#35 MEDICAL UPDATE FROM JULY 28TH, 2017:

July 25^th - Heading over for my last radiation treatment.

As is tradition at Moffitt when you finish your treatment you have the opportunity of “Ringing the Bell”. They also gave me a certificate, both of which signify the end of that particular treatment.

Of course, we couldn't end the day without a little celebration with my favorite treat, frozen yogurt.

Now I am home feeling pretty well, dealing with only a few mild side-effects so far, mostly just tired from the radiation. However, I'm thankful that this part of the journey at least is over and we can move on to other things. On August 28th, I will have a repeat MRI along with some other tests and then meet with the doctor to see how this radiation treatment has worked and how the chemotherapy that I'm currently taking is working and if any changes need to be made.

This has certainly been quite the roller coaster ride. and while I am a fan of roller coasters, I would have chosen a different type of roller coaster. However, I’m thankful that I’m not on this roller coaster ride alone.

I would like to share a blessing with you. For the past year, I have gone around in public with some kind of hat on my head to cover up either my lack of hair or to cover up incisions/scars. I realize that in many cultures and religions around the world it is more appropriate for a woman to be in a place of worship with her head covered. However, in my American culture and Independent Baptist Church it is more accepted for me not to cover my head. The picture below is the look that will probably be seen this Sunday as I attend church. Yesterday, a good friend of mine took me for a haircut, the first haircut I have had in quite some time. Now I realize that there are a few spots that are still likely to fall out due to the radiation from this past week. I also realize that some of the medication that I'm on can cause the rest of my hair to fall out at any time. However, I'm looking forward, if nothing changes between now and Sunday to my hair, that the look you see below (sorry it’s not a great picture - I’ll try to get a better one soon.) will be my hairstyle for the day, a nice change to not having to cover my head in this Florida heat. Now I realize in the full scheme of things, this is a very minor thing. However, sometimes you just need a moment to celebrate the small things, and I know God cares about even the small things.

Specific prayer requests:

I would also like to share specific prayer requests with you. I know that I like to have specifics when I'm praying for somebody. It helps me know how to pray more intelligently.

So here is the first one - Please pray with me that the intestinal issues that I have had before this cancer started would not flare up and cause any problems with the treatment that I'm currently receiving or cause any of their own problems.

The second prayer request is this - There is a new treatment option out there that my doctors are discussing with me. This is a big decision. I have been doing my research, and want to make sure that I'm making the right decision. Would you please pray with me that God will give me wisdom, that I would listen to HIS guidance, and make the right decision?

# 34 MEDICAL UPDATE FROM JULY 21, 2017:

My radiation treatments are now halfway over and I am home for the weekend. I will be headed back to Tampa on Monday to finish up the remaining sessions.

There was a slight change in the plan on how they were going to do the radiation. 5 days were going to be the normal higher-powered radiation that they had planned. One day was going to be a special high-powered radiation “surgery”. However, the doctor felt that if they stretched that one time out to 3 different sessions it would reduce the risk of complications and side effects so he stretched it out. But he was able to do those 3 days together with the 5-day sessions, doing them one right after the other. He said he could do this as long as I did okay with doubling up on the two different types of radiation in one day. By doing so we were able to take off one of the days that I would need to be in Tampa. So, I will go back over for Monday and Tuesday for the remaining sessions of radiation then this treatment will be over for which I am thankful.

After the surgery, I had in June the surgeon told me that he had seen two more “spots” which he could not remove during the surgery.  This is why we are doing the radiation. In a previous MRI they had found what they thought was just a “shadow”. However, during the pre-planning of this radiation that “shadow” turned out to be another “spot”. In fact, it is two “spots” side by side. However, the radiation oncologist feels that this radiation, together with the new chemotherapy, will “get” those “spots”.

The doctors are also working on another chemotherapy which would replace the old chemotherapy that I had already been taking. I will know more about that in a couple of weeks, however, I will continue with the new chemotherapy that the pharmaceutical company provided for me.

This new chemotherapy would be an infusion type which I would take probably every two weeks, again I should know more about that in a couple of weeks.

In the meantime, I'm resting up from the radiation and continuing to work on gaining strength and mobility on my left side through therapy and exercise.

Another MRI will be done on August 23rd to see how all of this treatment has worked and is working and if any changes need to be made.

I have to admit that with everything that is going on “shadows “becoming “spots” “single spots” becoming “double spots”, sometimes I have my doubts, fears, and anxiety. I am grateful for the promises in Scripture which I was reminded of even today. I am also grateful that while these treatments are going on, and I am held down by a mask over my head to a table that sits underneath a machine which, by the way I was told cost 8 million dollars, that the peace of God keeps my mind from thinking too much about those anxiety-producing thoughts. God once again has also given me a great group of people who are also very good at their job and at putting my heart and mind at ease.

