With the upcoming chemo treatments it was advised that we all get flu shots. Janis received hers a while back. I picked the boys up after school and we went over to the clinic to get ours. The boys were very strong and gladly stepped up to the plate to help out for mom. On the trade-off, they received a soda and a chocolate bar...not too bad. On the down side, Bryce, due to his age, has to come back in 30 days for another shot....
Total, 3 flu shots, no tears, 2 bugs bunny bandaids and 1 daffy duck banadaid...yes, that one was mine.
Wednesday, November 7, 2007
OK Lord-I hear ya!
If the Lord was ever trying to tell us something, it couldn't be an more plain to see that this. Special thanks to Denny for pointing us in this direction.
Taken from "My Utmost for His highest"
The Undetected Sacredness of Circumstances
We know that all things work together for good to those who love God . . . —Romans 8:28
The circumstances of a saint’s life are ordained of God. In the life of a saint there is no such thing as chance. God by His providence brings you into circumstances that you can’t understand at all, but the Spirit of God understands. God brings you to places, among people, and into certain conditions to accomplish a definite purpose through the intercession of the Spirit in you. Never put yourself in front of your circumstances and say, "I’m going to be my own providence here; I will watch this closely, or protect myself from that." All your circumstances are in the hand of God, and therefore you don’t ever have to think they are unnatural or unique. Your part in intercessory prayer is not to agonize over how to intercede, but to use the everyday circumstances and people God puts around you by His providence to bring them before His throne, and to allow the Spirit in you the opportunity to intercede for them. In this way God is going to touch the whole world with His saints.
Am I making the Holy Spirit’s work difficult by being vague and unsure, or by trying to do His work for Him? I must do the human side of intercession— utilizing the circumstances in which I find myself and the people who surround me. I must keep my conscious life as a sacred place for the Holy Spirit. Then as I lift different ones to God through prayer, the Holy Spirit intercedes for them.
Your intercessions can never be mine, and my intercessions can never be yours, ". . . but the Spirit Himself makes intercession" in each of our lives ( Romans 8:26 ). And without that intercession, the lives of others would be left in poverty and in ruin.
Taken from "My Utmost for His highest"
The Undetected Sacredness of Circumstances
We know that all things work together for good to those who love God . . . —Romans 8:28
The circumstances of a saint’s life are ordained of God. In the life of a saint there is no such thing as chance. God by His providence brings you into circumstances that you can’t understand at all, but the Spirit of God understands. God brings you to places, among people, and into certain conditions to accomplish a definite purpose through the intercession of the Spirit in you. Never put yourself in front of your circumstances and say, "I’m going to be my own providence here; I will watch this closely, or protect myself from that." All your circumstances are in the hand of God, and therefore you don’t ever have to think they are unnatural or unique. Your part in intercessory prayer is not to agonize over how to intercede, but to use the everyday circumstances and people God puts around you by His providence to bring them before His throne, and to allow the Spirit in you the opportunity to intercede for them. In this way God is going to touch the whole world with His saints.
Am I making the Holy Spirit’s work difficult by being vague and unsure, or by trying to do His work for Him? I must do the human side of intercession— utilizing the circumstances in which I find myself and the people who surround me. I must keep my conscious life as a sacred place for the Holy Spirit. Then as I lift different ones to God through prayer, the Holy Spirit intercedes for them.
Your intercessions can never be mine, and my intercessions can never be yours, ". . . but the Spirit Himself makes intercession" in each of our lives ( Romans 8:26 ). And without that intercession, the lives of others would be left in poverty and in ruin.
Blessings (Decisions Part 2)
Janis and I went to Olympia to meet with a surgeon today about establishing a relationship with his group for the surgical support we are going to be needing relating to the cancer and all that goes with this. We also went up expecting to discuss the mediport. God blessed us with a meeting of a surgeon that was kind of blindsided with the details of our case. While bringing him up to speed with our case, he took time even though his schedule was busy and consulted with his partners and was able to provide us with a lot of good additional info. We came away with a lot more info and honestly, understanding from the surgical standpoint what and why some of our options are that they are. Good to know.
God also blessed us on expected drive home. Shortly after the obligatory stop at starbucks in Tumwater by Fred Meyer, just south of the maytown exit, traffic came to a near stop. We were stuck in traffic for over an hour. There was a wreck near the county line that we had to make it past-couldn't blame the big casino sign or the waterpark for this backup. the blessing in this was that we had nothing else to do but talk about the appointment and were able to tie our consultation back to what we see in some books and things seemed to click a bit.
Keep praying for us and for guidance in the decision making process that will define this family's lives from here on out.
God also blessed us on expected drive home. Shortly after the obligatory stop at starbucks in Tumwater by Fred Meyer, just south of the maytown exit, traffic came to a near stop. We were stuck in traffic for over an hour. There was a wreck near the county line that we had to make it past-couldn't blame the big casino sign or the waterpark for this backup. the blessing in this was that we had nothing else to do but talk about the appointment and were able to tie our consultation back to what we see in some books and things seemed to click a bit.
