March 28, 2024

As I write this now, Tammy is just waking up surrounded by the loveliest flowers and treats sent by her generous and thoughtful friends. Thank you everyone for helping to make her room beautiful these last few days! It really warms up the space. (She is also joking, asking if she can take the nurses home because they are so wonderful).

There’s not too much to say about Wednesday the 27th, because for the most part all was calm, and we were enjoying the tranquility and resting with Tammy. We found the right balance with the new meds, which was a massive win and has made all the difference. The new meds also removed some of the scary side effects and so our hearts overall felt a bit of relief. Tammy slept all through the night and for the first time, reported no pain in the night.

Thursday, March 28 was tough to say the least. Tammy went for her biopsy at 8AM but they couldn’t complete it because there was too much fluid in her abdomen, so they took her to remove the fluid at noon, and performed the biopsy right after. She had been in good spirits and seemingly far more healthy all morning. The procedures were completed and successful, so that was a big positive step. That being said, they have certainly come with troubles. At the end of the procedures while she was waiting to be taken away, Tammy’s pain meds and freezing both wore off and she wasn’t able to receive more until she was back in her own bed. She was in excruciating pain for around 30 minutes. Jeff said he hadn’t seen her like that since labour. All 4 of us were here and witnessed her in this state and although i can’t imagine how much worse it was for Tammy, it certainly made our hearts weary to see her like that and not be able to help.

It’s been a battle again, trying to find the right amount of meds and the timing of administering them so that we can get on top of the pain and keep her pain-free. She is definitely needing them more often than before. Her drain is being emptied once in a while and it is shocking to see how much liquid does come out. We had been told it could be up to 25L but it is something else to see it with our own eyes. She’s only let out 5L so far but even that appears to be a lot!

Although this was a pretty painful day in a few ways, we remember that it was an answer to prayer and a blessing to have gotten that procedure done so quickly, and that it is helping to give us more time with Tammy. Also on the sunny side, we’ve been adding to our patio plant collection and this weekend, i’m going to spend some time in the dirt making the patio as lovely as I can.

We continue to pray that this drain will pay off and will help to relieve long term pain and will open the pathway to decreasing other symptoms, and that the Lord would not waste her pain but take all the devil means for evil and use it for good. Pray still for all our spirits and rest, and for blessings and peace for everyone who has been supporting us in this difficult time.

I hope to write more thoughts along with these updates soon, and also to get some thoughts from Tammy when she feels up to it. Bear with me as we push through these first hard days and weeks. Thank you for your care for Tammy, and for us <3