July 18th

Hey everyone,

Laurie has now been through almost 2 weeks of radiation, and is just getting used to the routine. At first, it was hard for her to become accustomed to going for daily treatment … but reminding herself that it is only for 28 week days has helped her. Although the first day was longer as they had to ensure everything was lined up correctly, the subsequent appointments have only been between 15-30 minutes long! Most days, she is in and out within 15 minutes, and then once a week, she sees the doctor and every 5-6 days, they take X-Rays to make sure the radiation is going to the correct areas, so those appts take a little longer. And having the weekends off is nice as well.

This past Monday, she also went to get her ‘every 3 week’ Herceptin treatment, and she was in and out in 1 hour, which again was much quicker than her Taxol/Herceptin treatment that lasted 2 ½ hrs. So things are getting better.

Now the disappointing news. When Laurie met with her doctor last Monday, he said that different side effects subside in different time frames. The most distressing one to Laurie was that the tingling in her hands/feet may not be totally gone for a year or more!!! And her finger nails have become very discolored, which will take 2-3 months for them to grow out. Other side effects . . . time will tell! I guess she was naive to think everything would be normal again in 4-8 weeks, but then again, it’s best to be positive too!

This weekend, we will head off to Myrtle Beach for our family vacation, which is tied into Forrest’s baseball tournament down there. Laurie will drive down with us on Saturday and then fly back on Monday night since she can only miss 1 day of radiation! We had hoped to have a visit with my aunt and uncle, Dot and Grady, as part of this trip but that couldn’t be arranged. Hopefully we will get to see them soon.

I hope to provide another update when I return from Myrtle Beach.

Please remember those who are also fighting cancer right now and continue to pray for our family as we make this trip and especially Laurie as she returns home on Monday.

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