Keep praying for us and for guidance in the decision making process that will define this family's lives from here on out.
Monday, November 5, 2007
Continued Thanks!!!
Continued thanks and praise to God for all the help, concern, support that we have. Yesterday was a big day in the information distribution process as the news was passed along to our whole church family. The prayer, love and support we received (and continued to receive) is awesome. We truly love you and we are forever greatful for the support we have.
1Co 12:26 the parts we see and the parts we don't. If one part hurts, every other part is involved in the hurt, and in the healing. If one part flourishes, every other part enters into the exuberance.
1Co 12:26 the parts we see and the parts we don't. If one part hurts, every other part is involved in the hurt, and in the healing. If one part flourishes, every other part enters into the exuberance.
Friday, November 2, 2007
Decision Time
After a week to soak up all that this is...we met with the oncologist today and came away with a decision to make. The Dr. is recommending 4 chemo treatments, 3 week apart using TC. This is based on the characteristics of the cancer and how the tests have been so far....and the tests remaining. The other option on the board is mastectomy.
Janis has 'standard' cancer (intraductal carcinoma) with two areas 4 cm apart (both under 1.5cm). Dr. Osborne indicated the surgeon obtained good margins. The lymph nodes have not been checked yet (which is down the road). The 'FISH' test is being run on the blood to confirm if Janis is HER-2 positive. If so, this will add another liquor to the chemo cocktail, and two more cycles to the chemo treatment, but ultimately the same recommendation.
There is another test being run, checking for a genetic pre-disposition that links breast and ovarian cancer recurrences. This will take several weeks to get the results back and is quite expensive to have administered. Depending on the results, will determine future surgeries, but really have no affect on the short-term recommendation. Per Dr. O, the write-up will help influence the insurance company in approving this and he said he has written it up as needed.
Recommendation is for Chemo:
Janis has 'standard' cancer (intraductal carcinoma) with two areas 4 cm apart (both under 1.5cm). Dr. Osborne indicated the surgeon obtained good margins. The lymph nodes have not been checked yet (which is down the road). The 'FISH' test is being run on the blood to confirm if Janis is HER-2 positive. If so, this will add another liquor to the chemo cocktail, and two more cycles to the chemo treatment, but ultimately the same recommendation.
There is another test being run, checking for a genetic pre-disposition that links breast and ovarian cancer recurrences. This will take several weeks to get the results back and is quite expensive to have administered. Depending on the results, will determine future surgeries, but really have no affect on the short-term recommendation. Per Dr. O, the write-up will help influence the insurance company in approving this and he said he has written it up as needed.
Recommendation is for Chemo:
- place medi-port to ease with application of medication, taking blood, etc Next week.
- Start 4 cycles of chemo 3 weeks apart (TC Treatment -Taxol and cyclophosphamine) Thanksgiving week.
- After the chemo course, re-excise and check lymph nodes.
- Followed by radiation.
Special thank you to our medical receptionist Dondi! We really appreciate you being able to make it to the appointment, take some notes for us and help us get our questions in, and also to be able to talk about what we heard, compare to what you heard and come away feeling as good as could about the path ahead. Thanks again Dondi!
Thursday, November 1, 2007
Big Thank You to all!!!
We would be remiss if we didn't send out a huge THANK YOU to all of our family and friends that have rallied around us during this time. While we really haven't taken you up much on your offers of phone calls, watching the kids, making dinners, cleaning our house (watch out what you offer...ha ha) yet, it just has been awesome, uplifting to feel the support from our family, friends, church, home group and school that we have.
Some specific passages from the Bible have been timely and especially encouraging lately too.
Isiah 50:7 And the Master, GOD, stays right there and helps me, so I'm not disgraced. Therefore I set my face like flint, confident that I'll never regret this.
James 1:2 - 6 Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors. So don't try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way. If you don't know what you're doing, pray to the Father. He loves to help. You'll get his help, and won't be condescended to when you ask for it. Ask boldly, believingly, without a second thought. People who "worry their prayers" are like wind-whipped waves.
Some specific passages from the Bible have been timely and especially encouraging lately too.
Isiah 50:7 And the Master, GOD, stays right there and helps me, so I'm not disgraced. Therefore I set my face like flint, confident that I'll never regret this.
James 1:2 - 6 Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors. So don't try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way. If you don't know what you're doing, pray to the Father. He loves to help. You'll get his help, and won't be condescended to when you ask for it. Ask boldly, believingly, without a second thought. People who "worry their prayers" are like wind-whipped waves.
Changes
It sure has been a surreal week so far. This has been an emotional rollercoaster and we are just getting started. It took me until sometime Tuesday before I could put any sentences together on this without tearing up. We have gone from shock to mad to frustrated, to numb, to overwhelmed with info (man there is a lot of info out there)...to acceptance of the task ahead and am finally ready (as ready as a couple can be) for what's next.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
