June 10, 2008

Hey Everyone,


Yesterday (being Monday), I was scheduled for a CT Scan which I had to fast for, for four hours. My brother Walter and his wife Deb were down from B.C. so they took me. Once there I was informed that instead of a CT Scan the radiologist wanted me to have an ultrasound. With a CT Scan they would have injected me with a dye so that they could better see results. With this dye and being put in the machine it could make the cancer worse and being young the radiologist thought we should take a safer route and check all my organs through an ultrasound. So I fasted for my thyroid, liver, kidneys and abdomen! The ultrasound tech's husband had been diagnosed with a form of cancer last year so she talked me through the ultrasound . She told me each organ looked good. The doctor hasn't looked at anything yet. Tomorrow I'm scheduled for a biopsy in my hip to take out some bone marrow. Originally I was told that I would be put to sleep for this but now they seem to think just a little bit of freezing gel on my hip will do the trick. I'm planning on taking a bag of ice cubes to sit on during my drive down to the hospital just to help the situation a wee bit (and than I might even put an extra blob of gel on the hip for extra measure). Once the biopsy is done I think that will be it for all my testing. The doctors will have a little meeting together and figure out the plan for all my treatments.

Otherwise I'm doing pretty good. I do have days that I'm more sore than others but the doctor's have given me wonderful pills that make you sleepy and your ears ring and head a bit dizzy - basically I zone out. Once I took the pills a little too close together and Pete got a real kick out of my "conversations". I avoid these pills in the day because I have kids to take care of and want to look normal. The doctors told me to stay on top of the pain though because bone pain is painful and pain can do things to you psychologically. They don't want me exhausted before the real treatment starts.

I can still do all my housework and cook and do some running around. I do get tired pretty quick, even from visiting. The young people from church came to my house last Monday and cleaned out all my gardens and planted all my flowers. Everything looks amazing, that's one job I couldn't have done. It's great to see everyone caring, even the teenagers at church. Thanks so much for all the cards and phone calls even from people who don't know me very well but want to share their experiences with cancer too. It's very encouraging especially during this time of not knowing everything. It's amazing how Satan can work at you through all the unknowns but it's even more amazing to experience God's grace and peace when you need it most!

I hope to write in the blog soon. I just got dial up internet at home (that's all I can get right now with all the trees around, I still have to hook it up).

Love Sharon