I have a calendar that sits on my kitchen window sill. It has Bible verses and then someone’s thoughts about the verse for everyday. Before we left for Mayo on Tuesday, I took a photo of the verse for the 16th on my phone so I would have my little nugget for the day. Here’s the verse, “When my spirit was overwhelmed within me, then You knew my path.” Psalm 142:3 It is the absolute perfect verse for the day. God and only God knows the path that our life will take.
Let me just get to the news from Mayo. Basically we got great news, AND not so great news.
The great news is that the nodules that were discovered last September have still not changed, they remain stable. Woo Hoo! That is absolutely fantastic news.
The not so great news is that my CA 125 marker number almost doubled since July. If you were like me, my first question was to say, “What does that mean?” Over the last year my numbers have gone up just a little bit. I believe the progression has been 11–16–19–and yesterday 35. My oncologist said that He believes my cancer is still microscopic–which explains the stable CT scans and no changes in size, but he believes it is beginning to ramp up which would explain the doubling of the marker numbers.
He asked me if I wanted to do the Hipec Chemotherapy Procedure. I told him no, I still do not want to do anymore chemo. His other option was for me to try Letrozole which is a hormone blocker. My ovarian cancer thrives on hormones. The thought with the hormone blocker is that the medicine would block the hormones and not provide the cancer with it’s source to be productive and grow. Here’s the deal: either it will work or it won’t. The side effects are minimal–nothing like chemo. My immune system will not be compromised, I will not be nauseous or sick. We decided that it would be worth at least trying this medicine to see if it will stabilize the cancer. I took my first dose last night. Now we are in the wait and see what happens mode.
This is where we are. We are good. We are still walking by faith and trusting in our God. This news did not surprise Him. He has a fantastic plan for our lives and we will continue to walk with Him day by day.
We took our picture at Mayo as we were leaving for the day–we can still smile because the news could have been so much worse. We know that while the numbers are not fabulous, the nodules remained stable. We can still smile because we know the One who knows our future. We can still smile, because we have hope in Jesus. We trust Him with our good days, our not so good days and our really bad days.
You know what?
You
Can
Too!
Psalm 28:7 “The Lord is my strength and my shield; in him my heart trusts, and I am helped; my heart exults, and with my song I give thanks to him.”
Psalm 62:8 “Trust in him at all times, oh people; pour out your heart before him; God is a refuge for us.”
Psalm 56:3 “When I am afraid, I put my trust in you.”
Psalm 112:7 “He is not afraid of bad news; his heart is firm, trusting in the Lord.”
Joshua 1:9 “Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.”
These are some very powerful reminders that we do not go through this alone. My creator, the One who created my body, goes before me, is behind me, surrounds me, and never leaves me. I am Good!
Continuing to pray!! Love you so much!!!
Job 23:10 (NLT)
“But he knows where I am going. And when he tests me, I will come out as pure as gold.”
Julie, you are such a ray of redemptive sunshine. Your encouragement of our family during Chrissy’s battle with breast cancer has been so, so powerful and important. I have been and will continue to battle this wicked disease with you in prayer. Trusting that the goodness of God, the promises He makes, and the presence of the Holy Spirit will surround and comfort you and your family. We are so thankful for you and will continually pray for you.
God has a plan for each of our lives, though it may not be the plan we choose. Continue to walk by faith. I am still praying for you.
Oh Julie. I need your attitude. I’m going back and forth between fear and faith right now. I know that I know that God is there for me and He absolutely has my path in hand. I just want those fearful times to fade away. I am rejoicing that the nodes are remaining the same and praying for this new drug to work perfectly for you and stop any cancer in it’s tracks. Thank you for sharing your faith with us – it is such a comfort to read those Scriptures and I will be writing those down in my book so I can remind myself of God’s faithfulness.
You are such a warrior and such an example of true faith in our Heavenly Father who knows all things and controls all things in our lives. I am truly sorry about the numbers increasing but hopeful the meds will control and reduce the problem. So glad I got to spend some time with you at Kelley’s recently. You two are such a great team.
My Bible scripture for today is 2 Corinthians 5:7 For we walk by Faith, not by sight. This describes you so perfectly to me today. Thank you for sharing your journey with us. But most of all first sharing your Faith in our loving God!