Recovery Update & Xander News

It is so good to be home! I have been progressing very well. My main job has been to keep track of which medications to take when. I made a little spreadsheet to keep myself on track (and to avoid overdosing!) I will tell you this, I am NOT waiting 4-6 weeks to go back to work. 3 will be just fine, and will make my life considerably less difficult than if I had to scrunch the semester into a shorter time period.

We came home from the hospital a week ago on Friday evening, and my Mom stayed with us through Sunday afternoon. I was able to get up and go to church on Sunday morning with no problem. I have taken naps when I need them, and generally kind of putter around and do low-impact stuff around the house.

Monday, the kids went to school and Matt went to work. I was left home alone and tried to do some baking, but reaching into my baking cupboard was a stretch beyond what was comfortable for me. I did get a pan of banana bars made, but was VERY grateful when someone showed up at the door with dinner because I was wiped out!

Tuesday and Wednesday, I ended up going with Matt to work at the church just to keep myself out of trouble. He gave me a little project to work on which mostly consisted of writing and cutting. I felt much better those two days.

I'm pretty tired of not driving. I dislike having to be chauffeured around like Miss Daisy. Also, I am a horrible backseat driver. Mom says maybe Matt should teach Xander to drive, not me. She's probably right.

Speaking of Xander (our 13 year-old son), Thursday we took him to the doctor. He has developed a pectus in his chest during his adolescent growth spurt, that looks something like this:

Xander is clearly more intelligent than this boy. 

You can just tell by the vacant look in his eyes.

His lower ribs really flare forward more than this drawing, making the depression appear deeper than it is. We have been concerned that it was impairing his heart/lung function when he was exercising, as he gets winded really easily and it scares him a bit. Obviously, it is not life-threatening, but we finally got insurance that would cover the doctor's visit, so we took him in.

The pediatric cardiologist that he saw didn't seem too concerned about the pectus itself- he says it has to be really deep to move the heart like in the drawing above, but he saw several things that point to the possibility of Marfan Syndrome, specifically his tall, lanky stature, the stretch marks on his back (stretch marks?! I thought those red lines were just scratches!), the fact that he wears glasses and some of his joins hyper-extend. Marfan Syndrome is a connective tissue disorder than can effect several different parts of the body, specifically the heart, blood vessels, joints, bones and eyes.

If he has this, it is very mild.  It is a genetic disorder, and no one on either side of our family has it. Most of the characteristics above can also be applied to me: tall(ish), lanky, with bad eyes and joints that hyper-extend. They did an Echocardiogram, which showed that his heart is functioning perfectly, but he has a slightly enlarged aorta. At this point, it is just something to keep an eye on. They will measure it again in a year and see if it grows proportionally with the rest of his body, or gets out of control.

They also set up a CT scan and a visit with a surgeon for a couple of weeks from now. The cardiologist that we talked to said that if Xander is really self-conscious about the dip in his sternum- and it is very noticeable, it looks like he took a cannonball to the chest, that psychological reasons are enough to have the area repaired surgically and still be eligible to be covered by insurance. He is at a good age to have the surgery, as his cartilage is still very flexible.

I didn't really get a chance to talk to Xander about this last night because of his activities, so this morning, I asked how he was feeling about it all. He said it was good to know that his heart is just fine, and he's safe to do most physical activities- but has an excuse not to do any serious weight-lifting sports like wrestling, football or hockey. I told him that surgery is an option, and it's kind of up to him. I don't want him to be so self-conscious about it his whole life, and to say, "I could've had surgery when I was a kid, but my parents wouldn't pay for it,"* when he's an adult.  We're going to let him think about it for a while. There's no rush. We'll let you know what happens with that as things progress.

