Home from Treatment 7!!!!!!!

Hey guys,


We made a really short trip this week and are done with treatment 7. YAY!!!!!!! Josh and I headed down Thursday afternoon, had blood work this morning and then chemo this afternoon. We left Houston around 4:30 and got home around 10:30. The blood lab was down and it took what seemed like forever to get my lab results back. We were nervous that they had dropped but guess what?!?! ANC was 3.3, baby!!!! We were so excited. The people in the treatment waiting area were staring at me, but I didn't care as I raised my hands, praised the Lord, and hugged and kissed my man...whew, we were relieved! So, I got chemo and everything went well. God is SO SO good.


Josh has been giving me my neupogen shots and it has been pretty entertaining to say the least. In case you didn't know, Josh is a people watcher. I am more of a bull in a china cabinet, while Josh is particular and pays attention to details- me, not so much! I do it more now because of my profession, but I am typically not that way. I am working on it though:) So, we talked about who would give me my shots, and we decided that Josh would. He had watched my nurses do it several times and I felt completely confident in letting him do it. He did a great job and he makes it fun, of course. So, needless to say, when my blood work came back high, you can guess whose ego rose, and he wasn't afraid to show it!!! Of course, it had to do with my shot administrator:) I LOVE him!!!


The drives are getting LONG! It really isn't that bad, but I think making the trip in 2 days made it seem that way. Thank goodness, we received DVD TV show series to entertain us while driving. Not only did it keep us awake, but it made us laugh. Thank you Emily and Sam Jones for our Psych season (almost done!!) Next week, we are hoping that Pilots for Patients will be able to take us to Houston, but we will see! They have such an amazing organization and we are looking forward to meeting them.


I had one of my best weeks last week, as I had little to no body aches and very few side effects- it was great!!! The new side effect I am facing is not being able to be comfortable, temperature-wise. I am hot, then cold, hot, then cold, and the pattern continues. It is frustrating trying to sleep, sit in a car, and sleep, so I am hoping and praying this will subside soon. Once again, such little side effects compared to the normal, but figured I would tell you guys as much as I could. 


As you guys continue to pray for my healing and for God's will to be done through all of this, please continue to pray for my fertility. We are praying and believing Psalm 128, and over the last week or so, this has been on my mind a lot. 


As Christmas is a week away, I have thought much about Christ and the gift of Himself and how I want this Christmas to be different. God has chosen me, among all the other 24 year olds in the world to face this, right now, at this time in my life. I have thanked Him for choosing me as He has entrusted me to be the vessel I need to be to accomplish His perfect and divine will. I want to praise Him this Christmas. I want to be still in His presence and honor Him and be in awe of Him. I commit that this Christmas will be different and every Christmas hereafter. 


My prayer for every reader of this is that you make this Christmas different. I pray that we all get on our knees and praise and thank God for who He is and what He has done in our lives. I pray that if you find yourself far from God, that you humble yourself and seek Him with your whole heart. God is wanting to do a work through me, and it may be to reach you. So, if you are reading this, please, I beg you, and I know God is waiting on you--- come to Him. Seek Him. Repent. Please do your part on accomplishing a part of what God wants to accomplish through me. Join me in making this Christmas different. Thank God for your good health, your family, and friends, coworkers, boss, etc... Thank Him for the things that aren't going well in your life, as he is longing for you to cling to Him and seek Him so that he can do something amazing in and through you.


"We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance. And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation. And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love." Romans 5:3-5 


Join me in rejoicing when trials come...


"Each time he said, "My grace is all you need. My power works best in weakness." So now I am glad to boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ can work through me." 2 Corin. 12:9


I am living proof of this verse...physically and spiritually. I have felt weak so rarely. I am so thankful that God promises me that His power and strength works best when I am weak. This is why when people say how well I am doing, I have to say it is not me!! God's strength is being made perfect. He is gets all the honor and praise.


I have the most amazing husband, the most supportive and loving family, and the absolute best friends in the entire world. Ironically, I feel the most blessed I ever have this Christmas. God loves me so much that He chose me to show His power and His love as he continues to heal my body according to His will. May we thank and praise God for all he has done this Christmas. As we struggle and go through trials, I pray we never forget all the things God has done for us---this verse has CARRIED me..please, cling to it.


Psalms 103:1-5 "Praise Yahweh, O my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name. Praise Yahweh, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion, who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's."


Let us not forget his benefits!! One of my favorite worship songs is "Desert Song" by Brooke Fraser. My favorite line in the song is "All of my life, in every season, you are still God, and I have a reason to sing. I have a reason to worship." This is SO true of my life. I look back on every part of it. Every tragedy, heartbreak, crisis, sadness and God has been with me and taken care of me in EVERY season. I love my Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.


Ok, it is 2:15 in the morning and I am preaching a sermon!!!!! I promise I don't start writing intending to do that...ha:) I couldn't sleep and figured I would update you all. I better get to bed...LOVE YOU ALL!! Thank you for loving us!!!


Oh, I almost forgot, I will be debuting "Raquel" tomorrow, otherwise known as my wig:) The hair is just simply getting too thin. Even though the wig is a wig, it looks so much better than my current hair, so why not break it out. Hope you all like Raquel:) Pictures to come soon. Here is one from my 7th treatment!