Long Time, No Chat! (WARNING -- long post)

Hi! It's been awhile since I've hopped on my computer and updated what's been going on with the Chois since we finished treatment.

If I could have, I would have boarded a plane THE MOMENT treatment was over. I missed my own bed and house immensely, not to mention that I really hated treatment. We made it home at the end of November, just in time to put up our Christmas decorations and start the recovery process.

So How's It Going Now?

The funny thing about the recovery process is that it seems to always take longer than you expect. We were told that the recovery process would take 3-4 weeks, but it has and continues to take a little longer than expected. I had a couple of days really tough days of fatigue before Christmas and a couple of tough days of fatigue a week or two ago. Basically, Joseph and I are learning that we just need to go with the flow and continue to rest when needed. 

How are things emotionally?

They're OK.

There are all kinds of unfamiliar things to life right now including being newly married (new ways of doing things with someone), new house, trying to decide on new Christmas traditions, it's hard to move around, navigating sickness when (besides the flu) you've never really been sick before in your life!

Things feel weird and strange. Like you're searching for that big bear hug from your dad or for an afternoon of running around town with just your mom. But those things are nowhere to be found. I have felt lonely.

I don't know if you are familiar with "lament", but it seems that this is a season that I am in. I am learning to turn, complain, ask, and trust. While I won't go into detail into what that all entails (let's talk about it!) I'll just tell you that I'm learning that it's ok to go to God and complain about the uncomfortableness of the numbness in my feet. It's ok to complain to God about being lonely and asking where he is when I need him!  "Lament is a prayer in pain that leads to trust" -- Mark Vroegop

Thank you for listening to my sermon. 

How am I doing physically?

My feet, legs, and sometimes my pelvis,  (depends on how much I had been on my feet that day) are still numb. Sometimes the extent of numbness varies, but there is still a "tapping" or electric pulse that happens in my legs. My neurologist said that this is good because that means my nerves are still trying to communicate! So, I will continue to take my nerve medication.

I am still riding that radiation sickness wave. I will have days of extreme fatigue, but I also feel like I have some days that aren't too bad. It's weird, because I think the "wave" also affects my taste so some things will taste weird some days.

My hair has been growing strangely since coming home from treatment. A small patch started to grow right away about a third of the way back on top of my head and has turned into this nice and soft strip. Jospeh refers to it as "my headphones". If you really want to see it, just ask and we can laugh about it together! 

BIG NEWS

Well, Joseph and I went to a doctor’s appointment this past Monday. Because of some complications with all of this C business, I had to go into the ER last week Wednesday, resulting in us moving up our follow up appointment from February to this past Monday.

Let me tell you: God is so good to us.

God has blessed us with the best doctors! Dr. Chung is my unofficial official radiation oncologist. He graciously has agreed, in fact really wants to, "follow my case" because according to him, he really likes Joseph and I! Why is he our unofficial official radiation oncologist? Well, basically, since he didn't treat us or plan our radiation treatment (He works at Swedish), It's not typical for a doctor to follow a patient that he never treated.

So what's the plan? Well, nothing. Dr. Chung informed us that there can be no more radiation treatment for now due to the amount of radiation they've already given me and chemotherapy will not touch my cancer. The only thing that Dr. Chung can do is "surveillance". 

So are the tumors gone?

Not exactly...Joseph and I got to see images from July and images from the most recent MRIs and the tumors are significantly SMALLER! One of the side by side images showed a tumor that you could hardly see! Praise the Great Physician! Not only that, but the radiation will continue to work for 2-4 more months! We are also hoping that the nerves in my feet and legs with heal (slooowwwly) as the tumors continue to die!

What Now?

We continue to pray. There have been so many thoughts running through my mind about the future and what God has for Joseph and I. We live our best lives, present our requests to God and continue to give a sacrifice of praise!

Prayer requests:

- God's continued healing both for the tumors to shrink and for the feeling to come back in my body.  

- praise for a great report!