We're praising the Lord at our house!!

I had a chest xray done this morning. The radiologist report reads that there has been significant improvement in the right lung since the last xray was done!!! This is such good news to our ears! The oncologist was so encouraged and said, "THIS is fabulous news!" and gave me the thumbs up with a huge grin on his face. God has been so good to hear the prayers of His people! Needless to say, we are floating on a cloud right now.

I also had routine bloodwork done and all of that, but two things came back showing improvement, so that is a praise as well! The other two just need a little bit more work and they will be within the test limits. Both the oncologist and thyroid doctor were very pleased with what they have seen and said to keep doing what we're doing. I am also thankful that the nurse was able to find a good vein to do my calcium iv in this afternoon.

We are confident that He who began a good work, will be faithful to complete it. This journey has been an amazing one in so many ways. We can look back and see so many ways He has had His hand on the whole journey. He has been faithful and has never left us. When we felt like we were fighting the battle alone, we asked Him to raise up intercessors. Some of you have commented that "out of the blue" you would feel led to pray for us. We think those were the times we called on Him. Your prayers have held us up and we could not have gotten this far without them. We have truly learned that there is power in prayer. We are learning to trust the Father in a way we have never known.

I will praise You, O LORD, with all my heart; I will tell of all Your wonders.” Psalm 9:1

Living with Hope,

Molly

A devotion to share with you.....

I received this devotion in my email box the other day and wanted to share it with you. I hope it ministers to you as it did me.


"I will lead the blind by a road they do not know, by paths they have not known I will guide them. I will turn the darkness before them into light, the rough places into level ground. These are the things I will do, and I will not forsake them."
Isaiah 42:16

God is always in front of us to show us a new way when we do not know the way to go. God is always above us to pierce the darkness so that we may see what we need to see. God is always around us to help us walk with confidence when we find ourselves going in directions completely unknown and uncertain to us. God will always see us through whatever we encounter day by day. We have this everlasting and eternal assurance from ancient days to now.

Remind us that you do not forget us, O God. Remind us that you do not forget our fear and our pain. Remind us that you remember our needs and meet us where we are, to show us where we need to be. Amen.

I had to take a blogging break.

After I worked on this blog, I got busy with finishing up another year of homeschooling. I am still homeschooling two of our three children. I have a rising 7th grader and a rising 10th grader. My purpose in having this blog is to be able to share what the Lord has done in our lives through our cancer journey. He has been so faithful to our family! He deserves all the glory for what He has done since the end of January. I will post more about this amazing journey in the coming weeks. I pray that this will be a blessing to you as I share how abundantly blessed we are as we go through this journey.

"I will lift up mine eyes to the hills, from whence cometh my strength? My strength cometh from the Lord which made heaven and earth." Psalm 121:1-2

Whew, what an exciting week it has been!

Just wanted to update you on today's visit and the week's answers to prayer -

The doctor decided that we can use the medicine that we were hoping for! I will start it next week and go back on April 8 for a follow up. The drug is made for my situation and is not a chemo drug. It actually starves the blood supply to the cancer and shrinks it. We should know by April 8 if I'll have any side effects from the medicine, plus I'll get my monthly bone iv medicine then.

I'll go for a chest xray in four weeks after I've started the medicine. If it the cancer has shrunk, then we know it's going to work for me. If it hasn't, then I'll start chemo.

This week has been full of excitement as we got word that the Rx company approved the drug treatment. This drug is expensive, $4500 a month, and so people have to get approval from their ins. Rx company or use a drug payment program. We were doing the happy dance when we found out that we will have to pay $50 for a 90 day supply! Woo hoo!!! God has once again proven himself FAITHFUL in this journey!

Another praise is that I have slept two nights this week for 7.5 hours! This is huge as I've been sleeping only 4-5 since the summer. Yay!!

Some specific prayer requests: *Please continue to pray for us as we move forward. We have a race set before us that we need to run with perserverance. (Heb. 12:1) We often ask the Lord to raise up intercessors, when we are tired and weary. We can't do this alone!

*Pray that the drug has minimal side effects for me.
*Pray that the drug works so perhaps I don't have to do chemo.
*Pray that we will remember all that God has done for us.
*Pray that we will continue to have peace that this treatment plan will work.
*Pray that as I get off the steroid this week, that I will have no back pain or nerve pain. So far, so good for the pain. I have a lot of water retention, but I understand that is normal when coming off the steroid. It's suppose to fix itself after being off it in a week. I finish the tapering off on Wed. next week. Pray that it does, because it's uncomfortable. I feel like if somebody stuck me with a pin, I'd pop!

Our prayer is that we will be able to tell others our story, that they will be amazed at what the Lord has done and put their trust in Him. Pray for doors to be opened for us to share! My heart just keeps singing "How awesome is the Lord, our God!"

