6. November 22, 2022 In Everything Give Thanks!
*If you are joining me in this Blog for the first time, please scroll down and read Welcome to My Blog post and the others in numerical order
I am so thankful for all of those who came to me following those very scary days in May 2022. Their visits and prayers lifted me out of the mire of fear and depression! God had NOT called me home that day and I determined to use whatever time I had left on this Earth to serve Him and love my family!
I began taking some good vitamins and drinking lots of water and praying about our next steps in this journey. While on chemotherapy, I was restricted from anything that was 'antioxidant' so that it didn't interfere with the chemo's job to kill those cancer cells. And, it had made me so sick, so weak, that I was simply not functioning. I really felt that God wanted me to STOP chemotherapy treatment, even though I had completed only 8 of the prescribed 12 cycles.
Each week I felt better. Strength and energy returned over the summer months and I enjoyed many days in the pool with my family. My body was beginning to recover from the adverse affects of the various chemotherapy drugs I'd had over the last 18 months We determined to enjoy life and let God lead. In early fall I began leading our Wednesday Women's Bible Study again - and the rash that indicates IBC is back presented itself again!
Biopsy results determined it was the same Triple Negative Stage 4 Inflammatory Breast Cancer Ductile Carcinoma that we had been fighting all this time. A Pet Scan was ordered and it revealed additional tumors and areas of concern. I was adamant I would NOT undergo anymore chemotherapy treatments. They simply were not working!
The next conference we had with my oncologist was a bit shocking. My husband and I sat together hand in hand while we were told that I would have less than a year, probably about six months to live without treatment. The Dr. still recommended more chemo along with immunotherapy. I still refused. I just didn't see the point.
Philippians 1:23-24 " I’m torn between two desires: I long to go and be with Christ, which would be far better for me. But for your sakes, it is better that I continue to live" I can totally understand how Paul felt when he wrote this!
Matthew 26:39 records the words Jesus prayed in the garden before He was arrested, knowing what was coming next " “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as You will.” His prayer has become mine. And, I am at peace with this. After all, it is He Who created me, He Who sustains me. It is He Who knows the length of my days. Psalm 139:16 "And in Your book were written all the days that were ordained for me, when as yet there was not one of them."
It is Thanksgiving week as I write this. And, oh! I have so much to thank my God for!
I love my husband, and my family - all of our children - grandchildren and now 9 great grandchildren. I love my church family at True Life Community Church in Troy, Ohio. I love my pastor and his wife, the ladies in my Bible study and all of the Women's Ministry - and I am so very loved by all of them. This world is not my home - and we will talk about that more in additional posts.
I have been approved to try a single agent immunotherapy that may give me more good days and slow the progression of this monster. At this point, the immunotherapy seems to be working as it should and in the meantime, in the words of that great country song, I am trying to "Live Like You're Dying!" We traveled to Arkansas to visit my only son and his beautiful wife, then celebrated two weddings for two of my beautiful granddaughters. We will celebrate our family Thanksgiving with about 40 in attendance. Our 27th wedding anniversary is coming up, and then Christmas. Lord willing, we will get to enjoy each of those celebrations without a medical crisis. Thanks be to God!!
Have you prayed - Lord, Your will be done, not mine? Do you trust Him enough to pray that with your whole heart? It is NOT a prayer of doubt. I KNOW God is my Healer!! I KNOW I am healed, I was healed and I will be healed!! 1 Peter 2:24 says, “Who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness — by whose stripes you were healed. And, in Revelation:21:4 we are told “And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes! And there shall be no more death or sorrow or crying. Nor shall there be any more pain." When it manifests is His will!! He is FAITHFUL, TRUSTWORTHY, and always GOOD!
*thanks for reading my blog - there's more to come. God is not finished speaking to me and through me yet!
Comments
Post a Comment