My second local chemo - March 4

I woke up at 2 am this morning and just felt the Lord embrace me with his peace. It was so comforting especially after all my raging emotions yesterday. I did not feel tired even if I stayed awake until 4 am. It was just so good to bask in the Lord's presence to lift up different loved ones in prayer.

The doctor came in and told me that I will be having my second chemo. What time, I asked. Sometime in the morning, she answered. I found out that the Chinese, like Filipinos, are more event oriented rather than time oriented --- but I found that maybe the Chinese are a bit more, especially in a hospital setting. You see, I like to prepare myself --- focus on the Lord, remembering his promises and my favorite verses. I really don't like to be taken by surprise especially when it comes to a treatment.

Anyway, a few minutes later, the doctor who would do the chemo and the interpreter came into my room and announced that I would be taken in at 3 pm. It was comforting to have some kind of time frame. But in the end, they took me in at about 2 pm.

It was a little disconcerting for me when I realized that the doctor who was doing the chemo did not speak a word of English. The nurse did but she was going in and out of the room. After my initial experience with my first chemo and my having difficulty in breathing, I would have felt more comfortable to know I could be understood in case I had problems. Thankfully, I did not have any adverse reactions today.

At one point, the nurse said something to me. After a few seconds, I realized that she asked me to hold my breath. I took a deep breath and held it. She told me not to do that, just hold my breath. So I did. I did not realize that she and the doctor were leaving the room (I had my eyes closed) to take an x-ray of the area where he was working on. So here I was holding my breath and wondering how long I would need to hold it. Just then, I heard the nurse's voice over a mike, asking me to hold my breath! I took a quick shallow and then held it for about 8 seconds but it felt like forever! I thought my lungs were going to explode! I am glad I survived.

I was back in my room after an hour. I had to keep my leg still for about 6 hours which wasn't fun but I tried to remind myself that it was nothing compared to the last cryo. I was hungry but just could eat only a little of the leftover food from lunch. I had one infusion after another. The doctor had given me a diuretic pill to help me get rid of the bloating in my stomach. It was like hitting 2 birds with 1 stone. You see, they advice you to drink lots of water after chemo so I don't have to suffer so much from the side effects. I could not do that because I always felt so bloated. So the pill was a blessing. But poor Doug had to fetch me the bed pan almost every 15 minutes! (to him it seemed like every 5 minutes!)

I ended the night just thanking the Lord for how well I was feeling. I had no fever and my body had adjusted to having the tube in my side. I did not feel too hot (although Doug said that the aircon was freezing!) and was really comfortable. The Lord is faithful! He has heard my cry and rescued me, delivering me from my fears! I have tasted and seen that the Lord is good --- over and over again!

Thank you so much for all your prayers and words of encouragement and hugs over cyberspace!