Well, it has surely been too long since I have written. My computer has been broken for 2 weeks and it is only tentatively working right now. I was told to back it up this week and then the IT guys are going to clean it and reset it after they get back next week. So here is a catch up on my life. On Tuesday I pictured myself being on a beach with a hurricane blowing, with me holding onto a palm tree with my body suspended straight out by the blowing wind. That is how stressed I felt. Why? you might ask...
Here were my pressure points:
We were cleaning one of the townhouses we had had trouble getting the last renter out of. It was so filthy, the painters said they had never seen anything like it. Animal and human filth and it was so bad I didn't even go in until the carpet guys put an enzyme treatment down to kill the smell before laying the carpet. Greg went in with a shovel and just shuddered when telling me about it. (He is doing this in the evenings while working at Partners all day.) Greg had to fix all the holes in the walls including the results of an apparent paint ball game and knife throwing contest. Almost every door had holes kicked into it and had to be replaced. The tenant walked out with our washer and dryer too. So we had to get new ones (referbished). BUT they got out and we had until this last Wednesday at 6:00 p.m. to get it ready for the first girl to arrive.
So on Tuesday I called a friend who agreed to come and help me on Wednesday to do the final cleaning before the girl showed up with her family at 6 p.m. on Wed. We worked hard and fast and finshed the last touches right before they got there. So that pressure was on. That day the next unit emptied out, which meant we had to start all over again, but fortunately it was much less dirty. And we only have 5 days to get that one ready!
So when Lauren, a Moody Bible Institute freshman, arrived from Kansas City with her mom and sisters, she came in and exclaimed that the townhouse was fantastic! She loved it! It made us feel like it was all worthwhile.
Now 4 out of 30 have arrived and we expect 3 or 4 in the next few days. That includes one moving into the 4th townhouse which is getting carpeted on Monday. I have college and high school kids recruited to help Monday evening and a friend on Tuesday. Basicially, we are wiping down and cleaning every surface in the place. So we think by God's grace, we will be able to get it done in time.
Meanwhile, Allison came home on Wed night and she has been getting things done so she will be ready to leave on the 19th or 20th for Busan, South Korea. Orientation begins on the 22nd. They are asking her to get there on the 21st, but she looses a day traveling. She should get her school posting on Monday and then has to send off her passport for her visa. So lots of details still to take care of, and the mom always has to help! Right?
Jesse flew to Denver on early Tuesday morning, so it was some work to help him get ready.
And I saw the chiropractor 2 times this week since my neck and back was hurting so much from all the bending and muscle work of cleaning the townhouses. My left arm has gotten a little more swollen from all the exercise also. So I wore my arm sleeve this week. So, another alert that I need to be careful to not over do it with my body. The pain in my right leg where the clot supposedly was from what the tests showed, finally stopped hurting a week ago. I get my INR number checked at the anticoagulation clinic on Monday morning. I will see how I have done in keeping my number in the mid 2's for the last 2 weeks. The number tells how much Coumadin is in my ststem. That is another pressure point, along with writing a newsletter for the women's ministry at church this week.
So, Jenni and Jesse drive back to Spokane on Monday and Tuesday, and Laura comes Wednesday afternoon. We had hoped to camp, but there is still so much to do on the last townhouse which will be empty on Tuesday. So we will see how the week goes. We would love to take some days for focusing on time together as a family. But the Moody students are arriving and we have to be ready for them when they come. Please pray for us as we make daily decisions about how to spend our time together this coming week. We have 5 days with Laura here.
I will sign off as I need to get to bed. I will tell you more next time. God bless you for you interest and prayers. Blessings- Nancy Fritz
Sunday, August 10, 2008
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Medical update, and VBS ideas
Monday evening
We are having a quiet evening at home after spending a lot of time at the triplexes over the weekend. I wrote last time about the 6 townhomes Greg and I have bought as a retirement investment. I helped clean on Friday evening and painted on Saturday afternoon. I stayed home to rest yesterday, partly because of a stomach ache. Two of the older girls have moved in and are so excited. They plan to mentor the younger ones. We are emailing back and forth with parents and they are so grateful for this set up for their daughters just a few blocks from the Moody Bible Institute campus at 4th Memorial.
I was tired yesterday, but have been limiting myself when I feel tired. I see my oncologist tomorrow and will get the CAT scan results- more than "stable" and also the blood work results. Maybe he will be able to figure out why I got the blood clots. I am supposed to be in little danger of them traveling now that I have been on Coumadin for over a month. I am allowed to go on walks again, but we do go shorter distances, don’t go up or down hills, and we walk more slowly. My right leg is still having pains sometimes, so I put my leg up a lot and am resting it more. I am also wearing my compression stockings quite a bit. They are supposed to keep blood from pooling in my legs and forming more clots.
Wednesday medical update
I saw Dr. Sienko, my oncologist yesterday. It was a VERY encouraging appointment. He said all of my blood tests came back normal. I have no blood condition causing clots that they can test for. There a few other tests they can do after I get off Coumadin. He plans to have me on Coumadin for 6 months, so I get to stop in mid Dec. He explained that since my clots are just happening without any discernable cause, he wants me on it for a while, but not indefinitely. Some people just get clots for no discernable reason, and I am one of them. My CAT scan showed only little things that I have had for a long time and haven’t changed, and my MRI showed no cancer either.
We had a conversation about my last cancer being considered a metastasis as opposed to a recurrence. Recurrence would be when your cancer comes back in your beast tissue, and is much less threatening than a metastasis or growth of it in a different part of the body. He told me that we could think of mine as a recurrence. It was near my original cancer-in my left armpit, near my left breast cancer, and it was removable and treatable with radiation, chemo, and Femara- a type of hormone therapy. A metastasis would be something like brain, bone or liver cancer that wouldn’t be as removable and that is farther from the original tumor. A metastasis is automatically called stage 4 (out of 4) and can only be treated but never cured. So although he will see me again in 3 months, and we will remain vigilant and watchful, I am encouraged. My initial cancer was stage 2B or 3A, depending on how certain factors were considered. I had two types of cancer- both invasive (lobular and ductal), moderately aggressive and hormone receptive for estrogen and progesterone. My tumor (or the string of them) was 6 cm long, but it was also skinny- the largest one was about 2 cm’s. So that clarification on how to think of metastasis was very helpful. I just feel less “stage 4” than I did yesterday before talking to him. Thank you all for praying! God, as always, is the author of my days and for now I get more of them free from cancer!
