Easter is so much about daring to dream again: “If you have faith, it will happen.” Matthew 21:21
“...God always rejoices when we dare to dream. In fact, we are much like God when we dream. The Master exults in newness....He wrote the book on making the impossible possible.” And the Angels Were Silent - Max Lucado
The last blog mentioned that our chief oncologist was planning to consult with our surgeon around the latest MRI that showed some thickening around the edge of the tumour that might necessitate another surgery in the next number of weeks - not an exciting option at all. This news was also very discouraging. The trip and treatment had filled us with new hope. However, another surgery and the medications would wipe out any benefit of our trip. This idea took us to our deepest place since the original diagnosis. It’s also scary when such immediate action seems to need to take place. We were beaten up, discouraged and left wondering if we might dare to dream again.
We met with the surgeon, Dr. Mehta, this past week and were encouraged when he suggested an alternative treatment plan to us. His review of the MRI and my present condition was that things seemed quite stable and he recommended that we stop the surgery conversation at this time and instead take another MRI in 2- 3 weeks time. This would give the Mexico treatments time to settle in to see if perhaps the thickening around the edges might indeed be connected to the Oasis of Hope treatments working. He also recommended that we stick with the existing chemo treatment plan as it seemed to be working based on the many dead cancer cells found during the last surgery! It was wonderful news that, after the demands of the Mexico trip followed up by the harsh initial assessment of the first MRI meeting, this meeting was filled with more hope and “Let’s not overreact at this time”.
We dare to dream again!
The trip to Dr. Mehta also involved a head exam on grandson Arie! He accompanied us and as the nurse brought us to the room, she asked if Dr. Mehta had seen Arie yet. She then warned us that the doctor would check out the baby’s head. Sure enough, Dr. Mehta walked into the room, immediately asked how old the baby was, and began to feel Arie’s head! Arie has a nice round head and a good forehead! It was a great way to start the visit!
Additional good news is that the chief oncologist is now fully supportive of the new treatment plan, with another MRI in a few weeks to get a better sense of what is happening around the original tumour site and waiting until then to decide on next steps. It is always reassuring when your two chief medical advisors agree with each other, especially when you like the plan that they are recommending. This new process also gives us a chance to breathe for a bit, get settled back into post-Mexico life and treatments (which I started this past Tuesday - go ninjas go!!!) and allow Loretta to finish up tax season before the next round of treatments! And for both of us to get up off of the canvas after feeling like we had spent 10 rounds with Mike Tyson. We are both pretty beat up, physically, emotionally and spiritually. We were both so very confident that God directed us to the Oasis of Hope and have been trying so hard to be trusting with how God has guided us through this beastly journey, including the three weeks in Mexico and the truly beastly day of travel on the way home. We are both just now finally getting over the food poisoning that we got in Palm Springs and beginning to recover some of our emotional resilience. This new treatment plan has us daring to dream again!
Prayer requests:
“...God always rejoices when we dare to dream. In fact, we are much like God when we dream. The Master exults in newness....He wrote the book on making the impossible possible.” And the Angels Were Silent - Max Lucado
The last blog mentioned that our chief oncologist was planning to consult with our surgeon around the latest MRI that showed some thickening around the edge of the tumour that might necessitate another surgery in the next number of weeks - not an exciting option at all. This news was also very discouraging. The trip and treatment had filled us with new hope. However, another surgery and the medications would wipe out any benefit of our trip. This idea took us to our deepest place since the original diagnosis. It’s also scary when such immediate action seems to need to take place. We were beaten up, discouraged and left wondering if we might dare to dream again.
We met with the surgeon, Dr. Mehta, this past week and were encouraged when he suggested an alternative treatment plan to us. His review of the MRI and my present condition was that things seemed quite stable and he recommended that we stop the surgery conversation at this time and instead take another MRI in 2- 3 weeks time. This would give the Mexico treatments time to settle in to see if perhaps the thickening around the edges might indeed be connected to the Oasis of Hope treatments working. He also recommended that we stick with the existing chemo treatment plan as it seemed to be working based on the many dead cancer cells found during the last surgery! It was wonderful news that, after the demands of the Mexico trip followed up by the harsh initial assessment of the first MRI meeting, this meeting was filled with more hope and “Let’s not overreact at this time”.
We dare to dream again!
The trip to Dr. Mehta also involved a head exam on grandson Arie! He accompanied us and as the nurse brought us to the room, she asked if Dr. Mehta had seen Arie yet. She then warned us that the doctor would check out the baby’s head. Sure enough, Dr. Mehta walked into the room, immediately asked how old the baby was, and began to feel Arie’s head! Arie has a nice round head and a good forehead! It was a great way to start the visit!
Additional good news is that the chief oncologist is now fully supportive of the new treatment plan, with another MRI in a few weeks to get a better sense of what is happening around the original tumour site and waiting until then to decide on next steps. It is always reassuring when your two chief medical advisors agree with each other, especially when you like the plan that they are recommending. This new process also gives us a chance to breathe for a bit, get settled back into post-Mexico life and treatments (which I started this past Tuesday - go ninjas go!!!) and allow Loretta to finish up tax season before the next round of treatments! And for both of us to get up off of the canvas after feeling like we had spent 10 rounds with Mike Tyson. We are both pretty beat up, physically, emotionally and spiritually. We were both so very confident that God directed us to the Oasis of Hope and have been trying so hard to be trusting with how God has guided us through this beastly journey, including the three weeks in Mexico and the truly beastly day of travel on the way home. We are both just now finally getting over the food poisoning that we got in Palm Springs and beginning to recover some of our emotional resilience. This new treatment plan has us daring to dream again!
Prayer requests:
- We had asked people to pray that surgery would not be needed at this time, and that the doctors would be in agreement so we wouldn't need to be making any more challenging decisions about the type of treatment we should pursue at this time, as we simply did not have the energy to do so. We are very thankful that the path seems clearer for the next few weeks! Time for some healing to take place!
- Thanks be to God for that gift and we pray that the present course of action leads to good healing and that the Oasis of Hope treatment plan and processes are part of God’s healing plan for us!
- Please pray that the treatments are well-tolerated by my body as they are implemented over the next 4 weeks, with a new weekly plan being added a week at a time, pending my toleration of the previous cycle. Pray for good health and high toleration!
- Please also pray for strength and courage for Loretta and our family as we fight the beast. Exhausting work fighting a nasty adversary! But we make a strong team!
- Thanks for the beautiful timing of the Easter story for this tough week we are just finishing up! New hope and daring to dream again are key messages!
No comments:
Post a Comment