He made it!

He made it! One week down, several to go! Kent was nothing short of amazing in this first week.  The prayers were felt, and answered.  The first night was a little bit rough as he had a pounding headache and had the feeling his BP was high.  We pray that  these next few weeks continue as it has after the first night.  Kent feels "off" from time to time, but as of now food helps that "off" feeling.
For any of you that would be interested his days are very planned and routine.  8 am through 10 am are a set of various meds and food routine.  Eating Lunch no less than 2 hours prior to his radiation.  Food directly after to prevent the "off" feeling again.  Between 9 and 10 pm he repeats a second dose of his chemo meds.

 Radiation is scheduled for 4:15 PM, we walk into the building, he is greeted by a receptionist, and they open a door which we both enter and down a slight hallway is a small waiting room in which he and I wait for him to get called back. Kent is usually a bit quiet before going back, he spends his time looking on his phone usually.  When Kent is called out of the waiting room he enters a room with a huge machine that has a mold of his body on it which he lies on and the radiation machine moves back and forth around him.  The process takes no more than 15 to 20 min.  One thing that I have learned in this 1st week of going with Kent is that each patients that enters in this building have a genuine connection.  Women having heart to hearts and caring for each other, an employee came out into the waiting area to see a patient as it was the patients last day the next day and the employee wasn’t going to be there to say goodbye. nurses trying to help someone remedy a reaction to a radiation treatment and lastly Doctors who come in and genuinely take the time to hear how you are!   Cancer is a journey that NO one wants travel but God surely places people in role to help those travel that path! 

This week’s highlights that have helped Kent to have a normal week go as follows... we welcomed a dog that we are house sitting for 2 weeks, we made our way with my mom to the kick off donor dinner at Camp Geneva,  sat with Lydia at that dinner, and today helped her settle in to be 1 of 4 counselors who are among the very first to stay at Mission Point! A brand new cabin for high schoolers on the shores side of camp.  One last thing Kent has enjoyed... a frequent stop at Chick-fil-a for his Cookies and Cream shake. A much deserved shake for all he has gone though.  

The beginnings of next week's happenings... Sunday we will begin our week at Camp Geneva again! They will be commissioning 110 wonderful counselors to start their summer with some awesome kiddos, the most counselors Geneva has ever had.  Their theme song this year says it best, " At Geneva,  where it's nice to meet ya!"  "God's Heart is really cool."  A few awsome lines to help learn the theme HEART! We can't wait to hear the stories of Lydia and her journey this summer. 

Next, Monday and Tuesday in addition to his normal Chemo and Radiation routine Kent will be including two Doc appointments. Monday he meets his medical oncologist in Grand Rapids and on Tuesday we will travel to Holland in addition to his radiation he will meet with his Radiation oncologist.  We will update at a later time as to what we find out in both these appointments.  We are a little unsure what will be discussed with the exception of the amount of Chemo and how that is going, the discussion of any changes we should make and maybe the symptoms he has felt including his daily evening headache. 

As we finish out this blog, again we say a huge thank you to all who have walked this journey with us, prayed for us and helped us in many ways.

- Leah.