Well, friends, we have news. It won’t be all too shocking, as we knew what was coming in Brady’s treatment. But suddenly its RIGHT around the corner.
Brady’s first round of chemotherapy starts today.
Barf.
For those who would like details, Brady is taking Temozolomide. Also called Temodar, it is a common chemotherapy treatment used in the treatment of many brain tumours. Brady’s particular tumour ONLY grows in the brain or spinal cord, but aaaaalmost NEVER in the spinal cord. Its “better” but its lesser known. This chemo treatment is the most logical bet, and it is also considered to be a mild chemo. It will go in 28 day cycles. In his case, Brady will take these four pills (to get the dosage just right) before bed for five days consecutively. He already has nausea medication on hand and more on file. Once days 1-5 are done, he has no pills or treatment from days 6-28. Right at the end of the cycle, he will go for bloodwork and make sure things are going smoothly in terms of white blood cells, and then onto the next cycle. He will do anywhere from six to twelve cycles. It just depends on how it goes. We don’t know. So we’re just starting.
He will NOT be at the hospital for his treatments. He will NOT have a port. He will NOT be restricted in many ways that many other cancer sufferers are. We have no idea how sick he will or won’t get, but we are hoping to waste as much of these chemo months at the lake, where time doesn’t matter, we have no expectations or deadlines, and we can be restful. God protect us.
I share this with you in an effort to ask for your continued support, prayers, and care. Uncertainty is mentally, emotionally, and physically exhausting, and we have a LOT of it. Conveniently, we’re told chemo is also exhausting in all the same ways. So we’re entering this next stage of our lives uncertain, apprehensive, and relying FULLY on God.
To be clear, I do NOT share this because I want to hear any negative stories. Encouragement is welcome, but please don’t shower us with the stories of bad outcomes. Trust me, we’ve done our research and are not going into this blindly. We are aware of the risks. We are also aware of the risks of not doing chemo, so we’ve prayerfully chosen this route and are trusting God to protect Brady.
Excuse us as we take the weekend away with our family, and navigate these first few days. We have no idea what they hold. But God does, thankfully. So we plod on.