Enzymes Are Down! All Systems ‘GO’….

Yo Prayer Team, Victory!! You did it again! As my friend Jane says, “Prayed those enzyme numbers right down into the basement!” We got the word today on the blood tests that the enzymes are down and so the door is wide open to begin chemo treatments whenever all details/schedules/clinical paperwork is in place at Johns Hopkins.

And chemo it is, because we also got the report that the liver biopsy showed that the cells are indeed cancer. The fancy name is “adenocarcinoma.”

Johns Hopkins has continued being amazingly action-oriented all day today working, working, working now that the diagnosis has been confirmed. It appears 95% sure that I will get up to Baltimore for my first Chemo Treatment right away this Thursday…day after tomorrow! And I WILL be in the clinical trial. Yay!!

But boy oh boy you can pray for Frank on Thursday…it is going to be a looooooong day. Apparently after the chemo (which takes only 35 minutes by IV), then we stay around for 11 hours (yikes!) so that they can do periodic blood draws to see how the chemo is metabolizing. (btw, they put in a port so that they just go into that same port for the blood draws throughout the day and into the evening. Then we go home that night and come back again on Friday for round 2 on the blood draws, but only for two hours. Then it’s WeekEnd! Wahoo! (Actually I am happy to be parked at Johns Hopkins after my first few chemo treatments…if I have questions, or some weird reaction, I would rather be close to Johns Hopkins rather than an hour away in Georgetown or 2 hours away on the Eastern Shore.)

As I understand it at this point, chemo will be once a week. -- I believe every Thursday; I’ll keep you posted on that. And the Thursday/Friday blood draws are only for the first month, I think. After that, we will settle into a schedule where we just go up there once a week for the chemo, then come home, return the next week, etc. So with the drive, I figure about ½ day, once a week – that’s not bad. Not much word on the side affects of the chemo and the clinical drug--everyone is different. I’m counting on Friday night dancing! …”what?” you say? “You never went dancing on Friday nights before!” Oh well….this is the new me!

So, the journey continues and, wow, I am glad that you are walking with me on this. I feel your arms linked in mine and cannot, as much as I try over and over, articulate how very much I appreciate your kind words, encouragement, and most of all your Prayers. Mark Vanderput prayed this verse on Sunday before they left…every single line is a promise.

Zephaniah 3:17
The LORD your God is with you,
He is mighty to save.
He will take great delight in you,
he will quiet you with his love,
he will rejoice over you with singing.

And again, my wonderful friends…you must believe me…I am not sad, upset, worried, stressed, anxious, (fill in the word), …I continue to have great, great Peace, am resting in God’s promises, and continually uplifted by YOU. Thank you.

Love and BIG hugs!!

Carol