It’s been over seven months since Curt’s cancer diagnosis, and we are indeed grateful for tomorrow’s Thanksgiving celebration! We're also thankful that lately things have been blessedly uneventful as Curt has been undergoing his monthly rounds of chemotherapy. He is on a schedule of 5 days on, 23 days off (for each 28-day cycle), and has just completed his third cycle this past weekend.
We have a pretty good system down now to get through the chemo days...
● Take an anti-nausea pill in the late afternoon.
● Take another one hour before the nightly chemo pills.
● Above all, always take the chemo on a completely empty stomach!
This regimen has so far prevented a repeat of the gnarly first chemo cycle, which was like a bad flu times 100. Definitely a few nights we would like to forget!
Curt’s been doing well through all of this, I feel. (His oncologist says he’s amazing!) The main obstacles are fatigue and nausea, especially during the week immediately following the chemo. Just the thought of food is enough to make him feel like upchucking (even though he doesn’t). We’re still experimenting with menus for this time of the month…any suggestions from those with experience would be greatly appreciated!
I think the most exciting thing that happened recently was a couple of weeks ago when Curt asked me “do you want to go to the gym this morning?” I almost did cartwheels! Well, not quite... Actually, to give you some history, Curt is the most disciplined guy I know when it comes to exercise. He’s been going to the gym faithfully several times a week for over 40 years. Wild horses couldn't keep him away. But he just hasn’t had the energy to go since he got sick, so this was a major milestone. He’s been exercising several times a week since that morning…it’s hard, but he’s doing it!
He’s also going into work at Hope every day. Although he doesn’t have the stamina to stay all day, you can almost always find him at church from the morning through the early afternoon. He monitors his email and phone calls from home as well.
We don’t know what God has in store for us in the future, but right now we are trusting Him and enjoying the privilege of living every day with a new appreciation for each other, our family and our friends. The chemo is scheduled to continue for at least six months, so we’ll keep you posted…
Have a blessed Thanksgiving!
Patti
