Christine Penner

I ended being off chemo drugs for five weeks. I was grateful that my blood platelets increased allowing me to start taking my chemo drugs again. On January 22, I started chemotherapy which I will be taking for two weeks. This month I had several seizures, a total of four.   I am having difficulty with my vision. I met with Dr. Leicht who will hopefully be able to help me. I will be seeing him again at the beginning of March.   I was thrilled when I found out that I would be having my PhD graduation ceremony January 21 at the University of Manitoba. To my surprise, seven university officials attended this event to help me become a University Professor. I was so grateful that I was able to invite 25 families and friends to attend this event for me. It’s hard to believe that I now am Dr. Christine Penner! I feel so grateful that I had the ability to finish this degree. God has been so good to me!    

In the first two weeks of December I took new chemo drugs. After being off the chemo drugs for two weeks, I found out that my blood platelets were quite low. That means that I will now be off of my chemo drugs for another week (January 1- 7). I was surprised this month when I found out that I had experienced two seizures. On December 11, I experienced a seizure for eight hours, then on December 28, I had another seizure. This last seizure caused me some pain. My husband drove me home from our Penner Christmas gathering. I slept for 14 hours. I felt much better the next morning but struggled to remember a few words. I need to continue to exercise and have a good afternoon nap every day. Despite a few health conditions, I enjoyed the Christmas month. Throughout the month of December I spent time with family and friends. Part of my Christmas experiences included going, with my sister Bev, to hear Handel’s Messiah and to watch Nutcracker. That was fun! I am grateful that I have an ama...