resting so my adrenals heal

A one armed crab decorated by starfish at Fort Worden

My adrenals are shot. I can do nothing without getting fatigued.  I am glad there is no tiger chasing me, or else it might have a nice dinner!  It has been an issue since doing chemo.  I would like to blame chemo, but it has more to do with my stressed way of living before and after cancer, and add to that drinking WAY too much coffee for 15 years!  Now I can’t even have a half cup of black tea without having effects on my adrenals the same day.  Bummer.     I miss my cup of tea.  Roasted dandelion root tea has almost taken its place in flavor.  Oh well.

Mama kitty and one kitten we kept

I went to my adrenal specializing naturopath in Snohomish yesterday. Thankfully she got me in on a cancellation list and my friend Norma came along to give good input.  It is good to have a friend who is living in the home with us and can see where I am really struggling.  Dr. Lawler told me to go to bed when I am tired.  Do you know how hard that is?  I am tired at 8pm.  She told me to create a schedule, treat myself like a baby for a while (as in caring for myself like I would a baby with a schedule, regular meals, bedtimes, etc.) She also told me I need to sleep 10 hours a night if possible…. well 8 would do. That means not getting up and making my hubby’s breakfast and lunch before he leaves at 5:30am.  So, re-thinking…. Mark is sweetly okay with me not getting up and helping him. He wants to keep me around for a while longer.

Meredith and me – a dear friend that had the same kind of cancer I did.

 

So, I guess I say all this to ask for prayer. Giving up doing, helping, pouring out…. that made me cry in the doctor’s office.  I hope it is a short term thing while my body heals.  Did I tell you I got fatigued just helping Norma and my mom catch a chicken so she wouldn’t get eaten by a coyote?  I sat down outside and felt my heart pounding!  Sigh.  My body needs rest and healing. We have a brother who is taking a six month sabbatical for his body to heal and he needs prayer too.  It is not easy, at all.  Adapting to change is hard.

Thank you for praying! I really, really appreciate it!

 

cyber knife radiation treatment day

Talking with Chris about what to expect on the Cyber Knife table

The starry sky that was above my head.

There is the Cyber Knife Radial Robot. Quite large but gentle.

He wanted me bald, so there I am!

Snug fitting face mask, but comfortable.

A bit of the plan scans. You can see the tumors they were treating.

Nurse Estelle, super sweet and helpful!

 

Everyone asks me what I am drinking… it is a mixture of pectin powder, electrolytes, L-Glutamine, aloe and some juice.

Dr. Vermeulen- part of the brains behind all this treatment! She has a good team that has worked with her for over 20 years!

She answered all my questions and was encouraging!

Hi all,

Super tired here, and that is why it is today and not yesterday that you get updated.   As you can tell by the photos it was easy.  I praise God for feeling good and not nauseous.  It was a much shorter appointment then the Gamma Knife.  Chris explained what was going to happen, laid me down, put on the face mask, did some x-rays to get the machine oriented with my tumors, and then told me it would take 38 minutes to do the treatment.  The giant robotic machine in the first attached picture is what moved around me.  It was hard to open my eyes with the mask on, so I only peeked once in a while.  It was relaxing.  I dozed and dreamed I was going to take a bite of something, but my mouth couldn’t open well with the mask on!  It went really fast.  Then I met with the nurse, Estelle, the gal with short, dark hair, and she gave me advice on the steroids and how to rest up today but do move around some.  So then Dr. Vermeulen came in and we chatted and hugged.  She wants to see me in 2 months to see how the radiation has done.  It takes a while for the process of die off, after radiation.  I know that since I had radiation on my breast tissue, which took it all away.  She answered all my questions and gave me another hug!  She is so smart and sweet!  I have hope, medically in these guys, since they are world renowned!  She and her team go around the world and train others.  And they have patients come here to Swedish Radiosurgery, to get treatment, so that is encouraging.  And, bottom line, only God knows what the outcome will be.  We trust Him.

We gave away more million dollar tracts too.  The receptionist asked for more and where she could get them.  She and her family are believers.  That was fun.  They are fun to give away and people will read them.  Praying for fruit!

And thanking God for all of you who are praying and lifting us up.  This is not an easy journey.  I have many side effects that make it hard, but God is so good in the midst of it all.  So good!

 

 

plums and such

Plums, plums and more plums!  We have 4 plum trees, two of which are putting out so many plums we have enough to share with the deer who visits. 

  

I cannot process these this year with my lack of energy.  I am so tired most days that I have taken to drinking coffee again.  I have a few ladies interested in plums, but I think there is more here than just 6 ladies can handle.  If you would like some yellow plums they should start to ripen in the next week or so.  If you email me that you are interested I will let you know when they are ripe.  (mckinneyhome4@yahoo.com) We’ll leave the ladder out and you can take what you can use.  These are clingstone, meaning that the pit does not come away from the flesh.  We made jam last year.  Or, I should say, my boys and some friends made jam last year.  We still have jam!  My boys are dehydrating some this morning.  They are like candy! 

I talked to my oncologist yesterday (I do every week) and he said that I may only have to finish this round and do one more round. That would be 5 more months.  That was good news.  I have been extremely fatigued lately and it could be due to doing chemo for a year.  So I was busy this morning watering and weeding and it felt good to be active.  I was trying to use my coffee energy before I crashed.  I might get in a 10 minute walk too.

God continues to speak to me in His Word.  I was reading in Leviticus yesterday and was thinking on the sacrifices.  Aren’t you glad that you don’t have to slaughter a cow or goat every time you sin?  And what a messy job the priests had who did that all day long every day as a service to God and to the people!  I am grateful that Jesus died (the perfect Lamb) in my place  so now I can pray to Him and seek forgiveness when I blow it.

I hope this finds you well and seeking the Lord.  Many thanks for your prayers and encouragement!  I am so blessed!

Hydrangeas from the yard.