Sorry I have been MIA, we just have a lot going on. I know that there are many of you that like to check in and kept me in your thoughts and prayers throughout treatment. I don't know if I ever told you how powerful I think that support was, and continues to be. Today I respectfully ask that you keep my cousin Coral in your prayers and thoughts. She is an amazing young woman who is battling for her life after a horrible car accident last Friday. While I am confident she will pull through, I am praying for her more than I did for myself - I now understand how difficult it was for many of you to stand by while I faced my battle.
Please join me in praying for Coral's full recovery, for wisdom for her medical team so they can make good choices, and for her family to find positives in the little victories she faces until she is well. Thank you.
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I am so thankful for good health right now! I am thankful for doctors, nurses, pharmacists, and all those that go into the healthcare fields to help others. I am thankful for a good job that allows me to have great health insurance and covered the brunt of the financial burden that cancer brings. I am thankful for the brilliant minds that choose to dedicate their time to find cures and better therapies for cancer. The researcher's refusal to stick with "good enough" and continue to find better alternatives for patients is what has given me the opportunity to kick cancer into remission without having to get radiation to my heart area, and hence not having to deal with negative long term side effects.
I am grateful to live in an age where I can connect with others with my disease online and learn from them, where I can blog and connect with family and friends near and far. I'm so very appreciative of every phone call, text, email, greeting card, flower, and small token of appreciation my family has received to help us get through a difficult time.
I am grateful that my daughter is too young to remember how sick her mother looked and felt, and to not have had to worry about me not being there for her. I am thankful for grandparents that were able to help out during our difficult times, of siblings who were able to fly out, or call, or video chat and let us know they were supporting us. I am grateful for my husband, who knew when to push me to do more and when to remind me to relax - and who had the unwavering faith that everything would be ok.
Most of all I am grateful to be writing this while knowing that I am slowly healing and getting better, and that there is a long future ahead of me.
We had a great thanksgiving week, and I am grateful we were able to interact with so many friends and family! I hope you all got to take a bit of time to reflect on what you are thankful for, and enjoy some good times!
While I feel a little vain even writing it, I am also thankful that my hair is starting to grow again!!! The eyebrows are closer to gray hair, but they are getting fuller, I have super tiny eyelashes, and there's a shadow on my head that is actually hair! I will keep you informed of the progress there!!
Joelle so glad to read all the good news! You look beautiful since the beginning . This experience is going to be part of your life and is going to be an instrument to help others. I know all your family is very proud of you! Me too. God bless you. My prayers with your causin Coral, keep us post it. Hugs
ReplyDeleteHi Joelle,
ReplyDeleteI was diagnosed with agressive non-Hodgkins lymphoma with active 'T' back in November. So far, I've had two R-CHOP and one DA_EPOCH treatment. My tumor is shrinking well, says the doc.
Goodbye hair. My wife Marsha knew it would be happening, so she cut mine when there was plenty and affixed it into one of my hats in the same location as it was on me, and it looks so perfect no one knows until I take it off.
The fatigue and down mental time is no fun, but the drugs are really giving me bad dealings in the bathroom. Can you say boiling oil coming out? It seems many are afflicted with the same problem and my cure is a proton pump pill twice a day to minimize the stomach acid. It works for me.
You are one tough person, and my kudos to you for seeing it through to the end. Live long and well!
Dennis
Hi, thanks for stopping by and leaving a message! Sorry to hear about the stomach issues, I'm still taking a Zantac most mornings to keep the heartburn at bay. Are you switching from RCHOP to DA-EPOCH? How many treatments do you have left? I'm only 3 months out, but I'm already starting to forget how bad the tough days were, there is light at the end of the tunnel!!!! Good luck to you Dennis!
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