Home After Chemo #5 - December 30-January 19

The first couple of days after chemo, I felt off and had trouble with nausea. I am thankful that there is medicine to counteract the nausea, even though it does not bring me back to feeling 100%. My appetite is almost gone, food does not appeal to me, and I just feel "off" during this time. This time the nausea again cleared up before day 4. So thankful!

This fifth cycle post-chemo was much like the other times around, only better. The first week following chemo I was tired (though I seldom napped) and felt a little lousy (though not as bad as previous times, probably because I was feeling so good before chemo). The next week I felt better, even though my immune system was recovering from being so low. The third week I felt even better, once my immune system was back and in preparation for the final round of chemo.

During this time being home, I was able to enjoy most of the college football bowl games and all the NFL playoff games. What a treat for me to be able to watch football. It is one thing that I missed very much when we first moved to Ukraine in 2010, but now I miss it less and just enjoy it when I can!

On the evening of day 6, the 5th, I again had NO fever. Oh, I am grateful to God for His help and strength. It is so good to be able to stay home for the entire three weeks following chemo.

The next day, one week following chemo, we went in for labs, to flush my PICC line, and to change my PICC line dressing. As usual, my labs showed no surprises - the things that we expected to be low, like white blood cell count and platelets, were low and other things, like lower hemoglobin, were acceptable.

On Wednesday the 13th, we again went in for labs, to flush my PICC line, and to change my PICC line dressing. This time my PICC line did not want to flush at all and there was no blood return (nurses will understand this). So they put some medicine (forget what it was called) in an attempt to clear out the line, and drew labs from my other arm. About 45 minutes later, it would flush (hard) and had blood return. We just need this line to last a little longer. My labs showed that my white blood cell and platelet counts were back up, as expected.

We headed back home for lunch, then Denise loaded the car (since I am not supposed to exert myself), and we headed out on a road trip to visit my Dad and Step-Mom. It was the first time since we returned to the states that I felt good enough to do that. Dad was told last August, when they stopped trying to treat his colon cancer, that he probably had about 6 months to live. His health started changing for the worse before Christmas and with the pace of change increasing, I felt a sense of urgency to get up there to see him.

He had called the evening before to try to talk us out of coming because of a snowstorm that was forecast for Thursday. I told him that I was aware of the forecast, but we were coming anyway. He did not want us in harm's way. Then he asked if I was feeling up to it. I told him that I was, or else we would not be making plans to come. Needless to say, he did NOT talk me out of it. And I am glad we saw him when we did.

Our first stop was Dubuque, Iowa, where we picked up our youngest daughter, Hope (Liz) - who even took two days of vacation from work to go with us. When we stopped in Clear Lake, Iowa to get gas and supper, I went in to Casey's (gas station chain) to order pizza. It was the first time I had been in a place of business since we left Ukraine in mid-September (actually, I had not been anywhere but home and the hospital). What a strange feeling. Then we headed to Waseca, Minnesota, where we spent the night with our Pastor and his wife, dear friends of ours. We visited until after 11 PM, then headed to bed.

In the morning after breakfast, we got back on the road, wondering what the weather would be like. It had rained overnight and was still above freezing. Until we got to the southern metro of the Twin Cities, there was light rain, and then it changed to snow. In the northern metro, we stopped to get gas, and I started driving - the first time since early September. It snowed for a couple of hours. Because there was no wind, driving was not bad. About 30 minutes from Dad's the snow stopped, only to start again minutes before we arrived.

Even though he had tried to talk us out of coming, Dad told me a couple of times every day that he was grateful that we came. We had a very good visit and enjoyed just being with the two of them for a few days.

Dad and I

Dad, Hope, and I

Sunday morning we left after breakfast. This time there was no snow falling and the trip home was easier. Denise drove to Clear Lake, where we paid $1.90 for gas, even less than the previous Wednesday. I drove to Dubuque, and Denise finished behind the wheel after we dropped Hope off.

Ukraine and our friends there often come to mind. We miss our lives, ministry, and relationships there, and we look forward to returning to the land of our calling - hopefully in June. God knows the desires of our heart. Meanwhile, while we are here in America, we are going to enjoy our time with family and friends.

I am so grateful to be feeling well going into chemo day. God has been so good to me. Three weeks away from the hospital again this cycle. Thank you, God!