IM COMING HOME I WANT TO CRY!!!!!!!!!

Well last thing I REMEMBER IS TAKING MY KIDS TO THEIR FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL ON THE 18TH. THAT DAY I had to get chemo, radiation, and a blood transfusion. While getting my blood transfusion I spiked a fever of 103. They stopped all treatment and admitted me in the hospital for the third time this month. Obviously that chemo and my body do not like each other very well! My mom and I were relieved when the Doctor said no more chemo for you....It made me so sick.....All my blood counts were down, I couldn't break my fever and I couldn't keep food down and they started feeding me intravenously to which I was very thankful for...Slowly I started recovering and I did finish all of my radiation treatments while being hospitalized ....YIPPY I'M DONE. Needless to say its been a rocky ride. While your in the hospital all they do is run tests and its very scary. They throw things out that that make your mind wonder and get you worked up emotionally. Like what if my cancer has spread? This is where the real fight is, right in your mind. This is when you have to focus and press into God...I want you to know that it is not easy for me to share my deep inner feelings with a bunch of people its extremely uncomfortable for me but this is the journey I have been put on and this is who I am and how I deal with the circumstances I'm in my life. During the times I would get scared the most I would cling to the promises of God and pray. For example, one of my devotionals I read on a very hard day was this......"Give up the illusion that you deserve a problem free life. Part of you is still hungering for the resolution of all difficulties. This is a false hope. As I told you my disciples in the world you will have trouble." God is also the Father of restoration and compassion to his beloved. It is his nature to bless and restore us after we have walked through the storms of life. And it is our nature to confidently trust and receive this promise: I my self has seen this happen many times in my own personal life which gives me more faith to hold on to truth, and that Gods word never fails, for he has overcome the world.(Joshua 21;45) Thank you again for your steadfast prayers and encouragement I'm so blessed to have friends, family, my mom ,Dad, sister and all the people who are faithfully on their knees praying for us. We are humbled.....That's all I can Say.... Trust in God and Lean not on your own understanding.....I love you God Bless. I hope you have a wonderful Sunday. Now I need to go eat I'm nothing but skin and bones. Yuckkkkkkkkkkkk

There's a light at the end of the tunnel

Aunt Barrie... again... but hopefully not for long!  Brandi had a good day today and is geared up for one final appearance at the radiation clinic  AMEN.  I bet they are going to miss her a lot more than she's going to miss them.  The docs took a look into her tummy today and found that it was swollen, but nothing too far out of the ordinary.  Rumor has it that she even gulped down some chicken soup cooked up by someone's Jewish grandmother.  Nothing like a chicken soup made with love.  I am so proud of Brandi and Mike and the kiddos.  They have rallied through this like a team of champions.  It hasn't been easy and it's not over yet, but I think they've reached a plateau, and will have some time to rest up, be together and re-group.

Brandi and I have a very amazing and wonderful friend who went head-to-head with cancer a couple years ago.  She has been a prayer warrior for Brandi from the beginning.  I thought it would be cool to share some of her words about what she and Brandi have both faced:

God is NOT the author of sickness in disease.  We are God's beloved! God's word says "Beloved, above all else, I wish for you to prosper and be in GOOD health, even as your soul prospers." The devil's only purpose in life is to steal, kill and destroy, but God has come to give us life, and life MORE abundantly!  The enemy is trying to use cancer to take God's people out, but we need to remind the enemy, that he is a defeated foe!  He is no match for us, THE GREATER one lives in us!  The devil is no match for those who believe God and His Word.  We need to receive our healing by faith, just like we did our very salvation.  By Jesus' stripes we were healed!  Jeremiah 29:11 says For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

Hope Rocks.

Monday...

Well... I thought I should add a little music to Brandi's blog to lift all of our spirits.  Of course I was thinking about some soothing Chris Tomlin praise music, but Brandi asked me to also add "Fight Like a Girl".  She's got a few days left to power through these treatments and I know she can do it.  (Maybe the Rocky theme song might even fit here... but Brandi's so much cuter than Sylvester Stallone!)  Anyway, please keep her in your prayers.  Ask God specifically to heal her inside and keep her mentally tough so she can finish strong.

Paul was one of my favorite heros of the Bible.  In the book of Acts, he said: ²²"And now, compelled by the Spirit, I am going to Jerusalem, not knowing what will happen to me there. ²³I only know that in every city the Holy Spirit warns me that prison and hardships are facing me. ²⁴However, I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the gospel of God's grace."  Go Brandi and continue praising your Father in Heaven along the way!  He is proud of you.  Love, Aunt Barrie

(Note: you can see that "Fight like a girl" is on the playlist...not sure why it won't play...I'm working on it!"

