Hey all!  First of all, this is being written by Kate, not sure why the first one said that it was authored by Craig, but regardless, this is me:-) 

Chemo Round 2 was an absolute ass kicker!  I got three treatments in a row, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday and then get two weeks off.  Honestly, I felt decent after each infusion, maybe a little tired but by Sunday, I felt slightly toxic to say the least.  Monday started off strong, I even thought I could get away with working:-) but despite my best efforts, I lost that battle pretty hard. I spent Monday barfing and sleeping and am pretty sure that I actually barfed up a chunk of cancer, which seems like a win and woke up Tuesday with an arsenal of new meds thanks to Nurse Alice.  Tuesday is a good day!  If things go like they did last Chemo round, I will continue to feel better and get stronger and prepare for the next round.  So while I won't claim the war, just yet, I'll claim the battle on Chemo Round 2.

I have been constantly amazed by the goodness of people right now, beyond touching, tearful, heart filled, genuine, deep deep goodness of people.  People that I wouldn't imagine even have a thought about me in their daily lives taking the time out to provide comfort, a meal, a gift, a call, a text, a card, donate, pray, come visit me, take me to chemo, shave my dog, you name it.  Its been a view into the very good underbelly of humanity of the people in my life, and by underbelly, I mean like the underbelly of a dog.  Rolled over, soft, yielding, playful, blissful and so very very good.  Honestly, think about it, can you think of anything better than petting the belly of a happy dog?  Anyway, I digress...its an incredible blessing to be able to experience that goodness in the way I have lately, like  a dog, just roll over on my back and smile, and relish a good ol' fashioned belly rub.  So thanks for the belly-rubs, they really do make a girl feel good!

As far as future treatment, I am not quite sure what that holds as of yet.  At first I was all fine with "yea, yea" let's get treatment started and we can sort the details later.  However, now that I think I have a realistic idea of what Chemo is like (pretty fucking shitty), a countdown would seem really helpful in terms of the mental commitment to go into each round, gloves up.  Thankfully Craig, is a fantastic health coordinator and he is going put that on the radar with our medical team.  When the countdown begins, you can bet, you'll hear from me about it:-) 

I guess the last thing on my mind is my favorite Bible verse right now.  I have been praying it on the daily and find that it really helps keep my mind strong.  Second Corinthians 10:3-5 "For though we live in the world, we do not wage war as the world does.  The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world.  On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up agains the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought and make it obedient to Christ."  Father, I pray that you demolish the stronghold of cancer in my body and take captive any thought otherwise and make it obedient to You. In Jesus beautiful name, Amen.