a learning process yet again. 

My heart numbers were back into “normal” range with my April labs last week.  Dr. A said he’s happy with my progress.

Activities that I’ve been working at lately have been sewing (I made a birthday banner), planting some garden seeds (green beans and peppers) and reading. My to-do list takes longer to complete and getting those bigger jobs completed feels so good! I look forward to planting our summer flowers and enjoying their beauty dv.


Thank you for your continued words of encouragement, prayers, and notes! 

Our wedding text: "Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for Him" Psalm 37:7a

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