Ringing of the bell!

Last week was a tough week and even though there were things to celebrate there were many hard days to get through.  As you know Rob had his final 3 radiation treatments to complete his 33 planned.  There is a tradition at cancer care to ring a bell when you complete radiation.  I was able to be there and get a video of Rob ringing the bell and the technicians clapping and cheering him on.  What a relief to be done the daily visits to cancer care!  Unfortunately that did not mark the end of the side effects, in fact they could continue to get worse before they get better.  This has been very tough on Rob this week.  He is having a hard time eating, is up a number of times through the night, as well as he has a hard time being away from home for any length of time because he needs to clear his throat.  On top of this he also had his last chemo last Tuesday.  The side effects which include fatigue, nausea, upset stomach, no appetite to name a few usually last about 5 days although this time they seem to be lingering longer.  He also experiences something they call "chemo brain".  Basically it is like he has brain fog and he can't make simple decisions.  This is very frustrating for Rob as well as for myself.  I try to make his decisions when I can but that is not always possible.  Each round of chemo he also gets a ringing in his ears for a few days.  This is a result of the chemo attacking the cells and nerves.  This past Sunday Rob had to stay home from church because the noise of many people talking not to mention the music is just too much for him.  Thankfully this only lasts for a few days and by next Sunday the ringing should be gone. 


With treatment being completed we move into this weird time.  Rob is no where close to being ready to go back to work but he will not have as many appointments.  He will still see all of his doctors on a regular basis but we are in this time of recovery and waiting.  They will regularly scan Rob to see if there are any changes and monitor him very closely.  His cancer is not one that now that treatment is done they can do a test to know that it worked.  Instead they hope it got rid of all the cancer cells and they will watch to see if anything grows.  Please continue to pray for us as this time can sometimes be harder just waiting.  We don't want to sit and worry but instead we want to live life to the fullest we can.  As Rob feels better each week we are going to make special time as a family and enjoy the time together. 


Since treatment started so quickly after his second surgery he wasn't able to fully recover from the surgery.  After the first surgery Rob had months to get his tongue and flap moving and he was able to eat pretty well at that point.  The second surgery was like taking 10 steps back and now with treatment over he can work on that.  He will work along side Speech Language Pathology and will be given many exercises to do every day.  Eventually he will also have to have the hair removed from the flap (this was cancelled in September), look at getting teeth and then relearn how to eat and talk with new teeth. 


Our biggest prayer request right now is for complete healing.  No one knows how many days anyone  has but we pray for a full lifetime together and to enjoy watching Isaac grow up.  We trust in a God that heals which allows us to walk forward each day in faith.  We both have our fair share of doubt and fear but we never stop relying on peace, strength and healing from God.  I am not sure how one could get through something as terrible as cancer without God, without faith, and without an army of prayer warriors and support from church, friends and family.  For all these things we are incredibly grateful.  When things seem to hard to bare something as simple as a phone call, an email, a letter, a meal, a gift card, etc. can make things feel better even for a few moments. 
Thank you for each one of you who care for our family.
Love Karen