Wednesday, January 30

Happy Wednesday Blog family. I am finally home from the hospital. My goal now is to continue to gain strength. My physical strength will come with rest and a tempered schedule. My spiritual strength will come much the same way. Some days I just sit in wonder of how God works in my life.
After all, it is all about Him. Keep praying. It works!

Tuesday, January 29

Good morning Blog family, I do have a genuine excuse why I have not posted here the past few days. I could blame it on my meds, which really do make me think strange things. Or I could blame it on a number of other things. But the truth is, I have not been smart enough to figure out how to post to my blog through my cell phone or through my Kindle. Anyway, today I have my laptop so I will give you an update.
Last Saturday my mind and body ran into a brick wall. Everything just disconnected. We went to Wayne Memorial just to get some fluids, but we were admitted for overnight care. The next day was better, but my why blood count was not where it should be so Dr. Chang thought that I should stay another day. I do continue to improve, but I have been running a low grade fever. I am eating well and am trying to keep my strength up by walking around the hospital several times a day.
I may be going home this afternoon or tomorrow. I have learned not to make any predictions. I have also learned that my time is not always His time.
Thank you for your continued thoughts and prayers during this part of my journey. It is still all about Him.

Friday, January 25

Dorothy, of Wizard of Oz fame, said it best. "There's no place like home." After what we thought was going to be an overnight stay in the hospital turned out to be more like 4 days, it really is good to be home. I am getting stronger and feeling better. Mouth and throat sores still prevent me from eating very much, and chemo reactions still take much of my energy away, but I am confident that things will get better with time. As I look outside my glass doors I can see some sleet or freezing rain coming down. I realize that there are many tasks that folks need to accomplish before they can stop and go home. My prayer is that everyone will be careful in their travels. Over the next day or so it may be necessary for some folks to stay indoors for awhile. The weather may prevent you from getting out. Let me suggest that when that happens, spend that time in communion with our Lord. After all, it's all about Him.

Wednesday, January 23

It's Wednesday evening. It has been one long week at the hospital. Today, however has been a better day. I am thinking that I may go home tomorrow morning. Right now, we continue to battle mouth sores and a burning stomach. I have been able to eat a little more today. The pain meds are still working, thank the Lord. Tonight I went to Garris Chapel Church for a Bible study. Before you think that I am so strung up on meds that I think that I can be in two places at one time, let me assure you that I can be at two places at once. It is called "SKYP." Through the magic of electronics, I was able to participate in the the class live without ever getting off of of the hospital bed. That's the way that God is, only millions of time better. No matter where you are, God is able to partcipate in your life. He is with me wherever I am, and He doesn't need SKYP. Awesome!

Tuesday, January 22

Good afternoon. Blog. Family. I am composing this on my Kindle (I hope it works)from the hospital, where I have been since Sunday. I am getting some fluids, pain meds and rest. I should be out of here in the next day or so. Just a bump in the road. Being here makes me appreciate the staff at facilities where God's healing takes place. Hug a nurse today.

Friday, January 18

Happy Friday blog family!
It is Friday isn't it? I'm not really sure. In one sense, this week has really flown by. I can hardly remember some of those days that I spent hours throwing up. In another sense, it seems as though this has been a long week when my stomach was in a mess.
As I stated in my last blog, I still think that the worse part of this ordeal thus far has been keeping dehydrated. I gotta drink and I gotta eat. I know all of that, but it surely isn't easy. I have received several bags of fluid this week, and I am going back later this morning to get another bag. I am hoping that today's bag will get me through the "Weekend of Transformation" services this weekend. We have some awesome guest speakers coming on Saturday and Sunday evenings, but I plan to participate in tonight and Sunday morning's services.
I really would like to be a part of what is going on at GC this weekend. It is not because I feel as though I need to or that I have to. It is because I am being transformed each and every day into what God wants me to be. But then again, so are we all being transformed into something. So we can either go our way or God's way. I don't know about you, but as for me and my house, we shall serve the Lord.

