Day 33 - A Donor!

This morning Courtney received a call from her sister, Tracy, who is now back in Italy. Tracy found out today that she is a match for a bone marrow transplant for Courtney! So far she is the only one to be tested. Courtney has two other sisters and a brother who are all planning to be tested as well. It's nice to be 1 for 1.

We’re not sure how having a donor will affect the chemotherapy treatment schedule, or how soon the transplant would take place. We have an appointment with the UT Southwestern Transplant Clinic tomorrow afternoon. Hopefully we’ll find out exactly what to expect in the coming weeks.

Courtney continues to see physical improvements daily. Today was by far her best feeling to date. She was up and about quite a bit and even got out of the house for awhile. Her biggest issues continue to be abdominal pain, tiredness and muscle fatigue. These are more than likely due to a combination of the lingering effects of the chemotherapy, the lengthy hospital stay, and the medications she’s taking. All of these will hopefully subside before her next round of treatment. In the meantime, she continues to eat fairly well and does what exercises she can. She was shown some great little exercises by the physical therapist at the hospital.

Her spirits are lifted daily as she’s able to visit with more friends and reconnect with her “normal” life that was suddenly and drastically put on hold more than five weeks ago. She’s also lifted up by the many small and not so small acts of kindness by friends and family near and far. This evening we received a surprise visit from the Young Women of our church. Unfortunately their visit had to remain on the doorstep and free of much wanted hugs as Courtney still has to be vigilant is staying away from germs. The wonderful young ladies brought over cute blankets they had tied and stuffed animals for each of our four children!! Thank you!!!

Also this evening, Courtney received a much needed professional massage that she described as “awesome” from a friend from church. I honestly haven’t seen her smiling so big and looking so content in a long time. After so many nights in a hospital bed, her back has been quite achy. It’s amazing what good rub down can accomplish. I think she’s really going to sleep much better tonight.

So, despite the horrendousness of cancer and all the pains that come with it, we continue to count our blessings and are constantly amazed by the plentitude that continue to come our way. It is our firm belief that God’s love is expressed through the kind actions and generosity of those around us. We are so very thankful to all of those who have given their time, talents, energy, money, and prayers (so very many of which have been answered), helping us to feel an overwhelming amount of God’s love at a time when we most need it. We hope and pray that your lives are blessed tenfold in return.