MAY cannot get here soon enough!

I think the title of this blog says a lot! The theme in the Brannon house right now seems to be "let's just make it to May!" Sam had her 4th treatment on Tuesday - that's right number 4. For those of you that may be keeping count, that leaves two more treatments. March 30th and April 20th. Which is why May is looking so good to us right now. The treatments seem to be hitting Sam harder each time. The typical schedule is treatment on Tuesday - superwoman on Wednesday - bed ridden beginning late Wednesday evening. This time I came home for lunch on Wednesday expecting Superwoman to have organized every sock drawer, every cabinet in the kitchen and cleaned out the fridge twice. You see, they give her steroids the day before treatment and in the actual treatment, which gives her tremendous energy up until Wednesday evening (see above). Well, yesterday I came home for lunch and our good friend Becky was in my kitchen feeding Maxwell - which I am sure he enjoyed for his 9month birthday! (As a little side note - Max turned 9 months old on Wednesday!!!) There is certainly nothing wrong with Becky at our house and there is certainly nothing wrong with her feeding Max his wonderful lunch of single grain rice mixed with some sort of fruit in a jar and water. It was just surpising, because I didn't expect it. She said Sam was upstairs in bed and had asked her to hang out until I got home for lunch. Sam was very sick and the chemo was hitting her hard. This is expected, just not expected to happen until Thursday. I guess perhaps it is an accumulative reaction with the number of treatments? They (the doctors) did not say this would be normal, but they cannot really say it is not either. They continue to regurgitate my new favorite quote in this whole process, "everyone reacts differently - we don't have a crystal ball!" I think the hardest thing for those of us that have to witness this on a day in and day out basis is there is not much we can do to help her. Sam's mom and I share the majority of the load of taking care of the kids and the house, but that is stuff that needs to be done. And of course, we help Sam with staying hydrated and making sure she gets the rest she needs - but unfortunately that is about all we can do. I cannot speak for Jennifer, but it is a bit of a helpless feeling. I wish I could snap my fingers or give Sam a magic pill and make it all go away. I know it is easy to say this, but as a husband who loves my wife as much as I do, I wish I could trade places with her. It is just hard to see someone you care about go through such a difficult time. So, that is why I say, the month of May cannot get here soon enough. Having said that, the month of May begins the fun of surgery, followed by recovery followed by 5 days a week for 5 weeks of radiation. We do not know the extent of Sam's surgery at this point and therefore we do not know the extent of her recovery. But regardless, I think we are both eagerly awaiting the moment in time that Sam can walk out of that Oncologist's office knowing the chemo is behind her. Don't get me wrong, I do not think May is going to be easy, but I think it will be wonderful to feel like we are nearing the end of this Lump in the Road.
I know we have mentioned it before, but we would like to thank everyone who has helped us out and everyone who has sent us well wishes! We are not able to get back to everyone, but please know we are reading every card and e-mail we receive. We are listening to every voicemail and it is a great boost to Sam's spirits. We feel very fortunate to have such a wonderful support system. I just mentioned the other day that for at least the last two months, I don't think there has been a day that we have not received a card in the mail from someone sending their well wishes for Sam. We are very blessed to have all of you in our lives! Thank you from the bottom of my heart - we will remember the support we have received for the rest of our lives! As you know, Sam is one tough woman and she is fighting this awful disease to the best of her ability! She is an amazing person and I feel very fortunate to be called her husband. But as strong as she is, the support she receives only makes her stronger, so please continue to keep her in your thoughts and prayers!
- Tad