MANY MANY APOLOGIES!!

MANY MANY APOLOGIES!!

I see that it has been over a year since I posted a blog…..imagine the reasons, so that I don’t have to write them…please. I will say that we returned to the mission field and saw God do BIG and WONDROUS things. We also greeted our new grandson, Jet, in October --- anyone who has a grandchild living nearby will KNOW that time just evaporates. He is GRAND! (No wonder they are called that…) Jet becomes more “himself” everyday, and we thrill to each and every learned thing! His parents, Autumn and Jacob, remain in the center of our hearts as we watch them care for him with so much love and JOY! We are lost in wonder and joy, with them!

On our last trip, we were able to minister in England, Sheltand Islands, Norway and Italy. A little more than ten weeks long, it included 2 weddings of people we love -- one wedding in England and the other in Norway. Very splashy events! We were touched by how good God has been, to blend us into other’s families!

We returned with appointments for “routine scans” – ready to see that all was well. Oops. The first, the MRI of my brain, showed two new tumors...this time, in the grey matter. The shock we felt was surrounded with “good news,” and it was hard to absorb both the shock and the “good news” at once…but here it is, and it IS good. First, they are too small to have created any changes or problems in me - in how I think, or speak, or move. PRAISE GOD! Second, they are able to be hit by Gamma Knife – and that IS good news. (Dennis said to me, later, “Honey, it could be worse….they could be inoperable…” I said, “Honey, they could be worse … they could be operable!”)

I have seen plenty of my fellow “brain cancer survivors” with really horrendous scars around their heads and faces….the Gamma Knife does not need my skull messed with, and I am very grateful. I DO remember the procedure in 2006 – I had hoped not to need it again, but the fact remains that I do.

Less than a week later, I had my “routine” (I put that word in quotation marks to say how very naïve we were, strolling in, with not a thought in the world of bad news…) scan of neck and chest, and learned that there are three new tumors in my chest, sitting right atop the sternum. Dr. DiMartino says, “Spend no energy wondering WHY – it IS there – spend your energy dealing with it.”

This sounds good to me, as we’ve gone through “WHY?” with God enough times to know that answer is not discernable with finite minds. “Asking me ‘why?’” He says, “is the same as asking me ‘Is a rectangle yellow, or red?”…or, “How many miles are in a month?”

All will be known in Heaven, where we get to use the other 90% of our brains – and doesn’t that sound good?? Honestly, the more I think about Heaven, the more I wonder why I’m fighting this so hard. And, the answer always is – because I love being here – I love my family and want to know and be known by my grandchildren – there is more for me to do here.

SO…the date for the Gamma Knife is set. After that, I will have 10 days to rest/recover and then we will be with Dr. Di Martino, reviewing options for dealing with the tumors in my chest.

The fight continues.