Once again I want to thank everyone for your prayers, your well-wishes, your expressions of caring. I truly feel blessed to be the recipient of so much love from so many people.

This past Wednesday I was scheduled for my 4^th round of chemotherapy, but after they did my bloodwork they decided to postpone for two weeks. My platelets, red and white blood cells, hemoglobin, and magnesium levels were all low. The missed chemotherapy will be added on to the end of the sequence, so instead of being done by early December, it will be late December. That’s assuming that we don’t have any more delays. But it’s likely that the blood counts will drop again along the way, leading to another postponement, so it could well be January by the time I get the last infusion.

I mentioned before that the most visible side effect has been hiccups, showing up on the second day of the chemotherapy cycle, gone by the next morning. That’s still true. They are annoying, but not painful. So far I have been able to control them, either by holding my breath or by taking very attentive, long slow breaths. It’s always one or the other that makes them stop. Then, half an hour or so later, they start up again. I can’t figure out a reason that makes them start up again.

I’m now seeing fallen hairs everywhere. I clean half a dozen off my desk, and twenty minutes later I see that another half dozen have taken their place. My hair was so thick that it still looks like I’ve got a full head of hair – but I can see how much thinner it is compared to before. If it keeps on like this, I’ll be noticeably balding in another month, and quite bald the month after that. I didn’t think it would bother me if I lost all my hair; on the scale of cancer, hair loss is like hiccups: annoying but not painful. But in spite of my efforts to tell myself it doesn’t bother me, I can tell that it does. So I am doing my best to acknowledge that this is part of the “it is what it is” deal. And so I try to thank Jesus that we have such wonderful chemotherapy to kill cancer cells, and the side effects are tolerable.

I’m still low on energy and stamina. I still have to think about what I can do and what I can’t do. I’m managing to write every day, and do a little exercise every day. We’re staying in Interlochen Michigan for a few days, and I hope to do a little fishing for fun.

People sometimes say, “God will never give you more than you can handle.” I think they mean well, but in my experience God frequently gives us more than we can handle. It is the presence of God in the midst of hard circumstances that does the handling. It’s plain to me that I cannot handle this: but Jesus in his love is with me, giving me strength and perseverance day by day. And, “in life and in death, we belong to the Lord.” I trust in that promise, and I hope you do, too.

Thank you, again and always, for all your prayers –