Josh had his first set of mild chemo treatments this morning. He didn’t even “feel” the chemo. They simply infused it into his IV line thru his port! However, the port is pretty uncomfortable for Josh as it’s placed in his chest near his heart and seems to make his heart palpitate.  The nurses have loosened it up a little bit in an effort to make it more comfortable.  We praise God his heart rate is normal!  However, we pray for the port to not be cumbersome.  As far as the actual chemo, none of the renown negative side effects have kicked in yet. We are told that it usually takes a few days or even a week for him to feel the side effect of the chemo. The doctor did prepare us by informing us of things to expect such as hair loss, etc. We pray that his side effects would not be severe and that he’d be as strong as possible going into transplant this upcoming Friday! Tomorrow morning the kids will get to see Josh and they are excited about it! Please pray for them to not pass any nasty germs. While at church in the morning, the plan is to keep the kids away from others as much as possible. Its a sacrifice for them not to be able to attend Sunday school. They got some needed ‘Face-time’ with Josh tonight over the phone and were so happy they ‘fought’ each other over “daddy time” on the phone! =)

This afternoon while I got some sweet face-to-face time with Josh I even got to lock arms with him and accompany him on his exercise routine–a mile walk around the hospital unit, which is equivalent to 11 labs. It was cute to see several other couples walk or do laps together too! We joked with other patients and their spouses; and prayed for a young single lady who had done her transplant 40 days ago but was back in the hospital due to an infection.  Josh and I also got to share about biblical Christianity with one of Josh’s nurses.  We even had the privilege of having a special ‘visitor’ come in to see Josh. He was a man named Peter whose wife was also in the unit. He served as a missionary and pastor in Australia for many years. We got to hear him recount their story and the miracles God has done in keeping his wife alive despite doctors only giving her two months to live! Peter also gave Josh a copy of a self-published book he had written and there on the cover of the book was a picture of a shepherd and his sheep.  It ‘happen’ to be the exact same picture that Josh had on his computer as a screen saver for a long time–one of Josh’s favorites.  We saw it as a sweet gesture or affirmation of God’s love and care for us and a reminder that he’s our good Shepherd.

“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.  The hired hand is not the shepherd and does not own the sheep. So when he sees the wolf coming, he abandons the sheep and runs away. Then the wolf attacks the flock and scatters it. The man runs away because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me— just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep. ¹⁶ I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also. They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd. The reason my Father loves me is that I lay down my life—only to take it up again.” John 10:11-17