My husband and I met with the oncologist yesterday. We are having trouble getting the pathology report that he really needs so we can know what kind of cells are making up the cancer. So, we spent some time discussing more medicine options, etc. IF I have the kind of pathology report that he suspects in my case due to the fact that I'm in my 40's, non smoker, kind of cancer it is, then there is a wonderful drug I can take by mouth each day and it has a great success rate. I've done research on it myself and read lots of reviews and seen lots of people have success with it. It disrupts the flow of blood to the cancer, so it will shrink the tumor. It works to get rid of the bad cells and allows the good cells to continue to build your immune system, so the tumor shrinks. We would watch it every four weeks with a chest xray and if it shrinks, we know it works for me. If not, then we would either continue using it and add in two chemo drugs, to get rid of it all.

So, we have some specific prayer requests with this update:

1) That we will get the pathology report in this week or by early next week (He works in Plymouth on Thursdays, so his office is open only four days, btw.)

2) That the pathology report is what he thinks it is, so we can use this medicine

3) That we can get the medicine cheaper through some pharmaceutical companies' drug program that works with his office or that our insurance company will be willing to pay for it at our tier level - either way, one of them would be cheaper as it's a very expensive drug

4) That I can start this drug next week. If I can't use this drug, then I have to get a port put in next week, hopefully then we'll start chemo as soon as the port is in. So, there's still some behind the scene work that needs to be accomplished before we start.

I mentioned in an earlier update that I was weaning off the bone steroid. Well, I almost made it through, but then I started having pain again, like before the radiation. I forgot that when they gave me the bone iv last week, that one of the side effects is bone pain, actually like growing pains in children. Well, that's a GOOD thing, that means the bone iv medicine is working. He had told me it would take about a week and today is a week. So, I'm now on 2 mg. of steroids and if I have pain, I'm to take 800 mg. of Motrin. So, that's a praise, the medicine is working and making my bones strong again! Yay! I'd like to get off the steroid altogether though, as that is what is affecting my sleep pattern. It has caused me to be almost hyper, even at 2 mg. It causes insomnia.

I just wanted to update you on our visit to the oncologist today. We really like him a lot!! He was very optimistic, encouraging, and believes that God is the ultimate healer! He was encouraged that I feel good, am eating healthy foods, have energy, haven't been sick this winter, show no signs of bronchitis or pnuemonia, no coughing blood, have never smoked, have lost 20 lbs. (not due to the cancer, but due to thyroid/adrenal FINALLY working), etc. All of this is too my advantage. He told me to continue doing what I am doing. Another praise is that the cancer is contained to my lung and is not in any of my organs. My organs are all healthy and functioning properly. Praise!!! It did spread to my bones, but that is why we did the radiation, to stop the cancer from eating my bones in my lower back. The radiation must be working because I'm weaning off of the steroid right now and I'm not in pain. So, that's good news! There is a bone medicine I will take each month starting this week through iv that will strengthen my bones and keep the cancer out of the bones.

We're waiting to find out some lab information so we can make a decision about what chemo meds to use, how aggressive to approach it, etc. We'll meet with him next week to discuss this further and possibly start chemo the next week. So, if you'll be praying for wisdom in making these decisions, we'd appreciate it.

God has been so very good to us through this whole situation! We stand in awe at what He is doing in our lives and how this is touching other people's lives. Your prayers are holding us up and we can truly feel them. We are experiencing peace that passes all understanding like we've never experienced before. May each of you be blessed for your faithfulness to pray for our family!

Trusting in Him,

Molly
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I just wanted to update you all on things around here. I have THREE days of radiation left so I'll finish on Thursday! It's gone much better than I had heard it could. For that, I'm thankful. The doctor told me he likes to spread it out over a longer period of time, doing less radiation per day so it doesn't affect your body as much. I have had a few afternoons of fatigue, but I took advantage of it and took a nap. I have given myself permission to nap if need be and not fight it. :-) I noticed a little burned area this evening, but put some aloe vera on it and it calmed it down. So, overall, this part has not been bad. I appreciate your prayers concerning this step. The best part I've noticed is that I have less pain. I'm able to stretch the time period of taking the pain steroid, so hopefully I can get off that medicine soon. I won't have to see the radiation oncologist this week as he will be on vacation, but I'll see his co-worker. I've been enlightened as to how the cancer doctors in the world work and that has shed some new perspective for me.

I talked to my primary care doctor this afternoon about meeting the oncologist next week. We discussed the oncologist's personality, work ethics, etc. He speaks very highly of the oncologist. He said all his patients that have dealt with cancer are complimentary of him, the way he handles each situation, his expertise of over 24 years, he will get in there and fight the fight with you, explains everything well, and he is compassionate. We discussed how oncologist attitudes can be. He actually brought it up and he said we would not find Dr. Abdallah to be hard to work with or incompassionate. He is very concerned about his patients and develops a relationship with them. This gives me a lot of comfort as we narrow our decision of who we want own our team. So, I think since these two doctors have a good working relationship, this might be our answer.

Our family is truly grateful for all the prayers, love, and concern you have expressed during this time. We can truly feel you holding us up to the Father and his arms are wrapped around us. He has been so very kind to us. It's been an emotional couple of weeks, but for the most part, it's been a very growing experience and that is a good thing. God truly has us right where He wants us. He's writing HIStory through all of us and we're learning to trust Him more and more. We're also learning how much He truly loves each and every one of us.

Hug your family members tonight, tell them you LOVE them, and treasure each new day, every single minute