About VBS-
I was asked for a description of what we did to promote missions during our VBS
this summer at Whitworth Pres. here in Spokane, Washington. We did a missions focus on Ghana, since we have adoped Partnership International's work there as a focus. We decided to aim for getting a plow, two bullocks (cows) and seeds for a church planter in Ghana through the Partners International’s Harvest of Hope catalog. A plow and cows would provide an ongoing income for a church planter's family. They could use it for their own plowing, but also rent it out to earn more income. The female cows also provide milk for the family. And seeds would get them started with food to eat and I assume, more seeds. This project of $1555 was pretty ambitious for the 275 kids in our VBS, but we thought they could do it. And why not try?!
I made a coloring sheet of the picture from the HOH catalog for the preschoolers to color. Greg spotted an old plow in a garden in our neighborhood and I asked the people if we could borrow it. With their permission, we brought it to church and put it on the lawn outside the door where the kids came into the building. It looked very much like the one we were trying to earn. We put it into the church shed every night to keep it safe.
I put up our camping screen room and we pinned signs on it like, "Ghana Hut," “Plow now brown cow!” and, “It’s no yoke, we’re earning a plow!” There were other decorations also- missions related. We put 2 card tables inside and on one had a 3-fold board with pictures of the project and a map of the world with Ghana on it and giving sheets from the Harvest of Hope Catalog. On the other table we had packets from Compassion International for families to choose a child to sponsor from Ghana.
I wrote a ½ page note to go home with the kids every day that tied our giving project into the VBS curriculum. We made bookmarks for the kids that had “B2baB” (Blessed to be a Blessing) on them, and Ghana ’08 on the back. We have 2 Whitworth students who also go to our church and asked if they could be around as much a possible at the beginning and end of VBS each day. At least one of them is the son of one of our Partners leaders in Africa. We made these two college guys the stars of the week. They played the drum when we did our skit and also out in the Ghana Hut, where they also autographed the kids’ bookmarks for them and let the kids play their drum. Kids were lined up at the door of the “Ghana Hut” to meet these guys! It was amazing. They each had a folding lawn chair to sit on, and I had one outside the door. As goofy Hannah from Ghana, I had our drum from Uganda there and let the kids play it while they waited on line. Kofi and Elam have been at our church all year, but now the kids have gotten to know them.
Julie and I were the “Ghana Sisters.” Julie was Gerti and I was “Hannah from Ghana” (pronouncing Ghana like you would pronounce Hannah) and they corrected me every time, telling me that I was “Haaaannna from Ghana” (pronounced like Ghana). The goal of this was to get them used to pronouncing and remembering the country name.
Also every day I wore clothes from different countries that I have collected over the years. India, Uzbekistan, Malaysia, Japan (borrowed) and at last on Friday I got it right and had an outfit from Ghana (also borrowed). So every morning during the opening we would do a skit. I would model my amazing outfit for the kids and then tell Gerti where it was from. We had a map on the power point and pointed out the countries my clothes were from and Gerti would patiently correct me and show me how far away from Ghana I was. The idea here was to get them to know where Ghana is in the world. By Friday they really knew! They would correct me every time I said it wrong and encourage me to try and find clothes from Ghana.
I came out for our skit with a big bag with something in it every day. The first day I had little things I thought they could give a bunch of- toothbrushes or toothpicks, or little plastic tops, etc. Gerti insisted that they could give BIG. So I acted doubtful all week and told them I didn’t think they could do it. I also had in my bag a stuffed animal from the thrift store for each day. Monday was a large pink elephant, Tues. a squirrel, a kangaroo, a moose and finally on Friday a stuffed cow. So each day I would go stick it into the plow outside so they would see it when they went to their activities. They were concerned that its’ feet couldn’t reach the ground and enjoyed the goofiness of it- always telling me I needed to find a COW.
On Thursday a mom helping with music came and told me the Lord was prompting her to bring her cow on Friday. We have farms in our area and they have a Scottish Highlander white long haired cow with horns like the ones we were earning. The long hair was the only major difference. They set up a pen, got a friend with a trailer to help, and the kids were extremely excited on Friday to see a real cow! Of course, Hannah from Ghana took most of the credit!
Giving
We gave the kids the idea of doing a lemonade stand with a Ghana promo sign on it. Tuesday morning 2 girls came in with $75 from their lemonade stand! They went to neighbors around their house and told them about the stand. Most gave $5 or $10 and told them to keep the change for Ghana. They shared their story Tuesday morning and others did the same. It was a hot week. Someone told me she spotted a few more Ghana stands when she was driving around. By Friday we had over $2000 dollars, and on Sunday, with some extra giving from the congregation, we ended up with $650 over our goal- $2205! We were able to give enough for Partners ministries to start a small business in Ghana also. WOW! It was a memorable week. I do think the pastor who offered to get “slimed” if the kids raised the money didn’t hurt. He had 4 gallons of apple sauce from Costco dumped over his head on Friday when Hannah from Ghana made the announcement. Partners staff came over from our office and took pictures of all this to go onto our website and maybe into a publication to give other churches an idea of how to pick a project and make it part of VBS. I also wrote up a few ideas for a VBS focus on giving to one of our Dalit HOH projects for Partners. Check out the Partners website (www.partnersintl.org) to get a hold of that. Let me know if you have trouble finding it there.
Well, enough for one day. I figured you would either want to know all about VBS or nothing, so you could skip that part of you weren't interested. Allison's job is requiring her to be in South Korea by August 21st, so she is going to fly home on the 6th so we can get her ready. Jesse is in Los Angeles right now in the inner city doing his mission trip. Please be praying for them this week. His leaders told me they were going to rely heavily on him for music for VBS and other leadership things. Thanks as always for your interest and prayers. God bless you- Nancy
We are having a quiet evening at home after spending a lot of time at the triplexes over the weekend. I wrote last time about the 6 townhomes Greg and I have bought as a retirement investment. I helped clean on Friday evening and painted on Saturday afternoon. I stayed home to rest yesterday, partly because of a stomach ache. Two of the older girls have moved in and are so excited. They plan to mentor the younger ones. We are emailing back and forth with parents and they are so grateful for this set up for their daughters just a few blocks from the Moody Bible Institute campus at 4th Memorial.
I was tired yesterday, but have been limiting myself when I feel tired. I see my oncologist tomorrow and will get the CAT scan results- more than "stable" and also the blood work results. Maybe he will be able to figure out why I got the blood clots. I am supposed to be in little danger of them traveling now that I have been on Coumadin for over a month. I am allowed to go on walks again, but we do go shorter distances, don’t go up or down hills, and we walk more slowly. My right leg is still having pains sometimes, so I put my leg up a lot and am resting it more. I am also wearing my compression stockings quite a bit. They are supposed to keep blood from pooling in my legs and forming more clots.
