Allow me to explain. Chemotherapy is defined as; the
treatment of disease by the use of chemical substances, especially the
treatment of cancer by cytotoxic and other drugs. Cytotoxic refers being toxic
to living cells. So there you have it. At its basic, rudimentary level the
chemicals in chemotherapy kills living cells. The human body, my human body, is
comprised of trillions of living cells. When I have chemotherapy I am actually
volunteering to have someone stick a needle in me to kill me. It’s a controlled
kill but a kill none the less.
Immunotherapy is a type of cancer treatment that
energizes one’s immune system to fight cancer. My immune system helps me fight
infections and other diseases. The immune system is made up of white blood
cells and the organs and tissue of the lymph system. That’s lymph not nymph.
Nymph is a mythological spirit of nature imagined as a beautiful maiden
inhabiting rivers, woods and other locations. When one fully understands the lymph
system it may border on the mythological but it is definitely for real. My
creator thought of everything when he made me.
Chemotherapy destroys all new cell creation in my
body. Especially fast growing cells. This is why my hair fell out, scalp,
beard, eye brows, chest, legs, you name the place, hair fell out. Only my arms
seemed to retain any amount of hair that was worthwhile. God tells me in Luke
12:7 that “even the hairs on your head are numbered and that I am worth more than
many sparrows”. For several months at the start of 2019 God’s job got somewhat
easier as He had no hairs on my head to number. Now that I think about it there
were more sparrows around my feeders during that time. Hmmm!
Red blood cells are also fast growing. That fact
coupled with the knowledge that I had cancer in my bones was why I became
extremely anemic during my 18 weeks of chemotherapy. My hemoglobin levels were
in the Bear Market trend of downward from the very beginning. After two rounds
my count was down to 9-plus on a scale where 14 is considered to be good. Next
three rounds the count went into the danger zones of 7.7, 7.4 and 7.2. This
meant I was ANEMIC. These readings
brought a new course, a non-elective core course of course, Cancer 106 – Blood Transfusions,
towards my degree in medical science. I affectionately called these days Blood
Getting Days. Two units of blood would bump me up two points to 9+ but that
would start to diminish as soon as they pulled the needle from my port as my
body was still filled with enough chemo to choke a horse. Ann says it brought
color back to my checks and I was ‘perkier’ so I believe those long sessions
were worthwhile.
In a nutshell chemotherapy is the Great Destroyer.
It does not distinguish bad from good. It seeks out and destroys all. Not some
but ALL. I was only allowed to have six three-day sessions of chemo. Maybe
chemo should be called ‘killmo’ since that is what it does. However, if part of
me has to die in order for me to live, then whether it is ‘killmo’ or chemo
pump it in to me. It’s sort of what God asks me to do. Part of me has to die in
order to achieve eternal life. My earthly sinful nature must die by turning it
over to God, in order to obtain eternal life. Once my sins are covered by the
blood of Jesus they cannot be seen by the Father.
The Immunotherapy I take is a drug called Tecentriq
(atezolizumab). My immune system is a collection of specialized organs and
cells that protect me against infections and disease. A protein found on many
cells can allow cancer cells to hide from my immune system. Tecentriq strips
this protein from the cancer cells enabling my immune system to fight and kill
the cancer cells. I know it works because my jaw tumor did not change until
after I started Tecentriq. Additionally, when I have a treatment every three
weeks it takes me seven to ten days to recover from the battle that ranges
inside of me.
Since the cancer stripped the calcium from my bones
combined with the wide range of places where the cancer attacked my bone I get
a bone strengthening shot every six weeks. This drug is Xgeva (denosumab). It
has a specific job, it helps my bones. It does come with a price however. The
injection hurts like crap. Once in my body and active I ache as if I had the
flu for several days. Bones hurt. Joints hurt. My energy is sapped. I am not
complaining. If these are the steps I need to take to continue waking up every
morning then a few days of discomfort every three weeks is a small price to pay
and welcomed.
I promised myself from the beginning that I was
going to share all that I go through not for sympathy sake but rather for the
edification of those around me. For those that are praying for me you will know
the specific things for which prayer is needed. For those, like myself, who had
friends with cancer but never knew or understood the process because facts were
never shared, I hope that my frankness is lifting that veil.
I do not fear cancer. It has brought me more
blessings and closer to God than anything I have ever experienced. I am
grateful for that. Now that I am in the fight I will not back down. I will
battle every day to keep cancer down, to control cancer, to eradicate cancer
from my body. I can only do that with the help of your prayers, the love of God
and the peace I have about my future. In Billy Graham’s book “Angels: God’s
Secrete Agents”, he writes:
They
(angels) were commissioned not only to bar man’s return into Eden, but with “a
flaming sword which turned every way, to guard the way to the tree of life”
(Genesis 3:24) lest Adam by eating of its fruit should live forever. If Adam
had lived in his sin forever – this earth would long ago have been hell. Thus,
in one sense death is a blessing to the human race.
Because of cancer I
am able to see the everlasting truth in words such as these. Thanks be to God! Every
day I fight.
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