Today's Friday, but Tuesday's Coming!

I've noticed something about this valley. It seems the bad news often comes on Friday afternoons. The initial biopsy results came in on a Friday afternoon. The oncologist called us on a Friday afternoon to tell us that one of my vertebrae was in danger of crushing my spinal cord and causing paralysis or worse. And most recently, the results of my latest CT and bone scans came in on Friday afternoon.

The results were mixed. The radiologist said the tumors in the breasts and lungs were shrinking, but the tumors in the bones were "innumerable" and there were two soft-tissue tumors in my chest that had grown significantly. Many people were praying that this set of scans would reveal God working mightily. The temptation to be discouraged was very real. But then I heard, "My child, choose to praise Me for the good news, and choose to trust Me with the bad news." So that's what we did. We praised God for the shrinking tumors, and trusted Him to handle the growing ones, even though it didn't make sense to us what was going on. I'd be in to the oncologist's office on Tuesday, and I'd learn more then.

Eventually, my appointment rolled around. The oncologist was on call at the hospital, so I saw his assistant instead. The assistant told me the oncologist had called him that morning to make sure he knew to tell me that there had been a mistake with the reading of the scans. The radiologist who read the results compared them to the CT scan I had before I started treatment, rather than the most recent one, so he was looking at things wrong. The reality was quite different! The assistant said he didn't know the details, only that the oncologist had asked him to tell me that everything was improving and he'd fill me in later.

I was reminded of a phrase I'd heard years ago in the context of the death and resurrection of Jesus - "Today's Friday, but Sunday's coming!" That was to say that although the view to the disciples was dark on Friday, there was unparalleled joy waiting for them on Sunday, even though they couldn't see it that Friday. For me, I had to wait until Tuesday for the joyful news, but I didn't have to wait a moment for the peace that passes understanding.

Finally, I was able to sit down with the oncologist and hear the details. The tumors in the breasts and lungs have shrunk significantly. The affected lymph nodes next to my sternum don't look like they've changed, but at least they haven't grown. And the lesions on the bones? The oncologist got rather animated as he informed me that he could see clear evidence of the bone healing in many of the areas where the cancer had been. Bone cannot heal where cancer is live and active. So the fact that there is healing happening means that the cancer is completely dead in that location. He had told me that the chemo doesn't usually work very quickly on the bone lesions and that it would be longer before we started seeing much improvement there. He seemed quite excited at the unexpected progress in the bone disease and all I could say was "Praise the Lord!"

Thank you to all of you for your prayers, love, and support. I haven't had the energy to figure out how to reply to everyone's notes and comments, but we have read and been encouraged by each one of them. I am humbled by how many of you are lifting us up to the throne of grace while you yourselves are going through dark valleys. We have felt your prayers and your love. Thank you!

I've had several people ask me what exactly we're doing for treatment. Following is the bulk of the treatment plan the Lord directed us to for this stage of the valley:

-Chemotherapy

-Essiac tea

-Protandim

-Turmeric/Curcumin

-Vitamin D3

-NAC

-Calcium supplement

-Ivermectin (See this NIH report and these articles)

One of my aunts reminded me recently of this song about what God does in the hidden valleys. I don't want to waste this cancer, to waste the opportunity to prove my Savior's faithfulness or His ability to purify from sin. He's working, both in our hearts and in my health, to show His power to save!