From Thursday to Thursday

Aunt Barrie again... just talked to Mike. Brandi is coming down the stretch as far as chemo and radiation. She has been experiencing some of the nasty side effects of these treatments. Good news is that the cancer is being blasted, and we're all happy about that. The plan is to put her through 5 more radiation treatments, and then sit back and wait... not sure how long we'll wait to decide on surgery, etc., but the main thing is that we pray her through these last 5 radiation treatments. Stick a note on your Bible, or on your refrigerator and say an extra prayer tomorrow, Mon, Tues, Wed and Thurs. If we can pray this family through this next week, they will feel as though the first leg of this race has been won.

"I am not moved by what I see or by what I feel or by what I hear. I am only moved by what I believe, and I believe God." ~Smith Wigglesworth

Keep the faith!

Tuesday Temp

This is Aunt Barrie... Again.... Sorry about that.  Apparently that fever finds Brandi irresistible and it just can't stay away.  So, Brandi is back in the hospital where she (and her fever) can be monitored closely.  I feel like this drill is getting old, and am pretty sure Brandi and Mike feel the same.  So maybe we could all spend a little extra time praying for her today and over the next couple days.  Sometimes I just take a walk around my neighborhood and leave my ipod home so I can spend the time praying for Brandi. Maybe some of you can post a comment on this entry in the form of a prayer and we can all pray it together. 

The Bible has so much great stuff in it.  John 3:16 always gets lots of attention & I love that verse; but another favorite verse of mine is John 16:33 where Jesus says, "In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world."  I can just see Jesus' eyes twinkling when He spoke those words... letting us know that He is even more loving and powerful than we can imagine.

Back on Track

It's Aunt Barrie again... Brandi made it home from the hospital last week and has been working hard to get rested up for today's chemo.  The latest tests showed that Brandi was anemic so they have ordered blood transfusions to help combat that symptom.  The good news is that home health care nurses can come directly to the house and hook Brandi up to IV's of blood transfusions, as well as fluids to keep her hydrated.  I love those proactive steps!  Maybe we can find out where we can all go to donate blood in Brandi's name.  Not that she would want any of our blood, but it's always nice to replenish the bank!  I will check on that.

The kids start school tomorrow.  They are both excited.  Lexi is such a great big sister helping Blu get all of his supplies in order.  (I love you, Lexi!)  Please pray for them as they adjust to a new schedule.  One of the first verses my kids memorized from their school was in Proverbs 3:5-6 "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, do not depend on your own understanding.  Seek His will in all you do, and He will show you which path to take."  Good advice.  I happen to think the next two verses are really great, too. "Don't be impressed with your own wisdom.  Instead fear the Lord and turn away from evil.  Then you will have healing for your body and strength for your soul." vs.7-8

Let's PRAY HARD for that healing and strength for Brandi and her family. 

Firemen always end up at the ER in the middle of the night...

This is Aunt Barrie blogging again for Brandi.  I tell you, it sure is hard to keep firefighters out of the ER!  Mike took Brandi in again this morning with symptoms similar to last week.  They hooked her up to some fluids and she began to perk up.  Seems that there are some hydration issues.  (If you've ever had a really bad case of food poisoning, triple the experience and then you have some idea of what I'm talking about.)

I got to sit with Brandi around noon time and she looked great.  The doctor is hoping that all the excitement is due to the dehydration and fortunately that is easily solved.  He's not too concerned that the chemo schedule may be modified because he put Brandi on the highest dosages imaginable and he said she has lots and lots of wiggle room.  Yeah.  

As you pray for Brandi, please pray for all of her doctors and nurses, too.  They work so hard and probably don't get half the credit they deserve.  The nurses can turn a bad day into a good one just by their compassion...

As I sat with Brandi, I was so encouraged by her faith.  I know she is always encouraged by all of yours, too.  I was reminded of Romans 1:12 "When we get together, I want to encourage you in your own faith, but I also want to be encouraged by yours."  Let's all keep praying hard and encouraging one another in the process.

Drama............

