Thank you for the update Sheryl. Praying and believing with you for a miracle! Let me know if I can come help you and Dave in any way. I’m not a nurse but I could maybe learn to suction. Love you both tons!!!
Praise God for the financial help you have received! That's wonderful! When I started my cancer treatment about 18 months ago, I was concerned about paying all the medical bills, but one individual pulled me aside and handed me 6 $100 bills. A few weeks later he handed me another 10 $100 bills. He is a Catholic Christian from another country. The Ironwood Cancer Center in Glendale Arizona, where I received radiation and chemotherapy let me work on payments also. I thank God that even though some of these people do not know Jesus as their saviour, they were STILL made in God's image and as such, to some degree reflect that Godly concern from their maker.
I follow your posts very carefully, partially because I know the Gehrls family from Bethany Church and also because it has been almost 2 years since I became aware that the sore throat that wouldn't go away was more serious than a few antibiotics could handle. It's been almost 14 months since my last chemo session. I still experience "brain fog" otherwise called "chemo brain" but it's getting better. I have read that it can affect the brain for a few years. Now and then I get "bone ache" in my thighs, hips and upper arms and It feels like the ache I would get a few days after my chemo treatments. They will probably (I hope!) eventually go away though.
The physical trauma also affects the psyche. That's no fun either! I've never been the panicky type, but I have had some periods of real anxiety. I'm not ashamed to take lorazapam for those occasional times. I trust in Jesus and listen to the doctors. Periods of weeping? Yeah, I've had them. I'm a big guy (like Dave) and it's uncomfortable for me to weep, but it is what it is and I don't care if anyone disapproves of it.
I had lymphoma of the throat and tongue, which apparently is a lot less aggressive than the cancer you are dealing with. I don't see an early demise (I just turned 70) on the horizon for me but IT DOES ENTER MY THOUGHTS EVERY DAY. I don't dwell on it ....too much.
Weakness in the legs? That's natural from being confined to a large degree, to bed rest. I was shocked at the loss of muscle mass in my legs after 3 weeks in a hospital bed. My doctor told me they put a group of athletic guys in their twenties in hospital beds for 2 weeks and they lost 25% of their muscle mass. It's greater yet for those of us a little older. I remember coming home from the hospital after those three weeks (2004) and not having the leg strength to climb the stairs. I have good upperbody strength though and pulled myself up the stairs that way. Wonderful friends took me for walks, making sure to slip an arm through mine to keep me steady. Bit by bit, strength started to come back in the legs.
I know I've taken up too much space here, but I feel a kinship with y'all and can't help but write too much.
God bless you and keep you!