Amber Chase's Musings on Cancer and Life

This Easter, I pondered a lot on the Resurrection of Jesus Christ.  On Easter Sunday, my daughter Abby gave a talk in Primary about this subject.  She said, "I know that my mom will be resurrected, and that all of her scars will be gone, and her hair will be back."  I was so touched by this, and have since been thinking about that a lot.  As I feel my body getting sicker and sicker as the cancer continues to grow and damage it, I found hope!  Even though my body is slowly dying as the cancer ravages it, this will not be the end.  I will be resurrected, and all of my scars will be gone!  I will be pain free, and have energy again!  What a joyful thing!  I am so grateful for my Savior, and for His sacrifice! 

Spring is my favorite time of year.  I love seeing the flowers bloom.  In the fall I planted bulbs with my mother in law, and I remember wondering if I would be here to see them bloom.  I am so happy that I am still here, and have such delight in seeing my bulbs blooming.  It is a miracle that these dead looking bulbs come back to life.  As the days get warmer, and the rains come, they wake from their slumber, and begin to grow.  Their bright colored blooms also remind me of the resurrection.   When you compare the beauty of the flower to the withered and gray bulbs, you realize that that is what the Resurrection will bring.  It will restore the weak and frail body, to one that is bright and shining; one that is strong and healthy, free from disease.  Though my body is more like the bulb now, one day I will be a blooming flower. 

My little sister Emily is an excellent photographer, and she graciously did a photo shoot of me and my kids.  The pictures turned out so precious!!  They just made me laugh and cry when I saw them.  We had so much fun taking the pictures, and I am so glad they turned out so well.  You can see the pictures on her blog here:
Photo shoot

I am sorry I haven't posted this update sooner.  I got the results from  my brain MRI, and they are good!  My brain tumor has continued to shrink, and there were no new tumors.  Needless to say, we are all thrilled. 
    I have enjoyed this last week during my off week of chemo.  We had a wonderful Easter, and a fun spring break. 
   I fully intend on doing a longer entry soon, and plan on adding pictures from our St. Maarten trip, Easter, and activities we have done lately.  It is just hard for me to type right now because I have tumor pressing on the nerve of my right arm, making my arm and hand numb and tingling, and my fingers aren't working right.  Very frustrating.  It is a priority to get this blog and picture page updated this week, so check back!

    I survived another week of chemo pills, along with Herceptin last week.  I finished my week of pills yesterday.  I am SO glad.  My oncologist increased my daily dose from 3000mg to 3500mg, in hope of slowing the cancer down.  It takes a couple of days for my stomach to recover.  I am still really tired.  No matter how much I sleep, I am still tired.
   I am enjoying the warmer days.  I even went outside and blew bubbles with Ammon.  I sat and soaked up the sun while Ammon giggled and made a big soapy mess.  
   I have a brain MRI tomorrow.  It hardly feels like it has been 3 months since my last one, but it has.  I really hate tests.  They make me feel so anxious, plus the actual test is not very pleasant.  I am praying for good results.  I haven't had any new or unusual headaches or symptoms, so I am hopeful that my brain tumor is still shrinking, and that there are no new brain tumors.  Wish me luck!