First week

Today marks a week since Carlene's first chemo treatment. We don't know why, but it seems to both of us that the clock has been running at a snail's pace this past week. Carlene has been up and down the last few days. She feels "pressure" in her head, but not a headache. Tylenol has helped with that. Nausea has been minimal, but she is struggling with her desire to eat. Carlene's taste for food changes from meal to meal. She hasn't had any bone pain at all from the Neulasta injection, which we are very thankful for. She went to a group meeting at the cancer center on Tuesday night hosted by her nurse-navigator, Sharon. This week a physical therapist spoke about the importance of exercise as a part of cancer treatment. Carlene told me that she is the only person in the group who makes exercise a priority. She has gone for a walk every day since her first treatment, including the day of the infusion. We think staying as active as possible has helped her get through this first week so well. She is now coming up on the period of time in the 21 day cycle when she will probably experience a drop in her white blood cell count. Please pray that Carlene will be protected from any infection that might set her back in her treatment cycle, and that she can keep up with her exercise. To get the best results, she needs to keep her white cell count up, and stay on the 21 day cycle for the six treatments. She has labs today to measure how she is doing.
We are trying to fix our hearts and minds on positive things. The Apostle Paul wrote the book of Philippians while he was imprisoned. He exhorts us, in Philippians 4:8, to think about whatever is True, Honorable, Just, Pure, Lovely, Gracious, Excellent, or Worthy of Praise. That's what we are tying to do. We hope you will as well.
Thank you for all of your prayers, phone calls, and cards. God Bless.