Chemo #4 – Good Things

(I’m posting about these events several days after they happened. It’s taken a little extra time to pull this post together because of fatigue and side effects from the chemo). 

“He satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.”
(Psalm 103:5)

When I’ve read Psalm 103 in times past, and I’ve come to the beautiful place where we are to forget not all His benefits, I’ve tended to center more on the first several . . . He forgives all your sins, heals all your diseases, redeems your life from the pit, etc. I haven’t always connected as much with verse 5, but in this verse, the Hebrew translation tells us that God:

Satisfies – fills up, gives plenty (or in excess)
our desires with 
Good things – bountiful, joyful, beneficial, beautiful, kind, loving things

Not only in the season I am in, but I think very often, we have to open our eyes and intentionally look for the good things that are happening all around us. We may take them for granted. We may be focused on problems more than we should be. We may be running too fast to notice. There are lots of reasons that we may miss recognizing and experiencing God’s goodness. 

Walking through two days that included labs, doctor appointments, and my 4^th chemo treatment was a time when my heart needed to experience some good things. And because God is a good, good Father who desires to give good gifts to His children (Matthew 7:11), Dick and I watched God’s goodness – in both simple and profound ways – unfold. 

Let me expound . . . 

Tuesday, March 31
Today was the day I had labs done and met with my Oncologist. My appointment was at 1:00, so Dick and I drove to Nashville in time to park the car in the medical center parking lot and then walk about 5 blocks down to Torchy’s Tacos for lunch. It was a beautiful day, and I was so excited to be walking this distance without any trouble! When I remember that on day 2 after surgery (just 4 weeks ago) I wasn’t able to even have the top of the bed raised up 6 inches without feeling light-headed, my heart was full as we bopped down the street. (Well, maybe “bopped” isn’t the best description. But there was definitely energy in those steps.) 

Back to the story. After a yummy lunch and another refreshing walk back to the center, we had a wonderful meeting with my doctor. As always, I had multiple questions, observations, and details I wanted to share/get answers for. Here are some of the highlights:

The incision is healing perfectly.

He was very pleased with my exercise/stamina.

I asked him kind of a funny question that I didn’t have the answer to, “Which body parts did you actually remove from me during surgery?” Of course, I knew it was a hysterectomy and everything involved there, as well as a portion of my colon. But did he take out my appendix? Anything else? It was a humorous conversation because he couldn’t actually remember! But I was able to follow up with the surgical report via a nurse later and found that most of my other parts in that vicinity are intact – appendix included. I just thought it would be nice to take inventory of what I still have left! 

I have started seeing some little hair nubs growing on my head and was excited to tell him about those. Sadly I learned that because the chemo used for the surgery is different from what I will continue to infuse for these next treatments, these little seeds of hair will probably be short-lived. (Literally, and figuratively). BUT I have hope that after these final 3 treatments, they will return! 

The final good thing in this appointment was a REALLY good thing. I asked the doctor about my CA-125 number. This is the cancer marker in my blood labs and, I think I’ve explained before, but the normal range (no cancer) is 0-35. The first result I received after my diagnosis was 531.3! After treatments, it has gone down exponentially. I asked the doctor if his expectation was for me to ever get in the 0-35 range. He said enthusiastically, “Oh yes, in fact you may be close right now!” At that point, he began explaining some things and I liken it to the Charlie Brown cartoons when the teacher is speaking and saying, “Blah blah blah blah blah blah homework blah blah blah blah blah”. For Dick and I, it was more like this: “Blah blah blah blah blah blah REMISSION blah blah blah blah blah.” What?! Did the doctor just say remission? Indeed, he did! He gave us definite hope that remission is on the way. We had never heard him utter that word in regards to my diagnosis, and this was definitely a good thing! 

After our appointment, we had scheduled some time to visit two different “couple friends” of ours. They both live in the same neighborhood, and we haven’t had the opportunity to see any of these buddies in recent months. We spent some precious time at both homes – catching up, praying for one another, and just enjoying some sweet time together that this last season hasn’t allowed. 

