Moving into Fall...

So its been a while since I've posted! I started chemo about a month ago, but unfortunately things were put on hold for a bit. My white blood cell counts were too low to get my second treatment. So, after a couple of weeks of shots and IV therapy I'm headed back to Vanderbilt tomorrow.

Monday evening I will be having scans done to try and determine why my symptoms are not subsiding. Then, on Tuesday we are meeting with a symptom specialist, and my oncologist. After that, hopefully another chemo treatment will follow. The chemo schedule is set for six months, but for each time I can't receive treatment it will be stretched out farther.

Please be in prayer that the symptoms will subside and treatments will go smoothly. The quicker we can get this over with the better! :)

Oh and did I mention..., I'm recently engaged! Ryan proposed September 25th! We couldn't be happier and we are having fun in the beginning stages of planning!

Thanks again for everyone's love, prayers, and support!

And so it continues...

On Friday I had an appointment with my oncologist at Vanderbilt. They have decided to give my body a break after the radiation for at least a few weeks. I will go back mid September for tests, then begin chemotherapy in early October. The treatments will be every-other week for 6-9 months.

Even though this is not the news I wanted to hear, I have complete faith in God and the medical team that they know best. They seem to feel that the chance for recurrence is high and hope that this chemotherapy treatment will prevent future tumors from forming.

Thank you to everyone for continuing to keep me in your thoughts and prayers. I am looking forward to these few weeks off to recuperate!

Joshua 1:9 "Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go."

Just a week to go...

I'm on the home stretch! I'm still in Nashville this week doing daily radiation therapy. One week from today I have my last treatment and will have the doctor's appointment that will tell us if I will need to receive six months of chemotherapy. So, that is where prayers can be directed to now. Thank you all who have followed along, prayed, visited, stayed with me in Nashville, mailed cards, sent positive thoughts, and been such a huge support system through this all. 

Isaiah 41:10

So do not fear, for I am with you, do not be dismayed, for I am your God. 

I will strengthen you and help you with my righteous hands.

Week Three...

Psalm 29:11
The Lord gives strength to his people; the Lord blesses his people with peace.

Week three begins! The fatigue is setting in, and I'm feeling a little more "icky" but it's all part of the deal. Today has been the hardest day so far. Loosing your hair is something that you just really can't prepare for, and no matter how much you think you have, it's quite a shock. For me it's not so much a vanity thing, but more of the realization of being a "sick" person. So, this week, I'm praying Psalm 29:11, for strength and peace.

When we met with the oncologist on Friday, they were still unsure if I will need chemo after the radiation is complete. If so, I will get a 6-8 week break, then begin 6-9 months of chemotherapy in Nashville, every-other week. For now, they are doing more research to decide if it is needed.

Thanks to everyone for the continued prayers and support!

Week Two Coming to an End...

This week has been a little more difficult, but I am so thankful for wonderful friends! Even though the fatigue and nausea have been worse, I've had a great support team here to help me. Last week my friend Robin Flowers stayed with me and brought me home for the weekend. Then, this week, I've had Janie Wallace and Brenda McElroy here keeping me cheery and entertained! It has been such a help to the whole family for my mom to get to spend some time at home while they were here with me. Mom is driving down today, however, because we have a follow-up with my oncologist on Friday before heading home. That's about all that's new for now, just looking forward to what another weekend of "normal" at home has to bring! Thanks to those of you who sent cards, flowers, and notes to keep my spirits up this week!

One Week Down... Five to Go

The first week of treatments is over, and I'm feeling as well as can be expected. Very little sickness and just pretty tired. It was nice to spend the weekend doing "normal" things! On Friday night Ryan and Stephanie were nice enough to take me to the Paducah Writer's Group which I love, and Saturday I spent the day being crafty and staging my house. That night Ryan took me to Cracker Barrel with Bridgette and Brandi and we had a great time! Sunday has been a day for church & family and tonight dinner with Millie and Ryan before church.

I've included some pictures of the yummy desserts I made for the 4th of July last weekend!

Thanks again to everyone for their prayers, thoughts, cards and support through this time. I have been so blessed by the outreach from friends, family and complete strangers who have been so helpful and thoughtful through it all. As this week begins please been in prayer that the sickness will continue to subside and treatments will go as easily as they have so far. Thank you all for following along, and I will do my best to update again soon!

First Day of Treatments

Well, we are settled in at the Hope Lodge and I started treatments today. It wasn't too bad, and I'm feeling pretty good! They told me that it would take a few days before I started to feel too sick from the radiaiton, so I'm taking advantage of the good days. :) They have a computer room here so I do have some limited internet access. Other than that, I'm knitting of course!

Today, what is heavy on my heart is the situation in Honduras. Here is an email I received today...
Here is a note from a missionary friend who lives and works in Tegucigalpa. The president has been exiled from Honduras for the past week and claims he will return today:
"Today, the former president Zelaya returns to the capital of Honduras. He has invited mobs of people to "welcome" him, as the interim government threatens him with arrest upon his return. Thus far, this has been a bloodless change of government. But today? I pray for a good outcome. Thousands are camped out at the airport waiting for him. Riot police are there, too. Pray for lives to be spared."
Please join in prayer and email your friends to do likewise. So, as you can see, this is a dangerous situation for everyone.

The saddest part is that when things like this happen, the orphans suffer even more. No one can go and visit the orphanages, and they are often cut off from government support as far as food, supplies, etc. So, these innocent children are suffering even more, as if they don't already have it bad enough. So, for now, prayers are needed for those sweet children in Honduras more than for me. They are the ones suffering today!

