Chemo #4

Susette had her fourth chemo therapy treatment on Friday and is doing pretty well.

Before we had the treatment, however, she had to go in to have a "pick line" installed. A pick line is a temporary line that is inserted into her vein (with two little plugs hanging on the outside of her arm) that allows the nurses to draw blood or inject treatments without having to search for a vein each time. The pick line has a small tube that is threaded into her vein and that runs right to her heart to insure the treatment goes right into her blood system. The last two visits were difficult for the nurses to find good veins, therefore it was recommended that Susette have the pick line installed.

At the hospital, we shared out treatment area with two very nice people - Joseph and Victoria. Joseph come in every week to get a blood transfusion. He had cancer five years back and has a very low white cell count. The drugs that are supposed to boost white cell count are pretty much ineffective for him (he's 87) so he comes in to get new blood every week. He says, "It's a way of life." He shared that he just spends his life trying to avoid bacteria or infection because he knows that if he gets anything it will be fatal. Joseph and his wife were thankful that he had lived 5 years when doctors projected that 6 months would be a long time for him to survive.

Victoria and Susette really hit it off. She is a die hard Catholic but you could tell she has a heart for the Lord. She asked lots of questions about the orphanage, Haiti and the children. She said she would love to visit the orphanage and teach the children embroidery, music and English but that she couldn't leave Joseph. We all really connected and Susette feels it was one of those "divine appointments." It was so cute, before we left Victoria handed us some money and said she wants to sponsor one of the little girls at the orphanage. She wants to sponsor the one who whom no one else will sponsor. Then, she said to please send a photo as soon as possible so she could show her son the picture of his new "sister." Victoria is a new mom at 70!

Yesterday, we had a home health care nurse from UCLA show up to teach Susette how to flush and clean her new pick line. They gave us a huge box of supplies for the month. It is very important that Susette clean and flush the line daily because infection can be very serious and dangerous. Well, this was Susette's "divine appointment number two." The nurse was a young woman from Nigeria who turned out to be a spirit-filled Christian. She lives in Torrance (near by) and belongs to small church in the area. It just so happens that she owns a piece of land in Nigeria that she wants to one day build an orphanage, school and church. Wow! Talk about a "God thing!" Anyway, they exchanged contact info and i'm sure we'll be talking more to her.

So, in summary, God continues to work mightily in our circumstance. Susette, who is supposed to feel worse after each treatment, is actually feeling better after each treatment. She is strong and feeling God's presence and healing. Please continue your prayers, especially as she prepares for her next PET scan to happen sometime in the next week or so. God bless.