"Have no anxiety at all....." You all know this verse by now. I rely on it and God's promises daily.

Thursday, January 28th I'll be receiving my last big chemo treatment. This will certainly mark the end of the hardest part of my journey, but it is not the end. Please pray for me as I try to keep life somewhat normal for the next 10 days while I experience the side effects from the chemo. It will definitely be a little easier knowing that this is the last time I will need to experience all of those side effects.

In six weeks I will be going through the surgery to remove the left breast and reconstruct it. Then shortly after I will begin the radiation treatments. I don't have any details about all of this yet as I am just making the appointments with those doctors and specialists. I promise to keep you all posted.

Thank you to all of you for the amazing support you continue to provide! We truly could not do this without all of you praying and showing up to bless us with meals, your time and your love!

I was so blessed today when 3 different sisters in Christ visited me and brought me flowers. I do love flowers, but I love seeing friends even more! So I was doubly blessed!!!! The flowers will keep me focused on something happy for the next week and their love will be with me forever! Thank you Nicole, Jennifer and Christine!

The boys and I had a great time tonight making gift bags for the oncology nurses and staff as thank you gifts. We included samples of 4 of our favorite essential oils: Peppermint, Lavender, Lemon and OnGuard with some information about each one. Then we also added a sample of Deep Blue rub and the OnGuard toothpaste. These are all products that supported my body while going through chemo therapy! I am hoping the nurses will enjoy the products but also think about how they could bless patients and friends with these natural ways to support the systems of the body. They already know me as the oil lady and love asking me questions about what I am using for what. This will be fun tomorrow!
I will still get to see them once in a while as I continue with my maintenance dose of Herceptin, one of the chemos that I will be on until next October. I have to have it for a full year. Also, if I ever need fluids while I go through radiation, I will get to see them. They have become my friends and have been an amazing support!

This past week I experienced great pain from what I think was my port pinching a nerve and then causing me to tense up and develop sore muscles. I went 7 days with pain while visiting my doctors to get checked. They checked for a clot and the results were negative- thank God! Then my breast surgeon checked it all out and all she could think was that maybe I had the start of an infection so she put me on an antibiotic just to be safe. I told her I would do anything to make sure my last treatment was not delayed. Thank you to my amazing nurse friends, Amy, Julie and Melissa for answering my questions and even texting or calling me back to check on me.

Yesterday my sister in love, Christina, who is an amazingly talented physical therapist, insisted that I go visit her so that she could work on me. Well, after 30 minutes of intense massage/manipulation of my sore muscles I was already feeling stronger. She also taught me some stretches and exercises as well as good posture to help out. I was still experiencing sharp pain this morning on my way to work but at lunch I realized that the pain was completely GONE!!!!! She did it! I know that what she did to assist my body was the key. Every time she has helped me I have experienced quick and full healing! She is absolutely AMAZING! Thank you Christina! And thank you Mariana and Nina for making me laugh and for loving on me!

I had another very interesting experience last week. On Friday I had a transfusion. They infused 2 units of blood into me because my platelet and hemoglobin counts were so low on Thursday. I did feel better after the transfusion and since then I have not felt the intense fatigue I was feeling. That allowed me to go to work and will allow me to stay on course with my last treatment. At first I told the nurse I felt guilty taking this blood that could save someone's life who is in much more dire need. She assured me that this was a very important reason to receive blood. Again, thank you to the medical expert friends who counseled me as I made the decision to get the transfusion.
So, I am encouraging everyone to consider donating blood. It is actually good for your health to do so. Find a blood drive or call the Red Cross or a blood bank to find a way to donate blood and maybe even platelets. I am so grateful for the person who donated that O positive blood that was a match for me.

Ok. So, I may not write for another week since I will most likely be too tired to even watch t.v. Thank you for keeping us all in your prayers. I will be praying for each of you and your intentions.

I must also thank a very special prayer team of colleagues who are praying non-stop for me! Thank you ladies!

Much LOVE,
Cristina