As I sit and write this I am again stunned and amazed at the goodness of people and your response to our appeal for help. Life has settled into a pattern (I guess its a kind of pattern or routine) now that I have been back at work and Sonja's treatment continues. We are very fortunate at the moment to have Aimée (our eldest and recently married daughter) free from the demands of full time employment to come around and help out and keep company. Also Rachel & Tim are still on what seems like an endless summer break from University! All of this is great as there is always someone around during the day at home. They are all great kids and we are very proud of them.
Sonja continues with her daily Tykerb" tablets and we are pleased to say that the side effects from this are not too bad to date. The other part of treatment is the weekly dose of chemotherapy (vinorelbine). This is administered every Friday afternoon - actually 2 out of 3 Fridays as week 3 is a "rest" week. So this Friday will be week 4 (with last week being the "rest" week). The side effects from this drug are more significant, with fatigue, tiredness, aches and pains to name a few. This seems to hit around day 4 after treatment. It starts to lift late Thursday and of course by Friday it's time for another round. This is hard physically and mentally for Sonja so please pray for her strength to continue for the full treatment. She is the strongest person I know without doubt!
Your amazing response to our request for help is so appreciated. The total is now just under $42,000!
We are so thankful to all who have helped achieve this and can only again say "Thank You" so much!
Sonja had an assessment today and for some reason we saw another oncologist who turned out to be the "big guy" (the main "Professor" who is well respected and who we had heard about but never met). I quietly wondered afterwards if he wanted the meet the faith filled courageous woman who has defied so many odds and whom his colleague had told him so much about! (maybe that's just me letting my imagination run wild a bit, but then......?)
Anyway he was happy to continue with treatment and even increased the dose of vinorelbine slightly, so onwards we go on the road to being well!
Lastly (but not least) - again for those of you who pray (and don't think you have to be really good at it or amazingly spiritual)! I reckon pretty simple down to earth prayers are as good as anything so have a go!
Please pray that:
Sonja has a very accurate and skilled nurse who gets the canulation in first time.
Side effects from both drugs get no worse and even reduce.
Strength for Sonja to continue with the treatment (which is easier if the above happens)
These drugs work to the maximum to eliminate all bad cells and disease.
Again we thank you all and we pray that God will bless each and every one of you - even more than you can imagine.
Denis.
Yay :) So stoked about the total :) And I will keep praying <3 xx
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