PRAISE GOD, CLEAR SCAN!! - May 7th 2014

Good morning!

 

When our children were little, their choir director told the parents the importance of children learning the "great hymns" of our faith, as well as newer praise and worship songs, that times of great joy and times of sorrow would come, and they could draw on those words of comfort and praise.  It is true for the parents as well.  Many times I find myself singing songs from their musicals, singing hymns from my childhood....Today it is "I stand, I stand in awe of You"...God has again answered our prayers for a clear scan!  When I got the written report, I jumped immediately to the last section, "impressions" and shouts of praise and joy rang out as I read the words "no indication of metastatic disease"!!!  Thank you so much for praying with me and my family.  We are truly grateful.  We give all the glory to God!  I will continue to learn lessons of faith and trust as I will now see my oncologist once every 8 weeks, a change from the every 4 weeks of the last two years, and the interval between scans will increase from three to four months.

 

It has been a long winter for me, and from a weather perspective, for all of us up here in the north country.  I believe spring is finally here, you can smell a freshness in the breeze, the grass is greening up, leaves are beginning to unfold on the trees.  For this, I am thankful.  It is a constant reminder that God is with us....always.  A very dear friend of mine has gone home to live with Jesus.  When she was diagnosed with lung cancer last fall, we began walking the road together.  God gave me the opportunity to share with her little things I had learned...but in the end, it was me learning from her.  I miss her so much! 

 

I do have a few things that we can be praying for together.  In April I got Shingles, not fun, but the residual pain and itching is actually worse making it difficult to sleep.  The nerves have been inflamed and have to "settle down" and I have been told that it can take months.  While being awakened in the night is frustrating, I have had some pretty sweet prayer time...there is a purpose in all things. Please join me in praying that my nerves would calm down.

 

I continue to have the tingling and burning from the neuropathy.  The TENS unit has not been especially successful, however the cream that I am using provides some relief.  I don't think it is worsening, but rather that I am tired, and less tolerant.  I am thankful for warmer weather that allows me to wear much more comfortable flip flops rather than winter boots and shoes. I would appreciate continued prayer that the neuropathy would ease up, and boldly, that it would be gone.

 

Thank you for walking with me on this journey.  I pray that you have seen the healing hand of God, and I pray that you share this as encouragement to others, that each of us would grow deeper in our faith, trusting only God and giving Him the glory and honor He so deserves.  Each of you is a very special blessing to me, and to my family, and I pray that you to will be blessed.

 

"Our God is an awesome God, he reigns from heaven above..."

Annie

 

Update and Prayer Request - May1, 2014

Happy May Day!!!

Oh what a gift spring time is, to see the perennials beginning to surface after their long winters sleep and to see the grass become green again! It's still pretty chilly around our northern neck of the woods, but evidence of spring is definitely upon us and we couldn't be more thrilled.

 

The promise of spring is such an encouragement as it tangibly reminds us of new life...and the hope that we have as we look forward and anticipate God's continual Hands of provision.

 

God's provision this past winter and spring has been sweet.  We enjoyed celebrating Christmas together at the cabin, all of us under one roof watching little ones play, snow shoeing, sledding, laughing...simply being together.

 

Not long after Christmas, we started the celebration o-birthdays as 10 out of the 12 of us have birthdays between the beginning of March and June.  With the birthdays have come milestones...oh, the milestones of crawling, messy meal times, story telling...oh, the joy of life with little ones!

 

For bystanders not knowing my mom's 'story', they'd never guess that she'd be in the throws of chemo-therapy.  My mom has mastered the art of carrying heavy infant carriers (complete with babies), baby sitting, negotiating with preschoolers and keeping up with the joys that being a 'Gram' brings. Watching my mom tackle life (and do it joyfully) is such a gift...getting to 'forget' about the reality of chemo and simply enjoy her as Gram is such a miracle and something we try so hard to not take for granted.

 

There have been hiccups throughout the past few months that have provided us with tangible reminders of our need to trust in the Lord. Saying goodbye to a dear friend, grand-kiddos (and pups) have gotten sick and an unfortunate stint with Shingles.  God's grace was all over my mom's case of Shingles...she was diagnosed early, prescribed with potent anti-viral drugs and only 'down' for about 10 days, which is truly incredible as her body was able to 'fight' despite her compromised immune system. The itching from the Shingles continues to provide discomfort and proves quite annoying (especially at night) which we are praying for relief from.  To date, the Shingles were isolated to just my mom...which is another answer to prayer.

 

The unexpected bout with Shingles meant postponing a scan that my mom had scheduled in mid-April.  My mom's oncologist encouraged the postponement because her lymph system was in the throws of battling the Shingles, meaning a scan wouldn't provide an accurate understanding of her body's health. The Shingles also meant postponing her chemo therapy for a week.  Postponing the scan and the chemo provided and opportunity to trust and gave her body a much appreciated break.

 

With that said, her scan has been rescheduled for this week...tomorrow (7:30am central time) with a follow up appointment scheduled for early next week.  Scans seem to evoke different emotions in all of us...but bottom line GOD REMAINS IN CONTROL and nothing about Him will change between now, tomorrow morning and early next week.

