Birthday plans & future plans

Tomorrow (Friday) is Ian's birthday, and we have some super exciting news. We will be bringing home Asha's birthday kitten, a pet she's been praying for and begging for many years. She picked him out a couple weeks ago, but he had to be 2 months old before leaving his mama. Tomorrow is the big day he comes home to be part of our family, and it should add some extra birthday sparkle to Ian's day as well. Here is a picture of our adorable future housemate:

As for future plans, it looks like a minimum of 6 - 12 months of treatment. Possibly only 5 more rounds to go if there is no more cancer found in his next biopsy, but his doctor really feels like a year would be best. Since the leukemia was undetectable last time yet still returned two years later, he may also need to do some maintenance treatment for the rest of his life. 

Thankfully, the chemo he is doing is on the lower end of toxicity. Our first round outpatient went super smooth, except for Fiona's sickness and the stress of maneuvering in-house quarantine. He had very little nausea and even the neutropenia was mild, though it is still lingering.  He has even been able to pursue art during the treatment. Here's a beautiful drawing he made for me the other day:

Ian is actually a quite gifted artist, but he hasn't pursued the arts much at all since taking the computer engineering route in college.  Now with months of chemo ahead, he has the time (and so far, the energy and inspiration) to pursue these interests. This makes me very, very happy :)  Another positive note is that he can get the treatment at a local hospital so we don't have to commute (or move) to San Francisco. All of these things make the mountain of chemo ahead feel less treacherous. 

We are still processing what all this means for our family and how to make it as healthy as possible for all of us. The girls need social interaction, but it seems like every family with kids we know in the area has had some illness that keeps us from being able to get together. I'm praying our new furry friend will be good therapy for the girls and not too much extra stress. It does complicate our ability to road trip between rounds of treatment. I'm also allergic to cats, but this is a Siberian hypoallergenic kitten. I had no reactions when we met and played with him a couple weeks ago, and I've spent over an hour at a Siberian breeder's home filled with cats and had no allergies. We have a three day trial period and I'm going to sleep in the same room with him to see if I have any reactions. Hopefully not!

I'm thankful to say my energy has improved by leaps and bounds since my last post. I'm convinced your prayers have made the difference. Now if you would please pray for my stress level, I'd really appreciate it. Fiona has had all kinds of mystery aches and pains and mouth sores this past week, and I was convinced on Monday she had hand, foot & mouth disease. The pediatrician gave her a clean bill of health, however, so it looks like that storm has passed. I'm still feeling tremors of stress though, like aftershocks from a giant stress earthquake. I carry so much of the weight of things here in our home, it can feel way too much sometimes. We've really let go of worrying about tomorrow, but these days I feel like the troubles of the day are so, so tempting to freak out about. And stress just kills my ability to connect and enjoy this time with Ian and the girls.  I need supernatural grace to walk in relaxed trust moment by moment, to let Jesus carry these daily burdens and stresses. I feel like I'm in serious training on so many levels. 

Well, that is the Brown family update for today. Thank you for following our long journey and praying and caring for us through all of these ups and downs. It means so much to us ❤️