Treatment 4 and Praise Report :)

Today was the day for treatment 4 even though it is Monday.  The Siteman Center will be closed tomorrow and Wednesday for Christmas.  On Monday's, my doctor is at the location connected to Barnes-Jewish hospital.  What a different atmosphere than at South County!  And it was so packed.  Since they are going to be closed for 2 days they made huge efforts to treat people who would normally be seen on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, along with the people who are normally seen on Mondays.  I am sure that Thursday will be just as busy.  The people are wonderful at all locations, but I really like going to the South County location.

I went to my appointment today totally prepared for whatever outcome as far as getting a treatment was concerned.  I would be happy if I got to have my treatment and happy if I couldn't have the treatment.  It turned out that I was able to have the treatment and my blood work was fine.  My platelet count had gone back up from the 99 last week to 165 today.  I really don't understand how all that works.  My iron is down but there are dietary things I can at least do to help with that.  I am very thankful to have had a treatment!  In all honesty though (and I hope this doesn't sound bad or insensitive), there was a small part of me that was ready to hear that there would be no treatment today and they would either wait until Friday or next Tuesday.  I think it was mainly because I want to feel good on Christmas and I want my body to have a chance to recover even more.  Maybe it was a self defense thought on my part too, in order to prepare myself.  I don't know. Now that it is over however, I am extremely happy that I received the treatment and I am going to thoroughly enjoy time with my family over this Christmas holiday just like I do every year!! 

I am thankful to celebrate the birth of Christ!

Today was an appointment where I also met with the doctor and discussed my progress.  She is very happy with the progress being made and said that I am doing unusually well for this regimen of treatments as far as the side effects are concerned!  My doctor is wonderful and very encouraging!  Every time we have a treatment, or meet with her, it just reaffirms God's hand in leading us there.

Praise Report!!

A few weeks ago I requested prayer for the assistant to my doctor.  She had discussed with me that she had discovered a lump and was scheduling an ultrasound appointment to investigate it further.  She is also pregnant with twins.  She was not there today but I could not let the appointment go by without finding out how she was doing and what she had found out.  Without overstepping (hopefully!) or being too personal, I asked my nurse navigator if she could at least give me an update on this assistant.  At first she thought I was referring to the assistants pregnancy with twins.  Of course I am interested in that but I inquired further on the lump she had found.  My nurse navigator told me that this assistant had to have a biopsy but that it was NOT cancerous!!!  Hallelujahhhhhh!!  Thank you army of prayer warriors for remembering her in your prayers!  God just continues to show out and I am just amazed at all that He is revealing to me!!  I cannot wait until 3 weeks from now when I should get to see the assistant again!  What happy news and I am thrilled!  I also want to see how those babies are doing!  (BTW....the nurse navigator was really surprised that this assistant had discussed this with me.  She said that this assistant isn't usually that open about her personal business.  If you remember, the assistant's phone rang during my appt and that was when she was trying to schedule her ultrasound for the lump.  Maybe it was a vulnerable moment for her, but I really think that God worked it out so I could offer up prayer for her from me and from my prayer warriors.  We also got to have a little discussion about God and His wonderful power and love!)  

Today, that is exactly what I was able to tell the nurse navigator.   :)

Thank you, Thank you, Thank you for your prayers for her and for me and my family!  You all are amazing and I want you to also see God through this entire process!  

Celebrate the Birth of Jesus this week, but celebrate HIM always and may He receive the Glory!!

God is Good!  All the Time!

Treatment #3 came with a dose of reality.

Today I had the 3rd treatment of a 12 week Phase 2 process of chemo.  Before I started the 12 weeks of Phase 2 my doctor explained the process and the possible side effects.  She also said during the course of my weekly treatments there would probably be a time where my blood counts were too low and I would have to postpone that particular treatment until the counts got higher.  Her exact words (with a sweet caring smile on her face) were "it is very common, do not worry".  
In my mind I basically had 2 thoughts: 
1.  I have done so good with all of my treatments so far that maybe it won't happen...(Positive thinking - which I will continue!)  
2.  If it does happen, it probably won't be until at least treatment 7 or 8, maybe... 