*(you have to use a sullen teenager voice in your head when you read that part)

Anyway, back to me.  :)  Here's me today:

the ruffles on this shirt hide a multitude of weird problems

(AKA, non-existent breasts and the drains around my tummy)

Today (Friday) is Matt's birthday (yay!), and I had two doctor's appointments scheduled (boo!). At 9 am, I went in to the plastic surgeon's clinic and had my last 2 drains removed. I was worried that it was going to really hurt, as I've heard some horror stories, but it was fine (whew!). My whole chest area is permanently numb now, so that gives me an advantage in any further treatments I will have. Which will hopefully just be the expansions from here on out. (Well, and the final implant surgery, and then possibly tattoos. We'll talk about that later.)

I say "hopefully" because when I went to the breast surgeon this afternoon, he said that there was about a 1 cm visible tumor that he removed with the breast tissue. I asked how this could be, since the MRI showed that it was only 3 mm. He said the MRI only picks up the solid core of cancer cells, but the visible tumor was significantly larger than that (I might not have the details quite right here). He is concerned that the margins that he removed around the tumor cells might not be enough and I might have to do radiation.

I.do.not.want.to.do.radiation.

I just want to be done with this! Also, radiation messes with the reconstruction process. And radiation causes cancer. "You have cancer? Here's a treatment, but the side effect is more cancer!"* I don't like it. They're really going to have to do some convincing to get me on board with this.

* (you have to read this part in a game show announcer voice)

They are going to present me at Breast Conference next Wednesday, Sept. 4, and as a team decide whether the ongoing Herceptin treatments will be enough or whether they will have to go the more aggressive radiation route.

And you thought you were done praying for me!

So here are the two specific requests that I have:

1.) For Xander's health and the possibility of surgery as described above.
2.) That I will not need radiation. (Please, oh please, oh please, oh please!) You can target prayers for the doctors making the decisions on Wednesday, Sept. 4 (I don't know what time of day, probably early).

Thanks once again to those who have sent money and gift cards. You have eased our financial fears through this stressful summer. We are so very grateful!

I am heading back to work on Sept. 9, and am excited to be getting back to "normal." I got a preview of my USF student load today, and I already have 15-17 students, plus three that have to finish incompletes (AKA senior recitals) from last semester. And there will probably be more once the semester starts next week.

I have enjoyed the unstructured pace of my summer, but it's time to go back to being a productive member of society again.

Post Surgery Update

Thank you to everyone who prayed me through! I had a very successful surgery, there was no sign of the tumor, and no trace of cancer in the lymph nodes. I AM CANCER FREE!!!  It's officially official!

I am recovering quickly. Yesterday afternoon, I was a hurtin' unit after they wheeled me over from recovery into my hospital room. My pain shot up to an 8 or 9 on the pain scale, and it got a bit out of control on me. So thank you to those who visited yesterday, and I apologize for not being at my best.

Matt & I slept deeply but in short bursts through the night. I swear I got up to pee about 6 times. Matt slept on a nifty little single hide-a-bed in my room. He and the overnight nurse had to help me each time I got up. I had to retrain my urinary tract to do its thing after having a catheter during surgery. Oh, and here's a little tidbit from the "bet you didn't know this" file: Before surgery, they injected a radioactive dye into my breast to help the surgeon locate and extract the sentinel lymph node for biopsy. It turned my urine blue! Tidy Bowl blue. Well, it lightened up to a scope green, and then a pale spring green over the course of about 12 hours.

I came out of surgery with a thick Ace bandage wrapped around my chest, with 4 drains coming out of my sides. I think the bandage comes off tomorrow (2 days post- surgery). I hope so! It is really itchy. Two of the drains will be removed when the plastic surgeon comes to check on me in the morning. I will go home with two still attached, and have those removed next week at a follow-up appointment.  The drains look something like this:

This is not my tummy. I'm not showing you that.

They pull the excess fluid out of the surgical incisions using suction. I explained it to Maia this way, "It's kind of like when you want to fill a rubber ducky with water in the bathtub, so you squeeze all the air out of it, then put it underwater to fill it up." I think they should make them out of rubber duckies to give your surgery a more whimsical feel. What do you think? I should patent it!