Wednesday medical update
I saw Dr. Sienko, my oncologist yesterday. It was a VERY encouraging appointment. He said all of my blood tests came back normal. I have no blood condition causing clots that they can test for. There a few other tests they can do after I get off Coumadin. He plans to have me on Coumadin for 6 months, so I get to stop in mid Dec. He explained that since my clots are just happening without any discernable cause, he wants me on it for a while, but not indefinitely. Some people just get clots for no discernable reason, and I am one of them. My CAT scan showed only little things that I have had for a long time and haven’t changed, and my MRI showed no cancer either.
We had a conversation about my last cancer being considered a metastasis as opposed to a recurrence. Recurrence would be when your cancer comes back in your beast tissue, and is much less threatening than a metastasis or growth of it in a different part of the body. He told me that we could think of mine as a recurrence. It was near my original cancer-in my left armpit, near my left breast cancer, and it was removable and treatable with radiation, chemo, and Femara- a type of hormone therapy. A metastasis would be something like brain, bone or liver cancer that wouldn’t be as removable and that is farther from the original tumor. A metastasis is automatically called stage 4 (out of 4) and can only be treated but never cured. So although he will see me again in 3 months, and we will remain vigilant and watchful, I am encouraged. My initial cancer was stage 2B or 3A, depending on how certain factors were considered. I had two types of cancer- both invasive (lobular and ductal), moderately aggressive and hormone receptive for estrogen and progesterone. My tumor (or the string of them) was 6 cm long, but it was also skinny- the largest one was about 2 cm’s. So that clarification on how to think of metastasis was very helpful. I just feel less “stage 4” than I did yesterday before talking to him. Thank you all for praying! God, as always, is the author of my days and for now I get more of them free from cancer!
About VBS-
I was asked for a description of what we did to promote missions during our VBS
this summer at Whitworth Pres. here in Spokane, Washington. We did a missions focus on Ghana, since we have adoped Partnership International's work there as a focus. We decided to aim for getting a plow, two bullocks (cows) and seeds for a church planter in Ghana through the Partners International’s Harvest of Hope catalog. A plow and cows would provide an ongoing income for a church planter's family. They could use it for their own plowing, but also rent it out to earn more income. The female cows also provide milk for the family. And seeds would get them started with food to eat and I assume, more seeds. This project of $1555 was pretty ambitious for the 275 kids in our VBS, but we thought they could do it. And why not try?!
I made a coloring sheet of the picture from the HOH catalog for the preschoolers to color. Greg spotted an old plow in a garden in our neighborhood and I asked the people if we could borrow it. With their permission, we brought it to church and put it on the lawn outside the door where the kids came into the building. It looked very much like the one we were trying to earn. We put it into the church shed every night to keep it safe.
I put up our camping screen room and we pinned signs on it like, "Ghana Hut," “Plow now brown cow!” and, “It’s no yoke, we’re earning a plow!” There were other decorations also- missions related. We put 2 card tables inside and on one had a 3-fold board with pictures of the project and a map of the world with Ghana on it and giving sheets from the Harvest of Hope Catalog. On the other table we had packets from Compassion International for families to choose a child to sponsor from Ghana.
I wrote a ½ page note to go home with the kids every day that tied our giving project into the VBS curriculum. We made bookmarks for the kids that had “B2baB” (Blessed to be a Blessing) on them, and Ghana ’08 on the back. We have 2 Whitworth students who also go to our church and asked if they could be around as much a possible at the beginning and end of VBS each day. At least one of them is the son of one of our Partners leaders in Africa. We made these two college guys the stars of the week. They played the drum when we did our skit and also out in the Ghana Hut, where they also autographed the kids’ bookmarks for them and let the kids play their drum. Kids were lined up at the door of the “Ghana Hut” to meet these guys! It was amazing. They each had a folding lawn chair to sit on, and I had one outside the door. As goofy Hannah from Ghana, I had our drum from Uganda there and let the kids play it while they waited on line. Kofi and Elam have been at our church all year, but now the kids have gotten to know them.
Julie and I were the “Ghana Sisters.” Julie was Gerti and I was “Hannah from Ghana” (pronouncing Ghana like you would pronounce Hannah) and they corrected me every time, telling me that I was “Haaaannna from Ghana” (pronounced like Ghana). The goal of this was to get them used to pronouncing and remembering the country name.
Also every day I wore clothes from different countries that I have collected over the years. India, Uzbekistan, Malaysia, Japan (borrowed) and at last on Friday I got it right and had an outfit from Ghana (also borrowed). So every morning during the opening we would do a skit. I would model my amazing outfit for the kids and then tell Gerti where it was from. We had a map on the power point and pointed out the countries my clothes were from and Gerti would patiently correct me and show me how far away from Ghana I was. The idea here was to get them to know where Ghana is in the world. By Friday they really knew! They would correct me every time I said it wrong and encourage me to try and find clothes from Ghana.
I came out for our skit with a big bag with something in it every day. The first day I had little things I thought they could give a bunch of- toothbrushes or toothpicks, or little plastic tops, etc. Gerti insisted that they could give BIG. So I acted doubtful all week and told them I didn’t think they could do it. I also had in my bag a stuffed animal from the thrift store for each day. Monday was a large pink elephant, Tues. a squirrel, a kangaroo, a moose and finally on Friday a stuffed cow. So each day I would go stick it into the plow outside so they would see it when they went to their activities. They were concerned that its’ feet couldn’t reach the ground and enjoyed the goofiness of it- always telling me I needed to find a COW.
On Thursday a mom helping with music came and told me the Lord was prompting her to bring her cow on Friday. We have farms in our area and they have a Scottish Highlander white long haired cow with horns like the ones we were earning. The long hair was the only major difference. They set up a pen, got a friend with a trailer to help, and the kids were extremely excited on Friday to see a real cow! Of course, Hannah from Ghana took most of the credit!
Giving
We gave the kids the idea of doing a lemonade stand with a Ghana promo sign on it. Tuesday morning 2 girls came in with $75 from their lemonade stand! They went to neighbors around their house and told them about the stand. Most gave $5 or $10 and told them to keep the change for Ghana. They shared their story Tuesday morning and others did the same. It was a hot week. Someone told me she spotted a few more Ghana stands when she was driving around. By Friday we had over $2000 dollars, and on Sunday, with some extra giving from the congregation, we ended up with $650 over our goal- $2205! We were able to give enough for Partners ministries to start a small business in Ghana also. WOW! It was a memorable week. I do think the pastor who offered to get “slimed” if the kids raised the money didn’t hurt. He had 4 gallons of apple sauce from Costco dumped over his head on Friday when Hannah from Ghana made the announcement. Partners staff came over from our office and took pictures of all this to go onto our website and maybe into a publication to give other churches an idea of how to pick a project and make it part of VBS. I also wrote up a few ideas for a VBS focus on giving to one of our Dalit HOH projects for Partners. Check out the Partners website (www.partnersintl.org) to get a hold of that. Let me know if you have trouble finding it there.
