Thank you for my birthday blessings and encouragement

Thank you to all of you who sent me your birthday blessings and encouragement yesterday. I was extremely touched by the love and kindness that you showered on me. You all are such a blessing to me. with much love, Leslyn

2/3 Through with Chemo!

With my last Taxol treatment last Thursday, I hit the 2/3 point in my chemo therapy! I have 8 treatments down and 4 to go (8 more weeks). They cut my last Taxol treatment down by 25% for which I am very grateful because I have had pretty severe bone pain since that treatment. I can only imagine what it would be like if I had had a full dose!

My fingers are still numb and I find I drop things a lot, but the burning and itching seems to be getting better so I am grateful for that.

My red blood cells continue to be low, basically causing me to be anemic and really tired, but the great news is that my liver and pancreas levels have come up to normal. So we are making progress. Please keep praying, your prayers are prevailing!

The final bit of good news is that my physical therapist is really pleased with my progress. I have regained almost all of the range of motion in my left arm. I will continue with the stretches and exercises she gave me over the next few months and then go back to see her after I have recovered from radiation therapy. Radiation effects the cells, skin and muscle, so I may need some more physical therapy later, but for now I am moving well. Again, thank you for your faithful prayers for me, I know my progress is a direct result of God's gracious intervention.

Infection Is All Cleared Up!

Thank you so much for praying re: the infection. I can't remember when an infection has cleared up so quickly and easily. I even had a bonus, I didn't realize until about three days into the antibiotic that I had a sinus infection too until it started draining and cleared right up from the antibiotics. So I got a "two-fer"-- two fer the price of one!

The toxicity levels in my body are getting high

I found out today that my body is getting pretty toxic from the Taxol treatments. For the past 5 days the tips of my fingers and thumbs have been numb and have stayed that way. Before, the numbness would come and go, so this is a significant change. Peripheral neuropathy (numbness in the hands and feet) is one of the side effects of Taxol.

Please pray that the numbness goes away because sometimes it can be permanent. I continue to have itching and burning sensations that come and go in my hands and feet as well. Imagine the worst possible case of poison oak under the skin of your hands and feet and you can imagine what it feels like. It is very intense. It lasts anywhere from 30 minutes to most of the day. I have also developed a bladder infection. Kathleen put me on antibiotics today to try and clear it up. I am so grateful she did because it has gotten worse as the day has gone on, so hopefully I will feel better in a couple of days. Please pray for the healing of this infection, I don't respond real well to antibiotics so I really need God's supernatural intervention and healing.

Because of the numbness, infection, anemia and overall not-doing-real-well, they have decided to reduce the amount of Taxol they are going to give me on Thursday. It is a delicate balance they try to find between attacking cancer cells that might be lurking in my body and not overloading my system with too many toxins. They said that the amount they are reducing it by will not diminish the overall effectiveness of my treatment, which is good news! I really do need your prayer for healing, grace, strength and a supernatural ability for my body to process the toxins from the chemo.

My next chemo treatment is Thursday at 9:30AM. It is my last 5 hour Taxol treatment. The next chemo drug I will be taking has a shorter infusion time, so I am grateful for that. I will tell you more about that drug later...

I like my radiation oncologist a lot

Thanks so much for praying for my appointment with the radiation oncologist, it went really well and went a long way to making me feel better about the whole thing. They have come a long way in the last few years with radiation treatment, there are not as many severe side effects as there used to be, which was, I think, the source of some of my fear. She is a great doctor and I feel very confident that she is the right doctor for me. Ron and I had a great conversation with her about the true meaning of Christmas, she brought it up when she found out we had been missionaries and are pastors. God is amazing. She is a beautiful and brilliant Iranian woman, please pray that she finds Jesus, the true meaning of Christmas that she is seeking.

I will be having 6 weeks of radiation. I will go daily, Monday through Friday, with the weekends off. It looks like we will begin treatment in early March. We still have to firm up the dates. I will meet with her again at the end of my chemo treatment to start all of the preliminary appointments that I will need to have before the treatment begins. I guess there are some tests and a bunch of measurements that they have to do before they actually start the radiation treatments. My next appointment is not until February, so I have some time yet.

One big relief is that they don't have to radiate under my arm. They are just going to radiate my chest wall muscles and lymph nodes and the lymph nodes in my neck. I will give more details about how to pray for all of that as we get closer, in the mean time, I am just going to enjoy the fact that it is still two months away.

Seeing the Radiation Oncologist Today

I have an appointment with the Radiation Oncologist today at 3:00pm. I don't really know what to expect, though I think we are deciding on how long radiation will take and they will hopefully give me an overview of what will be happening with this process. I think one of the biggest issues we will decide is whether or not to radiate my left under arm. I know they are going to radiate my chest wall and neck. The lymph nodes under my arm are a big deal because I don't have many left and apparently it can negatively impact my left arm and hand. I will know more, I am sure, by this afternoon.

I don't expect to actually begin radiation until March, but I understand that there are a number of things they need to do before they begin, so hence the appointment now. Please pray for wisdom as we go to this appointment. I must admit that radiation scares me a bit, but I am trusting in God's presence, wisdom and goodness in this even as He has been faithful to me until now.

Chemo #7 down

Just got home from chemo # 7. I am feeling pretty drained and tired so am writing to you from bed. I bet I will sleep great tonight though!!

The next week, as my body processes the chemo, neulasta and herceptin, will be very challenging with the bone/muscle pain and I would so appreciate your prayer.

I thought I would include a picture of my bald head. I was thinking that if there is a storm this Christmas, Santa could use my glowing white head to guide his way and give Rudolph the night off!!

I pray God's peace guards your heart and mind this Christmas season and that your eyes are set unwaveringly on our beautiful Savior, Jesus, who came to set us free and give us life abundantly and filled with His love.