Hospital Naps

I always ask my dad what time we are going to leave the hospital. Today he guessed one pm. Instead it was five pm when we walked out of the hospital. I must say that I am exhausted right now after being in the hospital for around six hours. But, I also received some great news today. First of all I had a MRI (brain scan), which showed that my brain cancer has not changed since my last MRI on October 5th. This is very wonderful news as I have been having headaches recently, which can be an indication of a growing brain tumor. I am very happy that that is not the case! Additionally, during the long waiting hours in the hospital, which included a rest time for me, I also found out that my blood cells, except for my hemoglobin, are improving in strength. This means that most likely I will be going back to the hospital again on December fifth for another weeklong chemo treatment that I had almost a month ago. This is both good news and not so great news as I don’t like spending time in the hospital receiving treatments of any sort. So, other than continued health I need prayers for more strength as I am going through the chemotherapy treatment that wipes me out and makes me rather tired. That is the latest news that I have.

Love,
Nathan

Stronger Blood

I don’t have a lot to say on this blog, but I thought it would be good to tell you that I found out on Friday that my white blood cells are normal again. It feels good to be able to be at home for a while again before going back to the hospital. Additionally, the blood test on Friday showed that my platelets and hemoglobin were rising saving me from another blood transfusion. On Monday I will find out when I will be going back. Here in Washington, it was warm enough to go for a walk so my mom and I enjoyed the nice weather.

Thanks for your prayers,
Nathan

White Blood

I am home again, and it is a nice change from being in the hospital for almost a week again. I was in the hospital because of having fevers and a low white blood cell count. I also had a few other blood problems as the chemo hits the whole body with a lot of power. My white blood cells were less than a 1,000, which is still low, but the doctors still let me leave the hospital and it feels great. I still need to avoid people who are sick. I will be going to the hospital Friday. The doctors want to test my blood counts to see how I am doing out of the hospital. Thanks for all of your prayers. I am excited to be at home for Thanksgiving and I hope that you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving as well.

Love,
Nathan

Getting Out

I want to get out of the hospital as soon as possible. But, in order for that to happen I need more white blood cells. I currently have .2 and need to start getting closer to 1,000 white blood cells to go home. So, I would appreciate your prayers to speed up my white blood cells in my blood.

Nathan

Back to the Hospital

I am once again back in the hospital. And it is quite a bit sooner and longer than I would like. I found out today than I had a fever by dad checking my temperature about every hour and that it continued to increase. Then at 5:00 pm my temperature was up to 100.8 degrees which while receiving chemotherapy means that my white blood cells are going down. So, I had to come back up to the hospital for IV antibiotics to protect my body from any infections that I might receive while having no white blood cell protection. This also means that today was a hard day for me since I could not take Tylenol to relieve my pain. Additionally, a prayer concern is that my white blood cells and other injured important body parts continue to recover and grow as quickly as possible. And that I won’t get a life threatening infection.

Nathan

Back Home

As I recall my expectations for going back to the hospital for more chemotherapy, I remember feeling very discomforted because of my last chemotherapy experiences. And, while I am still discouraged to ever have to receive chemotherapy, my last week of chemotherapy was not near as bad as I was expecting. And yet, I don’t quite know how to express how easy the treatments this time were. I received my normal anti-nausea medicines and all the other precautionary drugs like during my last treatment, but something was different this time. Part of the difference probably came from receiving different chemotherapies, but I also have a strong faith that God played a significant if not very major role in how I felt. Ultimately, I have to put God’s healing touch as the reason for my feelings of less fatigue and nausea during this chemotherapy treatment. And that is where I stop for today; by simply saying that our God is incredible!

Nathan

Health

Today is Monday the 7th, which means that I unfortunately am headed back to the hospital for a week of more chemotherapy. I simply want to use this blog as a way to share a couple of prayer concerns. First of all, I would like you to pray for me to have as much strength as possible since the chemotherapy will wipe away my physical strength. I would also appreciate it if you would pray for safety for the rest of my body, as the chemotherapy tends to be destructive on everything that wants to grow. I also need strength mentally as the chemo not only affects my physical body but my mental processes as well. When it comes down to the bottom, ultimately I need God to heal me. The chemotherapy has its role, but God is the ultimate source of health that I need.

Love,
Nathan

More Chemotherapy

Frustrated and yet relieved is how I am feeling right now, and all for the same reason. I had my meeting today with my cancer doctors and found out that I will be staring my chemotherapy this coming Monday, the 7th of November. The frustrating part is I know a lot about how I will physically be feeling and the relieving part is that I want to be done with all the treatments as soon as possible. The combination makes it a hard date to be happy with. I will be starting the chemotherapy with Ifosfamide which is a chemo strong enough to penetrate through my brain blood barrier. That is strong stuff! I will receive this for three to five days in a row and then have some time to recover before receiving more chemotherapy that will require me to stay in the hospital for around a month. Prayer is also important during this time as there are a number of risks involved with receiving Ifosfomide. I would appreciate it if you could pray for me to have emotional energy, protected health and that my blood rejuvenates quickly. As I start chemotherapy again, I will really appreciate all of your prayers.

Additionally, right now is the physically best that I have felt in right around one year. It feels great to be able to enjoy how I am feeling.

Love,
Nathan