A lovely walk.
A delicious meal.
A favorable and encouraging report at the doctor. 
Precious moments with friends. 
Good things. 

Wednesday, April 1
Today was chemo #4 in my treatment plan, and also (notably) chemo #1 after surgery. 

Good things continued . . . 

My port placement was easy. (Whew! Always a relief.)

My dear, long-time friend, Sara, brought my favorite pizza (chicken pesto with artichokes) from Amerigos. And then she hung out with me while Dick spent time with her hubby at lunch in Brentwood. 

A couple came in and was seated across from where I was. She had on a beautiful red-head wig, and a vibrant face. When you’re having infusions done, there is definitely a protocol of communication with others receiving a drip. You learn to read faces and body language to know how communicative to be. Some people are open to conversation, others would rather have private time. This woman and I initially caught each other’s eyes with a smile. Shortly after that, the nurse came to begin the chemo infusion for her. As the process started, I overheard the nurse say, “Can you tell me your name and birthdate?” And the answer was, “Melody” something . . . Of course, my ears perked up to that. After the drip was going and the nurse headed out, I said, 
“So, your name is Melody?” 
She said yes. 
I said, “That’s my name, too! How do you spell it? With a ‘y’?” 
“Yes!” 
“Mine is with ‘ie’”. 
And our conversation continued, both of us excited to meet someone with our same name, as that doesn’t happen often. I then looked at her husband and said, “Your name doesn’t happen to be Richard or Dick, does it?” He said, “No, my name is Nick”. So in this infusion area, we had Nick and Mel seated across from Dick and Mel. 😃 (PS – I will never forget her name!) 

Whenever a new medicine is loaded into the chemo IV,  2 nurses have to validate that this concoction is specifically for the recipient. The process is to ask me for my name and birthdate. I answer, and they each repeat that information (as they are looking at the typed instructions they each hold in their hands). Then nurse #1 reads the medicines, amounts, how long they will drip, etc. And that is repeated and confirmed by nurse #2. It is very methodically done, and I’m thankful for the process to make sure I’m getting what has been specifically prescribed for Melodie Tunney, January 12, 1960. Because this day was April 1, one of the times my two nurses (Hannah and Moira) came to do this procedure, Hannah said to me, “Can you tell us your name and date of birth?” I said, “Hannah Moira, January 12, 1960”. They were in such a serious and focused frame of mind, and this took them completely by surprise. They heard my words, paused a few seconds, and then looked at me with a confused glance of “what did you say?” And then they both burst into laughter. April Fools! “A cheerful heart is good medicine” (Proverbs 17:22a)

Towards the end of the chemo treatment day, God gave us the most significant good thing we would experience. Alice, a new friend, was seated two chairs down from us. She was wearing a shirt that said, “Last day of chemo.” Her husband had on his own advertisement that said, “My wife’s last day of chemo”. There was no doubt of the glorious message they were sharing with all of us!  

Alice was accompanied by several other family members and friends who came to witness the ceremonial “ringing of the bell”. And though my prescribed treatment ended 10 minutes before this would happen, there was no way that Dick, Sara, and I were not going to hang around for this momentous occasion! 

My new sister in the Lord is a warrior! What an inspiration! I’ll let her words speak for herself. (And she gives me a personal message of hope around the 2:00 mark).

And let me also say, she RANG that bell! 

Sometimes good things are right in front of us, but we have to have our eyes opened to see them. For whatever reasons, during these two days – though surrounded by some heavy subject matter – the Lord illuminated simple blessings from His hand, showed us the value of the Body of Christ, and gave us opportunities to celebrate victories, even in this season. Whatever you may be facing, I hope you won’t miss the good things God is doing. Open your eyes, pay attention, and I’m pretty sure you’ll have your own great stories to share!

“I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.” (Psalm 27:13)