I have noticed something else as well in my time spent at Moffitt. You can certainly tell the difference between those people who have given up and are full of anxiety and those who are at peace. Certainly, while I do not know their hearts and I'm not judging them, I'm certain that the difference is the peace of God. I also know that being surrounded by so much love and support makes a huge difference. The technicians reminded me of that this past week, telling me that having that support makes all the difference and that they can see it in patients who come and go.  So, thank you, Father, for my parents first of all who are the front line of my support group, my brothers, my extended family, my church family at Southside Baptist Church in Sebring, my friends around the world, and so many other people whom I have met and have shown me so much compassion. I am blessed beyond measure.

Rejoice in the Lord always: and again I say, Rejoice.

Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand.

Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.

And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:4-7)

Alaska 2015

For I the Lord thy God will hold thy right hand, saying unto thee, Fear not; I will help thee (Isaiah 41:13)

#33: Great Is Thy Faithfulness:

In 2000, when I was on deputation to go to Kenya as a missionary, I had accumulated several medical bills due to an insurance problem. As any missionary would completely understand, trying to raise money and pay bills at the same time is a very difficult endeavor. On my way home from talking to one of the doctors about a bill, I had become very discouraged. As I was driving home I hadn't even noticed that the radio was on or what was playing, but these words jumped out at me:

All I have needed,

Thy hand hath provided,

Great is thy faithfulness.

Lord unto me!

As those words came over the radio, I had to pull the car off to the side of the roadbecause I could not see through the tears. From that time on Great Is Thy Faithfulness has remained my favorite hymn, and a great reminder to trust God. He is faithful, and I thank Him every morning for a new day and the new opportunities that it holds.

Today I had the great opportunity of Skyping with my brother Doug and his wife Donna who are missionaries in Kenya. I also had the opportunity of Skyping with another missionary friend in Kenya. I'm really not quite sure how missionaries like David Livingstone were able to manage without modern technology like Skype and the internet. :)  I am so thankful that I was able to talk with these people today.  It was a real encouragement to talk to them and to hear what's going on back “home”. Kenya will always be “home” for me as it will always have a special place in my heart.

I made the comment during one of those conversations that if I were to write about all of the times God has stepped in on this journey with brain cancer and intervened on my behalf and blessed me in ways I could not have even imagined, it would take an entire book to contain them all, certainly not something that would fit on a blog. I will just leave it at this:

great is His faithfulness!

Radiation begins on Wednesday. I'm looking forward to getting it over with, so that we can move on to the next step whatever that may be. In the meantime, the next step continues to be getting stronger, continuing on with the chemotherapy and continuing to strive toward improving my mobility.

Thank you for your continued prayers, words of encouragement, and support.

They are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness. (Lamentations 3:23)

Great is Thy faithfulness, O God my Father;
There is no shadow of turning with Thee;
Thou changest not, Thy compassions, they fail not;
As Thou hast been, Thou forever will be.

[Refrain]
Great is Thy faithfulness!
Great is Thy faithfulness!
Morning by morning new mercies I see.
All I have needed Thy hand hath provided;
Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!

Summer and winter and springtime and harvest,
Sun, moon and stars in their courses above
Join with all nature in manifold witness
To Thy great faithfulness, mercy and love.

[Refrain]

Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth
Thine own dear presence to cheer and to guide;
Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow,
Blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside!

#32 Facing Our Giants:

Recently I made the comment that I was thankful for the way God has allowed my journey to progress over the last several months. God always knows what He's doing despite the fact that I question and have doubts at times as to why things are happening the way that they are happening. However, my statement went on to say that had I ended up with the lack of mobility after my first surgery in August that I did after my second surgery in January, it certainly would have been much more difficult to fight back, to stay with the therapy and to remain motivated to get stronger and better. While the lack of mobility that I had in my left hand after the surgery in August was difficult to accept because of the fact that I lost my ability to play the piano, I know that God was using that as an opportunity to prepare me for what would come next. I can look back in my life and see other times when difficult things happened and I wondered why, but then I can look at another experience that came later and realize that God was using different experiences in my life to prepare me for the next step just as he prepared David to face Goliath when he allowed David the opportunity to face the lion and bear while tending sheep.

I'm not saying that every giant we face in our life is in preparation of another bigger giant yet to come. However, I am thankful that God uses those experiences to get us ready for the next step.  I'm also thankful that I never face those giants alone.

So, I keep on with the therapy both with the help of professionals and at home with things that they show me to do. Quite regularly, sometimes every few days, I will see some new progression in my mobility and those little improvements give me the encouragement to keep trying, to keep moving forward.

# 31 Medical Update from July 13th, 2017:

On Tuesday the 11th, I went back to Moffitt for some scans and simulation for the upcoming radiation. everything went well that day. Now they are working on putting everything together so that they know exactly where they want to aim this radiation which is called Fractionated Stereotactic Radiotherapy and is defined this way; a very precise way to deliver highly focused beams of radiation to a brain tumor while limiting the dose of radiation to normal tissue surrounding the targeted area. It will be given for 6 days in a row.  

