Archive for June, 2011
Half of Chemo is Behind Me!
God continues to smile on me. It’s 8 hours since the third round of chemo was finished. I’ve had two big meals and Haagen-Dazs Mint ice cream since then. Nausea can’t find it’s way to my door! There’s a light covering of hair on my head. A beige baseball cap with a pink flower on it, and turbans are waiting in the wings.
9:00 a.m. Wednesday will find me in the infusion clinic again, but this time receiving Rutuxin, a healing medicine that builds new, healthy bone marrow. The Rutuxin will be followed by a nearly pain free shot of Neulasta – also a “health builder.” After going through struggles about this latest challenge in my life, God has helped me find peace. Why has God favored me with such peace and kept me free from harsh side effects? I’ll believe for the rest of my life that He is doing this in answer to the prayers on my behalf.
A quote by Oswald Chambers came to me from a FaceBook Friend today that encourages me to keep on clinging to God. I dedicate it to all of you who have had your own struggles, or are in the midst of struggle even as I write. — Anne
Sometimes life feels so dark that it's hard to see the Light.
“Sorrow removes a great deal of a person’s shallowness, but it does not always make that person better. Suffering either gives me to myself or it destroys me. You cannot find or receive yourself through success, because you lose your head over pride. And you cannot receive yourself through the monotony of your daily life, because you give in to complaining. The only way to find yourself is in the fires of sorrow. Why it should be this way is immaterial. The fact is that it is true in the Scriptures and in human experience. You can always recognize who has been through the fires of sorrow and received himself, and you know that you can go to him in your moment of trouble and find that he has plenty of time for you. But if a person has not been through the fires of sorrow, he is apt to be contemptuous, having no respect or time for you, only turning you away. If you will receive yourself in the fires of sorrow, God will make you nourishment for other people.” (Oswald Chambers)
Will you let God help you find and receive yourself through rocky times of sorrow?
Day by Day Cancer Is Being Defeated!
I have hope to return to Sfantu Gheorghe where I see this ancient church and fortress from my apple green house
Dr. Akbani’s words were music to my ears! After carefully studying the CT Scan results today, he looked at me with a huge smile on his face as he said, “The swollen lymph nodes are almost gone! Your spleen is REMARKABLY shrunken in size!” He went on to say, “I am 100% confident that we will win this battle.”
What competent oncologists know is that the spleen swollen to twice normal size can be a symptom of lymphoma. I did not have spleenitis! My body was crying out trying to tell us that I have lymphoma. My lymph nodes were so large as a result of fighting the aggressive lymphoma in my body.
Four more rounds of aggressive chemo will take place before September. The battle is not over yet. Please, keep praying that I will be free of extreme fatigue, nausea, sleep well at night, and become all that God wants me to be. Thank you for your faithfulness in praying for me. God is honoring the many prayers for my healing.
God has provided me a lovely room with bath at Broadway Plaza near Dr. Sol Akbani’s office at Arlington Cancer Center in Arlington, Texas. Though the chemo treatment is very aggressive, I have no side effects from the chemo (except for losing my hair). God is teaching me much about trusting Him, about being patient…waiting on God is a choice. God is faithful. We may not like all of His answers to some of our prayers. But He is God, our Creator and our Good Father. He will provide what we need and more IF we will step out of the way and let Him be the pilot…not the co-pilot…The Pilot. Easy to do? No, but it’s worth it. — Anne
Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6-7
Melissa, Suzanne, & Alva help take care of me now. Last Summer, they brought Let's Start Talking to Sfantu Gheorghe, Romania! God is good!
Beautiful central Romania
The Children of Transylvania Need Your Help!
Help us fill the rest of these cabins!
God has given us a wonderful opportunity to help send 100 underprivileged children to camp for one week (June 20 – 27) in the beautiful Carpathian Alps!
Good clean fun in the sun!
Many of these children have never seen a forest, or climbed a mountain trail, or had 3 meals a day. Levy with shining dark eyes told me, “Miss Anne, every day we have meat!”
They learn cooperation while experiencing God's nature.
How Dark Before There Is No Light?
Dr. Akbani, my Oncologist/Hematologist/Internist at Arlington Cancer Center stunned me with the news yesterday, “Half of the cancer that was in your body is now gone.” God is answering our prayers! Yet we are still in the middle of this battle. In the last few years, darkness has nearly overwhelmed me at times. In a way, my life has been no different than many others. We’ve lost loved ones through death or breakup of family. We’ve fought life threatening illnesses. Everyone has a story.
The question comes again and again…how dark does it have to be before there is no more light? I’m discovering in my walk with Large Muscle B Non Hodgkins Lymphoma that it is pretty much up to me how much darkness there is. I’m a Clinical Social Worker. I’ve helped many people work their way out of the “black dog of depression.”
However, knowing what to do when it is my darkness, has been a challenge. (It is said that Abraham Lincoln and Winston Churchill spoke of struggling with the “black dog of depression.”) This is too deep of a subject to be dealt with lightly. I just want to share with you what is working for me.
God has sent many angels disguised as humans to me because I keep crying out to God. I learned all over again when the darkness is overwhelming, turn on the light in the room, pray for help to deal with the pain, the fears, and then make myself begin to thank God for any and all blessings in my life. In a few minutes, the room and my soul are flooded with Light. It takes practice, but God is always here with us…maybe waiting for you to ask for His help. He cares, but you have to let Him in. — Anne
“Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God…” Philippians 4:6 (Did Paul know what he was talking about?)
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