Day 274

5 steps forward 2 steps back…
Sarah has been doing so great lately, but once again the recovery from cancer continues to take its toll. Over the last month, Sarah has been starting to decrease the amount of pain cocktail she was taking because she was starting to feel pain free. She was so proud of herself and she was looking forward to her independence from pain medication. However, over the last week Sarah’s nerve endings in her chest were starting to wake up and cause serious pain. During Sarah’s double mastectomy surgery all of her nerves in her chest were cut leaving her numb in most of her upper torso. Now, she is starting to regain her feeling but unfortunately all the feeling that has come back has been pain. This is a new symptom and her doctors are trying to figure out how to manage this new pain. We have been working with Sarah’s pain specialist, but he is unable to see her and make medication changes until late next week. To add to the problem Sarah has been experiencing very severe hot flashes. These hot flashes are due to a hormone blocker medication that Sarah is taking to improve the percentage of staying cancer free. Imagine trying to sleep when one minute you have ice flowing through your veins and the next there is sweat rolling down your forehead. As you can guess the hot flashes and pain are causing Sarah to average 1 to 2 hours of sleep per night. So, when you can’t see your pain specialist for a week and a half and you haven’t slept in days, you are left with few options. For Sarah just about her only option for relief was the emergency room. My Sarah fought as hard as she could to be strong but the pain and sleep deprivation just overwhelmed her on Thursday night. This was very disappointing to Sarah because of all the hard work and persistence on her part to be able to live free of pain medication and hospital visits. At the hospital she was given pain relief and a sleep aid and it made a world of difference. Please keep Sarah in your prayers for her pain and sleeplessness. Thank you.

At the moment Sarah is very focused on finally being able to sell some baby hats for her new business Emalene. Sarah has a huge heart for under-privileged children in Africa and with Emalene her dream of helping them will become a reality. A portion of every hat sold will be donated to benefit the children of Africa.  Sarah is getting ready to participate in her first ever craft fair. Because she is not sleeping, she has had lots of extra time to get hats made. The lack of sleep is certainly not a good thing, but it has allowed her to get a ton done. The craft fair will be May 7^th and 8^th at Lake Connor Park in Lake Stevens from 10a-3:30p. Come on out and show your support for Sarah and the hurting children of Africa.

Thanks,

Kirk