I was given a pain pump to administer my own narcotic drip through my IV yesterday and overnight. It helped an awful lot, but by about noon today, I didn't need it anymore. I am currently on 3 oral medications:  a muscle relaxant because the pectoral muscles can spasm from being stretched, an nsaid, and a narcotic, all of which will go home with me tomorrow. I am staying ahead of the pain so far, which is very important.

I cannot believe how fast I am recovering. We'll see how I feel in the morning, but I went from slowly shuffling on shaky knees down the hall, attached to an IV pole and an escort on either side of me last night, to today where I was unhooked from the IV, fully dressed and walking easily on my own down to the small cafe they have on this floor to eat all 3 meals. This evening I am comfortably sitting up, fully dressed in my own cozy jammies, wearing my hair and generally feeling 100 times better than I did 12 hours ago.

Here's me this afternoon:

Of course, you can't see the bandages or the drains, the bald head or the nasty fingernails in this picture, but they're not what I'm all about.

Yesterday morning, as I was checking into the surgery center bright and early, the nurse doing my initial paperwork looked at me quizzically and said, "Are you the blogger? Were you the one with the news crew last time you came in here?" I said I was surprised she recognized me because my hair was so much different the last time I was there (to get my portacath inserted in April). She was not my nurse last time, but she said she recognized my smile and my laugh.

I can live with that. I pray that deep and abiding joy will always be something that defines me.

Going Under The Knife

Well, the big week is here. I have surgery scheduled for Wednesday morning.

Many people have caught me and told me they are praying for me this week. I can't tell you how much I appreciate that. I have to say, your prayers are doing great things!

A couple of updates:

#1- Fingernails: They are doing better! I know you were concerned. I know it's a small thing, but I really feel like God is answering our prayers about this. (He loves to answer prayers about the little things too.) They still feel pretty sensitive, and like they would hurt really bad if I caught them on anything, but I have been able to clip them maybe 3 times since the last time I wrote, and every time I do, I feel like I'm a millimeter closer to safety with them. I even dragged my cello out of its case and gave it a try last week, and it wasn't impossible. Except that I haven't practiced since I was diagnosed for whatever reason, so I'm pretty rusty. I wear rubber gloves in the kitchen a lot, when I'm making dinner, cleaning up, or eating a particularly messy meal -because nothing says "Good Nachos" like eating them with rubber gloves on!

I feel like the neuropathy has abated almost completely. As a matter of fact, I sat at the piano and sang and played for a good hour or more this afternoon, and didn't have any issues with my hands. So thank you so much for these prayers. God is truly answering!

#2- Provision: Oh. My. Goodness. You guys are the best. Thank you for everyone who has sent some money our way. We are so appreciative of the sacrifices you have made, and it makes me giddy to see how God provides through the gifts of his people. Four days in a row, we have received OUTRAGEOUS gifts- some anonymous, others not. We are thankful for each and every one. As a result, we celebrated our 21st anniversary (where someone snuck in and paid our bill- leaving in addition $21.21 in cash- which we were then able to leave as an outrageous tip for our cute waitress), and we will be able to meet our household bills for the end of August, as well as pay off the accumulated medical bills that have come our way in the last few weeks. So thank you, thank you, THANK YOU! We are humbled.

This is such a faith builder, when we place our trust in God for provision, and He nudges His people in this way. I would encourage you to trust Him when you are worried. Make your needs known for him, and ask for His help. He is a good Father, and meets the needs of His children. Sometimes, He provides like this, but more often in our lives, He has sent more work our way. Giving your child an opportunity to earn his or her income is a necessary something I do as a parent- why should He be any different?

#3- Platelets: They went up! They were at 142 when they ran labs on me last week. Those prayers did it again! This is not a super-high number, but it's high enough for surgery, and they are moving in the right direction. My liver numbers were a little low, so the doc told me lay off my celebratory drinks. :)  Also to stay away from Tylenol.

