Cheryl’s cancer battle

This is an update to my transitions post.  On August 6th, 2013 I was scheduled for surgery to remove cancer. The surgery did not happen. At the time that the surgeon came to see me before I was wheeled into the operating room, he rechecked the site, and he was concerned that cancer might have spread to the skin which made surgery a risk. He consulted with a cancer specialist at a nearby Cancer hospital, and he was advised that the treatment plan should be reversed and after taking a biopsy of the skin lumps, I should have chemotherapy as a first line of attack against the cancer. We prayed for wisdom for the surgeon, and so we must believe that God is involved in the process. The disappointment was that I had waited three weeks to get into surgery and there would be another wait to find an available doctor who could administer chemo. I like in a small community with only one cancer doctor, and the oncologists at the nearby cancer clinic are all booked up with new patients waiting three weeks to get into the system.

Yesterday my family doctor came to the rescue, and he got the ball rolling by pulling some strings on my behalf. I will enter the “path” of cancer treatment today with a specially arranged appointment at the hospital with the cancer doctor’s assistant. He will begin the work to stage this cancer to see how far it has gone and complete all of my tests and blood work up to date so that the day the cancer doctor comes back from vacation I can be bumped directly into the chemotherapy program without a wait to be processed.

Bumps along the path

I am experiencing leg pain, and I have a concern that the cancer has already spread to the bone. Or it could just be my sciatic nerve acting up. I am also experiencing tiredness, but this is likely from the new cancer-fighting tea that I was recommended by a friend. The tiredness may just be the way my body is fighting the intruder who has invaded my body. For those who have subscribed to my blog and are following my progress, could you please pray that this aggressive cancer is held back from spread until I can get treatment to shrink and destroy this cancer? Please also pray for strength as I have much ministry work to do, and I would like to carry on unhindered.

Update from August 24, 2013

On Friday I was rushed to emergency with abdominal pain and my body had gone into shock with very low blood pressure, a low heart rate, and I was as white as a sheet as I struggled to keep from passing out. The tests showed very high lipase in my blood, ten times the normal high rate. The doctor is not exactly sure what went wrong. It could be my pancreas, but the thought is that it was a withdrawal from the steroids that I was given during the time of my chemo treatment and the days afterward. My prayer request is that God will help the doctor to find out how to manage my drugs so that I do not have a reaction like that again. It was a very scary experience.

Last update

I developed a blog for my personal health and spiritual journey so that this blog will stay focused on my writing on John 6. You can find my new personal journey blog called On the Path here.

 

In life there are transitions. As Christians, we go through many transitions as we grow in Christ and become all that we can be with His amazing grace. Today I would like to post about a new challenge in life that involves an area of transition for me.  It is about a struggle with cancer that I am facing as I fight for my life.

I am still dedicated to serving the Lord Jesus in the ministry that He has called me to.  As I continue to work on this DVD project The Giving, I will need every ounce of strength that He provides, as my work will be interrupted by surgery and further treatment as the doctors consider necessary.  I will continue to post on The Giving blog, but I may not be as fast as I would like.  Check the subscribe area on the right-hand side to follow my posts and to check out my personal journey.

Prayer Support

As I fight this battle for life against an enemy that wants to stop my work and end my life, if you are inclined to pray for me, I would be very grateful.  I have been eighteen years cancer free, but it has come back with a vengeance. It is an aggressive enemy, but our God is able.  I choose to serve God with every breath that He gives me.  There are 10,000 reasons to bless the Lord, even when we are sick.  Here is a link to a song that was sent to me to bless me, and I hope that it will bless you as well.

10,000 Reasons (Bless the Lord)

Update

I have a new blog set up for just my health updates and for my personal reflections. It is called On the Path. You can go to my personal blog by clicking here.