another month down 8 more to go

On Tuesday, Sarah had her monthly clinic visit to receive IV chemo in her port. Her blood counts were good, and overall she is doing remarkable well considering all the chemo she has endured over the past year and a half. I know that it is by God blessing her so please keep her in your prayers.

When the doctor was visiting Sarah in the clinic, I was able to talk more about "what's next" for us. Throughout this journey, the doctors have been really good at keeping us focused on today and not allowing us to think too far in advance. Now that we are only 8 months away from the end of Sarah's treatment, they are giving us more information. Below are some of the highlights.

- If she does not miss any chemo in the next 8 months (due to illness, etc.), her end date is the 24th of March. Which is ironically Deborah's first birthday. (When we get closer, we will post information for a party we hope to give Sarah to celebrate the end of chemo treatments.)

- In May or June she will have a surgery to remove her port. She will also stay on her antibiotics for six more months just in case she has any infections.

- Two years after the end of chemo, March 2012 to March 2014, she will go to the clinic once a month to monitor her blood counts. At first we will see the doctor each month, but eventually we will start just seeing the doctors every quarter.

- For one year, March 2014 to March 2015, she will meet at the clinic as part of a cancer survival "club". This will be more about helping her emotionally in being a cancer survivor. At the end of 2015, they will use the word "cured". Sarah will be starting her teenage years, so emotional issues will be a good thing to talk about.(At least that is what I am being told will happen when my girls become teenagers. :))

Of course, we believe she is "healed", but I admit that I look at the day they use the word "cured" with great expectations.

So the journey continues. We can see the end, but we know that God still wants us to focus on today. Our prayer request is that we do not think too long about the end, as great as that will be, but instead to make sure we stay strong today because we know from experience it only takes one moment, and we could face the horrors once again.