Well, enough for one day. I figured you would either want to know all about VBS or nothing, so you could skip that part of you weren't interested. Allison's job is requiring her to be in South Korea by August 21st, so she is going to fly home on the 6th so we can get her ready. Jesse is in Los Angeles right now in the inner city doing his mission trip. Please be praying for them this week. His leaders told me they were going to rely heavily on him for music for VBS and other leadership things. Thanks as always for your interest and prayers. God bless you- Nancy
Friday, July 18, 2008
Some test results are in- no cancer!
Dear friends,
I saw my breast surgeon about some new lumpiness on the left side of my chest. She agreed with me that it was new since I was there in Feb, and she ordered an MRI to help us know whether or not it is cancer or scar tissue. I am so happy to report that the MRI came back showing that the area of concern does not have a blood supply feeding it. She said that cancer always does, so we can continue to watch it, but no need for surgery. My left side is sticking out an inch further than my right, and this has just transpired in the last few months. That is why I went to see her. This wait and see method is different than I am used to, but I do trust her, so I am trying to let go and not worry about it.
Meantime, the DVT’s (deep vein thrombosis) showed up in my legs. Cancer is the one and only risk factor that I have for why I got them. The Femara I suspected at first is not a clot propogator like Tamoxifen is. Either current cancer happening or if a person has ever had cancer treatment can cause them. I hope I don’t have cancer now, which is why my oncologist ordered a bunch of blood tests and a CAT scan of my trunk. The short answer of the nurse to my inquiry about the results last week were, “stable,” and, “Have a great weekend.” I know there were very little things we have kept an eye on for years, and stable probably meant that none of those have changed, and there is nothing new to be concerned about. I will see my oncologist on Tuesday to find out what the blood tests showed, if anything. There are blood conditions that can cause clots that he was able to check for. I haven’t heard any results on those. The only one I heard mentioned specifically was lupis. I do know that they messed up a few of the tests and had to poke me again to redraw more blood. What 's another poke at this point. I have lost count!
I have been to the Anticoagulation Clinic a lot and went a week in between visits last week and get 9 days this time. I am doing 7 ½ mg 4 days a week and 10mg the other 3 days. It has been in the 2.1 to 2.3 range and they want it a little higher. I eagerly look forward to my 3 salads a week. . Vitamin K is the enemy of Coumadin, but a whole summer without K laden broccoli is torture. But seriously, God is giving me grace.
My right leg is still painful, which could mean there is still a clot, or another clot there. They said all clots will eventually dissolve themselves in 3 weeks or so, but the Coumadin thins the blood to prevent it from happening again. Apparently, once you have had a clot, a rough spot remains on the side of that vein at that location. Then future cells going by can hook onto that rough spot and form another clot later. There has still been no discovery yet regarding what has caused these clots all of a sudden in my calves. Hopefully Dr. Sienko will have some ideas when I see him Tuesday. I am very sore and achy in my back and neck and generally all over. I can still do things I want to do, but running or jumping is out. We walk every evening we are home, but don’t go as far as we did before. This has been going on for a long time. Probably since cancer treatment 2 years ago.
DAUGHTERS
Last time I wrote, Jenni had just gotten a job at Chipoltle in Highlands Ranch, CO near Thunder Ridge High School. She is doing well with that and is using her high school Spanish to communicate with her co-workers. She is also pricing guitars. She is doing serious worship leading at college this year and it is time for her to get more than a low end instrument. She starts school on August 25th at Grove City College, so we are looking for her plane ticket to get back. I know Sean and Janet Willcox are going to miss our girls when they leave. They have enjoyed their summer daughters as much as we have enjoyed Lindsay.
Now it is Allison who has gotten a job. And not just any job! Allison was recruited to become an English teacher in a public elementary school in South Korea! She will be the English teacher for the entire school and will have all the kids in the school learning from her. There are several others from her college who are also working for the same company there in varius schools, so she felt confident enough to pursue the interviews. She found out yesterday that it is done. She has been officially employed by the department of education there. Now she is filling in all the paperwork ASAP and has to report for work on August 21st. She has a 12 month contract. They pay for her travel there and back and provide housing free. She hopes to get some great experience under her belt and begin paying off her loans. She is very excited!
Laura is still with AT&T. She got her I-Phone last week- a fun perk. She and some friends have started an international student fellowship group which is going well. She is planning to come visit us from Aug. 13th to the 18th , before Allison leaves. So we are hoping to spend those days together as a family.
Believe it or not, we are sort of “adopting” 30 more daughters this fall. Greg and I have invested in getting a property of 2 triplexes here in Spokane. There are 3 rooms in each of the 6 townhouses. Our plan is for it to be an apartment for Moody Bible Institute women freshmen to live in. Moody here doesn’t own dorms, so the students just hunt for apartments. Our units are just a few blocks from the church that houses their campus, and they can have community with each other with a few older students living with them to mentor them. There will be 30 this fall, until the last of the units is free from the current renter, and hopefully 6 more girls for a total of 36 next year.
So we are cleaning, patching walls, changing out doors, sinks, furnaces, painting, carpeting, etc, etc. as the current renters move out. I have helped some with the cleaning and Greg has been there a lot. He has people doing the various jobs. We have used our retirement money to invest in this, and we believe it will be a blessing to the Moody student women as well. The administration is very excited although we don’t have an official agreement with them. Please pray for the other 3 tenants to move out as scheduled or before schedule, so we can get in to do the repairs before our 30 adopted daughters move in by mid August. These townhouses are near Gonzaga Univ. campus as well and are about 20 minutes from our house or 10 minutes from Partners. We sense the Lord's hand on this whole endeaver and would appreciate your prayers.
Lindsay, our honorary “Exchange Daughter” of summer ’08 has only one more day with us before she is gone for the summer. She has been a delight and has filled the gap we were feeling about missing our girls. She will begin her sr. year at Whitworth this fall, so we still look forward to seeing her during the year.
SON
Jesse is planning to leave for his youth group mission trip to inner city LA at 4:00 a.m. on Sunday morning. I know he would be grateful for your prayers for that week. He has n eight hour shift at Starbucks both Friday and Sat. before leaving. He will be leading worship for the group during the trip, and I have heard from the leaders that he will play a major role in the VBS they will be leading. He then plans to go to Denver August 5th and see friends there, and then drive back to Spokane in Allison’s car with Jenni. Allison is going to fly home sooner so we have time to get her ready to go to S. Korea.
So, health issues, children coming, children going, property cleaning and prepping, meeting 30 new girls, and doing our “regular” jobs. I still need to tell you about our camp teaching time, VBS missions at our church and the cow, the African children's choir, and so much more. More on those later. Such amazing things are happening at Partners International!
