Radiation in the Rear View Mirror!

That's right! May sound like the title of a country song, but radiation treatment is now a thing of the past in this journey! #25 was Friday & we're so thankful! Thank you, Lord, for seeing us thru & answering "YES!" over & over & over! We're forever grateful to an incredibly loving & powerful Father! We're forever grateful for a loving & supportive family! We're forever grateful for believing, loving & supportive friends! And, we're forever grateful to dedicated & knowledgable medical staff! We are most blessed & we know it! We don't take one of these blessings for granted as God & loved ones are the reasons we've gotten this far!

When Mike & I learned the whole schedule of treatment back in February (as I was healing from a hysterectomy that was unrelated to cancer), we broke the treatment down into 4 parts, in our minds, in order to more easily "digest" it all. The smaller increments were more palitable & easier to get our minds around. As each part of treatment was faced & completed, we felt success & bits of encouragment. Now, all 4 parts of treatment are done! WOW!

Treatments are done & the healing journey begins. Radiation has burned my skin & it's beginning to peel, so it feels like a sunburn. There are presciption ointments I use to care for the skin as best as possible because radiation really ruins the skin to a great degree. There have been no blisters, so I'm thankful for that. It's diffucult to wear certain clothes right now, because of my skin, but that will only be for a few more weeks. The potency of chemo & radiation connot be underestimated. These treatments make their impact known, so it will take some time to feel "normal" again... but, I'm on my way to that day!

"Radiation in the Rear View Mirror" is a song I'll sing every day!

Blessings!

Radiation #22!

Radiaiton #22 completed! There are 3 more & I'm thankful to be nearly done! My body needs several months to recover from radiation & to regain some stamina. I'm also burned a bit from treatments, but no blistering, so that's a blessing. Doctors give a 6-month "cooling" period before going forward with the additional surgeries, so those will not be until the spring of next year. A huge continued thanks for your love, prayers & suppport! God is always faithful!

Blessings!

Really Living & Being Ready

This cancer thing- it just brings a lot of people together who would otherwise never cross paths. It's been interesting to see the ones God has put before me. He's given me J from nearly the beginning. She & I have built a friendship over the last 6 months & I'm grateful. God's also crossed my path with "one-timers." Those I won't see again, but at least, was given one opportunity to speak a word of encouragement or extend a warm smile on a difficult day.

The last few weeks, I've been blessed to meet some new ladies through radiation as we sit in the "locker" room waiting for treatment. One lady in particular has been on my heart. She's 20 years my senior with the sweetest disposition. Through these weeks, she's grown to trust me & has shared with me that she is near the end of her medical journey. The breast cancer has returned a 3rd time, & now is extensively in her bones & spine & this is the last radiation for her. There is little left the medical community can offer her except pain management & those conversations with doctors will be forthcoming soon.

You'd think our conversations about death & dying would be gloomy & depressing, but they're really not. They're sweet & hopeful. Thoughtful & reflective. She needs a listening ear because her family is not quite ready to accept her physical realities. Sometimes a "stranger" like me can be a pretty good listening ear. You see, she's a believer & knows God can step in & save the day at any time. She also knows He's getting her ready for heaven & she's planning the way she's living out her life. She's cleaning out closets & getting her house in order for her family. Not in a desperate way, but a loving way. She's thankful for the years God has given her & is just so graceful in her manner! She & I pray we have the grace to walk our life's journeys the way He intends for us. The number of those days is really of no consequence, only that each one is spent living.

I don't know how many days, weeks or years God has planned for me here, but I will live them all! I will love the ones He loves & depend completely on His grace to save me. I want my life to be a love response to Him for my salvation & be ready to go to heaven. Sure, I don't want to dwell on death all the time, but living with a readiness to meet Jesus face to face - that's really living!

Blessings!