As of today, I’m officially done with chemotherapy. And it feels amazing! My very last treatment was this morning. Thanks to all of you who have been praying for me. Thank you to my lovely wife and four awesome sons for standing by me through these last 14 months or so. I couldn’t have done it without them. I feel truly blessed and privileged to have all of you on my team.
I must admit, at times I did feel a bit like Moses in Exodus 14:22: “and the Israelites went through the sea on dry ground, with a wall of water on their right and on their left.” However, God also separated the waters for me and my family, so that we did not drown.
I’m thinking I will probably continue with updates while we’re in Edmonton as long as I keep having people read, so let me know if you are into pictures and more “boring” updates.
Several people have indicated lately that they’re waiting for another update on here, so I’ll try to give you the latest. I did my second last treatment on Monday. The last one will be around February 20, then another MRI in early March, meet with the Dr. one last time and then relax for a bit. These treatments don’t necessarily make me sick, but they make me incredibly tired. We are super thankful for the end being in sight and that the Lord has and is continuing to sustain us. “Thus far the Lord has brought us…..” (from 1 Samuel 7:12). That will have been roughly 14 months of active treatment. 2016 is a year we are not likely to forget.
I fought off one of the worst colds I can remember this January. From around the 12th until the 28th, I was so incredibly stuffy nosed and coughing. I think with my immune system so down, my body just couldn’t fight it off very well. The rest of my family had it in December and it only lasted about 4 days or so, mine was about 17 days. I’m still coughing a bit, but I think it’s on its way out now too.
Right in the midst of that cold, it eased for a couple of days right surrounding the 20th of January. Maybe I willed it away (or maybe because I was about as far from active treatment as I could be right then) because I had booked a wood turning workshop at Lee Valley that I was super excited for. The workshop ran from 9:30-4:00 and I made this pepper mill:
I sure was tired by the end, but it was well worth it. Now I’m even more excited to move back to La Crete so I can work with my lathe some more. Our boys also started swimming lessons on January 13 and it goes every Friday until March 24.
Me and Lenora repairing our love seat. This was the fourth time and it’s been one more since.
Breakfast with my old friend, Larry, whom I hadn’t seen in years.
Carson and his Grandpa working on his Meccano Helicopter.
We had our own Wii Olympics event after they learned about that in their history course. Here they are taking to the podium in the order of their finished points.
This is what Tucker did while we did that. His sleeping habits are getting to be a bit of a theme on here.
I made another cake for Lenora’s birthday and had to be creative with the candles we had available.
More of Lenora’s birthday.
Our Church, East Parkland Bible Church held an event called “Walk Thru the Bible” on January 14. It was really interesting and we all learned a lot. I would highly recommend it. Check it out more at www.walkthru.org. It’s basically a series of hand symbols and memory aids to help you remember themes in the Bible. The presenter did a great job teaching it so that it really stuck. Lenora, Emery, Carson and I all took part while Owen and Tucker stayed with some good friends for the day.
Braun Family Journey 