The Waiting Game

P-O-T-A-S-S-I-U-M

As things return to normal, potassium levels remain low. Today Andrew went in for what he hopped would be a quick blood lab and ended up having to stay for several hours. We are very thankful for how much better Andrew is feeling, but look forward to not needing to visit the Lemmon-Holten facility quite so often.

In positive news we can now officially call the “Chemo Depo” the “Hydration Station” (at least until next week Thursday when Andrew’s mom restarts her chemo therapy.)

A Time to Rejoice

There are many things to be excited about.

• As you may have inferred or read in our other updates, Andrew is out of the hospital and eating regular meals.
• We will be getting the keys to our new home on Monday next week.
• We don’t want to get ahead of ourselves, but we picked out a dog and have begun the application process. We hope if she is still available to meet her soon and see how it goes with the cats.
• We have had an abundance of support during the whole process and continue to enjoy all the kind words and blessings.
• Older ladies who commiserate about cancer treatment during surprise waits at the Hydration Station.

Further concerns

• Andrew has been put on blood thinners to continue reducing the clots in his lungs. The process could take 3-6 months and he will likely be on blood thinners for a year, longer if additional treatments are needed. This means keeping track of which drugs he can’t take (like Ibuprofen) and being carful to watch for bleeding.
• We are still waiting to learn more about the spot on Andrew’s lung. We have heard several perspectives from three different oncology doctors. Anyway you think about it, there is still a spot and it has not gotten smaller.
• Andrew will be on oral potassium to see if we can get his levels up. The potassium pills a rather large and Andrew doesn’t like big pills, so hopefully this goes well.
• We are about to be first time home owners and there are lots of things to learn. While we are excited about our new home, we are also starting to feel the responsibility of ownership.

Next Steps

The next steps in our journey involve a lot of waiting. We will have a bit more information after some additional labs and a meeting with the doctor next Tuesday.

Our current upcoming schedule is as follows:

• October 22, 2019 – Labs and Check-in.
• November 20, 2019 – Labs to check cancer marker levels.
• November 21, 2019 – CT Scan to see the final results of this round of chemo.
• December 4, 2019 – Follow up meeting with doctor to review everything and determine if further treatment is needed.
• January 5, 2020 – Celebrate our 1 year anniversary and hopefully be caner free!

A Brief Reflection on Time

With the upcoming move to our new home we have begun to pack our things. One of the tasks that I (Andrew) have taken on is the sorting and packing of our book collection.

Since both Hannah and I had decent sized collections before getting married it has been an interesting reflection of two becoming one. (And also struggling to work our way through the Marie Kondo method.) A concept I will probably reflect on more in the future. Today’s reflection is more about our journey as a whole, however.

Part of the process of packing our books into boxes has been skimming the occasional book to decide if we still want to keep it. One of the books that I skimmed included a brief, but insightful, passage on the concept of how time can be viewed as both a progression through events and a pull toward a final event.

To make this understanding of time more approachable the author used the metaphor of a pregnant mother. The mother and her baby journey together as the baby grows. Sometimes it can feel like it is taking forever, but we know that at the end there will be a birth. An event toward which they are being pulled.

In much the same way that the mother does not know exactly when the baby will be born, we don’t yet know when I will be declared cancer free, but we believe that is where we are being pulled and remain hopeful in the journey.

For those into such things the author ties these two views of time back to a theological view of the eschaton, as an approachable way to understanding the “already and not yet” of the gospel. I really appreciated this metaphorical approach to a concept that for those in or watching the journey can seem so hard to grasp.

Thank You

Thanks you so much for all of the support you have provided. It’s a journey we never would have wanted to take, but we are so glad to know we don’t take it alone.

With any luck there will be fewer updates on this blog going forward, but we will be sure to let you know when our house warming/we survived chemo party will be.