God Bless you! Sorry this is so long. I shouldn’t have waited so long to write an update. Blessings- Nancy Fritz
I saw my breast surgeon about some new lumpiness on the left side of my chest. She agreed with me that it was new since I was there in Feb, and she ordered an MRI to help us know whether or not it is cancer or scar tissue. I am so happy to report that the MRI came back showing that the area of concern does not have a blood supply feeding it. She said that cancer always does, so we can continue to watch it, but no need for surgery. My left side is sticking out an inch further than my right, and this has just transpired in the last few months. That is why I went to see her. This wait and see method is different than I am used to, but I do trust her, so I am trying to let go and not worry about it.
Meantime, the DVT’s (deep vein thrombosis) showed up in my legs. Cancer is the one and only risk factor that I have for why I got them. The Femara I suspected at first is not a clot propogator like Tamoxifen is. Either current cancer happening or if a person has ever had cancer treatment can cause them. I hope I don’t have cancer now, which is why my oncologist ordered a bunch of blood tests and a CAT scan of my trunk. The short answer of the nurse to my inquiry about the results last week were, “stable,” and, “Have a great weekend.” I know there were very little things we have kept an eye on for years, and stable probably meant that none of those have changed, and there is nothing new to be concerned about. I will see my oncologist on Tuesday to find out what the blood tests showed, if anything. There are blood conditions that can cause clots that he was able to check for. I haven’t heard any results on those. The only one I heard mentioned specifically was lupis. I do know that they messed up a few of the tests and had to poke me again to redraw more blood. What 's another poke at this point. I have lost count!
I have been to the Anticoagulation Clinic a lot and went a week in between visits last week and get 9 days this time. I am doing 7 ½ mg 4 days a week and 10mg the other 3 days. It has been in the 2.1 to 2.3 range and they want it a little higher. I eagerly look forward to my 3 salads a week. . Vitamin K is the enemy of Coumadin, but a whole summer without K laden broccoli is torture. But seriously, God is giving me grace.
My right leg is still painful, which could mean there is still a clot, or another clot there. They said all clots will eventually dissolve themselves in 3 weeks or so, but the Coumadin thins the blood to prevent it from happening again. Apparently, once you have had a clot, a rough spot remains on the side of that vein at that location. Then future cells going by can hook onto that rough spot and form another clot later. There has still been no discovery yet regarding what has caused these clots all of a sudden in my calves. Hopefully Dr. Sienko will have some ideas when I see him Tuesday. I am very sore and achy in my back and neck and generally all over. I can still do things I want to do, but running or jumping is out. We walk every evening we are home, but don’t go as far as we did before. This has been going on for a long time. Probably since cancer treatment 2 years ago.
DAUGHTERS
Last time I wrote, Jenni had just gotten a job at Chipoltle in Highlands Ranch, CO near Thunder Ridge High School. She is doing well with that and is using her high school Spanish to communicate with her co-workers. She is also pricing guitars. She is doing serious worship leading at college this year and it is time for her to get more than a low end instrument. She starts school on August 25th at Grove City College, so we are looking for her plane ticket to get back. I know Sean and Janet Willcox are going to miss our girls when they leave. They have enjoyed their summer daughters as much as we have enjoyed Lindsay.
Now it is Allison who has gotten a job. And not just any job! Allison was recruited to become an English teacher in a public elementary school in South Korea! She will be the English teacher for the entire school and will have all the kids in the school learning from her. There are several others from her college who are also working for the same company there in varius schools, so she felt confident enough to pursue the interviews. She found out yesterday that it is done. She has been officially employed by the department of education there. Now she is filling in all the paperwork ASAP and has to report for work on August 21st. She has a 12 month contract. They pay for her travel there and back and provide housing free. She hopes to get some great experience under her belt and begin paying off her loans. She is very excited!
Laura is still with AT&T. She got her I-Phone last week- a fun perk. She and some friends have started an international student fellowship group which is going well. She is planning to come visit us from Aug. 13th to the 18th , before Allison leaves. So we are hoping to spend those days together as a family.
Believe it or not, we are sort of “adopting” 30 more daughters this fall. Greg and I have invested in getting a property of 2 triplexes here in Spokane. There are 3 rooms in each of the 6 townhouses. Our plan is for it to be an apartment for Moody Bible Institute women freshmen to live in. Moody here doesn’t own dorms, so the students just hunt for apartments. Our units are just a few blocks from the church that houses their campus, and they can have community with each other with a few older students living with them to mentor them. There will be 30 this fall, until the last of the units is free from the current renter, and hopefully 6 more girls for a total of 36 next year.
So we are cleaning, patching walls, changing out doors, sinks, furnaces, painting, carpeting, etc, etc. as the current renters move out. I have helped some with the cleaning and Greg has been there a lot. He has people doing the various jobs. We have used our retirement money to invest in this, and we believe it will be a blessing to the Moody student women as well. The administration is very excited although we don’t have an official agreement with them. Please pray for the other 3 tenants to move out as scheduled or before schedule, so we can get in to do the repairs before our 30 adopted daughters move in by mid August. These townhouses are near Gonzaga Univ. campus as well and are about 20 minutes from our house or 10 minutes from Partners. We sense the Lord's hand on this whole endeaver and would appreciate your prayers.
Lindsay, our honorary “Exchange Daughter” of summer ’08 has only one more day with us before she is gone for the summer. She has been a delight and has filled the gap we were feeling about missing our girls. She will begin her sr. year at Whitworth this fall, so we still look forward to seeing her during the year.
SON
Jesse is planning to leave for his youth group mission trip to inner city LA at 4:00 a.m. on Sunday morning. I know he would be grateful for your prayers for that week. He has n eight hour shift at Starbucks both Friday and Sat. before leaving. He will be leading worship for the group during the trip, and I have heard from the leaders that he will play a major role in the VBS they will be leading. He then plans to go to Denver August 5th and see friends there, and then drive back to Spokane in Allison’s car with Jenni. Allison is going to fly home sooner so we have time to get her ready to go to S. Korea.
So, health issues, children coming, children going, property cleaning and prepping, meeting 30 new girls, and doing our “regular” jobs. I still need to tell you about our camp teaching time, VBS missions at our church and the cow, the African children's choir, and so much more. More on those later. Such amazing things are happening at Partners International!
God Bless you! Sorry this is so long. I shouldn’t have waited so long to write an update. Blessings- Nancy Fritz
Wednesday, July 02, 2008
My 25th Anniversary today!
