August Immunotherapy

Written by Dawn.

Happy to say that yesterday's treatment was uneventful. I've learned through this journey that ho-hum is good - well at least for how treatments go!! I have to take an antihistamine and 3 Tylenols prior to my immunotherapy, so I end up falling asleep after we get home. Other than tiredness, side effects are minimal with some aches and pains, and sometimes a bit of nausea. My immunotherapy is nothing like
chemotherapy. 

It seemed a long time since my last treatment again but it was only a bit over a month - July 28 and today. I guess the summer busyness, my birthday celebrations and also a week of camping snuck in there made it feel longer. Either way, it has been an enjoyable August for me and I thank God for that! 

Birthday thank you notes have kept me busy and I've completed 2/3 now. My birthday flowers are now

reduced to one multi bouquet and I've got a plate of seeds drying out. I'm hoping to plant a birthday garden with the seeds next spring! Wouldn't that be fun?! I think so. Don't know if all of these will reseed but I'm going to try, dv. 

All of these plans for the future come with much uncertainty - which we all deal with if we're honest, but living with a fatal diagnosis has been an adjustment with no guidebook. I have seen many truths through the eyes of scripture to be true - like we are just "chasing the wind" (Eccl 1:14) and "As for man, his days are like grass; he flourishes like a flower of the field" (Psalm 103:5). But trusting in God's sovereignty is where the peace comes in - and I'm so thankful for that! Knowing that God "numbered (my) days before one of them came to be" truly brings peace. 

We just came back from a lovely camping trip to Northern Ontario with all of our kids and grands there at one point! We were blessed that Alyssa snagged a waterfront site which was wonderful for so many reasons - gorgeous, for starters, coffee at the water, sunrises, and seeing boats pass by each day. So picturesque! And there were days when I couldn't get to the activities with the others but I had a beautiful spot to sit with a great view, but still close to amenities. It was a treat! 

I was able to spend one day at the beach which was so nice! It was the day that our whole family was there - 18 of us! 

I had gastro issues at the end of last week and they seemed to settle yesterday, just before treatment today. There's usually no rhyme or reason, just the damage done to my body pre-diagnosis that lingers. I'm thankful that my medication helps most of the time. Sadly I missed church on Sunday which is always discouraging, but I'm thankful for the livestream. 

One clarification that I wanted to make - some have said that they read that my numbers are rising but they don't know what that means. As you can see on the chart here, my "Lambda cells" (which are my problem cells) have been increasing and they have been out of "normal" range for a few months now. The immunotherapy should be keeping these steady, but it doesn't appear to be doing that for me. The chemotherapy and immunotherapy got the numbers into "normal" but once i stopped the chemo in March, the numbers began to rise. This means that if it continues, I will likely need another line of treatment. We have no idea what that might be but we know that there are treatment options available and we're thankful for that. 

We choose to not trust in the treatments because we know that the treatments are only successful with the Lord's blessing. So we pray that the immunotherapy will work and if not, that the Lord will guide Dr A's choice of next steps. 

Prayer Requests:

1. That my numbers will begin to go down.

2. That my gastro issues will settle so I can go to church this coming Sunday.