Day 222

     Yesterday was a good day for Katie - we'll see how today goes.  A couple of weeks ago, I commented on how the doctors keep adding to what medications Katie will be on, during maintenance phase.  Well.... Once again, they have added another to it!  Maintenance is the treatment she will be getting for the last year and a half.  They keep using "Maintenance" as if it is a milestone marker - and I guess it is.  She will be getting the same routine of treatment during that time, instead of going through different phases every couple of months.  However, they keep saying things like, "Your almost there,"  "Are you excited to get to Maintenance?" "Things will be so much easier when you get to Maintenance."  I don't understand what we are supposed to be so excited about - or how it is going to be easier.  True, we wont won't be going to the clinic as often for treatments, but we will be doing more medications at home - and it is a lot of medication Katie will still be getting, plus monthly chemo and spinal taps every 3 months at the clinic - and I just don't see how that is easier!  So... No, I am not excited about it.  I will be excited on January 12, 2014, when they tell me my daughter is cancer free and is done with all her treatments!  Today, I am glad Katie is responding to treatments and that we have a completion date.  Not all parents are so fortunate.  I feel blessed, and I know Katie has been blessed.  I have been so afraid she wouldn't live through this --- but I am starting to feel less afraid, and more hopeful for her (and us).
    

     I found the following on lds.org, under adversity: "Each person's success and happiness, both now and in the eternities, depend largely on his or her responses to the difficulties of life.

     "Adversity comes from different sources. Trials may come as a consequence of a person's own pride and disobedience. These trials can be avoided through righteous living. Other trials are simply a natural part of life and may come at times when people are living righteously. For example, people may experience trials in times of sickness or uncertainty or at the deaths of loved ones.     Adversity may sometimes come because of others' poor choices and hurtful words and actions. Suffering may also come through a loving Heavenly Father as a tutoring experience.

     "When some people face adversity, they complain and become bitter. They ask questions like “Why does this have to happen to me? Why do I have to suffer this now? What have I done to deserve this?” But these questions have the power to dominate their thoughts. Such questions can overtake their vision, absorb their energy, and deprive them of the experiences the Lord wants them to receive. Rather than responding in this way, people should consider asking questions such as, “What am I to do? What am I to learn from this experience? What am I to change? Whom am I to help? How can I remember my many blessings in times of trial?”

    "Different kinds of adversity require different responses. For example, people who are stricken with illness may simply need to be patient and faithful. People who suffer because of others' words or actions should work toward forgiving those who have offended them... If a person's trials come because of disobedience, he or she should correct the behavior and humbly seek forgiveness.

     "Although some of the responses to adversity will vary, one response should be constant—trust in Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. The prophet Alma taught, “Whosoever shall put their trust in God shall be supported in their trials, and their troubles, and their afflictions, and shall be lifted up at the last day” (Alma 36:3)."