Breaks

Breaks. We all need them, yet we rarely are given one, nor do we take them very often. But over the past few weeks, our family has been given the gift of a break.

If you’ll recall, February started out roaring for Mama. Symptoms were figured out and treated, and life rebounded, but she was still very tired from the harsh treatments and feeling down for two months. When I laid out the planned course of treatment in my last update a few weeks ago I didn’t realize that we were about to experience a well-timed intervention, so now our plan has changed.

Mom’s oncologist is a fellow member of my church (I actually taught her son in Sunday School last year). During a casual conversation in the children’s area at our church, she heard what I wasn’t hearing and said that it sounded like Mom needed a break. I would have never asked for a break, and I really hated that she was having “work talk” at church, but I was so thankful that she cares for her patients enough to give of herself like this. She told me to text the Nurse Practitioner at the clinic (who I happened to have gone to nursing school with and adored back then – and really adore right now) to get Mom set up on the new plan.

What’s the new plan? To start, we took a week off from chemo. We had finished the first round of chemo (Adriamycin/Cytoxan), and were ready to start the next one (new drug – Taxol). Instead, Mom was given a week to simply feel good. We also changed the schedule for her Taxol. Instead of bi-weekly, higher-dose treatments, she will receive weekly, lower-dose treatments. This schedule will extend the number of chemo weeks, but hopefully those weeks will be easier on her body. Also, because of the lower dose, she will not have to stay overnight with me to have her Neulasta shot the day after her chemo treatment. Her surgery will be delayed by a few weeks, but no one seems daunted by this at all.

On Wednesday, Mom had her first infusion of Taxol and went home. Her appetite really is back, and we ate with her “chauffeur” at Local 463 prior to treatment (this alone tells me how much better she is still feeling). The infusions went very smoothly – nothing to report. The only side-track of the day was that she had a hankering for macaroni & cheese from The Manship, so we had to pick some up before they headed back to Eupora.

Mama has done remarkably well tolerating the Taxol so far. I’ve said before, there’s no way to know how she’ll react one treatment to the next, but knowing to appreciate what is in front of us is truly a gift.

Just a few moments ago, I was reviewing Bible Drill verses with my son. He didn’t realize that God was using this ordinary activity to speak to his mom. So I’ll close with the familiar verse that stirred my soul tonight:

Give thanks in everything, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.
I Thessalonians 5:18 HCSB

Love to you all,
Devin