Another round

Today marks the start of Reese's third chemotherapy round. The last one. Yay. To be honest, I'm having a hard time mustering up as much excitement as I anticipated I'd have. Although we have had a good week, Reese definitely hasn't bounced back as well as he did the previous time. As we'd been warned (but were somehow hoping we could escape), the drugs are gradually working away at his body's reserves, as well as the cancer. The monotony of feeling "better, yet not that great" is wearing thin. It's only Monday and already he said, "I really do not want to go in today". Giving him a hug and telling him that cancer stinks, it's not fair, and he's very brave are the most I can do about that. Off he went with his iPod and lunchbag for another day in the infusion room.

Would you pray along with us about some specific things? His red blood cell count was quite low last week. If that's still problematic today, they may address it by giving him a medication called Procrit. In layman's terms, Procrit is to red blood cells as Neulasta is to white cells. It stimulates the bone marrow and, as you can guess, can cause more bone pain. If you're reading this morning, please pray that his RBC counts have rebounded and there won't be a need for the Procrit. If he does need it, we're hoping that the pain will be manageable.

Another issue that we've been praying about is our anxiety as the end of treatment nears. Soon, Reese will be having tests to confirm that the chemotherapy has worked. In all likelihood, the drugs have already done their job and the cancer is gone. The therapy he is receiving is the gold standard for good risk testicular cancer metastases. However, there is always a very slim chance that more treatment would be needed. Please pray for peace of mind and endurance as Reese finishes out this last cycle.

We're so thankful that we have a God who can give us peace beyond our circumstances. He sees the path ahead of us, even when we can't.

*Edited to add* RBC's are holding steady and they will keep a watch on them. There was no need for Procrit today. In other unexpected developments (you know how Reese likes to be exceptional), he has some signs that could be suggestive of toxicity from the Bleomycin (a slight cough and skin rash on his hands). Just to be cautious, Dr. Minow has ordered another lung function test to make sure that all is well before administering the Bleomycin part of the chemotherapy. Please pray that the test results show that everything is fine with Reese's lungs and that he can continue on with the planned schedule of chemotherapy. We'll have updates on the results some time after Wednesday. Thanks for the prayers!