Moving Toward Surgery
I am following the pre-surgical protocol, and have not been taking any vitamin or herbal supplements since last Wednesday. My muscles sure got achy for a few days. Probably should have eased off.  I usually take a Vit D3, B Complex, Calcium Carbonate/ Magnesium, some fruit & vegetable juice supplements called Juice Plus, and an herbal supplement for the neuropathy called Neuro-QOL. (No drugs. Isn't that wonderful?) So I am off all that, and my system should be free of all the extras for Wednesday.

I am busily trying to get all my ducks in a row by tomorrow. School started for the kids today, so I'm finalizing carpool schedules, making sure they have all their school supplies, lunch money, etc. I am trying to get my lesson schedules set up, even though I won't go back to teaching until Oct. 1. I have 2 college students doing their senior recitals in September, so I did what I could to help them put finishing touches on that, and now it's up to them. I set up a meal sign-up for anyone local who wants to bring us meals over the next several weeks. I played as many services at our church as I could before taking some time off. Squeezing out the last of my service! Got my small group set up, and my moms' prayer group for school... I hope I'm not missing anything! I'll probably think of something huge at 3 am on Wednesday.

The Big Day
My timeline on Wednesday is arrival at 5:30 am. I was told not to bother being early, because that's when they open. Geesh. Then they are going to do a Sentinel Node Injection at 7 am. That is described as:

...a procedure used to help identify the sentinel lymph node(s), which is the first lymph node to which cancer cells are likely to spread from the primary tumor. The procedure involves injecting a radioactive isotope (technetium sulfur colloid) into the breast, generally around the central aspect of the breast.   The material moves through the lymphatic channels and accumulates in one or several lymph nodes. During surgery, a handheld gamma ray counter scans the area of the underarm to locate the sentinel node(s). ~Source: bannerhealth.com 

Surgery (bilateral simple mastectomies with possible right axillary node dissection) is scheduled for 9:00 am. I told several people it was at 7- I didn't read my admission sheets very thoroughly. Sorry. During surgery, the breast surgeon (Dr. Dosch- if you want to pray for him by name) will remove the breast tissue, and possibly one or two lymph nodes, according to what he sees with the Sentinal Node injection.

Dr. Dosch may also fitz around with my port to make it work properly. It functions at 50% right now, meaning they can use it to put medicine in, but not to draw blood out. They are going to check and see if my insurance will cover that, and if so, he will fix it. If not, he'll leave it alone, and it won't be a huge deal.

Then the plastic surgeon (Dr. Karu) will do her magic. She will begin the reconstruction process by putting tissue expanders behind the pectoral muscles. These are like little water balloons that push the muscles into a new shape. She will pump me up a little bit at at time over the next few months. As you can imagine, the recovery from this surgery is pretty grueling. Think about all the things you use your chest muscles for.... yeah. Everything.

I will probably be in the hospital (Avera McKennan) for two nights, then they anticipate I will be pretty useless for a couple of weeks. They told me to take 4-6 weeks off from work, so I did. Of course, I haven't worked since school got out in May, so I'm anxious to get back, but I'll be fine. I will probably ease back into active life after the first couple of weeks, doing a lesson or two here and there, but I promise not to push it too fast.

My mom is going to come and stay with us for as long as we need her, and of course Matt will do double duty, working and taking care of the kids AND me. He's a super hero.

