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A Battle Fought


Our God is the Lion, the Lion of Judah
He's roaring with power and fighting our battles
And every knee will bow before Him...
-Lion and The Lamb

Feeding our chunky little infant!
Summary of 09FEB18:
It has been said at times that no news is good news.  I disagree.  I think good news is, in fact, good news and no news is merely the absence of information.  Let's discuss some good news.  Without dragging out the details of the day in this section (which I'll do below for those who want a more in-depth rundown), yesterday was long but good.  Lab work looked decent.  Scans were good (other than one spot/nodule that we'll keep an eye on as we move forward).  I would say that in an ideal world that nodule wouldn't have been there, but it didn't seem to cause any immediate concern from our Neuro-Onc or Radiation-Onc.  In fact, they were pleased with the response to that phase of treatment.  We'll mark yesterday in the win column.  [In my gut, I still have some reservations about that nodule, but for now, I am pleased with the doctors' responses and lack of overwhelming concern about it.]  Our next step is to begin maintenance chemo which starts next week.  It occurs in 28 day cycles (5 days of taking pills, followed by 23 days of rest).  After every 2 cycles (basically, every 2 months) Ashley will have another MRI and we'll compare those images to the baseline we took yesterday.  Hopefully, the scans look identical (if not marginally improved [i.e. no more nodule]).  So, after 7.5 hours spent at UAB yesterday, our time wrapped up and we went home and Ashley took a solid nap.

At this point, you've read an abstract of our day... if you wish to know more; see the 'Medical Entry:' below.

Sunset from our getaway trip to Orange Beach, AL
Personal Entry:
Make no mistake, we are still engaged in war. The war is serious, life-altering. However, yesterday was a day that capped off a battle that was fought and won. Praise God for His mercy.  He is the One who provided victory in this battle. The further into this saga we travel, the more I'm learning that victories in battle are going to be more important than the outcome of the war.  This past week, I've thought a lot about the week of Ashley's surgery.  I've been brought back to the night of her surgery and how unprepared I was for this war (and to some extent, still am).  That night essentially became a boot camp for the upcoming season.  That night did a lot to change my perspective.  I've written about it in previous posts, but that lesson is worth revisiting.  As we've moved further from that point, I've already found myself losing some of the lesson I learned that night.  I start to move my sight further forward; meaning, I am worrying/fixating/concerning myself with things that are too far in the future [Matthew 6:34].  I am taking my eyes off of today and putting them on tomorrow.  I'm starting to spend time and energy into worrying about how the household is going to be taken care of and run, how work commitments will be met, how kids will be cared for, how my wife will tolerate the next step of treatment, how we'll have the energy to press forward, etc... (you get the idea of what I'm trying to say).  The problem with my thought process right now is that I'm focusing on the wrong thing.  I am so near-sighted that I just see upcoming problems/concerns/areas of exhaustion. To revisit the lesson from October 24th (into the 25th), my perspective has to move back to the present day.  My focus also has to shift from circumstantial things to eternal things.  If I had a cup of coffee for every time I lost sight of eternal issues and focused on the circumstantial insignificance, I'd never have to sleep again.

2 Corinthians 10 speaks to this (at least to some degree: the defense of our ministry and being focused on the pursuit of sharing the Gospel both near and afar).  This journey is my family's ministry; it is how the Lord has orchestrated our story.  If you'd have asked me a year ago if this is what I'd wanted, I would have pleaded for almost anything else.  But now, I wouldn't trade where we are for anything.  God has made His grace known more to Ashley and I through these past few months, in ways we could have never known if not for this journey.  Tying in with the grace being given, I have to remind myself (frequently) of The Great Commission [Matthew 28: 18-20] and realize that even in my family's journey here... it fits in that Commission.  We have a responsibility (as Christ Followers) to proclaim and show Jesus to everyone.  This is an area I continuously fail in (more often than I'd like to admit), but He is faithful to continue to provide opportunities.

Although cooler weather prevailed, we enjoyed the beach
Medical Entry:
We had a good day yesterday; it was a day that could have been filled with bad news.  It was a day that couldn't have been much better than it wound up being.  That's a victory.  That's a battle that the Lord fought for us and carried us through.  That's worth stopping to celebrate.  Our God, the Lion of Judah, fought for us and by His mercy allowed us to have a victory yesterday.  As I sit here in Panera this morning/afternoon writing this blog, that is good news.  It causes my heart to swell with pride for the Lord's provision.