Tuesday, January 15

Well, we began a new path on our journey yesterday. I received my first round of Chemotherapy. It took about six hours yesterday. I spent those hours reading on my Kindle and listening on my Ipod, and yes, doing a little work on my laptop. Aint' modern technology wonderful?
I am told that the side effects of this stuff varies from person to person. As of today, the most serious one has been some gosh awful nausea. We believe that his is coming from the combination of the chemo medications. And we are working on getting the right med to prevent the nausea.

I am thankful for modern technology, as well as modern medicine. But I am most thankful for Diane, who continues to helplessly walk along side of me in this journey.

Sunday, January 13

Who would imagine that a pastor/preacher would be writing in his blog on Sunday morning? I am sure that this seldom happens, and I am even more sure that this has never happened to this pastor. At any rate, I am at home today. It is my second most favorite place to be. You can go ahead and tell Diane that I said that; she knows that I wish that we had church every day. Anyhow, my body just would not let me preach today. I am sooooooo blessed to have two great sons in Brad and Gabe. Brad did the first service and Gabe did the second one. I probably will not let this happen very often. I don't want everyone to get accustomed to hearing sermons that are better than mine. :-)

Here is where we are right now. We spent the last couple of days at Wayne Memorial Hospital, due to some dehydration and to get a portacath placed. Nurses are very special in my heart, and the folks there were very caring and professional. Tomorrow (Monday) we will begin a round of chemotherapy.

We figure that if chemo is the way God chooses to heal us, we are ready. After all, it IS all about Him!

Wednesday, January 9

Physically, not much has really changed over these past days. I continue to take pain meds everyday. They are working, so I have minimal pain. My nausea, which has also been with me during this time, is only slightly controlled. My fatigue is considerably worse.
Emotionally, it depends upon what day you ask. One day we insist we want a biopsy. The next day, we decide that the biopsy is not necessary. One day, we want to make sure that this is cancer before we do any chemo. The next day, we are ready to get this thing done, so we are ready for chemo.
Spiritually, when we see "God-things" in our lives, we mostly see them in hindsight.That being said, we look forward to God showing us what He wants us to do. I surely do wish that He would do them in my time, but that's not the way that it works. It's all about Him.

Friday, January 4

Happy Friday Blog friends,
I apologize for not posting yesterday, but we did not get back until late yesterday. The last two days of driving to and from Durham have taken a lot of energy out of me. We went on Wednesday to take a new CT Scan and have blood tests done. Yesterday, we taked to Dr. Zafar about the results. And no (Miss Sue) we did not get all of the good news that we wanted to hear.
The scans at Duke confirmed that there is "something" in that area that was not there before. Again, they could not be sure that it is cancer, but my cancer (CA-19) number is elevated again. The highest that it has ever been was 480. Yesterday it was 1500.
It looks and acts like cancer, and Dr. Zafar said that this spot was in the place where cancer would likely show back up. However, he could not tell me for sure that this was not something else, like scar tissue.
So here is the plan. This area is a very small and close area to work in. We are in the process of finding out if a surgeon will do a biopsy. If so, that would be our next step. If not, then we will start chemo in about two weeks.
Thank you for coninuting to walk this journey with me. All of you who read the blog are prayer partners with Diane and me. And we are certain of who else walks with us. His name is Jesus, and it's all about Him.

Tuesday, January 1

Happy New Year friends,
As we shared on Friday's post, we are waiting to hear from the doctors at Duke so that we can all be on the same page as to what course of action to take now. Doctors need holidays too, so we won't hear from them today of course. In the meantime, I did not have a good weekend as far as pain control is concerned, so yesterday I was in so much pain that I was ready to go into the hospital if needed. However, my doctor friends at SMOC gave me a pain patch that is working - Praise God!!!
So right now we are still waiting for everyone to get together to get a more permanent solution to this thing.

I was feeling so bad Sunday morning that I could not get up enough energy to preach the first service at GC. But I am so thankful for my son Brad. I called him just before 8:00 a.m. and he was there to preach for me at 8:30.
God is providing everything that I need to get through this part of my journey.
He always has. He always will.
After all, It's all about Him!