Prayer Requests:

• One potential complication when they remove any lymph nodes can be
  lymphedema
  , which is a "swelling in the arm that occurs when the normal flow of lymph in the arm is reduced." This would be bad, so let's pray it doesn't happen. The tips my little brochure gives me are to slowly return to normal use, protect hands from infection by wearing gloves and washing hands often (done!), don't wear tight sleeves, elastic cuffs, bracelets, watches or rings on that arm (rings? I... uh. OK), and do some therapy exercises. ~source: "Understanding Breast Cancer" Krames Patient Education.
• Uneventful surgery.
  I would love to be "not weird" for this. I pray for a textbook surgery with no amazing stories for the docs to tell afterward.
• Anesthesia sometimes makes me nauseous.
  It did not when I had my port put in, because I mentioned it to the anesthesiologist. They can add anti-nausea drugs to the drip so that I won't be sick afterward. On a side note, and I think I wrote about this before, but the last time I went under, I tried to pray for the whole group before we got started- but it turned out that the anesthesiologist did such a quick job that I thought I was praying for them before, and they were already done!
• As a singer, I'm always nervous when they intubate me because that tube goes right past the
  vocal cords
  . So protection for those fragile little muscles that I put so much time and energy into.
• And of course,
  recovery. I have given myself plenty of time before I will resume my normal life, but I am sort of a fast mover. You might have noticed that. I don't like sitting around. So I know I need to be patient with myself, and allow time for healing. 

Now, for the "before" picture: 

...and now you know why it was so easy to find a lump the size of a marble.

I know, right? All this fuss over those little things!? I'll leave you with a quote from my ever-encouraging mother. "I don't know what I'm so worried about. As small as you are, it shouldn't be any worse than having a wart removed."

Time to Celebrate!

Wahoo! Chemo is over! I had my last chemotherapy infusion (#6) on Tuesday, July 23, 2013.   Unfortunately, I couldn’t celebrate right away, because I still had to go through the after-effects. I had all the regular symptoms: fatigue, mushy head, touchy stomach, etc. but because I had the treatment on a Tuesday instead of the regular Thursday (that’s kind of a long, unnecessary story), I came out of the fog 2 days earlier than usual, and felt good for Sunday morning church- which was great because I ended up playing on the worship team that morning. That would have been absolutely impossible for me if I had still been in the fog. Not only would I have been too tired to stand, but one of my symptoms is that my brain can’t handle music, and it bounces around inside my head like I’m inside a cement bunker. It’s just too much, and I can’t stand to listen or sing. As you can imagine, that drives me crazy, as playing and singing are my favorite things to do!

a little glimpse of the crowd at our one morning service (replacing the normal 3). 

I was on the bandshell stage waaaaay in the back of this picture.

Predictably, my tongue took a couple of weeks to recover from the treatment, but it’s my hands that have really been bothering me this time around. It now looks like I will loose all of my fingernails. It started with them turning white along the tops, then grey along the bottoms (I’ve just kept them painted because they look so ugly), but these last few weeks they have been very sore. They feel bruised, like they were hit or pinched, and every time I bump a nail against anything- even a pillow or something soft, it hurts like crazy! Even playing keys in church last Sunday (the second week after treatment) was sort of painful- but not enough to keep me from doing 4 services (3 morning, one evening). 

I have been very careful with my hands, keeping the nails very short, not allowing them to soak in water, and trying not to subject them to undue trauma, but a few days ago I noticed something new. They stink. They smell vaguely like old cheese. Gross! This is because the nails are lifting off the beds. I can look down my fingertips and see right up under the nails. My left thumb is the only one of my 10 fingers that has not hollowed out yet, but I have a feeling it’s only a matter of time.

Eew! Gross!

So, much like my hair, I will loose my nails, and they will grow back strong and healthy in a few months. And much like loosing my hair, I’m not happy about this. I have to confess that I’ve been downright grumpy about it. Meanwhile, I have increased my Neuro-QOL supplement to the recommended 2 capsules 3x/ day to help with the neuropathy in my hands, and I got a big box of rubber gloves to protect me from infection. I’m thinking of getting some pretty little white gloves like the kind ladies used to wear all the time- simply because I’m so vain, and I hate the idea of they way my hands will look without nails. Wonder where you find those? Might have to search some vintage resale shops... Or Maia’s dress up box, now that I think of it.

