Mom's Birthday

Happy Birthday, Mom! 

We woke at 5:20am, Thursday, decorated the dining room with our traditional celebrating streamers (blue & white for Mom), made a 'fruit cake' with sprinkles,                                  and sang Happy Birthday. 

Dad's airplane was 'hatched' from the garage behind our house and we caravaned it to a new 'hanger' 30 min north, where dad can work on it more consistantly.

He and Mom have some travel dreams, so there's motivation to complete the project.     Pray for him; success & victory.

Later that morning, we went to the Breast Center, where Mom received her 3rd chemo treatment. It was very special to have Ryan there.

Mom loves to celebrate in any situation! She's a lot of fun. Thanks for all the cards, love, notes, phone calls, emails, texts msgs, and prayers! Each of you are a special part of Mom's support & recovery process.

Dad brought in a delicious PINK (fight breast cancer color) birthday cake. Everyone in the room joined in singing and enjoyed the dessert! One lady, Betty, said, "When I talk to your mother, I want to be like her. She is so beautiful inside and out." 

 Ryan treated Mom & I to a movie at the theatre he helped build during a college summer job. Popcorn and pop were extra special treats! 

Dad treated everyone to a delicious meal at P.F. Chang's. We ordered our choice and then passed around to share, family-style. 

Craig & Mandy drove over from Lafayette, IN, to surprise Mom. She opened a gift of beautiful earrings and a gorgeous scarf. After, we circled around Mom and prayed for her. 

It's been a very special birthday. 

Thank you, Heavenly Father. You orchestrate all things well. We had a great day!

Ryan's Home!

Ryan & Sabrina decided to have Ryan fly home & visit Mom during her treatment. Yeah! He will be here until Friday pm, during his early Colorado spring break. (To coincide with ski season??)

It was so fun preparing for Ryan's home-coming: scrubbing, cleaning the room, washing sheets, nice pillow, Mom even ironed curtains! Everything to get ready for the return of a son.

I was excited all day. Mom came home from school excited. We made a nice dinner and then drove to the airport.

Here's the picture of when Dad greeted Ryan at the door last night. 

Tonight we went to our church's Ash Wed service. It's kind of a preparation of another Son returning. We remember special Son, Jesus, and position our hearts to celebrate his 1st coming, as Israel's Messiah, then the rest of the world's Messiah; his death, resurrection, return to the Father, & then looking forward to his Final Return as King of kings and Lord of lords. 

Hearts get ready for this Son, and the Holy Spirit is hard at work along-side us, scrubbing floors, putting on clean sheets, excited, excited. He's coming!

That's my parallel after service tonight. 

Tomorrow is going to be a great day: Mom's 65th birthday! It will also be her 3rd chemo treatment, but we're going to have a party. Ryan's home and there probably will be more surprises . . . 

We praise and thank God for his beautiful orchestration of events: Ryan's early spring break, Mom's birthday, and even the 3rd chemo treatment. We praise him for his care of Mom through bday cards, calls from family, delicious meals, and sons coming home. We praise him for the huge sacrifice he paid for our lives, showing his full committment to our lives, to the End. 

I love how the Father reveals Jesus in the book of Revelation: "I am the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last." That encourages me that what He starts, He finishes, really well, and right on time. 

Here's a picture of first-fruits from our cleaning/organizing project around the house. We've all got some projects, and desire to finish in May: Mom's treatments/healing, house organizing, writing/editing, airplane, baby in Sabrina, and maybe a few more. None of them are possible without the Lord's strong and able hand, to provide energy, desire, motivation, encouargement, health, perseverance, and Finishing. Jesus is the First and the Last. He finishes what he began, right on time. All the time. 

Thank you for your continued love and prayer support for the Lord's full purposes to be accomplished in all of our lives this coming Lent season prior to Passover & Easter. 

Happy Birthday, Mom!

Posted by Ericka 

2nd Chemo Treatment

This past round of chemo seemed a lot less dramatic, with fewer side-effects.
Praise God!

Her first round, we didn't know what to expect; it was unknown and scary. But even in the midst, God faithfully led us to 'green pastures' (Psalm 23), and comforted us. He is true to his word.

The big event for the second treatment was it was her first time using the port-cathetor. (A surgically inserted gizmo that allows the IV-chemo to drip straight into a main heart vein, rather than her smaller hand veins).

(picture from Bernie's blog)

Mom didn't apply a huge layer of the topical anesthetic, so the nurse's large needle definitely let her know it was going in. Ouch. The nurse told mom, "Next time, goop a whole lot of the cream on, and then put seran wrap over it, to protect your clothes. I'll wipe off the excess when you get here, but that will numb your skin better." First time for anything, there's a huge learning curve. "Didn't someone tell you?" the nurse asked. "No." Or if they did, we didn't realize 'how much' cream to put on. But next time, watch out, she'll be loaded. Good thing, the port did it's job, and there's no infection around it (which my aunt said can sometimes be a problem) and the big needle is now a distant memory.