Dear friends,
It is July 2nd and 25 years ago, about now, Greg and I got married at his parents’ house in Benton, PA. It was a hot day, like this one in Spokane, but a lot more humid. I remember waking up that morning and hearing thunder clapping- and then I thought of the piano we had moved out there to the lawn the day before. We had covered it well, but actual rain? We discovered later that morning that it had gotten so humid that the piano made no sound when played. So several took turns out there with a hair dryer on an extension cord blow drying the pads. It worked, praise God!
We have been nostalgic this week remembering who was there, our gift of a honeymoon in the Poconos, driving across the country to our new home in Pasadena with our German Shepherd puppy, Jedi, in the Chevette with us. Those were exciting days!
I also remember all who prayed for our union. God has blessed us in huge ways. He provided a home and great housemates to live with in community for 7 ½ years, a home in Denver and now one in Spokane, WA. We have been privileged to work in amazing ministry all these years as well. Our focus on the unreached peoples continues to be at the heart of what we get to do as a job, and that is a true and ultimate gift from God. We have four beautiful and healthy children who love the Lord and who have hearts for the nations. We have friends serving all around the globe as well as friends everywhere we have lived.
Ten years ago we actually commented on how blessed and relatively easy our lives had been. We knew that was unusual and just thanked God for the smooth times and asked Him to get us ready for any hard ones coming up. Nine years ago right now, I was beginning chemo therapy for breast cancer. Two years ago, I was going through the same thing with radiation thrown in. Currently I have DVT’s (deep vein thrombosis) in both calves and am getting “titrated” on Coumadin and retested for cancer as the doctors can’t think of any reason other than that for me to be getting clots with no history or incidents to cause it. So it is sort of a “Here we go again…” but I have to tell you what I am thankful for. It is me and not one of my kids or Greg going through this. Also, I have gotten to experience the ‘fellowship of His sufferings,’ and the richness and intimacy of that place I wouldn’t trade for anything. We have learned much and are so grateful to a God who loves us beyond comprehension.
I am also thankful for a great husband. We have had so much fun together. Memories on top of memories! He is godly and disciplined and I am less disciplined but very creative. We complement each other and are committed to working through even the disagreements. Divorce is not an option for us. We promised 25 years ago, and by the grace of God, we have been able to keep that promise. Thank you to all of you who pray for us. We are so thankful for you also! Where would we be without friends and family?!
I hope you have a nice day. Blessings- Nancy Fritz
It is July 2nd and 25 years ago, about now, Greg and I got married at his parents’ house in Benton, PA. It was a hot day, like this one in Spokane, but a lot more humid. I remember waking up that morning and hearing thunder clapping- and then I thought of the piano we had moved out there to the lawn the day before. We had covered it well, but actual rain? We discovered later that morning that it had gotten so humid that the piano made no sound when played. So several took turns out there with a hair dryer on an extension cord blow drying the pads. It worked, praise God!
We have been nostalgic this week remembering who was there, our gift of a honeymoon in the Poconos, driving across the country to our new home in Pasadena with our German Shepherd puppy, Jedi, in the Chevette with us. Those were exciting days!
I also remember all who prayed for our union. God has blessed us in huge ways. He provided a home and great housemates to live with in community for 7 ½ years, a home in Denver and now one in Spokane, WA. We have been privileged to work in amazing ministry all these years as well. Our focus on the unreached peoples continues to be at the heart of what we get to do as a job, and that is a true and ultimate gift from God. We have four beautiful and healthy children who love the Lord and who have hearts for the nations. We have friends serving all around the globe as well as friends everywhere we have lived.
Ten years ago we actually commented on how blessed and relatively easy our lives had been. We knew that was unusual and just thanked God for the smooth times and asked Him to get us ready for any hard ones coming up. Nine years ago right now, I was beginning chemo therapy for breast cancer. Two years ago, I was going through the same thing with radiation thrown in. Currently I have DVT’s (deep vein thrombosis) in both calves and am getting “titrated” on Coumadin and retested for cancer as the doctors can’t think of any reason other than that for me to be getting clots with no history or incidents to cause it. So it is sort of a “Here we go again…” but I have to tell you what I am thankful for. It is me and not one of my kids or Greg going through this. Also, I have gotten to experience the ‘fellowship of His sufferings,’ and the richness and intimacy of that place I wouldn’t trade for anything. We have learned much and are so grateful to a God who loves us beyond comprehension.
I am also thankful for a great husband. We have had so much fun together. Memories on top of memories! He is godly and disciplined and I am less disciplined but very creative. We complement each other and are committed to working through even the disagreements. Divorce is not an option for us. We promised 25 years ago, and by the grace of God, we have been able to keep that promise. Thank you to all of you who pray for us. We are so thankful for you also! Where would we be without friends and family?!
I hope you have a nice day. Blessings- Nancy Fritz
Sunday, June 22, 2008
Blood Clots #3 I feel like a pin cushion!
Dear friends,
I am grabbing a few minutes to give you an update. The short version is that there seems to be no reason for me getting blood clots in my calves that the doctors can discern. My thought that the medication I am on was causing it fell through when my oncologist told me that Femara hardly ever has that as a side effect. My naturopath said that maybe I am one of those 2 in a hundred that does get that side effect. So 8 tubes of blood were drawn and some testing is being done. I will find out the results in about 2 weeks.
I figured out that I have been poked 28 times in the last 10 days. I have been going to the anticoagulation clinic daily to have my Coumadin levels checked. Until my number was over 2.0, I had to give myself shots of Lovenox in my stomach 2 times a day. It is a faster acting anticoagulation med. That was so PAINFUL! The needle wasn’t too bad, but the medicine itself felt like a punch in the stomach. Then it hurt less after about 20 minutes. In general, my stomach is just sore with purple bruises at most of the shot sights, and I have been having flashbacks to chemo fatigue days. I am very tired
The Coumadin finally went from 1.9 to 3.7 on Wednesday night, so I was allowed to stop doing the shots. I am doing various amounts of Coumadin every night as they try to get my levels regulated. My legs are sore, but the compression stockings actually feel pretty good.
One thing that could cause all this is cancer. So they are scheduling me for an MRI and a CT to make sure things are OK in there. That should happen in the next few weeks. One other thing to pray about is that my white count went from 6.6 to 2.9 in 2 days when I began these meds. Five days later it was down to 2.5. They don’t know why this is happening either. My fertile imagination has me remembering those painful Neupogen shots I had to do during chemo for a low white count, so pray that I don’t have to do that. My oncologist is watching my levels pretty closely.
I am teaching 4 evenings this week at a Christian camp- missions to college freshmen in a leadership program. We have been preparing for months and are planning to go ahead. I also have a 3-5 minute skit for missions at VBS each morning this week and in between I plan to SLEEP! Tomorrow morning I have to be at the Anticoag. Clinic at 8:10, and then over to VBS by 8:30ish. We will drive back from camp tonight as it is only 35 minutes. We might stay there some of the other nights.