We started the day around 0645 heading to UAB for our lab appointment at 0730.  We made it through that appointment relatively smoothly.  MRI followed at 0800; again, with relative ease this appointment came and went.  Now, it would be around this time that Ashley would normally be starting the process of taking a nap at the house.  Let's pause for a second and discuss the post-radiation fatigue.  We really thought that Ash's energy would come back faster than it seems to be doing.  We can make it through about 1.5-2 hours of a normal schedule before she has to rest for a couple of hours to then repeat the process.  At 4+ weeks out from finishing radiation therapy, I would've expected a marked improvement, but we are roughly the same now as we were then.  Anyways, back to the day.  Our Neurology appointment was next at 0930.  It went well.  Dealing with our Neuro-Oncologist is always such a blessing.  She is a great doctor, and Ashley and I are so thankful that God provided her and her staff.  This is where we reviewed the MRI from earlier.  The overwhelming majority of the tumor area looked remarkably better now than prior to treatment.  I really didn't anticipate being able to see the improvement that we saw (especially since there had been no resection or successful surgical intervention).  The only thing that popped up was a little nodule (inside the footprint of the original tumor).  The most that the doctor said about it was that we'd keep an eye on it, but it could be there for a few different reasons and right now there wasn't a major concern with it.  A point of great news is that there was no evidence of any new or worsening areas on the scan.  PRAISE THE LORD!  We discussed medications and made some modifications, but nothing substantial at this time.  After this appointment, we went back to the lab for some additional blood work that was needed in preparation for next week's chemo.  We wrapped up the day with a follow up appointment at 1300 with the Radiation Oncologist.  He essentially agreed and affirmed everything from the prior appointment. He also felt good about what he saw on the scans and that Ashley had responded well to treatment.

At the end of the day, scans were good.  Our next steps are to start maintenance chemo next week and carry on for the next year having a follow up scan every two months.  Our next immediate hurdle is to gain strength and stamina back to a point where Ashley can function for a full day without being completely wiped.  It's a double edged sword here because we want to recover strength/stamina but not at the cost of lowering her seizure threshold and having any incidents that would set us back or cause more medications to be needed.  Something else good that came from yesterday was that the 24/7 observation/supervision directive has been relaxed.  This means that Ashley can be independent now and doesn't have to have someone with her constantly.  While driving is still not even a blip on the radar, it isn't ruled out for the future (though I would expect that would still be a long ways off).

Gearing up to brave the dusting of snow
Homefront Entry:
Another event on the horizon is that Honey will soon be heading back to Texas.  She's been so gracious to stay here (since just before surgery back in October) and help with the daily operations of the house and caring for the kids (which frees me up to work and take care of Ashley).  This will, no doubt, be a tough transition for everyone involved... but her departure is inevitable.  She has sacrificed much to be here, and we are so thankful for her.

With Honey's nearing departure, this will be an opportunity to learn a new normal.  It will also be an opportunity for the Lord to praised for the energy He will supply! (cue nervous laughter).  What an opportunity to exercise the aforementioned lesson about perspective, focus and keeping eternal/circumstantial priorities in check.

Here are some specific ways we would ask you to pray for our family:
  • Ashley's strength and stamina to return
  • Honey, Ashley, and the girls' hearts during the upcoming time of transition
  • Patience in learning a new normal
  • Medications to continue to work well and with minimal side effects
  • Logistics in what our days will look like as far as travel, child care, etc.
  • Chemo would continue to be effective in the treatment of the tumor
  • That the Lord would embolden us to share our story and proclaim to others
  • For our hearts to yearn for more of Jesus and be less concerned with circumstantial things
Panoramic shot of the yard filled with balloons
Thank you for still being a part of our journey.  We are continually amazed at how the Lord provides through you.  Through your prayer and encouragement (A Balloon Surprise), through meals, through caring for our daughters, through conversations and even reading our updates/blog posts.  Thank you.

Comments

  1. Thank you for the update David. So grateful that the tests went well! Love you guys.

    ReplyDelete

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