Check out the details for the party and RSVP - (upper right corner of page)

Just a quick note to draw your attention to the new information on the Celebration party Oct 23rd. Took me a while, but details are out. "RSVP" isn't anything official but helpful so if you could make a guess, that would be great. Thanks!
Everything else is moving along slowly but surely. Some of my kidney labs are still out of range so we'll recheck those tomorrow but otherwise things seem to be ok.

Do I want to forget?

I've been home for 10 days, am almost unpacked, and have returned to work. I had a nice weekend – hanging out with friends, enjoying the sunshine, sharing a meal with the folks, and standing up for those who can't speak for themselves at Life Chain. It's amazing how easy it is to settle back into our routines. Omaha is starting to seem a bit surreal, (even though my lack of stamina and the remaining side effects serve as daily reminders of the battle). Even during the 100 days, it was hard to wrap my mind around the reality of what I had been through and what was to come. Is this clouding of reality God's mercy, or just the human mind's tendency to block out unpleasant memories? (or maybe the chemo really did turn my brain to mush.)
God has definitely given me the strength to take 1 day at a time, not dwell on the past or worry about the future, but I don't want to forget what I've been through. If I'm going to endure it, I want to gain something from the experience; I want to be a better person for it; I want others to benefit from it. If I want to profit from adversity, I must remember the trials and the lessons learned from them. (hopefully without physical reminders) – not push forward, frantically trying to regain "normalcy" without regard for the last 8 months. If I start to lose focus, forget all the lessons learned or lose sight of what's truly important, I hope that you'll hold me accountable. God wouldn't let me fight cancer and go through a transplant if He didn't have a way to make it all glorifying. From time to time, I may need to be reminded of that!
“In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith – of greater worth than gold – may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory, and honor when Christ is revealed.” ~ I Peter 1: 6-7

Day 4 of being at home!!!

It's now been 4 days since getting home (and 4 days since updating - sorry :), and it still doesn't seem real. My weekend was pretty good - I wish I had the energy to do all the things I want to do, but I guess that will come with time if I'm patient. Headache and neck pain seems to be less frequent than before so that's a good thing. I went to work today and it was sooooo nice to be back! It took most of the day just to dig out from under the stack of mail and delete emails. Had my labs redrawn and they looked pretty good. Electrolytes are still a little off, but hopefully Dr Vose will give it the 'ok".

Day 100 !!!!!

Not exactly as I had envisioned Day 100, but the end result was a great one - labs pretty normal, no osteoporosis, no lung damage, nothing anatomically wrong with my neck, and NO CANCER!!!!! They couldn't come up with a reason for my funky electrolytes or why I'm having such bad neck pain and headaches, but it's so nice to know that it's not related to the HSTL or GVH. And they removed my PICC line - I don't know what to do without tubes hanging from my arm :) AND, Dr Vose gave me her blessing to return home!!!
God is soooo good and so faithful. He has been with me every day - good and bad, when I had words to pray and when I didn't, when I was thankful and when I just couldn't look past the obstacles before me. And if the results today wouldn't have been what we've been praying for, He would have carried me through that as well. This journey is far from over as I continue to struggle to regain strength and stay healthy, but I feel like we're moving on to a new chapter. I look forward to seeing what God has in store and how He'll continue to be glorified.
"But you O Lord are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness." ~Psalm 86:15

Day 99 - not like I pictured it

Day 99 doesn't look like I imagined it would. My labs didn't improve after receiving the fluids yesterday so they had me go back to the hospital this afternoon for 2 more bags of IVF. I really don't think dehydration is the problem - it would be corrected by now. The plan for tomorrow is to continue with the plan as scheduled and get the PET and CT scans. If there's something ominous or anatomically wrong, it should show up. They didn't mention repeating labs tomorrow, but I'm presuming they'll add them. I should get the results of all my tests tomorrow afternoon when I meet with Dr Vose. (and hopefully more information about a plan for my out-of-range labs) I'll send an update in the evening when I get home.
As a silver lining to Day 99, I didn't have a headache or neckpain for the first time in weeks!
"The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; He will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged." ~Deuteronomy 31:8

Day 98

Well, the first day of testing is over and all went pretty well (bone marrow biopsies still hurt just a bit), but the moral of the story is that if you're sick over the weekend, you'd better drink a ton before getting labs drawn Monday morning. My labs were a little skewed so I had to get IV fluids (which made a long day, longer) and go back tomorrow to recheck labs. In order to do the CT on Wednesday, labs need to have corrected themselves and I need to be healthy. I pray that dehydration is all that's going on.
"I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus." ~Philippians 3:14

Day 97

The only thing more up and down than the way I feel is Omaha weather. 60's on Thurs, 80's Fri, 60's all weekend, 87 tomorrow. Crazy. Glad I haven't packed up my sweats. Last night was another sleepless sick night - out of the blue and without rhyme or reason that I can figure out. Slept through the first half of the Chiefs game (which is a sign of how I felt) but I started feeling a little better in time to watch them lock down the win. Tonight I seem to be rebounding so I pray that a good night's sleep will finish the deal. Tomorrow will be a long day at the hospital for the first round of tests. Will try to send an update with how that goes.