Let me repeat that I did have the 3rd treatment today. 
Hallelujah!!!  But today I got an unexpected dose of reality where I didn't know if I was going to be able to get the treatment.  I heard the treatment nurse on the phone (with my nurse navigator) sharing some of my blood work results.  Heart sunk.  Then she came over and talked to me about it. My hemoglobin was a little low - not too low- but low enough she wanted to check.  Also, my platelet count is supposed to be 100 or higher and mine was 99.  99!  Are you kidding me!  She would not go ahead with the treatment without doctor approval.  We had already been told that we were lucky we weren't seeing the doctor today because they were swamped and running behind on appointments.  I wasn't sure how long it would take to get approval. Thankfully it only took about 20 minutes for the approval to come, but that was a lonnggggggggggg 20 minutes!!  And I will admit that I had a mini-breakdown.  I cried for a few minutes but then remembered that everything was going to be okay!  No matter what the outcome.  If I had the treatment-wonderful.  If I didn't have the treatment then we would reschedule and give my body time to build up those blood counts.  I was going to be thankful either way.  As the saying goes, I am too blessed to be stressed!
My next appointment is scheduled for Monday, December 23rd.  I will prepare myself for the possibility of no treatment from now on. I don't mean in the negative way, I just mean in the realistic way.  I know that God will take care of me and it will all happen in His timing!

Once again I feel like God revealed Himself today in many ways.  One way in particular was the treatment nurse that I had.  The one who called for treatment approval, and then ultimately administered my approved treatment.  She has drawn my blood before but I had never had her as a treatment nurse, until today.  She is what I needed today.  What a blessing she was!!!  All of the nurses are wonderful don't get me wrong, but this nurse was just so loving, empathetic, compassionate, and truly encouraging.  She was so kind when I had my little break down.   She took a lot of time to reassure me how common low blood counts were and she reassured me that it does not automatically mean that next time the counts will be lower than they were today.  She was one of my gifts from God today.  
I am thankful, truly thankful, for this day!  

As I posted on Facebook this morning:  
"This is the day that the Lord has made, 
let us rejoice and be glad in it!"  
Psalm 118:24

God is Good!  All the Time!

Thank you for your love and support!

The Beginning of Phase 2 :)

           Many have asked how the new phase of chemo is going and if I have experienced any new side effects or anything, so I thought I would share with everyone!
           I started phase 2 last Tuesday, December 3rd.  Today (December 10th) I had my 2nd treatment.  I will be going weekly (as long as my blood work counts are good) for a total of 12 treatments. It is a little confusing to explain how the treatments will work weekly but it helps to think of it still in cycles of 3 weeks. The first week of the cycle I will get both kinds of chemo (let me refer to them as 'T' and 'C').  This is the only time of the cycle that I will see the doctor also.  That is what I did last week (December 3rd).  On the second and third week of the cycle I will just get the 'T' kind of chemo.   That is what I did today and will do next week also (Dec 17th).  The week following the 17th I will start the cycle over and get both kinds of chemo and also see my doctor.  (By the way, that is the week of Christmas and I will probably go on Monday since that Tuesday is Christmas Eve!)
          One thing that is different about the actual treatment process is that they give me Benedryl through the IV during the treatment now.  This is because there are possible reactions to the actual infusion of one of the types of chemo ('T') that I get.  I have not had any reactions at either treatment! (Again, God hears the prayers of my Mighty Army of Prayer Warriors!!!  Thank you!!!)  One over-the-counter Benedryl would make me sleepy so imagine a big dose right into the IV.  Needless to say, I have slept through some of my treatment and have "Benedryl Brain"  for most of the evening.  I am hoping it has worn off enough tonight and doesn't show in this blog!!
            So far for phase 2, I really have felt better than during the first phase of treatments!  I am really happy to be able to tell you that!! The main difference that I noticed in the last week was that I wanted to sleep more.  It wasn't so much the low energy, I just slept in later in the morning (2 mornings it was 10am) and then I took an afternoon nap several days. There are nights that I don't sleep well but I can deal with that!  The 2nd and 3rd day after treatment (Thursday/Friday) were my lower energy days but not completely wiped out or anything.  There has still been no nausea sickness!  Thank you Lord!
          Some of the side effects could come gradually after I have had more of the weekly treatments.  For example, there could be changes in my fingernails.  These changes could include the color (they could turn a gray or darker color) or even worst case scenario, they fall off.  That is the worst case scenario and I am not going to dwell on that!  Especially with how well I have done so far!  If I gave every worst case possibility it would freak you out (and me!).  Remember, zero negativity zone here!  Going to stay positive and only deal with what actually does happen!  :)  
          I still get some anti-nausea meds during the chemo treatment but I don't have to take anything at home afterwards.  No more shot either!!  (even though it was very helpful and really wasn't that bad to give to myself).
          I can still pretty much eat whatever sounds good to me.  Some foods still didn't have their 'full' flavor but it isn't as bad as phase 1 of chemo.  During the first phase I would get a steroid through the IV during treatment and then I took some kind of steroid pill for three days after the treatment.  I felt like sometimes that made me hungry more often.  During this phase I still get some kind of steroid in the IV during treatment but nothing through the rest of the week.  I already feel like I see a difference in how often I want to eat.  It is more 'normal' now.  Surprisingly though, my weight has not changed over the course of any treatments.  That is really surprising considering how inactive I have been at times!!
         I already shared this on my Facebook post this morning but I still want to share it again.  (Keep in mind that we drive to St. Louis for my treatments)  Today was the FIRST time that a treatment was scheduled for noon so we didn't have to leave until 930.  My other treatments have ALL been scheduled for around 9:00 in the morning so we would leave around 6:00/6:30am.  Since we got the fresh snow last night, I was very thankful to be able to leave later in the morning and the roads were all clear.  This was no coincidence or good luck or anything.  This was completely God's Hand being revealed once again!  :)
         Thank you all again for praying for me and my family!  God hears your prayers!!  The support has been amazing and very encouraging!  

