Tuesday, July 5, 2011

First treatment scheduled

Here's a much needed new family picture.  I got my hair cut on Friday and haven't had it this short since 3rd grade.  I thought it would be a good transition to losing my hair.  I really love it and like that fact that it doesn't take long to fix.

This week, I have my pet scan on Thursday and an appointment with Dr. Kakani on Friday along with more blood work and a chemo teaching class.  My first treatment will be on Friday, July 15th. The current plan is to have 4 cycles (treatments) three weeks apart.  After I am finished with the chemo treatments we will take a short break and then do radiation.  Then after the radiation they want me to do the Tamoxifen for 5 years.  A good friend of ours sat down with me tonight to help explain cancer treatment in detail.  He has been researching cancer for many years and his company is in the stages of developing a targeted chemo therapy.  He helped me understand so much more and feel more at ease with the treatment.  Even though my chemo therapy will not be targeted only at any cancer cells, it does not get absorbed by every cell in my body as I had thought.  It does attack any rapid growing cells which is what cancer is but also your hair, intestine, and white & red blood cells are rapid growing cells.  My prayer is that I can bounce back strong after each chemo cycle and not have extreme symptoms.  It has been hard to hear of all the symptoms that "may" happen because it makes my mind wander.  But to steal this from John Piper... "I believe in God's power to heal - by miracle and by medicine."  I found this in an awesome article entitled "Don't Waste Your Cancer"  If you are interested in the article  here's a link: Pastor John Piper article  It's a very good read and gives me a whole different perspective on being diagnosed and fighting cancer.

I feel so very thankful and blessed to have so many people supporting me and my family.  I have been so humbled by the response from everyone.  So many of you have asked how you can help.  It's so hard to ask for help sometimes.  I will try to be better at letting you know.  I will also try harder to update the blog more frequently.

My cure rate may only be 90% but I am 100% certain that Christ will be with me every step of the way and I am part of His perfect plan!

Love to you all,
Tammy   

No comments:

Post a Comment