How God is speaking to us...

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. Romans 15:13

This has been our prayer and God has graciously been giving us His incredible joy, peace, and hope as we trust in Him.
It is also our prayer for you!




Tuesday 28 August 2012

Celebrating weddings and anniversaries

I returned home from Palm Springs last Friday, the 24th. A lot happened in the two weeks that I spent with Mom and Dad. Mom's sudden hospitalization and our ongoing concern that they not live alone much longer, caused us to get serious about addressing their increasing need for care.

Jim, Barb, and I have been in discusssion about this for some time and proposed a plan to Mom and Dad that they have both embraced with amazing openness and peace!! The plan is that they will move to the Oklahoma City area where Barb and Buddy are building a new home and where both of their sons and their families live. Not only would they be just a few minutes from family, the cost of assisted living and eventually nursing home care is much more affordable than southern California.

There are a couple of assisted living facilities that they are considering in OKC--with the option that they might even live in Barb and Buddy's new home at first. They put their home on the market a week ago and much depends on the speed in which it sells.

It's incredible to think that they have lived in this very home in Palm Springs for one third of their lives and a little less than half of their marriage!!

And . . . last week they celebrated their 69th wedding anniversary!! Here they are all ready to head out to The Outback for a steak dinner.

Bob and I had to delay celebrating our anniversary until I got home. We took this picture last evening after we had supper on our patio, which is just about our favourite place to dine!!


Bob is having a two-week rest from chemo and will have his last two treatments toward the end of September. Doesn't he look great in spite of his illness? We are FULL of thanks to the Lord.

This Labour Day weekend, we're flying up to Edmonton to attend Vi's step-son's wedding. Bob will actually be performing the ceremony and David, who's coming from NY, and I will provide the music!!

And at the end of next week, Barbie's flying out to visit us for a week. We are SO blessed!!



Saturday 18 August 2012

Summer in Palm Springs

I (Carol) flew down to Palm Springs, CA to spend a couple of weeks with my parents who have been unwell--especially Mom. The day after I arrived, Mom was taken by ambulance to the hospital where they discovered that she had pneumonia!! Within a few hours of being on oxygen and getting IV antibiotics, she improved dramatically, and was discharged four days later.

Her headaches have diminished quite a lot and she isn't experiencing the terrible shakiness and periodic jerkiness that was making her so unsteady. We're so grateful. BUT it's time to put plans in motion for longterm care for Mom and Dad.

Jim came out to spend the day with us today and here's a picture of the three of them eating lunch in the kitchen.


Jim's feeling pretty well, but he can't seem to put on any weight even though he's eating well. He'd also like to have more energy, but continues to work from his home and either go for a walk or short bike-ride daily.

Bob saw his oncologist this week and she is pleased at how well he's doing. He'll continue chemo until the end of September when he'll have a CT scan and the tumour markers in his blood will be measured again. Dr. Le is suggesting that his cancer might continue to be managed with a series of chemo treatments every few months followed by a few months' rest. That's so amazing, considering that 17 months ago she gave him a prognosis of 12 to 18 months, with no expectation the the chemo would be nearly as effective as it has been. Of course, she wasn't taking into account God's healing power!!

"THANK YOU LORD!"

We have much to be thankful for this week. On Tuesday, Mom and Dad Dodds will celebrate their 69th wedding anniversary and on Wednesday, Bob and I will celebrate our 43rd wedding anniversary!! But we'll have to wait a few days to celebrate that wonderful milestone together!!

Friday 3 August 2012

More Grandchildren Therapy!!

While Papa and I were getting ready for the arrival of Tim, Kim, and family, ALL of our children and grandchildren were having a great time together in Regina. The six cousins are quite close in age and love spending time together, even though they only see one another a couple of times a year.


Here are all of our precious grandchildren posing for a picture beside a beautiful canola field near the horse stable where Tim and Kim live near Regina.


And here they all are with Super Auntie Barb, who is trying desperately to calm them all down with a bedtime story before all six of them attempt to go to sleep in the same bedroom--such laughter and shenanigans!!


Shortly after David, Ann, Billy, and Manny left Regina for the final leg of their road trip home to New York, Tim, Kim, Colby, Gracyn, Carson, and Mykenna flew out here for five wonderful days. Their almost 24/7 duties at the horse stable prevent them from getting much time off.

The pictures really tell the story of the exciting time we had together.







What a wonderful little family!! They've been through a lot this past year with Kim's breast cancer. She continues to get a drug called Herceptin intravenously every three weeks until the end of the year, and apart from being tired at times, she's doing very well.



Of course we had to go and see Papa at dialysis!!! His hemoglobin has dipped in the past couple of weeks so he wasn't as energetic as he would like to have been. Bob was supposed to have chemo today, but his white blood cell and platelet count were too low. So tonight he's getting a couple of pints of blood while he's on dialysis.

We were encouraged this week when Bob's oncologist phoned to tell us that his tumour markers are continuing to drop. Last week they were 23.5 compared with 30 at the end of June. They were about 47 when he began chemo at the end of April. The medical professionals are reluctant to speculate on the significance of the numbers and what would be most optimal, but always say that the fact that they are decreasing is positive.


On Wednesday, I will be flying down to Palm Springs to spend a couple of weeks with my folks. Mom is still suffering with very bad headaches and pain in her neck, although the CT scan came back clear of any tumour or aneurysim. She's getting some relief with heavy painkillers and cortisone shots, but is still feeling quite unwell. Mom and Dad continue to phone us every evening so that we can pray together for one another and our extended family.

It really is true that "God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear . . . " Psalm 46:1