I so appreciate your love and prayers. Here we go again! Blessings on your day! Nancy
I am grabbing a few minutes to give you an update. The short version is that there seems to be no reason for me getting blood clots in my calves that the doctors can discern. My thought that the medication I am on was causing it fell through when my oncologist told me that Femara hardly ever has that as a side effect. My naturopath said that maybe I am one of those 2 in a hundred that does get that side effect. So 8 tubes of blood were drawn and some testing is being done. I will find out the results in about 2 weeks.
I figured out that I have been poked 28 times in the last 10 days. I have been going to the anticoagulation clinic daily to have my Coumadin levels checked. Until my number was over 2.0, I had to give myself shots of Lovenox in my stomach 2 times a day. It is a faster acting anticoagulation med. That was so PAINFUL! The needle wasn’t too bad, but the medicine itself felt like a punch in the stomach. Then it hurt less after about 20 minutes. In general, my stomach is just sore with purple bruises at most of the shot sights, and I have been having flashbacks to chemo fatigue days. I am very tired
The Coumadin finally went from 1.9 to 3.7 on Wednesday night, so I was allowed to stop doing the shots. I am doing various amounts of Coumadin every night as they try to get my levels regulated. My legs are sore, but the compression stockings actually feel pretty good.
One thing that could cause all this is cancer. So they are scheduling me for an MRI and a CT to make sure things are OK in there. That should happen in the next few weeks. One other thing to pray about is that my white count went from 6.6 to 2.9 in 2 days when I began these meds. Five days later it was down to 2.5. They don’t know why this is happening either. My fertile imagination has me remembering those painful Neupogen shots I had to do during chemo for a low white count, so pray that I don’t have to do that. My oncologist is watching my levels pretty closely.
I am teaching 4 evenings this week at a Christian camp- missions to college freshmen in a leadership program. We have been preparing for months and are planning to go ahead. I also have a 3-5 minute skit for missions at VBS each morning this week and in between I plan to SLEEP! Tomorrow morning I have to be at the Anticoag. Clinic at 8:10, and then over to VBS by 8:30ish. We will drive back from camp tonight as it is only 35 minutes. We might stay there some of the other nights.
I so appreciate your love and prayers. Here we go again! Blessings on your day! Nancy
Monday, June 16, 2008
Clots are complicated!
I found out last Thursday morning that I have two DVT’s (deep vein thrombosis) – one in each calf. The one on the left, with the large bruise above it, is high in my calf and can been seen clearly on the ultrasound test. The suspected clot in my right calf is several inches above my ankle. It is hard to see clots there, but there were indications of it on the ultrasound with the various pressure tests they did. And the pain I have been having is right where they think they found the clot. So they are pretty sure I have two clots, but are sure there is at least one.
I have been to the “Anticoagulation Clinic” 3 times so far, and have to go tomorrow and Wednesday mornings also. They are carefully tracking the amount of Coumadin in my system. It takes at least 5 days to “ramp up” to a safe amount of thinner, so while that is happening, they are having me give myself 2 shots of Lovenox a day, 12 hours apart.
The shots go into my love handles. The needles themselves aren’t bad, but the medicine really hurts for about 15 minutes. Lovenox absorbs into my body more quickly than Coumadin, so they want me to do it to get my blood into that safe zone ASAP. My number needs to be at 2 or above for two days before I am allowed to stop the shots. My number was 1 when I started, was 1.1 on Saturday and was 1.6 this morning. So I am getting closer. I will have to do extra shots, but I find out tomorrow morning how many. My co-pay is $25 for all 10 shots, but I was told today that they each cost $90! My stomach is covered with bruises from the shots I have done so far.
I think going on Coumadin is almost as complicated as chemotherapy. Everything affects the level of absorption. Food with vitamin K in it has to be either eaten consistently or not at all. They went through my supplements and I can only do about 1/3 of them. I fell like my supplements help me fight cancer and having to stop doing them makes me feel vulnerable. My oncologist is on vacation and he is the one who has to decide whether I stay on the medicine that may have caused the clots. After 3-6 months of Coumadin I will stop using it and then my doctor has a test he can do to see if Femara caused the problem or if it is genetic.
So I have a list of 100 foods to remember and can take absolutely nothing medicine or supplement related without getting permission first. The doctor at the clinic this morning told me that in the 18 months he has worked there, only 1 person taking Coumadin has died from a pulmonary embolism (a clot traveling to the lungs from the leg or somewhere else). So the odds seem to be in my favor.
I am also now the proud owner of 2 pair of surgical strength compression stockings that go up to my knee. They are VERY TIGHT and hard to get on and off. I am supposed to wear them 24 hours a day- even to bed. They actually do make my legs feel better. So much to learn…
I see Dr. Valley, my integrative medicine doctor on Friday to talk about my cholesterol, which has not come down enough doing natural things. So he may put me on something for that too. Then they have to balance THAT with the Coumadin. Yikes! This is complicated! Please pray that the clots dissolve soon and stay where they are until then. Pray that if anything happens I would realize it and get to the ER in time. And pray for wisdom for my oncologist to make a good decision about what to do about the Femara which might be causing this clotting and cholesterol problem. Is it worth it? Is there something else I can take instead with less side effects?
I am tired and need to get some sleep so I can get up and go there to take my next shot at 8:30 a.m. It is about 20 minutes away from our house.
Blessings friends and thanks for reading and caring! Nancy Fritz
I have been to the “Anticoagulation Clinic” 3 times so far, and have to go tomorrow and Wednesday mornings also. They are carefully tracking the amount of Coumadin in my system. It takes at least 5 days to “ramp up” to a safe amount of thinner, so while that is happening, they are having me give myself 2 shots of Lovenox a day, 12 hours apart.
The shots go into my love handles. The needles themselves aren’t bad, but the medicine really hurts for about 15 minutes. Lovenox absorbs into my body more quickly than Coumadin, so they want me to do it to get my blood into that safe zone ASAP. My number needs to be at 2 or above for two days before I am allowed to stop the shots. My number was 1 when I started, was 1.1 on Saturday and was 1.6 this morning. So I am getting closer. I will have to do extra shots, but I find out tomorrow morning how many. My co-pay is $25 for all 10 shots, but I was told today that they each cost $90! My stomach is covered with bruises from the shots I have done so far.
I think going on Coumadin is almost as complicated as chemotherapy. Everything affects the level of absorption. Food with vitamin K in it has to be either eaten consistently or not at all. They went through my supplements and I can only do about 1/3 of them. I fell like my supplements help me fight cancer and having to stop doing them makes me feel vulnerable. My oncologist is on vacation and he is the one who has to decide whether I stay on the medicine that may have caused the clots. After 3-6 months of Coumadin I will stop using it and then my doctor has a test he can do to see if Femara caused the problem or if it is genetic.
