UPDATE ON DIANNE 2.06.2009

Dianne and I went to the Cancer Center today, Friday Feb 6, 2009, for Dianne’s 2nd chemotherapy treatment. She is scheduled for 6 treatments every 21 days. We arrived at 8:30am and finished at 2:00pm. Initially she is given intravenously an anti-nauseau drug called emends, and afterwards received each of the 3 chemo drugs. Lynn Wilkinson is her RN that administers the drugs and she is a real sweet person.

We were first in the chemo room today, but after an hour others arrived, but overall it was not as busy as it was for her 1st treatment.

These treatments have allowed Dianne and I the opportunities to reach out to others that also have cancer. We usually start up a conversation by just saying hello and letting them lead the conversation into the direction they wish.

There was one couple named Dan and Julie Coe probably in their late forties. He is the General Manager of Joe’s Crab Shack which is a seafood restaurant in Greenville, SC. In November 2008 he was not feeling well and a knot came up in his neck. He was later diagnosed with Hodgin’s Lymphoma, had surgery to remove the cancerous nodes, and has been having chemotherapy thereafter. Since beginning chemo, he has lost 50 pounds but has recently regained 8 pounds. His hemoglobin got down to 8 and he had to have two pints of blood to get it back up to around 12. He is in great spirits and still works 50 hours a week at the restaurant. His wife Julie is a real partner to Dan and you can tell they enjoy and love each other. Several weeks ago, Dan even went to a seminar in Las Vegas and did very well. Since his diagnosis he has quit smoking after smoking for 20+ years.

There was another lady named Sarah who is about 50 years old. She came with a friend who by the way is a 4 handicap in golf. She has ovarian cancer and has such a pleasant personality and smiles all the time. Sarah’s Mom and sister both had breast cancer and Sarah was tested positive for the BRAC1 and BRAC2 gene mutation.

Another lady named Sandy Wright is about 50 years old. She met Dianne at Pariesienne this week while they were looking at wigs, and Dianne was there with her friend Jean who was just looking to change her hair style. Dianne and I got her wig Saturday of last week and it looks like her real hair. Sandy has breast cancer like Dianne and is having chemo since her HER2 receptor was positive, and also there was cancer in one node. She had her third of six scheduled chemo treatments. Sandy’s husband is a cardiovascular surgeon and is on the 4th floor at Greenville Hospital. Like Dianne, her surgeon was also Dr. Gayle Blouin and her Oncologist is Dr Edenfield, the same as Dianne. When she had her biopsy, she was scheduled to go back several days later and talk to the radiologist to get the results. Her husband had a surgery that day and would not be able to go with her. So, her husband wanted to know the results, and being a Doctor, pulled her radiology report and saw that she had breast cancer. He called Dr Blouin, told Dr Blouin about the report, and Dr Blouin said do not worry, I will come to the operating room and we can talk to her when she gets the report, and that is what happened. Dr. Blouin is such a wonderful human being as well as a great surgeon. Sandy loves to play tennis and is anxious to get back on the tennis court. Sandy met her husband when she was a senior in high school and he was in college. They dated for about 4 years before they got married, and then waited 4 years before having children. Dianne told her about how wonderful it is to have grandchildren, and she said that she cannot wait until her daughter gets married and has children. She is a genuinely sweet person and seemed happy to see Dianne again.

Another lady named Elaine who is from Easley. SC. She was a schoolteacher for 36 years and is retired now. She appeared to be about 70 years old. She had a recurrence of ovarian cancer. Fifteen years ago, she had a hysterectomy and only until this latest surgery and reviews of the prior pathology reports, she did not know that she had a cancerous tumor removed in the hysterectomy. Last October, she had pains in her side, and was later diagnosed with ovarian cancer again. She is in her fifth chemo treatment and appeared to have some weakness when she walked. Elaine is married and says her husband is so helpful but he does not like to sit with her during the chemo treatments.

You know, I would not want to be anywhere but with Dianne when she goes to her chemo treatments. I love her so much, and just want to be with her all the time. During these treatments in the chemo room, we see so many different people from all walks of life that have been stricken with this disease called cancer. It strikes young or old, male or female, white or black, overweight or underweight or right size, and it is unbelievable the number of people that have cancer. But, you know, the courageousness of the human spirit of these people are remarkable. I have not heard one person say, how could this be happening to me. Each one of them have a different cancer at different stages and each one is fighting it so hard. I know that God is so proud of how these people fight this disease and do not just say, I give up and do nothing. The fight has to go on for the people they love and the people that love them. I just want to pray with each one of them and ask God to be with them and that his will be done in each of their lives.

Well, my prayer today has been that God will be with my baby and that this is another step in this journey towards the cure of this disease that has infiltrated her body. I know that God will cure her, and I feel God’s hand in the middle of this process. What a wonderful and awesome God that we have who we can call our Lord and Savior. He died for all our sins and by the acceptance of him into our lives as our Lord, we can be assured that we have eternal life. He gives us a peace that passes all our understanding, and I can testify that this is a fact. Through prayers, we have come to know that peace, and we have proclaimed that peace in our lives. Faith and fear are at odds with each other, and since we are human we are going to have some fear, but our faith will help us conquer that fear. In closing, I want to thank the Lord for today and the wonderful people that we met. It is my prayer now, that you God will be with each one of them, heal their bodies of this cancer if it is your will, give them the same peace that can only come from the Lord, and if they do not know Jesus as their Lord and Savior, they will come to know him now.....Bruce