I had my pre-surgical blood draw this week, to make sure my levels were high enough to endure surgery. I could have stuck around and waited for the results, but I didn’t. Until I hear otherwise, I’m going to assume that my platelets are high enough to have surgery. The surgeon wants them at 120K. Before I started chemo #1, they were at a nice healthy 300K, and they gradually have dropped over the course of my 6 treatments. I asked everyone to pray aggressively for my platelet levels before the last treatment because they were at 128 before #5, and had to be over 100 in order to do the last one. Thank you for your prayers! They actually went back up to 132 for #6!  So unless this last round of chemo knocked them significantly- and I don’t see the physical signs of that- such as unstoppable bleeding, nose bleeds and excessive bruising, I’m going to assume that I’m in the clear. 

Some friends offered to have a party for me, but because I’m done with chemo, AND trying to build up my endurance to recover from surgery, I’m trying to naturally detox. I’m still avoiding sugar, eating lots of fruits and veggies, avoiding processed foods and stocking up on protein for recovery. All these things line up to make for not a very fun party, actually (who wants naturally sweetened granola and kale chips? What a party!). Also, it’s terrible timing, because school starts in a couple of weeks, and everyone is squeezing their last bit of summer fun in before we all have to go back to our regularly scheduled lives. 

But last weekend turned out to be the exact kind of celebration I needed. It was a second weekend after chemo, so I was feeling pretty good (except for a little bit of cardboard tongue). I was scheduled to play and sing for church on Sunday morning, and our worship leaders picked the BEST music! One song in particular, was one that we’ve never done, but when Aubrey (my friend/ worship leader/ former student) found the song shortly after my diagnosis she claimed it as her “Amy song,” and knew we had to use it in celebration once my treatments were over. It’s called “In Jesus’ Name” by Darlene Zschech (pronounced "Check"), and you can watch the full 9 minute video here:

I know, I don't usually watch videos either, but I want to share the lyrics with you, because they were such a great victory cry for me this weekend:

God is fighting for us,

God is on our side

He has overcome,

Yes, He has overcome

We will not be shaken,

We will not be moved

Jesus You are here

Carrying our burdens,

Covering our shame

He has overcome,

Yes, He has overcome

We will not be shaken,

We will not be moved

Jesus You are here

I will live, I will not die

The resurrection power of Christ

Alive in me and I am free

In Jesus' name

I will live, I will not die, 

I will declare and lift You high

Christ revealed and I am healed 

In Jesus' name!

God is fighting for us

Pushing back the darkness

Lighting up the Kingdom

That cannot be shaken

In the Name of Jesus,

Enemy's defeated

And we will shout it out,

Shout it out

We also sang a couple of other great celebration songs, and some songs that we just love as a congregation and as a band. It was an aggressive song lineup that asked a lot of our musicians, but the Spirit was so strong even in rehearsal, that we eagerly anticipated Sunday morning. And God did not disappoint! We were convicted that we should be that excited about our weekly gatherings every week, anticipating and preparing for a great move of the Spirit every time the Body of Christ gathers. 

In addition to a great Sunday morning, and Thursday evening practice, I attended a Beth Moore Living Proof Live conference in Sioux Falls on Friday night and Saturday morning with my mom and several ladies from our church. I’ve mentioned before that I’ve been leading a Beth Moore women’s Bible study this summer with about 8 other ladies, and I can’t say enough good things about her teaching. I’ve seen Beth speak live 3 times, and attended simulcasts a couple of other times. I’ve done about a half dozen of her studies over the years, and I always come away feeling like I’ve grown in faith and Bible knowledge. I haven’t done one of her studies in about 4 years, mostly because they take a lot of discipline and daily dedication, and those are not my strong suits, but I knew that this summer was the year to dig back into the Word in a way that one of these studies would really help me to do.

