Dealing with Side Effects

It has been a long time since I  (Monica) opened this blog, which I am beyond thankful for. It has been over 2 and a half years since Kenzi finished her cancer treatment for ewing sarcoma. The first year following treatment is honestly a blur, but since then life has mostly settled back into a normal routine. That being said, cancer has changed us forever and I miss those innocent days when I thought nothing so horrible would happen to our family. We have continued to go to Vancouver for regular CT scans, blood work and specialist appointments. They were originally every 3 months, but now they are every 6 months and Kenzi has "graduated" into long term follow up care. 

Ever since the surgery to remove Kenzi's tumor, she has been seeing the orthopedic specialist, to watch for scoliosis, which can be a side effect of chest and back surgeries. When we saw him this past spring, he told us that Kenzi's scoliosis was so bad it required surgery. That was hard news to take in and we kept it to ourselves while we processed it. Knowing it was coming up in the fall, we tried to make the most of the summer and even did a trip down the Oregon coast. Wes also made sure that he didn't take on too much work for the fall season, so his employee could handle it on his own. 

Fast forward to now. Kenzi's surgery is next Thursday, October 10th. After Kenzi's cancer treatment, we promised our kids that we wouldn't leave them again and that if anything happened we would go together. Keeping our promise, we all leave home on the 7th, so she can have cancer scans and do pre-op appointments in the days before surgery. We were approved to stay at Ronald McDonald House, which is such a blessing, as it is affordable and right near the hospital. The surgery is expected to take about 7 hours and Kenzi will be in the hospital for about a week. After that, we will stay in Vancouver while she recovers and has follow up appointments. We are expecting to be there for up to 6 weeks. The recovery for this surgery is quite long;  6 months before she can twist or bend her spine and up to a year before she can do a lot of activities.

It took a long time for Kenzi to get back to somewhat of who she used to be before cancer and this just feels like she's being thrown back in. We know it's not cancer, but that doesn't make it easy. There are a lot of nerves, anxiety and emotions for everyone in our house, especially as we get closer, so please pray for peace for us all. We know that God's hand is in this even though we don't understand why. We are so thankful for the support we received through Kenzi's cancer treatment and the encouragement and prayers since then, which we know will continue.We are so blessed to be surrounded by such a wonderful community. 

The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. ~Philippians 4