Week one of Chemo
Today is the day. The first day of chemo which makes it a day full of excitement and anxiety. It’s been a busy week all around. Rachel had a vascular port installed below her collar bone yesterday, which should make the frequent IVs more tolerable in the weeks to come. We drove up to Seattle to get that done, took the train back home, got the kids ready to go camping with family, and then turned right around early this morning and took the train back to Seattle where we will stay until after the Vitamin C drip tomorrow morning.
We’ve got Rachel’s regimen of supplements, sauna, and cancer-fighting foods down to a pretty good science at this point. Every morning, the kids and I juice 64 oz of fresh organic produce while Rachel preps her breakfast and first round of pills. After breakfast Rachel gets in the Sauna for an hour while I make a cancer-fighting salad that lasts a couple days (it’s about a gallon size container when I’m done). By the time I’m done, it’s time for lunch and a mile walk before going into the next round of pills. Soon we will be adding sessions in a hyperbaric chamber to the routine to help enhance her oxygen levels and drive the supplements into deeper tissue.
We will be making weekly trips to Seattle for treatment, and so many amazing people have reached out with offers of housing, transportation, etc. As a wild card, I threw out an email to a high-end hotel across the street from the treatment center and heard back yesterday that they would love to partner with us in Rachel’s treatment. They are providing a steep discount on a room whenever we need it as well as any amenities that would help keep Rachel comfortable. We are seriously blown away by their support and hospitality and we haven’t even stayed there yet! We’ll probably dedicate a post to the staff and facility after we’ve had a chance to actually stay there and take pictures, etc.
The view of the Hotel from the Cancer Center
Rachel and I spent the evening with close friends a few days ago and I expressed my reservation that life would go back to normal for most people and we would naturally fade to the back of mind. I didn’t say this fearfully but just wanting to think realistically about the amount of help we may have over the coming months. Their response (and gentle reproof) was that there are hundreds of people who are walking this path with us. That we do not have bystanders or observers, but people in the race with us. This has been the most encouraging part of this journey…to see those that have come alongside us and demonstrated their commitment to see us through. It has been humbling to realize that for some of you who have partnered with us, we may never be able to thank you in person, to shake your hand and express our gratitude, this side of eternity.
Nevertheless, thank you.
Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up! ...And though a man might prevail against one who is alone, two will withstand him—a threefold cord is not quickly broken.