An Anchor in Glory

Good Evening,

We are praising and thanking God today! He has answered our prayers and shown himself strong on our behalf for His glory! Mama’s white count went from 2.0 three days ago to 3.4 today! Her neutrophil count (a specific kind of white blood cell that is particularly affected by chemotherapy) needs to be at 1,200 to receive chemotherapy. On Monday it was 680 (0.68) and today it was 1530 (1.53)! Lots of confusing numbers but such joyous news to us. :o) At our appointment three days ago, our NP suggested Mom should stomp up and down stairs right before the blood test to give her counts a boost. Neutrophils are produced in our bone marrow so apparently “pounding” your bones stimulates neutrophil production. So Daddy dropped Mom and me off ten minutes early this morning and we alternated between the two flights of stairs in “the lobby”, running up and down much to the amusement I’m sure of observers. I loved the look of triumph and humor on the NP’s face when we told her we did it. “See, it’s an old nurse’s trick!” Nurse’s trick or not, stair steps are not enough to increase her white count that much, according to the NP. We are so thankful for all of your prayers.

In Mom’s words, the chemotherapy treatment itself went 100% better this time; the nausea was much more manageable… only a little bit after the first two chemo drugs. We had peppermint candy, root beer barrels, ginger oil and ginger ale to help abate the nausea, and popsicles instead of ice chips for cryotherapy during the chemotherapy, all of which I’m sure helped her get through her treatment. We are thankful to all of you who have gone before and know “what works”. :-) We read through almost the entire book of Esther during chemo; didn’t quite finish it. Mama likes that story; God working through circumstances for His glory...

As you may know, this is the fourth and final chemo cycle for the first round of chemotherapy in Mama’s treatment schedule. Round 1 of her chemotherapy is the most difficult one to endure due to the side effects. Thankfully, her tumor has been very responsive so far. Round 2 will begin in just over three weeks on October 25th. This is when she will begin receiving Herceptin in combination with Paclitaxel. Herceptin, which has only been available for about 10 years, is probably better characterized as immunotherapy, and is a monoclonal antibody which has been very successful in treating HER2-positive cancers (the type of cancer Mom has). Paclitaxel is another chemo drug that she has not yet received. We have been told (and are hoping) that these two drugs used together have a much less adverse affect on the body. She will receive this every week for twelve weeks, and then surgery and radiation will follow. There is much to pray about, but also much to be thankful for!

So now, if you would, pray specifically that the nausea drugs would work well, that the nausea tonight and tomorrow especially would be minimal or better yet gone! Please pray that God would give us wisdom to know which medications to take, balancing drowsiness and nausea. Pray for us to know as much as is possible for us to comprehend, what God’s goodness is and to be grateful to Him for it.

Thanking God for you all,

The Lenz’s