Next Stop: More Surgery!

(I am finally getting hair!)

I was working on another blog that I was hoping to have completed already, but it keeps getting longer and longer as God is revealing more and more to me about the spiritual and emotional process He is walking me through. So, I decided to set that one aside for the moment and just give a simple update. This is because a lot of people have been asking me what is next in terms of treatments and surgeries, and I didn't want to leave anyone wondering.
As you may know, I completed chemo in August and I completed radiation just before Thanksgiving. I had a discectomy and fusion on my neck in April of 2017 that failed. I was supposed to have revision surgery on it a year ago, but cancer forced me to have to put it off. Well, I am finally having my neck fixed on the 7th (this Monday). I am looking forward to having that done and over with, but I am not looking forward to the surgery or the recovery. It will be a little more complicated than my first neck surgery, and since I already have one failed fusion, my surgeon is taking extra measures to make sure it works this time. This includes taking some of my bone marrow from my hip and adding it to the implant. I will be in a neck brace for a month, and will need lay low and take it easy during that time. So, more time in bed, which I hate!
After recovering from my neck surgery, I will begin monthly injections to block estrogen production. I will do that for a couple of months to see how my body responds. If I do well with that, then I will schedule surgery to have my ovaries removed. I will then have to be on an additional medication for 5 years to suppress the last bit of estrogen my body produces. I need one more surgery on my breasts to complete the reconstruction, but my plastic surgeon wants to wait until I am six months out of radiation, to give my tissue plenty of time to recover. So, that surgery will probably happen this summer. My last surgery will be to remove my chemo port.
I still have quite a journey left, and it seems to be dragging on much longer than I had first hoped. I often get discouraged by this fact, but I am beginning to get a clearer picture of how God is using this season to grow me. I will share more about this when I finish my other  blog post.
My immune system has not yet recovered from chemo, and my WBC counts are still quite low. Because of this, my oncologist is having me get a growth factor injection before and after surgery to try and protect against any infection. He is feeling very nervous about my upcoming surgery, considering all of the complications I have already had. He said to me "I feel like all I have to do is look at you, and something goes wrong." Well, I am asking for prayer that nothing goes wrong and that my immune system responds well to the growth factor injections. I also have to tell you that I hate growth factor injections because they cause deep bone pain. I hate this side affect, as it is no fun at all. It just adds to all of the pain I am already in. Lastly, I have several tasks that need to be completed prior to my upcoming surgery, which have made the present quite difficult. I have been on high doses of narcotics for almost 2 years now because of my neck. Well, I have been tapering down on my pain meds, so that when I have my surgery, my tolerance won't be so high. That way, the meds will hopefully be a little more effective than they currently are. For anyone who has been on opioids for an extended period of time, however,  you know how harsh the physical withdrawals can be. My doctor has also asked me to stop using nicotine gum (I use it for my autonomic nervous system disorder), as it can stunt bone growth. Well, nicotine has some harsh withdrawal symptoms as well.  The combination of opioid withdrawals and nicotine withdrawals have hit me pretty hard. This has definitely taken a tole on my body the last couple of weeks. I also still struggle a lot with nausea, vomiting and lack of appetite, but I have been asked to gain weight before my surgery. This has been a real challenge for me also.
So, keep us in your prayers as we are still very much in one of the hardest seasons of our lives. I will be posting another meal train soon, so that we have one less thing to have to think about after my surgery.
Lastly, I just wanted to say thank you to those of you who have been lifting us up in prayer as well as those who have been loving us in practical ways. It means so much to us, and I am not sure how we could have gotten through everything without such love and support. I am looking forward to sharing all of the amazing ways God is reshaping my heart. Hopefully my next blog will include all of that.