The bone-marrow shot the day after chemo seems to be the worst re-curring part of the treatment. This shot is a 'white blood cell booster' which Mom gets it in her stomach. But the next day, Saturday, she feels like she's 80 with Arthritis, and hobbles around the house. Every bone aches. So, you can pray that those side-effects (hurting bones) lessen, but that her white blood cell count remains high.

Right before the 2nd treatment, she had her blood taken again, and her counts were still very high, so that's wonderful! It means that her body can fight off infection like it was created to do.

Stomach pains were another no-fun, repeat chemo side-effect, but thank goodness for MiraLax.

(picture from walmart.com)

Overall, for this second treatment, everything seemed less dramatic. I think partially because we'd walked the road before, and knew better what to expect, and because God's hand is powerful to sustain her. Thank you for your prayers. They matter. Even those 3 sec ones! :)

Here's the schedule: 
*Every 3 weeks, chemo treatment.
-Always Thursday
-@ Breast Care Center, where we've met really nice ladies w/ similar treatments.
Jan 12, Feb 2, Feb 23, Mar 15, Apr 5, Apr 26, May 17 (6 total)
*Day before, Wed, blood drawn.
*Day after, Fri, white blood cell booster shot, given after school.
*Weekend after treatment, ouchy bones & stomach.
*M-F, teaching at Heritage. Mom really enjoys working one-on-one with her students; they keep her smiling. She uses hand sanitizer and prays against germ-spreading, and is thankful to be able to continue teaching. She hasn't missed a day, besides the two Thursday treatment days! Yeah Mom, and thank you, God!

Your prayers and love are all part of a big-surrounding of the Lord's care for my Mom, in very tangible ways. Thank you, from all of us.

Posted by Ericka

Psalm 23 - Song by Jason Upton

Back in January, when test results were still unknown, Mom woke very early in
the morning with words from the 23rd Psalm passing through her mind.
"Yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear
no evil; for Thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff comfort me."

Surprised at this particular verse, yet Mom was amazed at God's personal communication.
Peace & comfort flooded her heart and she drifted back to sleep.

Enjoy this beautiful song.

Another Treatment Down

God's gentle touch is ever-present. There are so many ways he breaks in from the unseen realm to our physical reality. I pray we keep having eyes to see these blessings everyday. He is the kindest God around.
The only one. And I'm so thankful we're his creation.

Mom had another great day at chemo. Sounds like an oxy-moron, but amazingly it's not. Even with the beginning run-around, trying to get her blood drawn before they could administer chemo, God's peace was present & Mom was really cheerful.

Her white blood cell count continues to remain high, this time a hefty 13.8, up from 10.6. That means her body is able to strongly fight off infections. Praise God.

Another blessing today was Miss Betty, a lovely lady a little older than Mom, who received treatment today, too. She loves the Lord and was real funny.

Mom was able to listen to praise songs on a precious gift from her school friends. It is a beautiful blue nano, and is such a blessing.

I packed a lunch for Dad, Mom, and me today, and included an oatmeal shake. Sounds gross, but it's my new favorite way to eat oatmeal. Blend (blender) cooked oatmeal with milk, or almond milk, blue berries, any kind of fruit, cinnamon, whatever spice you like, and some sweetener. I used maple syrup. Mmmm. You can add ice and blend to make it cold, or just stick it in the freezer. It's a nice, filling mid-day snack.

After chemo, we visited a dear friend having a procedure, and then arrived home. Mom was on a happy-buzz all day. It could be from the steroids or just because. She's lots of fun to be around.

Our beautiful neighbor greeted Mom and they shared 'war-stories' from chemo side effects. She & her husband placed a card in our van on the morning of the first treatment. She walked through a similar journey 8 years ago, so has been a huge encouragement to Mom.

Coming inside, there was a wonderful meal ready to go from one of Mom's teacher friends, a sweet card, and a fun purple box--with a delivery of tulips! The anonymous card said, "Rachel . . . directly from the Father . . . Word to me this morning: He loves you very much and continues with you."

We turned on Mandy's worship cd, and powerful music filled the house with praise to the Lord.

It's been a good day. Thank you for all your prayers and love. They express the Heavenly Father's heart so well.

Prayer point: Tomorrow Mom gets a white blood booster shot, and by Saturday, it causes really achy bones for a few days. Not fun. So we pray for grace to walk through and for lessening of the pain.

Blessings to each of you tonight. May the Lord lift up and encourage your hearts. May you realize his gentle touch, invisible, yet expressed so tangibly in so many ways. You are loved.

~Ericka

This is a jubilant song, from Laura Hackett and crew at IHOP-kc from a high school conference. Click to enjoy. (The top flowers were a glorious gift from Mom's students' family.) There is so much love & support, it's amazing.
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