Thank You!

Things have seemed to go a little smoother since getting my port. For those of you who were wondering, I have finally taken off the bandages and looked at it! It wasn’t anything like what I was expecting (I thought it would be a big plastic thing with holes in it poking out of my skin). It just looks like a bump under my skin with a scratch underneath. I can’t believe that I kept it bandaged up for nearly 3 weeks. My oncology nurse thought I was crazy!

As of Friday, I’m half way through my chemotherapy. The only caveat is that if I get very ill then my oncologist will stop the chemo treatments. Apparently, there is not a lot of evidence that there is a significant difference between having chemo for 3 vs. 6 months. However, 6 months is standard protocol, so that’s what we’re planning for. The standard used to be a year – so in comparison, 6 months doesn’t sound so bad.

Many people have made comments to me that they can’t believe how quickly the time is passing, but let’s just say that it has been far from fast for me and that it seems like forever before I’ll be done. But, I’m getting better every day and closer to being done with this difficult chapter in my life.

While the challenges of cancer continue to try me every day, the one that thing that still amazes me is the tremendous outpouring of support I, and my family, have received from you. The meals, lovely notes of encouragement, rides to my appointments, and visits with my family…I could go on because the kindness you have poured on me has no end. You all are truly walking with us every step of the way and it is hard to put into words how much that means to us.

Many of you know how meticulous I am about sending ‘thank you’ notes and you have probably noticed that not one has made it in the mail in the last couple of months. I hope that you will all excuse me during this time and know that I have not forgotten my manners – I have just put them on hold for a little while. While my exhaustion leaves me little time and energy to juggle work and home, please know that the lack of a personal note does not mean your time and generosity has gone unappreciated.

We are, and will be, forever grateful for everything that people have done to help us through this extremely stress-filled time in our lives.