Hey again everyone,
Just thought I'd check in with another update. Things are moving along and looking good for our upcoming move to the Tulsa area. Mike and I went back up to Tulsa this past weekend and thankfully, after looking at quite a few rental houses we found one that we liked in the suburb of Broken Arrow where our daughter, and son-in-law, and grandbaby live. We applied for it and found out we were approved yesterday. This is a big relief. I also have my first appointment scheduled with my new oncologist up there about a week after we move in. 

Speaking of things looking good...this is a random thought, and I can't remember if I have shared this before, but I find it kind of humorous how people are so focused on externals, especially when one is going through cancer. I include myself in this observation because I have been doing my darndest to NOT look like I'm going through cancer. It's amazing what a difference a good eyebrow pencil and a cute wig make. I call getting ready in the morning my "Daily Art Project." Anyways, when I'm out and about and see people I know, after asking how I'm doing they will almost always say, "Well you LOOK great!" ...even if I share that things have gotten harder. It strikes me as kind of funny because a person can be dead in their coffin and we STILL comment on how good they look. Maybe a good epitaph for my eventual headstone could be, "At least she looked great..." Some of y'all may not find this very funny. I guess I've developed a wonky sense of humor on this journey. You gotta find stuff to laugh about!

Today I am sitting here in an infusion recliner at Texas Oncology New Braunfels getting Enhertu dose #2. I had shared in the last post how crummy I felt a few days after the first one a few weeks ago. Thankfully, I finally got to feeling better and have mainly been dealing with just shortness of breath and still have the sensation that things feel different in my chest. I did have to get a second thoracentesis a couple of weeks ago and got to watch the collection bottle fill up with almost another 1.5 liters of clear golden fluid from the pleural effusion around my right lung. We are hoping the Enhertu therapy is helping and that it will also help diminish the pleural effusion problem.  I will get another CT scan next week on Friday to see if we can tell any improvement from the new treatment. I'll keep you all posted.

The morning of the day Mike and I got up to look at rental houses the verse of the day in my Bible app was Exodus 33:14 "And [God] said, "My presence shall go with you, and I will give you rest." It was so encouraging and comforting to me. When I look up the word "Presence" in the Merriam-Webster online dictionary these definitions stand out to me: 

- "The part of space within one's immediate vicinity." Whose immediate vicinity would I want to be in more than my Heavenly Father, Champion, and Comforter?

- "The neighborhood of one of superior especially royal rank." Who could be more superior or royal than God Himself? And what a better neighborhood could there be than that?

- "The bearing, carriage, or air of a person, especially stately or distinguished bearing." Whose "air" would I want to breathe into my lungs more than the Spirit of God?

I am so grateful for God's presence and faithfulness in my life and, like Moses in that Exodus passage, I don't want to go anywhere, or go through anything challenging, without Him. 

Attached are some more pictures. Enjoy! Thank you all for your continued prayers and encouragement. I consider myself a wealthy gal because of the friends and family God has given me. 

PS - One of the photos is of a fancy night out with my sister Janna, niece Maddie, and daughter Megan. My sister was one of several women featured in the She Is Tulsa magazine that just came out. If you would like to read her write up the link is below. You'll have to flip through several of the pages (and use your fingers to zoom in) to read hers which is titled "Pause in the Shade" where she shares a bit of her journey on getting a profylactic bilateral mastectomy with reconstruction because of our family history with breast cancer (our mom and then me). Her doctor had told her that because of our family history she had a 1 in 3 chance of also going through breast cancer. Ladies, don't skip your mammograms!   Click here for the latest issue of the She Is Tulsa magazine