So I have a list of 100 foods to remember and can take absolutely nothing medicine or supplement related without getting permission first. The doctor at the clinic this morning told me that in the 18 months he has worked there, only 1 person taking Coumadin has died from a pulmonary embolism (a clot traveling to the lungs from the leg or somewhere else). So the odds seem to be in my favor.
I am also now the proud owner of 2 pair of surgical strength compression stockings that go up to my knee. They are VERY TIGHT and hard to get on and off. I am supposed to wear them 24 hours a day- even to bed. They actually do make my legs feel better. So much to learn…
I see Dr. Valley, my integrative medicine doctor on Friday to talk about my cholesterol, which has not come down enough doing natural things. So he may put me on something for that too. Then they have to balance THAT with the Coumadin. Yikes! This is complicated! Please pray that the clots dissolve soon and stay where they are until then. Pray that if anything happens I would realize it and get to the ER in time. And pray for wisdom for my oncologist to make a good decision about what to do about the Femara which might be causing this clotting and cholesterol problem. Is it worth it? Is there something else I can take instead with less side effects?
I am tired and need to get some sleep so I can get up and go there to take my next shot at 8:30 a.m. It is about 20 minutes away from our house.
Blessings friends and thanks for reading and caring! Nancy Fritz
Thursday, June 12, 2008
Blod clots in my legs
Dear friends,
After taking a shower yesterday, I checked a sore spot on the back of my right calf in the mirror because it had been hurting without any reason for a few weeks. I realized there was a big bulging bruise just below my left knee. I am on Femara, a cancer prevention drug that can cause blood clots, so that is why my antennae were up. I had been debating whether to call the doctor about my right leg, and the bruise made me stop wondering. It just happened without being traumatized it any way.
I called the doctor yesterday morning and asked if I needed to come in or if they could tell me what to watch for, and I was there within the hour. Later in the day they did ultrasound on both legs and I got a call this morning from my doctor telling me that I have a clot in my left leg by the bruise, and they strongly suspect one in my lower right leg also. Because they are both below the knee, they are much less dangerous than they would be above the knee and probably won’t break loose. The chance of that happening is low, he said.
So I am to run to the ER if I have chest pain or trouble breathing, and to greatly decrease my physical activity and maybe even use the motorized carts at the grocery store! I don’t think I could bring myself to do that, but we’ll see. He is putting me on Coumadin starting tonight, and I also need to do 5 days of 2 shots a day to carry me over until the Coumadin gets into my system. I sure do hate shots! I miss having my nurse neighbor and other friend in Denver! (Wanna come visit Janet or Lisa?)
Life is never dull! I sure would hate to die of a loose clot after fighting cancer twice! So please pray that the clots would dissolve and not cause any problems. I am not feeling worried or stressed about this, other than the time it will take to learn everything. I am supposed to go to the Coumadin Clinic today or tomorrow for orientation. I’ll know more after I have gone and will let you know.
Here is some great news! Jenni got a job yesterday at Chipotle near Thunder Ridge High School where Laura and Allison went. (They make delicious burritos like Qdoba, but better!) She decided she would go to the strip mall near where she and Allison are staying and go store to store until she got a job. When she walked into Chipotle, she addressed several men sitting at a table and asked if they had any job openings. The men looked at each other and back at her. The store manager and district manager had just finished saying as she walked into the door, that they needed to hire someone over 18, because the 17 year olds working there weren’t allowed to do the register, etc. They asked her how she had heard about the job, and were amazed that she hadn’t, but just showed up at that moment. And when she told them she is 19, their faces lit up! So she started this morning at 7:30 and works until 4. She is very excited. If you live in that part of Denver, she at Wildcat Reserve and Highlands Ranch Parkway. It is close enough to where they are living this summer for her to get a quick ride or walk. Yeah God!
I am preparing our latest prayer letter for the mail and would be happy to add you to either our email or snail mail list if you email me at nancyfritz@aol.com. God bless you! Nancy
After taking a shower yesterday, I checked a sore spot on the back of my right calf in the mirror because it had been hurting without any reason for a few weeks. I realized there was a big bulging bruise just below my left knee. I am on Femara, a cancer prevention drug that can cause blood clots, so that is why my antennae were up. I had been debating whether to call the doctor about my right leg, and the bruise made me stop wondering. It just happened without being traumatized it any way.
I called the doctor yesterday morning and asked if I needed to come in or if they could tell me what to watch for, and I was there within the hour. Later in the day they did ultrasound on both legs and I got a call this morning from my doctor telling me that I have a clot in my left leg by the bruise, and they strongly suspect one in my lower right leg also. Because they are both below the knee, they are much less dangerous than they would be above the knee and probably won’t break loose. The chance of that happening is low, he said.
So I am to run to the ER if I have chest pain or trouble breathing, and to greatly decrease my physical activity and maybe even use the motorized carts at the grocery store! I don’t think I could bring myself to do that, but we’ll see. He is putting me on Coumadin starting tonight, and I also need to do 5 days of 2 shots a day to carry me over until the Coumadin gets into my system. I sure do hate shots! I miss having my nurse neighbor and other friend in Denver! (Wanna come visit Janet or Lisa?)
Life is never dull! I sure would hate to die of a loose clot after fighting cancer twice! So please pray that the clots would dissolve and not cause any problems. I am not feeling worried or stressed about this, other than the time it will take to learn everything. I am supposed to go to the Coumadin Clinic today or tomorrow for orientation. I’ll know more after I have gone and will let you know.
Here is some great news! Jenni got a job yesterday at Chipotle near Thunder Ridge High School where Laura and Allison went. (They make delicious burritos like Qdoba, but better!) She decided she would go to the strip mall near where she and Allison are staying and go store to store until she got a job. When she walked into Chipotle, she addressed several men sitting at a table and asked if they had any job openings. The men looked at each other and back at her. The store manager and district manager had just finished saying as she walked into the door, that they needed to hire someone over 18, because the 17 year olds working there weren’t allowed to do the register, etc. They asked her how she had heard about the job, and were amazed that she hadn’t, but just showed up at that moment. And when she told them she is 19, their faces lit up! So she started this morning at 7:30 and works until 4. She is very excited. If you live in that part of Denver, she at Wildcat Reserve and Highlands Ranch Parkway. It is close enough to where they are living this summer for her to get a quick ride or walk. Yeah God!
I am preparing our latest prayer letter for the mail and would be happy to add you to either our email or snail mail list if you email me at nancyfritz@aol.com. God bless you! Nancy
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