This radiation will begin on July 19th. I will be staying over in Tampa during this radiation treatment.  The 80-mile drive from Sebring to Tampa and back every day would simply be too much for those 6 days.  So, I will go over on the Wednesday it starts, probably come back to Sebring for the weekend, then head back over again in time for Monday’s radiation.  Then I’ll come home on Wednesday the 26^th after the last radiation treatment.

Tuesday, the medication from the pharmaceutical company arrived, which I had been waiting on. I am now taking both chemo therapies. both medications are oral, so I simply take them at home before going to bed for the night. So far, I've not had too many side effects with the medication. I have noticed a little bit of a difference in my energy level, and a bit of an upset stomach, however, I have medication to help with the nausea and it seems to be doing a good job. I am thankful for that.

#30 Medical Update from July 6

God has continued to answer prayers for strength and healing.  I did have a few rough days a couple of weeks ago. It seemed primarily to be related to medication adjustments, but even that has and continues to improve.  Some days right now are great physically, some, not-so-much.  And sometimes those changes will occur half way through the day, without notice.  However, I’m not going to call them “bad days”, not with all God does to provide.  Every day, every moment is a good one, because it’s a gift from HIM.  So, I’ll take the not-so-good moments, thankful that whatever the moment, He walks beside me/carries me through.

Today I went to Moffitt for several tests, including an MRI and a visit with a radiation oncologist and, finally, my neuro oncologist.

Here’s a breakdown of the day (it was a long day)

Tests

The first tests that I had run came back great.  The ladies in the lab had difficulty finding my veins, which is nothing new these days. However, they were great.  As I was leaving they gave me a little bit of advice.  Because of the MRI, they had to start an IV.  Between that and the other lab work I had been stuck multiple times.  So, the ladies told me to be careful how much water I drank for the rest of the day.  I assumed they were going to say because of the contrast needing to be flushed out of my system that I should drink a lot the of water. However, instead they said the water might leak out through all of the needle holes that they had made.  Once again, I appreciated their friendliness, attitude and humor.  Thank you, ladies, for finding the good in a difficult situation.

MRI

The next thing on the list was the MRI which was basically uneventful.

Radiation oncologist

The radiation oncologist reviewed the MRI report (this showed the two spots mentioned by the surgeon after surgery) and explained how he would like to move forward with some radiation to keep them from changing.  It is time to deal with those two spots at this stage of my recovery from surgery.  His suggestion is to use a higher powered, more focused type of radiation to target these two spots directly.  This would be done over five consecutive days.  He also wants to focus a little bit of radiation in the area where the tumor was removed just as a precaution.  The idea is that this radiation will kill the remaining cancer cells leaving the chemo a clean area to do its job.

Neuro oncologist report

The neuro oncologist was content with the way things are going at this point.  While there are the two spots that need to be dealt with, he is confident that the radiation will be helpful as well as the new chemotherapy and he said we still have other things we can try if we want or feel like these are not doing the best that they can.   He also reminded me that the neural pathways that were cut during surgery can be rebuilt but it takes time.  Those connections can rebuild at about a rate of 1mm a day. I don’t know how many millimeters I have to rebuild, but I imagine that it is several days of work ahead.  So, we just keep moving forward one day at a time, one slow step at a time.  He said to keep up with all I’m doing at home for therapy.

   Next steps include awaiting the scheduling for radiation, probably to start in another week once preparations are made through the planning process.  Begin chemo regimen, involving the same chemo I took before plus the new one.  Both are being shipped to me now and should arrive in a few days.  Also continue with all the therapy to gain mobility and strength.  So, I’m off now to walk for a while.  More updates will come as I hear more news.

    

    Some thoughts from this week:

God doesn’t just think about me when I ask Him for help.  He thinks about me often and is never surprised by anything that happens in my life.

“Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them.

 How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! how great is the sum of them!

 If I should count them, they are more in number than the sand: when I awake, I am still with thee.”

Psalm 139:16-18

When a train goes through a tunnel and the world gets dark, do you jump out? Of course not.  You sit still and trust the engineer to get you through.” – Corrie ten Boom

# 29 God keeps pouring on His blessings, Answers to prayer and grace:

1. Last week, I received a call from Moffitt.  The pharmaceutical company approved my application for financial assistance and are going to provide the new chemo at NO COST to me.
2. Thank you, Sophia for staying on top of this medicine issue.  You are another person who will probably never see this, but God put you in my life for a reason.  Thank you for your sweet spirit, determination and hard work in the above-mentioned issue.
3. God has also surprised me with a few financial helps, I wasn’t expecting and still don’t know why or how they came about.  I just shake my head and say, “Thank You, Lord”.  I don’t deserve any of it.
4. Last week I had a visit from a friend.  Katie, not only do I appreciate the visit and gift, I also appreciate your humor.  Love the shirt. At a time like this, humor is important, or else you can get caught up in all the heaviness of things.