Psa 138:3 In the day when I cried out, You answered me, And made me bold with strength in my soul.
You never really know
what's in you until you are pressed beyond what you ever thought possible. The
shock of something like cancer can press you... my heart's cry- Lord guide
us!!
It was now mid-March,
we knew that what we were facing was big, and straight from the pit! First
reactions to something like this; shock, fear, surrealism,
what? where? how?... After the initial reaction, we took a deep
breath and said, “Okay Lord this and we are in Your hands, where do we go
now?"
Suddenly life began to
move at lightning speed, and a snail’s pace, simultaneously. We had
limited understanding of chemo- and it was kind of scary to think about; with
all the side effects, and the fact that you are intentionally putting poison in
your body. With those thoughts running through our heads, we jumped on the
internet to do some research, and see what other options were
available. As I mentioned before, we actually considered trying to find the money
to go to a clinic in Mexico that seemed to have good results... our kids, were
mixed on their feelings about this, but they also said that they would support
our decision.
Decisions, all major,
and all needing to be made quickly, thank goodness we serve a God that is
faithful. As we took time to listen for the Lord's guidance (this is a
case where a wrong decision can truly prove costly) He was faithful to
give us what we needed. As Glenn was pondering everything, and deciding on a
treatment course, the Lord brought to his mind this passage-- Mark16:15-18 And He said to them, “Go into all
the world and preach the gospel to every creature. He who believes and is
baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned. And
these signs will follow those who believe: In My name they will cast out
demons; they will speak with new tongues; they will take up serpents; and if
they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay hands
on the sick, and they will recover.”
Glenn knew at that
moment we were to stay here and follow the course that our doctor was laying
before us, Chemotherapy. So that was the decision, the appointment was set for
his port (the port allows for easy and more direct access for drug delivery
than using an in arm IV every time.) to be placed on March 30th and 3 days
after that Chemo was to begin. Then on the day before the surgery we got a
phone call that would again test us, the doctor wanted to see us before we went
to the hospital. We went in to see him in the morning and found out that we
would not be waiting until Monday for treatment, Glenn would be starting chemo
that day and a different regime than we had talked to the doctor
about. Apparently, the numbers that had been only slightly elevated a couple
weeks before had now jumped big! The doctor didn't feel that his body handle
the treatment we were planning, so we needed to shift to one that was commonly
used for this type of cancer and that starting today (the day of surgery) was
vital. The expression on the doctor’s face and concern in his voice were not
something we wanted to hear.
Though it was not what
we wanted to hear, we held fast to the fact that the Lord knew long ago what we
would be facing at that moment. We trusted in Him and proceeded to move forward
with the new treatment plan, and also to follow through with what we had been
commissioned to do with that block of scripture; preach the Gospel, pray for
people, lay hands on the sick and to see them recover. Now when
we receive a prayer request or see a need, we move on
it immediately, we don't wait, when you wait, you can forget, so pray when
the need occurs then you know you've done it.
We have celebrated the 6 month anniversary since diagnosis, God has blessed us! Life is still very much day to day, but we really know that each day really is a gift from the Lord and we are thankful for them. God is being faithful to the promise He gave us, and we are doing everything we can to to what He has asked us to do...
This is part 3 of our journey from my viewpoint, I don't know how many entries it will take to bring you to the present, but my prayer is that with each one, you see --
- Our trust is in the Lord and His leading.
- God has a plan for our lives.
- He can and will get you through anything.
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