God is Good!!  All the Time!!
          

Being Thankful Even in Bad Times

If you have time watch this Message on Being Thankful Even in Bad Times.

Rick Warren's Message on Being thankful in bad 

Phase 2 (Treatment 1) Praise Report & Prayer Request (for someone else)

Praise Report

Today I had my first treatment for Phase 2 of chemo.  Everything went wonderful.  God seemed to reveal Himself in many ways today.  I really didn’t know what to expect since this was going to be a new kind of chemo.  When I went to get my blood work done I had a fabulous nurse who just started telling me things about the treatment and she really put my mind at ease.  I didn’t even ask her any questions.  She was just talking to me while doing the blood work.  The nurses usually make small talk but this was different.  Clearly God put her in my path today to start my day off extra good!

There are 2 doctors that I see during my visit.  The oncologist and her assistant.  I love them both!  They are wonderful and so easy to talk to, and they are very patient with me when I have questions.  During the exam today when they were going to measure the size of the mass, the assistant actually said “I don’t even feel anything to measure”!!!  My first thought: Oh yes she did just say that!   The oncologist was a little more conservative saying there was a little “speck” of something but it could from a big vein that runs through there.  Either way, the mass has shrunk more.  I want to do the Hallelujah Happy Happy Happy Dance!!!  Praising the Lord!

Next I had the treatment which also went really well!  They give me Benadryl through the IV for this one because of possible side effects while receiving the chemo.  I did not have any reactions but the Benadryl made me sleepy.   Some of the possible side effects that they informed me of for this chemo include low energy,  joint pain, hair loss (not worried about this one!), and a numbness or tingling in my fingertips.  There are others but these are the most common.

Thank you once again to all of you mighty prayer warriors!

Prayer Request

As I said earlier, God really revealed Himself in many ways today.  While the assistant was examining me, she received a phone call.  She stayed in the room and took the call which sounds unusual but I am glad she did.  She apologized for the interruption but she was also very open with me that she too has a mass in her breast and now has to do further testing with an ultrasound.  (Scheduling an appointment was what the phone call was about.  I completely understand the need to take that call!)  I am very hopeful for her that it is just a mass of tissue and not breast cancer.  I do not know how old she is but she is young and she is pregnant.  Today she told me she is having twins!!  Just imagine what is going through her mind!  Having all of the breast cancer knowledge can be a good thing for her but also a bad thing!  I am sure she has already considered a lot of different scenarios depending on how the ultrasound goes.  Praying so hard that the mass is not cancer.  I told her that I am going to pray for her and I also told her about my huge army of prayer warriors.  I asked her if it was okay to request prayer for her from all of you.  Her response was “of course, please do!” and that led to a little conversation about the power of prayer, God’s power, and His presence!!  What a wonderful conversation it was and I wanted you all to know and to ask that you PLEASE be in prayer for her (and those babies!).  Even though I am going to go to treatments every week, I probably won’t see her until 3 weeks from now.  I am hopeful that I can find out more about her situation sooner though!  I will keep you updated!

Thank you friends!  Your support today was so helpful and encouraging!

Your prayers are being heard and God is revealing Himself in many ways!!

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

Rejoice always; pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus.

God is Good!  All the Time!

Feeling the love and prayers!

Colossians 3:17
And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.

This is long overdue, but I hope to put in to words how much love and support we have received since diagnosis.  I don’t even know if it is possible to explain how blessed we have been and what it has meant to me to have been showered with love from so many.

