Celebrate

Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep.
Romans 12:15 ESV

This week, this first full week of 2019, has brought our family much cause for celebration. On Monday, following 3 back to back doctor appointments, we celebrated my youngest's 17th birthday. He is such a joy to my family and all who know him. He's not one for big parties so we had a quiet evening with just our little family and his best friend. He requested no cake so I "made" him a tower of donuts instead. 😂
On Tuesday, I got the wonderful news that my tumor marker (CA 15-3) count dropped significantly in the last month. It's almost half what it was the beginning of December. (On the chart pictured, there's a missing peak that put me over 150 but you get the idea.) We can officially say that my current treatment is working!
AND THEN...
On Wednesday, I saw my naturopath to go over my lab results and to weed through my supplements to be sure I'm taking what my body actually needs. He was a bit perplexed when he sat down with me and kept flipping the pages looking confused. When I asked him if everything was okay, he said he thought he had the wrong patient's file. He expected different results considering all I've been through the past couple years but said I've had a "remarkable recovery" from chemo and that across the board my results were "textbook optimal" with only one slight exception (inflammation is up). He wanted to know who'd been advising me and was surprised to find it was from my own research, prayerful consideration, and listening to my body. I've been instructed to continue doing what I'm doing because it's clearly working!

Prayer request: On Monday, I'll start radiation to my right hip and pubic bone to hopefully alleviate the persistent pain there. Please pray for that to be successful and minimal tissue damage. Also, my belly has been upset all week. I'm not sure if it's a bug or something else but I'd really like to have that resolved before Monday. Last of all, please pray for my oldest son who is having to make some tough decisions right now and that we might support him appropriately through these adult-size trials.

And the blessings continue...

Winter Blessings:
#4 Nathan and his birthday donut tower (pictured)
#5 My CA 15-3 tumor marker progress chart (pictured) showing a hefty drop.