129 days later

It has been 129 days since Mark was first diagnosed with leukemia, and I am thrilled to announce he is DONE with his consolidation treatment. He has battled through fevers, nausea, vomiting, hair loss, weight loss, chest pain, nerve pain, and a seemingly endless list of other side effects in the last 129 days, but now we are both taking a deep breath and enjoying our first day of "freedom". One bummer is Mark was diagnosed with shingles on Thursday (the day before his final treatment) so he is in some pain right now, but his meds are really kicking in and he is doing well now. Thankfully, they were still able to give him his last arsenic trioxide treatment Friday despite the shingles outbreak.

So what's next? Well, Mark gets to take the next few weeks to let all the treatments leave his system and rest before returning to work at the end of September or beginning of October. He is allowed to drive again (I may be more excited than him about this). Actually, he drove today for the first time since April 22nd. He is also allowed to eat whatever he wants again. He has had a salad every day for the last three days. He has had plums, a smoothie, a medium-cooked burger and steak, and probably several other things he has not been allowed to eat since April.

Mark is still taking potassium and magnesium because the arsenic can still drain those minerals, which could cause him some problems. He is also taking celexa for any anxiety or depression, which has not been a problem. He is also taking an antifungal (V-Fend) for the congestion in his lungs that has been there since April. Add the 6 pills a day to deal with the shingles, and he is taking about 11 pills a day, but that is fine with us. Mark also had his PICC line removed Friday, so that increases his ability to play with Brodie and overall freedom. On Monday September 12th I will take Mark to the hosptial for another bone marrow biopsy, those results will probably take a week or so. That is just to make sure one more time that Mark is still in remission before releasing him to return to work. Then he will have a biopsy every 3 months for the first year and every 6 months for the second year to continue to monitor his remission. Other than that, we know he will start taking the ATRA medication again for his "maintanence" phase of treatment which will last 2 years and work to ensure permanent remission.

So just a little reflection from me:
When Mark was first diagnosed, I found myself getting really irritated when people would complain on tv, radio, facebook, etc about whatever minor irritation they were experiencing at the time. Thankfully, I quickly realized I should feel grateful that these people (some I know, some I don't) are not experiencing the same struggles I am facing. Whatever the minor irritation is in that person's life is a big deal to them, and I am thankful for that. I have also realized that so much in life is simply not worth getting upset about anymore. Lots of things in life are out of our control and all we can do is take each event and day at a time and stay positive through it all. Positivity is crucial. Positivity builds hope and I truly believe positivity can change events. Staying positive allows you to have a different approach to life events, which changes everything.

I am incredibly grateful Mark is in remission and the second phase is behind us (just one phase left). I am grateful our little family will be able to return to a semblance of normalcy, though I honestly don't remember what that old "normal" was like. I am grateful God has given me even more experience to build a stronger testimony for the world. I am grateful for all the family and friends who have really shown their love through this struggle. I pray for continued strength as we face the maintanence phase over the next two years and work to restructure our lives and continue to recover physically, finacially, and emotionally from this ordeal.