Tuesday night wrapped up Brady’s ninth cycle of chemotherapy. It proved to be different than all the rest, in lots of ways, and we are thankful to see it over with for the month!
There was SO MUCH LEAD UP to this cycle! With covid spreading through the house, we lived in some decent fear that Brady would catch it. Many of you have read along, and you know we couldn’t get any kind of straight answer from anyone about whether or not covid would mess up our plans for chemo. In the midst of that mess, we learned that Bradys white blood cell count is incredibly low. A pretty minimal amount of effort concluded that his count was likely down because his body was fighting harder than usual. Which lined up pretty appropriately with fighting to stay covid-free. When the day of chemo came, and Brady had his chemo review appointment with his oncologist, they seemed to think everything was totally fine, and onward we went! We only got covid results halfway through the chemo cycle, but regardless, they were negative! Wouldn’t have mattered anyway! Whew!!
I imagine, due to fighting illness and having a low white blood cell count, Brady was much more tired this particular time around. He was significantly less stable on his legs, and he wore out really fast when he would do his regular workouts. I would say it was his most challenging cycle of chemotherapy thus far, yet in the grand scheme, we are SO fortunate with how easily Brady tolerates the treatments. Thank you Lord, for keeping this huge challenge more gentle than we could have ever imagined.
I have to catch myself. I am SO eager for it to be over, and I don’t want to wish time away. But goodness. Guys, there are only THREE treatments left! As soon as we rounded the halfway point, I started to feel gleeful. While I don’t want to pretend I’m unhappy when I’m actually happy, I want to keep calm and to be able to roll with the punches. The punches being roadblocks, like Brady’s white blood cell count getting lower and needing to delay chemo. I need to be ready for those things. But I am still hopeful 💜
February is a BIG month. If you think of us and want to know how to carry us in prayer, please pray for this upcoming month. Most of our kids are still home, and they’ll likely go back just in time for February break – a whole week off. That will be an upside-down time, I assume. Also, this month holds our anniversary. Rowan’s birthday. Another chemo cycle. And the icing on the cake – the anniversary of Brady’s surgery. My whole body shivers with dread even as I type about it here. What a life altering time. And its SO soon.
So. Many. Deep. Breaths.
Thank you God for bringing us through chemo cycle #9, and every day before and since then 💜 We trust you, Lord.