 

Romans 15:13 reads "May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit." 

 

We are praying that God would continue to fill our hearts with hope, that we'd overflow with joy and peace as we trust in Him...that we would overflow so much that we feel compelled to share our hope and we wouldn't have room for fear and what-if's to wander in...remembering that that hope only comes from the Holy Spirit, not from ourselves...the doctors or the chemo.

 

Would you mind joining our family as we pray...

-for relief from the itching

-for peace surrounding every aspect of the scan and follow up appointment

-for NO evidence of cancer, that the cancer would remain GONE

-that God would continue to receive the glory as we walk through this journey

 

 My mom told me that her heart has an incredible amount of peace about tomorrow's scan...God's Hands are already all over tomorrow...and we are so grateful for all of you...we couldn't walk through this journey alone. May you all be blessed.

 

Love,

Annie and family 

Praise! January, 7, 2014

I admit it, I was grouchy this morning.  It is cold here in the north country. I had been up in the dark yesterday at 6 to drink the contract media for my CT scan, then out into the cold.  This morning was a repeat, up early and out into the cold but.....what an incredible sunrise; yellows, pinks, and reds streaking across the winter sky, God's promise of a new day, filled with opportunities to praise, worship and serve Him if we are willing to seek Him.  This morning we are giving God all the glory, He has answered our prayers, my scan showed no indication of metastatic disease.  Praise God!  It is such a joy to share this with all of you faithful prayer warriors.  My oncologist had a Fellow working with her today.  As they were reviewing my chart and scan he asked her, "what are you doing differently with this patient?".  She replied that she could not explain why I was doing so well.  Open door....I said to her I had an explanation, God and an incredible group of people committed to praying together, believing that God could and would heal.  Little seeds planted; I pray for the opportunity to one day have a conversation with her, in God's time.  So thank you, thank you, thank you for faithfully lifting me up before the throne, for believing in the healing power of God.  I am blessed.

May you see God in the sunrises, trust in His promises, be held in His arms, know that you are loved,

Annie 

Update & Prayer Request - December 30, 2013

It is early morning.  Dawn, in shades of peach and yellow is pushing away the night sky.   The snow, pristine on Christmas day, is well tracked with boot prints, snowshoe prints, and paw prints, evidence of our family enjoying time together in the north country.  We were blessed with three days of warmer weather before diving into the deep freeze.  God is so good!  Our family time was sweet….so very special to have all our kids and grands under one roof and so thankful that I was feeling good, really good!  I was able to cook and play and talk and hug my babies, big and little.  Yes, our God is most definitely good!!!

The time was even more special as it followed six very difficult weeks.  I am NOT blaming God; He had a lesson to teach, and I had a lesson to learn.  In October we got some very good news with my PET scan.  My cancer was in remission.  I had just finished my seventh cycle of oxalyplatin and 5-FU with accumulating side effects.  I was given a choice, one more round of the two drugs, or cut out the oxalyplatin, which causes most of the adverse side effects, and continue with a maintenance dose of 5-FU.  Without a moment’s pause, I jumped in, feet first, and decided to do one more round of the combination drug.  Why not, it was working???  Not a good decision.  I did not take time to pray, to ask God what we should do.  I stepped, no jumped, outside of His will, something I hope to never do again!  My liver enzymes increased well outside “my normal” range, indicating inflammation/damage to my liver.  My pancreas was inflamed, a condition that can rapidly turn serious, even life threatening, my blood sugars were running higher than normal, and I slept, for four weeks, sometimes as much as 20 hours a day.  I had plenty of time to think, to seek forgiveness, to learn.  God graciously gave me the strength to do what I absolutely needed to do, but nothing more.   He stopped me, right where I was, loved me, forgave me. 

By Thanksgiving I was feeling better, venturing out to run a few errands, even fixing the turkey with my mom.  It was short lived.  I developed a horrible respiratory infection with cough, ear, sinus and eye infections.   I am still battling the ear infections, but the rest of the “junk” is gone.  The cough was so severe that I ruptured the incision from my surgery and now have an abdominal hernia.  Surgery to repair it would require that I go off my chemo for six weeks.  After PRAYING, we have decided to “wait and watch”.

So….I have learned.  I am not perfect, and I will probably make decisions without seeking God’s council, but I am learning to seek God in all things.  I am grateful to be surrounded by people who hold me accountable.  I am grateful for each one of you who have faithfully prayed for me.  It has been my privilege to pray for you too.

My “new year” begins with a CT scan on Monday, January 6^th.  I covet your prayers for a scan that indicates NO CANCER.  I covet your prayers for direction as we move forward with maintenance chemo.  The neuropathy is more difficult when it is cold, and I continue to pray that God would lead me to a good treatment option for that. 

How is your “new year” beginning?  Is there something I can be praying for you….praise, thanksgiving, healing, peace.  God has so graciously blessed me this year.  My time with family has been so precious, we have welcomed two new babies, faced down cancer, created wonderful memories.   We have laughed and cried together, carried and been carried by each other.  We have learned many lessons.  TO GOD BE ALL THE PRAISE AND GLORY!!!!

