Celebrations!!

This week we celebrated my father's 90th birthday, spending three days together as a family in Oceanside, CA. What a significant milestone and cause for much rejoicing!!

Being with Barb, from Texas, and Jim, who is continuing to recover from his cancer surgery and treatment, was a special treat.

We prepared most of our meals and even the birthday "boy" barbecued delicious steaks!!

We had a great time quizzing Mom and Dad about their lives and even found out some things we'd never heard before!!

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And another celebration took place in Regina this week, as KIM officially completed her chemo treatments!!! Originally the plan was for Kim to have six chemo treatments, but because of the extreme side effects she began to experience--severe heart pounding and neuropathy, etc--it was decided that she wouldn't have the final two. The oncologist admitted that she had been given a higher than normal dosage, so that she likely received five and a half dosages in the four treatments!! No wonder the side-effects were becoming so debilitating!!

On Friday she began to receive a drug that has been very successful in treating her kind of breast cancer--Herceptin. She'll get Herceptin every three weeks until Christmas. It doesn't have negative side-effects thankfully. So Tim and Kim almost feel as though they have their lives back again after six gruelling months of surgeries and chemo. Kim's helping Tim out in the barn and loving it--and of course Tim does too!!

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This coming Monday BOB will be having an xray and ultrasound to determine whether the stent that was put into his uretor is still open. It has already been replaced once since he received the first one exactly a year ago today!! His lower back pain has returned and we are hoping that it is due to a problem with the stent, rather than growth of the tumour.

I'll be flying home on Wednesday and you can be sure that Bob and I will be celebrating being back together again!!

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And there will be a big celebration in Fredonia, NY this coming Friday as our daughter-in-law ANN will be playing her graduation piano recital in fulfillment of her M.Mus. degree. We would love to be there, but David assures us that it will be recorded. There will be much rejoicing in their household when she completes these two years of graduate work.

We have SO much for which to thank the Lord.

California bound again!!

On Monday I'm flying down to California once again to spend a week with my parents. My dad's 90th birthday is next Thursday and all three of us kids are planning to be with Mom and Dad to celebrate!! Barb's coming from Texas, and of course Jim is in southern California already. We're going to spend three days together at a resort in Oceanside, halfway between San Diego and Laguna Beach. Our family has wonderful memories of holiday times at Laguna Beach when we were growing up. Being together since JIM'S battle with cancer will make the time particularly special.

I'm filling the freezer with healthy food for Bob while I'm gone, and he assures me that he will be fine. But I know we will really miss one another. I read somewhere that retirement is "Half as much money, and twice as much husband"!! I'm not so sure I like the half as much money part . . . but I'm lovin' the twice as much husband!! And although Bob's illness has been challenging, through it our relationship with one another has become more wonderful than ever!!

Thankfully we're planning to take a trip together to Regina in mid-April. It will be SO wonderful to be with Tim, Kim, our four precious grandchildren, and Barbie. We've been able to arrange dialysis for Bob at the Regina General Hospital.

By then KIM will likely have completed her chemo. She's had a pretty rough time since her last treatment and didn't have her scheduled chemo today, as originally planned. She just needed more recovery time and thankfully has felt much better the last couple of days. She'll see her oncologist on Tuesday, when they'll determine whether she'll have chemo on Wednesday or not.

A friend of Kim's took this picture of her yesterday with one of her horses. Kim is an amazing mother, wife, and horsewoman!!! Since she's been on chemo, she hasn't been able to spend much time at all in the barn or with the horses.

"Me and Peanut--waitin' to get back at it."

One of the "gifts" of suffering is learning to "wait" and "hope", knowing that "God makes all things beautiful in His time".

Bob's updates are much more succinct and profound than mine and I'm so happy that he shared his heart and thoughts this week.

Good Friday's Coming

Good Friday is just around the corner. For those of us who have invited Christ into our lives to rescue us from our sins and give us His new life, it is a time to reflect on the gifts of the cross. As I’ve connected this to my need for healing, I’ve been reflecting on the fact that the Bible says, “. . . by his wounds we are healed.” (Isa. 53:5). I realized that my mental image had been one of praying to a slightly distant God to “download” healing into my areas of illness. But I’ve already been given the gift of healing. When Jesus came to live within me he brought all of who he is and what he had accomplished – healing was one of those gifts. It’s a done deal. My part is simply to realize that I already have all I need for my health, healing and well-being. I simply need to let God release this gift as I open my life to his influence and control. It has changed the way I think and pray about my needs.