A quick update...

So, I still have a blood clot pressing on my optic nerves and some hemorrhaging behind my eyes. We had hoped that a few days in the hospital with blood thinners will cure the problem, but it's taking a little longer than expected. While we had originally hoped to go home by Tuesday, now its looking a little more like late Thursday if not Friday. At least we hope to be home for the holiday weekend!

I'm still set to start radiation on Monday, June 6th and will do 6 weeks of treatment at Vanderbilt. Today I got the markers for the radiation therapy, and tomorrow they will be doing a final scan to verify everything and make sure we're on track to start Monday.

Like I mentioned before, I'll be staying at the Hope Lodge which is a free service of the American Cancer Society, and very nice. Several friends have volunteered to help come and stay with me and take me to treatments so that Mom does not have to be there all the time over the 6 weeks.

Thank you all for your continued prayers, love and support! Hopefully we'll be home for some normalcy on the weekend before starting radiation!

Cancer update and more knitting!

So I haven't updated in a while... This is my new short haircut! I figured since I'll be loosing it in a few weeks, it was time for a change! My boyfried Ryan has been great. Even when I'm grouchy and bite his head off, he has been so supportive and helpful! My family is the best too!

Since my last post alot has happend! On June 2nd I had surgery to remove the brain tumor. As it turns out, I was diagnosed with Medulloblastoma... A children's brain cancer that rarely appears in adults. Just a few days after surgery I was sent home and began to recover well.

I had great friends that came to visit for weeks and everyday I felt better than the next... Then came this week... On Tuesday my vision became worse and the headaches got really bad. After the doctors in Nashville reviewed tests from Thursday, we got a call at 8:00pm Friday night to report back to Vandy as soon as possible. So, after arriving at the hospital after 11:00pm, and tests until 5:00am, we found out that I now have a blood clot pressing on my optic nerve and some hemorrhaging behind my eyes. Even though it sounds a little scarry, at least they caught it early and feel confident that a few days in the hospital with blood thinners will cure the problem.

As of now, I'm still set to start radiation on Monday, June 6th and will do 6 weeks of treatment at Vanderbilt. I'll be staying at the Hope Lodge which is a free service of the American Cancer Society, and very nice. Several friends have volunteered to help come and stay with me and take me to treatments so that Mom doesn' t have to be there all the time over the 6 weeks.

So, in the mean time, I'm sitting here in the hospital, kitting away! I have to wait until my medicine kicks in so that I can see well enough, but I'm doing my best! Haha

Thanks to everyone for their love, support and prayers! It means so much and keeps my heart cheerful and my spirits up!

Proverbs 15:13 A cheerful heart brings a smile to your face; a sad heart makes it hard to get through the day.

Golf Balls, Knitting & A Brain Tumor..

So, life has been crazy these past few weeks. I have been working like crazy for Starfish Orphan Ministry on fund raisers galore! Three weeks ago we had a charity auction that was a huge success, raising nearly $18,00! Then, just a week ago, our 5K event was twice as big as we expected and brought in over $5,000! God has truly blessed our efforts, and I can't wait to see how he multiplies them to impact the lives of these orphaned children!

All of this was in preparation for the upcoming trip to El Salvador, scheduled for June 5th. While organizing the fund raisers, I began to have massive headaches and became very ill. On Tuesday, I learned the reason... A golf ball size tumor on my brain. That will do it!

So, now, instead of preparing for my trip that I so look forward to each year, I am sitting in a Neuro wing at Vanderbilt Medical Center in Nashville, awaiting surgery on Tuesday, June 2nd. Although it's all very scary and hard, I know God has a reason and a plan for everything. I have had so many blessings over the past few days with total strangers emailing, sending cards, and even stopping in to pray with me. It's one of those things that may not allow me to see His purpose for a while, but I know I have a peace about it for a reason.

So, for now, I'm knitting and awaiting surgery! I will also be blogging for the El Salvador team at http://starfishorphanministry.blogspot.com/ You can follow along to see what the team is doing each day and for specific prayer requests. Thanks to everyone for your love and support, and I will try to post some of my knitting projects soon!

Ashley

The reason for the name...

A Universal Language
Proverbs 15:13
A cheerful heart brings a smile to your face; a sad heart makes it hard to get through the day.

So while I've never been a big fan of the "heart" image, when I was thinking of a name for my blog, Proverbs 15:13 kept coming to mind. When looking back on experiencing other cultures, the symbol of the heart really is one of the few that transcends as a universal language...

These little girls were at a school in a rural village a few hours outside San Salvador, El Salvador. On my last visit there in July of 2008, one of them made me a card on construction paper cut into a heart shape, and I snapped this picture as we were driving away.

I often think of those children when I read that verse. What is it that can possibly make their hearts so cheerful? They are living in poverty, they may not know where their next meal will come from, many of them have no family to love them, and yet their cheerful little hearts are bringing smiles to their faces so often. Isn't God great? With so many things to frown for, and so many reasons for a sad heart, He keeps them cheerful, even if for a moment...

I don't know about you, but especially with the recent events in my life and that of my family, there are many days it would be much easier to allow my heart to be sad, but what's the point? Why make the day harder to pass? I think back to these girls and remember how blessed I am, no matter how bad the day may seem.

So, "CheerfulHearts" it is! My thoughts & ideas, trips & events, creative attempts, rants & raves, for better or worse, look out, here it comes!