I was up at 4:45 this morning to be in Kansas City by 6:45 to start this new targeted drug trial. Today is a 12+ hour day as I won't be leaving until 7:30 this evening. Not every day will be this long. Mondays are around 6 hours and Thursdays will be 8-12 hours long. The infusion went well aside from getting hives twice. They had to slow down the infusion mitigate the reaction to the drug which has put us behind schedule today. Hopefully the hives will not continue, but it will be a slower infusion for the next several treatments.

I have been looking into ways to go back to work for the last several months and one of my concerns was making enough money to make it worth losing my disability income. I had thought I wouldn't be able to work part-time and keep my disability, but this is not so! I can work as much as I want for the next 9 months without losing anything, and if I go off it, I have 5 years in which I can get back on it if I need to without reapplying. This is great news as it allows me to go ahead and apply to substitute teach this next year as much as I am able to without losing income. I was really looking forward to going back to work as it would provide me more structure, normalcy, purpose, and social interaction in my weekly routine. This is incredibly helpful for my mental health as being at home with not much to do feels monotonous and depressing. I am praising God that though my initial aspirations of teaching almost full-time are not quite possible yet, He has provided other opportunities to work and to do so at whatever pace I feel able to keep up with. Thank you, Jesus, for an answered prayer! 

I talked to the nurse coordinator this morning and though the trial has only been going on for a year, many patients have reached either stable disease (it's not progressing) or partial remission. I am excited to hear this news as I really didn't feel like I could continue on the new chemo long-term because of the harsh side effects it was having on my body. Getting in this trial has allowed me to go off chemo as I was praying for. The good news is the the chemo was being effective. After only two treatments, my tumor markers decreased significantly. I had started having increased abdominal pain today and  have had unexplained pain in my right shoulder for the last several days. The shoulder pain was pretty significant and moved around to different areas of my shoulder. Right now, I feel good and have no pain. Praise God that today has gone really well! I slept about 3 hours from the Benadryl they gave me but I'm up now and feeling good for the first time in while! I am thanking God for His goodness and mercy! I am still praying for complete healing, but for now, I am grateful to be doing well. Thank you for your prayers!

A little excerpt from a book I am reading on miracles today: "The Syrophoenician woman would not give up petitioning until Jesus granted her petition (Mark 7:26-30); Jesus refers to to her persistent and self-humbling as faith (Matt. 15:28). Jesus lets her overcome his objection and make her case, as God welcomed Abraham, Moses, and a bold widow to persist in intercession (Gen. 18:23-32; Exod. 32:11-14; 34:9; Luke 18:1-8). Sometimes the answer 'no' is an invitation to persevere, to show faith, until the answer becomes 'yes.' Standing firm in stubborn faith, continuing to call on Jesus's name rather than simply giving up without a fight, is biblical."

from Miracles Today, by Craig S. Keener