While my healing is assured, it doesn’t necessarily mean I will experience it fully in this earthly life: I may need to wait for heaven. But the gift of healing is a promised reality as I anchor my life hopes on eternal realities. 2 Cor. 4:7 reminds me that “we have this treasure [the good news about Jesus] in jars of clay [our earthly bodies] to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.” Living with illness may be one way to show that my life is happily dependent on God’s choices and power and not my own. And, Easter is coming!

Bob

Our birthdays

Bob and I celebrated our birthdays in beautiful Victoria--at a lovely timeshare right on the inner harbour. From inside our suite, it looked as though we were on a cruise ship docked in the harbour!! The sun even shone both days!!

Remember that old Beatles' song "When I'm Sixty-four"? I've been humming that a lot this week and asking Bob the question "Will you still need me, feed me, etc when I'm 64?" And he has assured me that he will!! And you can be sure that he continues to have all of my love and devotion now that he's 69!!

This was the view from our balcony and suite.

Even the ferry ride home was sunny!! We feel so blessed to live in such a beautiful part of the world.

Thank you for praying for KIM this past week. Last weekend was quite stressful for both Kim and Tim. Kim was hospitalized for three days while she was closely examined and her heart monitored. The excessive pounding of her heart turned out to be the major concern, more than the small blood clot. Thankfully there wasn't any damage done to her heart, but the danger of permanent damage is high if there aren't some changes made in her treatment protocol.

Kim is now taking a blood thinner and will wear a holter monitor after her next chemo treatment. This is a portable device that monitors heart activity. She'll be seeing her oncologist on Tuesday to discuss all of this.

Through this experience, Tim and Kim have felt pretty clear direction not to submit herself to radiation following the chemo. This was one of the good things that came out of the crisis.

Thanks for your continued prayer for them. Both Kim and Tim are very tired and no doubt the children are struggling somewhat. Bob and I are planning to fly to Regina to visit them the third week of April and are presently arranging for him to get dialysis there.

Both JIM and BOB are doing fairly well. However, whenever they experience pain or discomfort in their bodies, the first thought is whether there is more cancer activity going on. This definitely keeps us leaning on the Lord and He faithfully provides peace, hope, medical help, and the assurance of His loving plans and care.

More on Kim

Just want to share the latest on KIM. After updating the blog last evening, Kim experienced an alarming pounding in her heart and chest. She's had this frequently following chemo but was assured that it was normal. Well, it REALLY was bad in the night and she could hardly move in the morning. Tim took her to Emergency and they did a lot of tests on her and everything seemed fine, but they decided to do an ultrasound and found a small blood clot in one of her lungs. They've put her on a blood thinner and will keep her in the hospital for a few days. She's doing fine now, but it's SO great that they decided to go the extra mile and give her an ultrasound!! Thank the Lord.

Thanks so much for praying!! And thank the Lord for His peace and the absolute assurance that He is in control for their good and our good too and His glory. So, we can proceed to get ready to go over to Victoria tomorrow without major anxiety. Wish we were heading for Regina, but maybe in a month or so.

Tim and Kim

We had a good chat with TIM and KIM on the phone this evening. Her "recovery" from chemo this week hasn't been as "nasty" as her last time, although she is very tired and unable to do much. They had an appointment with a radiologist this morning and have been given the choice of whether Kim will have radiation when the chemo is finished in five weeks.

Originally they were told that she wouldn't need radiation so this was a surprise. Apparently her condition and good prognosis hasn't changed, but because she's so young and strong, they're wondering whether it might be a good idea, increasing her already good chances at a full cure.

There are pros and cons to either choice. They really need wisdom to know what to do, so would appreciate prayer in that regard.

BOB and I are taking a two-day holiday Sunday through Tuesday to celebrate both of our birthdays--in Victoria. It will be so good to get away together, as travel is pretty minimal with Bob's dialysis. We are so full of thanks to God for His goodness and faithfulness to us this past year. Pictures will be posted next week!! But in the meantime, here are two pictures taken from our patio last Sunday in a space of two hours!!