May each of you be blessed, as you have blessed me.  May the new year be filled with opportunity to praise, thank and give glory to God.

Annie   

Joyous Update- October 24, 2013

Forgive me, I should have written this yesterday, but to be honest, I was singing songs of praise and worship, celebrating with family, and thanking God.  My scan was PERFECTLY CLEAR.  I was aware that they were watching one area for changes, but it turns out there were a couple of other areas of concern that we were unaware of.  All those areas show no increased metabolic activity indicating no cancer.   The only area of increased activity was my bones which is good because it shows that the drugs to increase my white counts are doing their job stimulating my bone marrow. Thank you God!!!!  He has listened and heard our prayers and I am once again humbled by each of you and your faithfulness in bringing our prayers before the thrown of God.  So, what is next???  My liver function tests are climbing which lets us know that my liver needs a break.  The rise is not dramatic, but it has been climbing consistently.  I will go off the oxalyplatin at the end of this cycle (I have had eight cycles), for a few months and continue with 5FU in the oral form.  Yes, this is the drug that we had a little battle with the insurance company over.  We are praying that since they finally approved it before, then will do so again.  We will scan again in 3-4 months.  If there are any areas of concern at that time, I will go back on the combination drugs again.  My cancer has respond well to that combination and there is every reason to believe that if we need to, we can go back to that.  Encouraging to me is that the neuropathy should improve, the cold sensitivity should go away (excellent as we head into cold winter months), and I will not feel quite so tired.  We are trying a new drug regimen to help with that.  I slept for 4 days last cycle, and so far this cycle has been much better.  Last week I wrote about the colors of the autumn leaves.  They are still beautiful, and the grands are out collecting them.  Next we plan on collecting some acorns for a little decorating project.....yes, I am feeling better.  I had to smile Monday morning as we were leaving the hospital after then scan....our first snowfall of the season.  Again I was struck my the awesomeness of our God.  The snowfall was those little, unique, perfectly formed, six pointed crystals.  Again, God didn't have to create such beauty for us, in fact, our busy lives don't allow much time to stop and appreciate it.  Perhaps it is a blessing to have to slow down life, to pause and wonder over the little things, to thank God for the moments, to seek joy, to give thanks in all things.  No, not perhaps, I am certain this is God's plan for me.  I need to keep my eyes on Him, to be constantly aware of the miracle He is performing in my life, and the ripple effect that has on those I love, as well as those who have been consistently praying for me, a stranger, a friend, a friend of a friend.  To all of you, you have my deepest thanks, you are being my rock, and I have been so blessed.

 

May you be blessed,

Annie  

Prayer Request - October 18, 2013

Just a really quick update before next week when I promise a much more detailed update. I covet your prayers this weekend. I am having a PET/CT scan on Monday and we are praying that there will be no evidence of cancer anywhere in my body. Would you please join us in that prayer? I have been feeling really pretty good these last few weeks: good enough to take care of our grandbaby on Wednesday mornings while his mom stays connected with her school, good enough to go to the apple orchard and cook up a big batch of applesauce, good enough to enjoy lake weekends with our kids and their kids. I am praising God. I love fall and am relishing the change of seasons here, the reds, oranges and yellows, the crisp air, the clear blue skies. I stand in awe of God's majesty. God didn't have to create a world with these awesome seasons, the beauty of the fall, but He did for us that we might understand His awesomeness. So, take a moment with me, draw in a breathe of the clear autumn air, gaze at the colors and reflect on Him, artistic creator. Thank you for your prayers on my behalf. I am truly grateful, and blessed beyond comprehension by your faithfulness. God will hear our prayers and answer.

In His name, Annie

Prayer Request - August 21, 2013

Thank you for continuing to rejoice with our family as we celebrate my mom's clear scan results last week...God's Hand continues to amaze us and we know that it is only Him who is responsible for the scan's results.

 

This morning with our praises comes renewed request as my mom has hit another little 'hiccup' along this road. She was scheduled to have her chemo treatment yesterday morning, which has been postponed a week because her white count was too low the week before. Yesterday's blood work revealed her white count to be too low for treatment again (even lower than the week prior), meaning another postponement (probably till early next week). They gave her a shot yesterday (and she will have 3 subsequent shots in the next three days) to hopefully help boost her white blood cells and allow her to continue with her treatment.  The shots are incredibly uncomfortable and cause great 'bone pain' which is leaving her on the couch or in bed. 

 

Would you please pray that...

 

-The cancer would remain MIRACULOUSLY GONE...that this hiccup preventing her from getting treatment would NOT allow the cancer to 'gain strength'

-That her white count would INCREASE dramatically

-That the bone pain would be GONE or at least tolerable with pain medicine

-That her heart would not be discouraged as time in bed/on the couch isn't good for anyone's joy

-That satan would not weasel his way in and cause fear, doubt, despair, etc.

-That the Lord would continue to be glorified through every aspect of this journey

 

Thank you for continuing to pray alongside our family and rally on my mom's behalf...we are so grateful for your intercession!!

 

Be blessed.

 

Annie & family