Prayers

We know there are so many people praying for me and my family.  We are on prayer lists for so many churches that extend not only all throughout Illinois but also to other states as well.  This just blows my mind to think about how many people are supporting us through prayer!  Thank you!  God hears those prayers!  I am convinced that I have done so well through chemo because of your prayers!  I thank God for them daily!  May He bless you immeasurably!

Messages

The messages that I have received have come in many forms.  I have received so many encouraging text messages daily from so many friends.  The texts have been scripture, encouraging words, an encouraging picture/video, or just someone checking up on me for the day.  I have also received a lot of public/private Facebook messages/comments. (Also those who have ‘liked’ my statuses which is a way that shows me support!).  I really want to print out all of the texts and Facebook messages!  If I made a book of them it would be huge!!

Screenshots

This may be something that hardly anyone knows about but now they will!  Since day 1, if I have seen a status on Facebook that I found encouraging to me, I would screenshot it with my phone.  I have also done this with many of my text messages.  There have been so many encouraging messages, and they may have spoken to me perfectly in that moment and I wanted to be able to refer back to them at any given time.  Rather than scrolling through a text conversation (or Facebook) to find the message, I just screenshot it and have it ready to access easily.  I would say I am up to about 200 screenshots of messages.  At least a couple of times a week, usually at bedtime, I go through all of them.  Nothing like just completely filling my head with positive, encouraging words/scripture right before I go to sleep!

Meals

We have received a great deal of support from people bringing us meals!  Thank you friends!  The meals have been delicious and have spoiled us!  There have been Sunday school classes from church who have rotated bringing us meals and there have also been individuals who have brought us meals.  We just cannot thank you enough!

Money

People are generous.  I just cannot get over how generous.  We have had people give us money, gift cards, and gas cards.  Sunday school classes at church have given money for our gas for every treatment.  I am telling you it has been unbelievable.  I just keep thinking about how I know these are not easy economic times and now the holidays are approaching and people are more concerned with our needs.  I am overwhelmed.  I am grateful.  I hope I can give back someday.

The picture

I thought I would show in a picture some of the ways that we have been shown support and encouragement.  Many people have given gifts of encouragement which are very sweet and appreciated. (If I left anything out of the picture, I apologize!  I use so many of the things I have been given so something could be currently in use!)

 You will also see 3 different shirts. These were all done for me and sold in order to raise money to help us with medical bills or other expenses.  Again I am overwhelmed!  Unbelievable!  The shirt on the left is from Woodlawn Grade School where I teach math.  The shirt in the middle is from Stark Total Body.  The shirt on the right is from a group of friends (some of my mighty warriors!).  I just cannot thank each group enough!  I know it takes a lot of work to organize and take care of something like this.  I was amazed at the number of each style of shirt that was sold!  You can also see “Karen’s Krew” bracelets. A group of friends collected the money to purchase 1000 of these to sell.  The money from sales is also to help offset our expenses.  One side says “Karen’s Krew” and the other side says “Judges 6:12”.  The support is just truly appreciated and humbling. 

In the picture there is also a notebook (on the left).  I don’t know if it shows very good but this notebook contains all of the cards that I have received.  I don’t think the picture does justice to just how many cards there are!  That is a 3 inch binder and it is packed!  Can I use the word overwhelming again!  Seriously I do not even know what to say.  People are so kind and they live love.   They (you) have shown so much love to me and my family. 

In the background of the picture you will see a linked chain.  This is a message chain from Woodlawn High School (my former students!).  Each link has a message written by many of my former students.  So sweet and so touching!  Even high school students who did not attend Woodlawn Grade School still sent a message with encouraging words.   That chain is taped to a windowsill so I can see it daily.  I have read through the messages many times!

Needless to say, the Neal family is feeling very loved, very supported, very much prayed for, very blessed, and very thankful!  God has “Shown out” through so many different people and so many different ways!  We are extremely thankful for everything.  

During the first week of finding out about having cancer, my emotions were all over the place.  I cried several times thinking about this being my new reality and how it would affect my family, friends, church, coworkers, students… everyone.  I cried when days went by and I still hadn’t started treatment and didn’t know when treatments would start.   Even though I gave it all to God and felt at peace with Him in control, there were still moments of tears.

Since that point, I have shed many tears but it is different now.  My tears now always come from being touched at someone’s kindness; a card, message, call, whatever it may be.  My emotions can run high but I don’t cry because of the cancer.  I get emotional when I think of how others love us and want to do whatever they can to make things easier for us.

Thank you! 

Two very little words but they are being delivered with a great deal of sincerity, gratitude, love, and prayers.

 Phase 2 of chemo starts tomorrow (Dec 3^rd)

God is Good!  All the time!