2nd round of chemo...

my mom will be undergoing the second round of her gemcitabine+ cisplatin chemo regimen tomorrow (9/2/08). she also has an appointment dr. varadhachary before she starts her chemo, so we should have more info to update y'all with after that. hopefully we'll have an idea of when they are going to do the next CA19-9 test (a tumor marker that is often present in pancreatic cancer) or CT scan so we can have an idea of the state of the disease.

specifically, please pray for the following:

1. continued healing for my mother! as we may have mentioned before, this palliative chemo is not a cure, as it is only meant to temporarily control the growth of the cancer. however, we are praying that God would do a miraculous work!
2. minimized the side effects of the chemo: praise God our mother did not experience any major symptomatic side effects from the first round of chemo! the only thing my mother experienced was a little bit of nausea following the first round of chemo. please pray that she would continue to not have any major side effects this time around. tomorrow's blood test will confirm from an objective standpoint if blood counts are low or any other biological side effects have taken place. please pray that God would also protect her kidneys, as cisplatin can be pretty tough on them.
3. peace, patience, and continued encouragement from God, as we await the next test to determine the state of the cancer

thanks again SOO much from your prayers...we cannot express how grateful we are for all of you...