Round One Over and Out

I just realized that I have never fully explained the 'chemo ball' and it's importance in our life. When Shea left the Huntsman, she had a cute little fabric bag draped around her neck that carried her chemo ball. This is a ball filled with our favorite drug FU-5, that will be her friend for a couple of days after each infusion. The ball is attached by a line to her power-port and it automatically pumps the drug into her system....kind of like an at-home, do-it-yourself chemo treatment. The nurse had mentioned that she might see if they could leave the needle in for the blood draw coming up on Friday, and if that were the case, she would teach me how to flush the line and disconnect the ball. The look of absolute horror that moved across my face did not deter her, but I prayed mightily to be spared that task and lo and behold the nurses at the Huntsman came through for me and nixed Nurse Rachet's ( she really is a very, very nice person so that wasn't fair to call her that ) brilliant plan....hooray!!! (anyone who knows me knows that I am a bawling, boo-hoo baby when it comes to anything that has to do with needles. I find them to be the creepiest things on earth) I was told to watch Shea for any discomfort and rises in temperature. I was given specific instructions to call the Huntsman and the home health care nurse the immediately if her temperature reached 100.5. By evening, Shea was very tired and had been dozing off and on all day. At 10 p.m. she told me that she really didn't feel well, so I took her temperature. It was 100. All I could think of was "Are you kidding me?? Close enough to worry, not close enough to call...or is it? What do I do?" Finally I said a quick prayer in my heart and told Shea to rest for a little bit. I would re-check her temperature in a half hour and if it was the same, I was going to call anyway. Thankfully when I did the re-check, it was 99.2. That we can live with!! I was still nervous enough, that I threw a sleeping bag on her floor and slept there all night. She only woke up once and overall did well after our initial little scare. Hopefully, my back and hips will recover....the old grey mare just aint what she used to be! Our nurse came and disconnected the chemo ball today, so one treatment down...a whole bunch more to follow. Shea is doing much better today and I am hoping that she can get some real rest now that all the extra paraphernalia is removed. Today was a beautiful wet and rainy spring day. Caroline was conducting a ward choir for her stake conference in Perry, so Jenessa, Nick, Kelt and I attended church there today. All of the talks were exactly what I needed to hear. Someone made a statement that I had never really thought about in quite that way. He said "We believe in the Gift of Healing. As I held my young son and he passed from this life to the next, I realized that he was healed. Through our Savior Jesus Christ, we are all healed, whether on this earth or in the realm to come, we all freely given a healing." That really resonated with me. This weekend, I feel like I have shed more tears than I have in the previous two weeks and yet those tears have always been followed by a sweet, calm feeling that I truly can't describe. I am so grateful to my Heavenly Father for the testimonies and the beautiful music that I heard today. I know that Heavenly Father is mindful of each of us, especially Shea and that He is there for her every step of her journey....if that were not true, we would not be able to even begin to face this fight. I am grateful for the power of the healing spirit that I feel each day...I know so much of it comes from your prayers and fasts in behalf of Shea and her family. Thank you, thank you, thank you!