61 MEDICAL UPDATE (Feb 8) - His Strength is Still Perfect

The first section of this entry will only make sense to those of you who have been in this geographical area.  If not then skip ahead to the**. This won't make any sense if you are not familiar with the area. There is a road called highway 60 that we take for part of our trip to Tampa.  This road is always a thoughtful part of the trip for me.  It’s the road I took in the ambulance on my first trip to Tampa when this entire journey began.  On the way over there today, there were some traffic delays.  That particular route to Tampa can take you past a place called “Dinosaur World”. My mom said she was certain that one of the dinosaurs had gotten out of “Dinosaur World” and caused the traffic jam.  My suggestion - find the humor and enjoyment in life, where you can. The trip over had been relatively quiet and thoughtful until that comment.

If you're reading this and have no idea what I'm talking about, ignore this part and just move on to the two stars** below

  

** Here's where the seriousness continues:

UPDATE:

Thursday I walked into the clinic, with no yellow bracelet, surprising a lot of the staff.

Thursday was also my Dad’s birthday and while so many people were going on about me walking in, one nurse went down to the coffee shop and bought us all a muffin and juice to celebrate his birthday while we waited for the doctor.

I will, never, according to modern medicine and my doctors hear, ”Your cancer is in remission.”  I realize God is able to do anything.  He still baffles me and others around me and works miracles.  The fact I'm still here and on my own two feet is evidence that He is still able to do miraculous things.

However, the news was not what we were hoping to hear from the doctor:

There are more spots growing both where the first tumor was and also in some new places.  The doctor again said he did not really understand because normally people aren't doing as well as I am as the tumor begins growing again.  He was surprised as were so many others by my walking into the clinic for my visit today.

However, to check on things we are going to rescan next month and see where we stand.  The doctor also said there would be no more surgeries.  According to him there are now a number of different spots that make more surgeries difficult if not impossible.  The same goes for radiation. So back to Moffitt next month for another 

MRI and doctor visit to see if we need to do something different.  Until then I will continue with Optune and the chemo (both of them).

I'm still trusting God for His perfect will and strength to face each new day.

God is still good and in control of all that happens in my life.  I only hope and pray I give even just a portion back.  I know I can't meet up with even a small part of what He has done for me.  But I hope my life shows a little of His grace, mercy and love for me.

Thanks for your prayers today.  We all needed them and will need more in the days to come.

PRAISES:

Physical/emotional strength for each difficult day.

**Lessons God continues to bring my way about Himself, me, others around me and life in general.

My trips to the stop sign at the end of the road are still “Painfully” slow in many people’s eyes.  However, they are getting better, and I WILL continue to make them.

PRAYER REQUESTS: (I realize I keep posting the same requests, but they are still relevant/needed.  So, I’ll continue posting them, but I’ll try to add a marker if it’s something new.  No promises that I’ll remember to do that every time.)

Extra fatigue from medication and other changes in how my body responds to treatment and changes. 

So please pray for extra strength on a daily basis.

Continued strength to manage the physical strain of some of the treatment and exercises to improve mobility.

Courage to face the unknown and opportunities to show the grace of God through difficult times.

Safety.

Family who are hanging in there with me through this battle.

Wisdom to know my limitations and observe them.

Still working on paperwork for various devices to assist mobility as well as insurance matters.

**Next MRI and doctor visit March 15.

A few more thoughts from Friday morning – Where do we go from here?

One day at a time, looking up for strength and an ability to move ahead moment by moment. Hoping to make a difference in someone's life and make my Creator proud.   Will I get it right from here on out? No, but I will try with my hand held tightly in His.   So, from this point on don't judge my heart too seriously. You may catch me on a down day. Doesn’t mean I've stopped trusting in God. Just means my humanity got in the way and I'm having a hard day or moment. In the meantime, I will still laugh when my mom talks of dinosaurs causing traffic jams or I may continue calling myself "Flash" as I "speed" down the road to the stop sign.  Mostly, I pray my life means something to those around me.

Thanks for the prayers for Thursday, especially those praying for the walk into the clinic (that was important to me) and for safety there and back today and grace to hear the news. Yes, I walked in and walked out. God gives strength when we need it.

I'm telling you all this because the more people who know what's happening, the more they will pray and I and my family can certainly use the prayers. Here's a song for today the Lord brought it to my mind this morning as I contemplated getting out of bed.

If you see me out in the store, at church or anywhere. You just be you, I’ll just be me.  Nothing has changed if we start talking and tears come up, it’s OK, life is hard sometimes. But God is good, despite our imperfections and the hard times we face.

The previous verse and following Scripture was on my mind this morning was the previous song while I was contemplating getting up for the day God brought both of them to my mind this morning.

“Trust in him at all times; ye people, pour out your heart before him: God is a refuge for us. Selah.” - Psalm 62:8