Okay, so we had a little drama this week but I'm finally home and recovering. Monday night I went to sleep feeling fine and woke up at 4:00 am with a horrible fever. I called my husband from work and he drove me to the hospital. When I got there I had a fever of 103, my blood pressure was 70/5o, and my heart rate was 12o. After about an hour in the E.R they had me stabilized but said "I just bought myself a bed, and I had to stop my chemo." The only thing they had found so far was a urinary tract infection but said I was very sick so they would be running all kinds of tests on my kidneys, blood, etc. looking for infection. They said if I got to go home it would be in a couple of days and only with IV antibiotics and a home health care nurse. My mom and I started calling our friends to pray hard, and asked that the only thing they find was a UTI infection. My mom and I then held hands and prayed for the same thing. I did not want to go home with an IV or deal with a blood infection. The next night my dad was with me when the Doctor came in and all he kept saying was "I can't believe how good you look (I swear he said it 3 or 4 times). He said all your tests came back negative except your UTI, I don't know what your doing but keep doing it. He then said I could go home the next day on oral antibiotics."

You have know idea how thankful I was to the Lord and for all your prayers!!!!!!!!!!!

The last thing that happened is that I asked my dad to take me for a walk after the good news. We walked around the pod and on our way back to my room there was a room that was two doors down from mine. I said, "Dad look at that." Just above the door it read, JANET SCHAMADAN R.N. FAMILY LOUNGE. This room had been dedicated to Mikes mom 20 plus years ago when she passed away......Mike didn't even know it was there...Janet was right down the hall from me the whole time....God is good! Love you Sissy and thank you Aunt Barrie for the beautiful blog I loved the verse,

You will not have to fight this battle. Take up your positions: stand firm and see the deliverance the Lord will give you....2 Chronicles 20:17

Excitement and Drama- prayer needed

No great cancer victory story is complete without a little drama and excitement.  Well, yesterday Brandi had a little bit of excitement.  (This is Aunt Barrie... Mike's sister blogging on behalf of Brandi today.) Early Tuesday morning, Brandi awoke with a fever.  My brother Mike, being the great protector that he is, assessed the situation and concluded that she needed to head to the ER. (Remember that Brandi was in the middle of Chemo Round 2 and had that crazy pump attached at the time.) She was admitted and evaluated.  It seems that the new chemo drugs that were being mixed in with the standard chemo drugs weren't getting along so well.  Adjustments have been made to the chemo cocktail, and it looks like things will get back on track.

In the meantime, the fever is still a concern. Fevers signal infection, and the only infection they have identified (so far) is a urinary tract infection (UTI).  That's actually a pretty typical infection seen during this type of cancer treatment.  Brandi has asked me to ask you that we all pray hard that the only infection causing her fever is this UTI.  When infections get in the bloodstream, things get a lot more dramatic than we need.  Her fever is down to 99 degrees or so this morning compared to 103 yesterday.

The presence of infection reminds us all that Brandi's condition is serious.  We need to be on our knees and praying, but we also need to be taking some practical steps as well.  Please do not call or visit for the time being.  I know we all love her and want to be supportive, but we can not risk carrying infection into her home.  Also, please don't send flowers as they may carry germs.  I'm sure that plain old "snail mail" would be a great encouragement for her.  The bottom line is... the more she isolates herself from physical contact with others, and the more she sleeps/rests, the better chance her body has of battling through this.  Heidi is coordinating food and I know while Brandi may not be that interested in eating, Mike and the kids need to eat, and eat well.  Thanks for keeping all these things in mind.  And thanks for those extra prayers today!

My "One Year Bible" included the following Psalm for August 4th and I found it quite timely:

"The Lord is my light and my salvation... so why should I be afraid? The Lord is my fortress protecting me from danger, so why should I tremble?..... Even when I am attacked, I will remain confident....For He will conceal me when troubles come; He will hide me in His sanctuary.  He will place me out of reach on a high rock... At His sanctuary I will offer sacrifices with shouts of joy, singing and praising the Lord with music."  Psalm 27:1-6

ROUND TWO!!!!!

It was Lexi's 9th Bithday Yesterday. She wanted her ears pierced and a slumber party. We had 9 little girls stay the night. My wonderful mom stayed the night too because Mike had to go to work and I have round 2.....So I left my mom with 9 little girls who went to bed at 1:00 am and woke up at 6:00...(sorry mom I had to go. ha ha ha)...So my sister and I are at round two this morning I'm very excited were almost half way done. I'm praying this new patch works for my nausea.(thank you Andrea for telling me about the patch)...Please pray it works. I started the nausea patch late last time, so I'm hoping it will help me.... I will let you know how I'm doing Wed..the medicine I take tomorrow is the one that tries to get me.... Have a great week.... Love you. sis

Lord What you are commanding me to do today is not to difficult for me or beyond my reach. (Deutteronomy 30:11)