13 Down, 1 To Go!!!


 Kenzi has finished 13 rounds of chemo and only has 1 left! I can't believe we have made it this far. Our lives have been put on hold and focused solely on cancer treatment for the last 8 months and it feels like it will go on this way forever. To be honest, we don't really know what normal life looks like anymore. 

Since the last time I posted, we spent a few days at Ronald McDonald House. Wes and the other kids were thankfully able to drive down to Vancouver and meet us there. We were even able to go to a Canucks game with the whole family, thanks to some generous donors. As wonderful as RMH is, we had the chance to swap houses with our friends, Roger and Cheryl, so we moved into their house in Pitt Meadows and they are staying in our house in Vernon, spending time with family and enjoying the snow. We are so grateful for their generosity. Last Monday, Kenzi was admitted for another 5 days of chemo and the kids were actually able to visit and see what goes on in the hospital. It's been so great to be together again and has really lifted everyone's spirit. Although this is not the Christmas we had planned or hoped for, we are thankful we can be together to celebrate. Other than blood work this Friday, we have the week "off". Kenzi will hopefully be admitted on the 29th for her last 2 days of chemo. It is our goal to finish chemo in 2021. After that we will hang out in the Fraser Valley to watch her blood counts, and then go for scans on January 14, before we can go back home to Vernon. Our doctors will discuss the results in their tumour board meeting the following week and they will decide whether or not she will need radiation and how much. 

Last week before Kenzi was discharged, our doctor came in to tell us they received the preliminary results from the pathology report. The borders are clean! This means they were able to remove the entire tumour with clean margins. We are beyond grateful for this news. This lowers the chance that she will need radiation and also lowers the chance of the cancer recurring later. We are so thankful for the amazing surgeons we had in Toronto and although it was one of the most difficult things we have had to go through, we know that God sent us there for the best care. Our doctors and surgeons will discuss whether or not they will send Kenzi for radiation in her chest cavity because the tumour was so large. We probably won't know what they decide until we are back home in Vernon, so we will be prepared to come back with little notice to start radiation. Either way, we will need to come back to have Kenzi's central line removed. 

When we started this road back in April, we looked at our nicely laid out treatment plan and had very different expectations of what this Christmas would look like. We expected that everything would go smoothly and we would be done treatment and celebrating Christmas at home. God had different plans. Treatment written on paper and actually living through it are two very different things. We've had to learn to adapt, let go of it all and give it to God. He has come through every step of the way and we are thankful He is in control. God has shown His love through so many people. It's through the hard times that we truly see His blessings. Everyone has been so generous and we are especially seeing it during the holidays. We are trying to adjust our expectations and enjoy this Christmas. We have so much to celebrate still.  

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope. ~ Romans 15:13

For God so loved the world,[a] that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. ~ John 3:16





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