Wow what a week! I have been dreading this week since we started this process! The "long weeks" in which I go Monday through Friday really take a toll on my whole family! My parents drive me four of the five days and tammie is able to drive me on Fridays. My mother-in-law picks up and keeps Bray until Tammie is able to get of work. I get the fun part of getting four hours of chemo daily. Needless to say it is a very trying affair! This week they changed my medications a little and I have to admit that minus Thursday till today this cycle was actually better. I was bed stricken all week during my first cycle but this cycle I have actually been able to sit at the table and eat. The first cycle all I did was sleep!
I got some difinite positive news this week from dr. Einhorn! This cancer is measured two ways with your blood and with a CT scan. The Blood markers that are used are AFP and HCG! When I started my AFP was 23 and my HCG was 107. They checked my markers this week and my AFP was 4 with anything less then five being normal. My HCG had dropped to 14! Dr. E said this was a great drop and things were progressing nicely. He said that after this next cycle my HCG should be zero!! He also told me that I probably won't be needing the Rplnd surgery. That was the greatest words I hard heard during this whole process. Now we won't obviously know for sure until the ct scan. However when we started this journey it was 100 percent I had to have it. Pray is a powerful thing
So as my medical state has taken a definite curve for the better my emotional state has definitely taken a hit this week. The start of school had a huge impact on me this week. It's crazy! If you would have offered me an extra week off of school last year I would have said yes and ran out the door. But this is different....I don't have an option. I just can't be there. I have never called what I do a job. It is my passion! I love seeing my students become engaged the history of our country. I care deeply for every student that has ever stepped into my room and I hope they have not only learned about us history.....but life as well. It had been so uplifting to receive the many emails from former students. It truly helps me keep moving forward.
I had to listen to the game Friday from the radio. I felt like shooter in Hoosiers when he is listening to the finals in the hospital! There were a few screams and a couple of fists pumps! It just wasn't the same. Early when Madison got a couple of runs I wanted to get in my car and drive down to the field. But I knew that wasn't possible! After the scrimmage my phone blew up from the guys and they were excited about how they had played. I could tell that they were playing with a,it of emotion. We have a bunch of really great kids that I hope the community will be proud of. This group has been through so much in the last two years and they have never backed down. They have continued to come to practice to play against teams that were just physically dominate and yet they never backed down. They came to practice everyday. They showed up at the games and gave it all they had even though all that had just simply wasn't enough. This team has really worked hard this off season and I feel we are ready to compete. I know it isn't easy to come out and cheer on teams that lose but I hope that when Fridays this fall come around you take into consideration what all these guys have Been though. Their determination has helped me when this stuff seems to get the best o f me. That is the lesson I want my son to learn. Anyone can enjoy excellence but it takes someone special to overcome years of adversity and come out ahead! I hope all you can make it Friday! I know I will!
