Last Monday, we had another follow-up with Dr. S. We love Dr. S and are so happy to be back with him. He reviewed the bone and organ scans which were recently taken in Dayton, and thankfully he didn’t see anything that alarmed him any more than usual. Bone lesions are still there asa well as small traces in the liver but nothing too bad. That’s a big relief for us as we were prepared for potentially worse news considering the huge growth in the tumor last month. And the breast tumor has shrunk to a very small size due to the radiation. For a few weeks following her last radiation treatment, the left breast looked like it had a massive sunburn. Over time, the skin peeled just like a burn and now it looks completely normal again.

Her lymph node nodules have also gone completely away, and that is further evidence that this new chemo is working nicely. So, she’ll continue to get Eribulin. This round, she seemed to be more fatigued than previous chemo types. It hits her for a few days after each infusion and seems to last a bit longer. Her naps are lengthy and more frequent. Overall though, she’s not experiencing extreme fatigue. If she didn’t get a nap at all, she’d be tired but would get along okay. Also, her hair is beginning to fall out again. So far it is just thinning, but it has thinned a lot so we’ll see how long the new do lasts. Hopefully, it lasts for a long time because her short red hair is phenomenally sexy!

Speaking of phenomenally sexy, we were able to visit Brian White and his congregation at Rossville United Methodist Church in Indiana this past Sunday. They are a great group of people, and we enjoy visiting when we can.

I’m leaving for a couple of weeks for AF work, but we have a bunch of help lined up for her next week and late into the week after that. This weekend, some very good friends who we met when stationed in WA are coming to visit and help out for a few days when Lori gets her next infusion on Monday. They have a truly wonderful marriage and family (a plethora of kids who are similar ages to our kids) and they really want to help. They recently moved to Louisville which thrilled us because they are now close enough to easily visit like this! We’ve also been blessed with really great neighbors. There are two women who live across the street next door to each other. They are both at/near retirement age, and they have volunteered help. Today, Lori and I went shopping and errand running while one of them watched all the kids. That was huge, and she’s available almost any time!

Lastly, I just want to say that it’s weird how Lori and I now casually have conversations about her (our) mortality just like we’re talking about a grocery list or a similarly mundane topic. Well come to think of it, I’d say the grocery list conversations incite more passion at this point. jk. It’s also a blessing to me that she can talk candidly about morbid topics like planning a funeral for one’s self or discussing potentially harsh medical news completely out of her control. Many months ago she said that she felt like God would heal her, and I love when she talks like that. Even if the worst is to happen though, she’s still at peace with everything, and her view is that God will absolutely heal her either in this life or the next. While it’s nice that we can have those conversations, I’d encourage everyone to have those types of talks before something bad happens in your life. We had done that before but hadn’t filled in all of the details, and it’s rough to have to do it now when it’s really real.

Lastly Lastly, Lori is beginning to work with a mentor on beginning some serious writing. In February, she’ll meet with him to discuss the details, and this is a big deal! She really wants to tell her story, and I love that it will be preserved forever in this way. Her mentor is a friend of our families, and is working some very big writing projects with some big names out there. For him to approach Lori and encourage her to write was awesome! I think it will be great, and we think God is in this too.