I have been griping a bit lately about not really knowing what I’m supposed to do with my life now that the worship leading chapter of my ministry has apparently closed (this was about 8 years ago). To be honest, I’m still mildly resentful about this, but remaining obedient and subservient with a good attitude in my background role on the worship team. But I’ve been trying to figure out what ministry looks like for me moving forward.

So we get to this huge event on Friday night last week, and the main logo comes up and the theme for the weekend is “Birthing Purpose.” Identifying God’s purpose for your life. Because we ALL have a purpose, and until we figure out what that is, we will be vaguely unsatisfied, and searching to accomplish something, but never really knowing what to aim for. Perfect! 

I have loved talking to my friends that attended about what God is doing in them as a result of the weekend and listening to His Spirit. I just love seeing how God is moving in the lives of others, and being able to help them process through what that means for them. A couple of the things that I came away with were: 

• to keep writing here on my blog, as I’ve received a great deal of encouragement from so many people- often complete strangers. 
• I am trying to figure out what it looks like to be sort of a mentor figure to the young women in my church and in my life. 
• I need to get back to work. Shaping singers into the best that God has for them is something I love to do. I have been off work for almost 5 months now, and I am chomping at the bit to get back to it.

My book project is on hold for a while. I think I need the benefit of hindsight to really see how God is putting pieces together throughout this journey for me. Some of it is so obvious right now, and some things won’t make sense until later. I will revisit this idea later. It may happen, it may not.

My treatment schedule for the next little bit looks like this:

1. I will continue Herceptin infusions every 3 weeks until next April. Herceptin is targeted chemotherapy for HER2-neu receptive cancer, the aggressive form of breast cancer that I have. I will be able to do this on Friday mornings when I go back to work, which is my regular day off. It will not give me the nasty side effects of the other two chemo drugs, Taxotere and Carboplatin, that I have been taking during the last 18 weeks.
2. I have a double mastectomy and reconstructive surgery scheduled for Wednesday, August 21 (pending platelet levels). I will post more about this process in another entry, as it is not a simple procedure. It will involve 2 nights' stay in the hospital and 4-6 weeks off from work, so I will return to teaching at USF on October 7.
3. I will begin hormone replacement therapy after surgery. I will explain that more when I understand it better. All I know is that the chemo has shut down my ovaries, sending me into early menopause. The hot flashes have started. (yey.) Mostly they bother me at night. I hardly notice them during the day. 

So prayer requests are:

1. Again with the platelets. The higher they are, the better I will fare during and after surgery.
2. Successful surgery with no complications. 
3. God's provision, as we are nearing the end of our savings. Paychecks will start up again at the end of September, so we're pretty close. Thanks to all of you who have sent gift cards, meals, money and food. Your gifts mean more than we can express in words!

One more thing I want to touch on before I finish up here. This stupid thing called cancer might be harder on my loved ones than on me as a patient. It is especially challenging to my parents. They both have their own ways of dealing with their grief, and helplessness. 

I sat down with my mom on Friday night, and she told me how angry she was with God at first.  Angry, scared and helpless. She said, "It took me a long time, but I had to get to the point that I knew I could live if you died. And you helped me with that because you made it clear that you know you will live even if you die." We had a great weekend together, and I'm not looking forward to them being gone all winter to Arizona. But somehow I'll make it through! 

My dad, much like me, writes his feelings out. He has sent me several poems over the last few months. This is the one he sent today.

Honor is Due

By David Eitemiller

Jesus, you are my creator and sustainer

All I have has come from your hand

Help me to draw from your wisdom and power

So I can fulfill some small part of your plan.

Jesus you are loving and kind

Your mercy is bountiful and true.

And you are a God of justice and grace.

So help me to glorify you.

I am weak and lowly

You are almighty and holy

You already know, the way I should go

But why do I learn so slowly?

My heart is deceitful and wicked

But you are so pure and so kind.

Keep the evil one away from me Lord.

And help me keep you on my mind.

As I relate to others around me.

As they observe me in all that I do.

Help me explain how you found me.

And give honor where honor is due.