Month: May 2016

Val successfully started chemo treatment on Friday and it  went very well.  Because we had a delay in getting the chemo cycle started, the schedule of oncology nurses got a little messed up.  This is the main nurse who will administer chemo and help keep track of us through this process.

Arriving on Friday morning we got a chance to learn the whole process of how a chemo treatment goes.  First there is the labs to check blood counts, then we get moved over to the “infusion room” where we get a chance to get comfy and settled.  Each chemo treatment takes about 4 hours from start to finish.

We get settled in on Friday and our oncology nurse comes up and introduces herself as Tara.  Since this is the first time we met, the first question was if she would be the nurse who was going to be with us through the entire 5 month process.  She answered yes which then started a whole new line of questions….

Whenever I am a little nervous I can get “chatty”, which sometimes gets on Val’s nerves 🙂  Anyway, I go into full blown chatty mode and start peppering her with one question after another.  Tara (and Val) handled me pretty good :).

As we talked I recognized her last name but couldn’t place from where.  We started talking about mutual people or places we may know but were unsuccessful in nailing the connection to her last name.

Tara left for a little while as Val’s first drug started to run and I started to look through my contact list for that last name.  It took me about 3 seconds, and I figured out we had an engineering intern working for us by that name a few years back.

As she comes up to check on us I casually ask, “is your husband’s name David”?  She pauses with a stunned look on her face and answers yes!  That started a whole new line of conversation and she did awesome with us!

As I sat there on Friday, I texted my boss (who is visiting Disney with his grand kids) that I had a cool “small world” story to share with him when he gets back.  In an even more ironic twist, he texts back, “Funny.  I’m in line at the Small World ride right now”!!

The biggest thing about all this is that Val is very comfortable with Tara and is very happy she will be following us and be part of the team.  As a husband, that is such a reassurance.  As we drove home, Val looks over at me and says “maybe that is why we were delayed in getting started”.  Pretty cool to see how the Lord orders our steps!

Over the last few days Val had been feeling pretty good.  She has had enough strength to go out and buy planters for the porch and get ice cream to celebrate Memorial day.  She has had a few bouts of icky stomach and being tired, but overall she has handled the last three days really well.

We now get into a groove of labs every Friday to check blood counts and then a chemo treatment every other Friday for this first phase.

Once again, it is hard to express the gratitude for all the prayers, love and support being shown us.  It is great to see the body of Christ working so well.  We have been blessed with meals, cards and notes of encouragement at just the right time.  Kinda of like starting this chemo journey at “just the right time”.

Marc

 

 

 

 

 

For those of you familiar with the last update where we walked through “Holding at T minus 50 seconds”, as of today the countdown to chemo has resumed!  The drains were removed this morning!  (Ah Houston, looks like the starboard and port extraction tubes are all clear, you are ready to resume the countdown to launch.)

So….now Val has a few days to heal up (she still has holes in her sides 🙂 ) and if nothing too “exciting” develops and the drain sites heal we should be good to go for chemo this coming Friday morning.

It has been tough being in a holding pattern, especially knowing that what comes next isn’t necessarily going to be very fun.  (It’s not like waiting for Christmas day that’s for sure!) But we are ready to go and get on to the next steps in the healing process.

Besides wondering how Val will feel on the chemo, we are preparing ourselves for her hair to come out.  Overall our kids have been doing great, my guess is that when Mom’s hair starts to leave that will be a deeper challenge.  I know that will be tough for me.

Thank you again for all your prayers!  We continue to be amazed at the support received and the ways the Lord has been providing.  We covet your prayers for our family.

Ok so I (Marc) grew up during the heady years of the Space Shuttle program and remember watching the launches as they count down from like 10 minutes to launch.  Each system doing a go/no-go check.  Ok so I am little bit of a geek. 🙂

Anyway, we have gone through a bunch of go/no-go checks on all systems and the only system that continues to report “not ready” for chemo are those darn drains.  (Ah, Houston, we are going to suspend launch while we check output on the starboard and port extrication tubes).  We have experienced another “hold status” and not going to be able to start chemo this week like we had hoped.

Holding is tough when you want to get on the journey, even a difficult one.  There is value in the holding though.  God held his people Israel for 40 years before they could enter the Promised Land.  He used that time to mold them and teach them He was the one and only God of the universe.  That He could be depended upon and that they needed to rely on only Him.  I can not begin to imagine how hard it was for them to wait for 40 years.  Our prayer is that the Lord uses this holding in our lives for His glory as well.

Thank you again for your many notes of encouragement, phone calls and visits.  We are extremely grateful that we are not alone in this “hold status”.

Marc

 

 

Well everyone, Valerie’s drains were not able to come out this week as they are still producing too much fluid.  They are starting to slow down and the doc thinks there is a good shot for them to come out next week.  With that update, we are all scheduled to begin chemo next Friday, May 20th pending the drains are able to be out by then.  We have a 10:45am appointment on that day and chemo will probably take about 3 or so hours.

As a reminder, chemo will be given in two phases: Phase 1 will be two months long and she will get a treatment every other week.  Phase 2 will be three months long and she will get a treatment every week.

Yesterday we had a “nurse educator” session where we went through all the in’s and out’s of the chemo treatment plan.  Went through the side effects, the things we need to be careful about and also had a tour of the “infusion room” where she will have the chemo session.

Overall it was again a little overwhelming but Valerie and I handled it pretty good.  One thing that is for sure, we are going to become very germ conscious in the Gordon household!  Valerie’s immune system will be compromised about 60% because of the chemo and it will be harder for her to fight off everyday crud.  Looks like we are going to be laying into a large stock of hand sanitizer!

Overall we are doing pretty good while we wait for these next steps.  It has been hard knowing that we are going to be facing some pretty icky times with Valerie’s hair falling out and generally not feeling good but overall we are ready to get started.  Thank you again for your support of our family.  We will keep you posted on how things progress next week.

Marc

 

 

 

 

Patience….Anyone who knows me (Marc) knows that has been an ongoing struggle my entire life.  As unbelievable as it may seem, I have exhibited some pretty impatient tendencies in my life 🙂 … just ask my Dad!

Well today we got a chance to exercise the “patience muscle” once again.  Val continues to do great healing from surgery.  We were on track to start chemo on Friday of this week pending we “passed” all the various requirements from the medical appointments this week.

One of those requirements is that Val’s drains need to slow down output enough so they can be pulled.  Today was the day to check in on that “slowing down” process and unfortunately they still have too much output to be pulled.  The next window for checking drain output is next week Monday which means we are not starting chemo treatment this Friday liked we wanted.

Due to how the chemo cycles are planned, the next possible start date is Friday May 13th pending the drains are out.  The project manager in me is wanting to put a giant chart together to start mapping out duration and completion dates for each task to see if this whole “get Val healed project” is on schedule …. but I digress.

The great thing is the Lord (who is the best project manager) knows the plan and in His time we will move to the next steps.

So with that being said, we continue to really focus on each day as a gift from God and enjoying that day.  Val has been pleasantly surprised with a shower of head coverings to use when her hair starts to fall out.  One constant realization is that there are many, many people holding us up in prayer and also showering us with love and acts of service.  We are very blessed!

Marc