Flowers in the Frozen Tundra

So, thanks for the prayers, thoughts, and well-wishes! I was able to recover enough two Thursdays ago to get chemo on Friday, so that was a real blessing for sure. The thing with blood counts is that there is no way to tell if they are going to be up or down, so when I walked in Friday, and my doctor said, "What did you do last night?" I couldn't tell if he meant that question in a good or bad way. (He meant it in a good way...because my white counts went up to 3.5 from 0.9). 

What was my secret? Well, I'm going to admit that a diet of strawberry smoothies, blackstrap molasses, and 3 hours on the couch watching International House Hunters, along with lots of prayers went a long way.

I also got some lovely flowers this week that you can see here from what looks like a veritable garden in my living room. My aunt and uncle from Pennsylvania sent the tulips hoping they would remind me of spring....which we will need this week, because we may hit record low temperatures + a snowstorm any day now. My book club and some of Hans's co-workers also sent some flowers, and my friends from work loaded us up with meals, so we are feeling lots of love. Thank you, everyone!

After last week, there have been a few other developments in terms of my care. For one, because my white counts dropped too low one week, I've had start going in every day for a shot to keep them up. It's kind of a pain because I have to drive 30 minutes, wait to get the shot, and then drive back home. Every. Day. Even on weekends. The good news is that my white counts won't drop, but it doesn't help with my red blood counts, which were too low this past Thursday and meant that I had to get another blood transfusion. As a result of all of this, I made the tough decision to go part time at work for the rest of my chemo treatments. It was all getting to be too much!

Thankfully, I feel really supported in every way - at home, at work, and at the cancer center. Now, if only the weather would cooperate....

Love and light,
Jennifer