In the Midst of the Battle - Peace

Early in the morning...it's a go.  I'm ready for surgery, I think.

What's this gonna be like?

Well...here she comes with the needle.......

Yikes!!

  Not really, not so bad after all.  I wasn't as dehydrated as I was last time I was in here
 (after drinking all that stuff to cleanse my co.... well, you know).

 Expecting a big bumble bee sting with several attempts, it was more like one small mosquito bite.

But still.... I'm a little nervous. 

Lord, would you throw me down some more courage?

Loving how He answers prayer! 

 Dr. Moody is an awesome doctor and also a praying man.  Taking hold of Joe's hand and mine, he prayed for us...for the surgery to go well, for his hands to be guided, for the other doctors and technicians participating and for peace.

Completely covered in prayer, his, ours and yours, the surgery went off without a hitch.

The port site...just under my left collar bone...gross, huh? 

 Actually by port sites go, it was real pretty.  No bruising or oozing or any of that nasty stuff here!

 The nurses at Dr. Manfredi's office were very impressed, actually. 

 I was also, but not surprised :)

Covered with my lavender butterfly blanket, ( a beautiful prayer shawl made for me by a sweet anonymous woman)

 I receive my first Chemo treatment. 

 Pumped full with anti-nausea medicine, they administer what looked like a clear toiletpaper roll full of purple 'Dippity Do' hair gel.  Hmmmm....at least it was purple (my favorite color) 

Mitomycin is the name of this 'big gun'.  It's a nasty drug that causes cells to stop making DNA, which causes cell death.  That's good! All the cancer cells will die....alas, also the good ones. 

 But, they will bounce back.....

 eventually.

Next came 5-FU, injected into the port via a portable pump that administers the medication s-l-o-w-l-y over the course of four days. 

Yeah... It's attached to me 24/7 around my waist in a 'fanny bag' of sorts. 

 How appropriate. 

A unit of 5-FU is like a grenade. When the grenade strikes its target (the cancer cell), it explodes and shrapnel goes flying. The grenade already did its damage; the target may or may not be dead. so I need the other stuff as well.

Not to bore you with so many details...zzzzzzzz.  But, it's kinda cool.

I feel great, not even like I've spent the whole day being assaulted in a battle.

Thank you dear people. We're feeling your prayers.  We're locked and loaded. We've got the anti-nausea drugs, the Imodium AD, the bottles of Gatorade, the makings of the 'brat' diet, just-in-case incontinent products, anti-inflammatory cremes, etc., etc., etc.

But most importantly, we have the Lord and His peaceful presence

You will keep him in perfect peace,
      Whose mind is stayed on You,
      Because he trusts in You.

Isaiah 26:3 NKJ