Springs in the Midst of the Valleys

Yes. This is how I would describe my past week.
Isaiah 41:17,18, 20 says,

“The afflicted and needy are seeking water, but there is none, and their tongue is parched with thirst; I the Lord, will answer them Myself, as the God of Israel, I will not forsake them.

I will open rivers on the bare heights, and springs in the midst of the valleys, I will make the wilderness a pool of water and the dry land fountains of water….

That they may see and recognize and consider and gain insight as well, that the hand of the Lord has done this, and the Holy One of Israel has created it!”

If it weren’t for the rivers, the springs, and the fountains of water along the way, we would be completely hopeless, hurting, and needy. Yet the Lord Himself is well acquainted with our afflictions and He has seen to it that we are not forsaken. The path we’ve been treading upon has been rocky and even though it would drop down into another deeper valley, God has refreshed us! Springs in the midst of the valleys…that is what He’s given us and the water is sweet and most satisfying.

This week was all about identifying the side effects of chemotherapy and knowing how to treat it before it gets out of hand. The Lord has been so gracious to us. It’s been a full week and the effects still have been minimal: tiredness & fatigue and a heightened sense of smells are the two dominant ones with a little bit of nausea. (I told Paul that this is the closest he’ll get to feeling pregnant! Ha!) What has been more of a concern now is Paul’s left eye. Last week, his eye pressure was at the frightening level of 38. Four days ago, Paul went back for a same day appt at Kaiser Richmond because his eye was not responding to that 5th medication that was prescribed a couple days before. We found out that his eye pressure increased even more to 40. (Paul had lost some peripheral vision on his right eye at this level.) You can call this another valley. What can we do except press hard into Him and trust that He will prove Himself faithful in our uncertainties? Normal eye pressure should be in the low teens; at this point if it stays this high, surgery is imperative. We’re just not sure how that works in with chemo treatments or if that’s even possible at all...we’ll find out at Paul’s appointment with Dr. Lee, the eye specialist. We are grateful that even though her appointment book was jam packed, they still forced us in to her schedule first thing Monday morning! We shall wait expectantly on the Lord to walk us through.

Last week I made mention of our daughter Jenna’s illness. (definitely a deeper valley!) She was diagnosed with an awful virus that we were told would last for 2 weeks to even 3 months or more. Not only that, she had the added complication of some inflammation in her kidneys that caused us to go to the hospital every morning to get blood work done until the kidney specialist was satisfied with the lab results. For Jenna, being this ill was devastating as she was preparing to participate in her school’s first ever Miss Apache Pageant which was just one week away from her present condition. Our hearts were broken as we so wanted to share this fun high school experience with her and hear her sing her heart out for the “talent” phase of the pageant. What else could we do in this valley but cry out to our God who hears and heals? Literally, within 2 days, all her symptoms of tiredness and fatigue, mild night time fever & chills, swollen lymph glands in her neck that made it difficult to swallow let alone sing, all disappeared! Absolutely incredible, isn’t it? I still can't believe that she's all better! We’ve heard of many who have suffered through this virus leaving them debilitated and stuck in bed for months! But our God has made her well and last night, to Him be all the glory, not only did we have the joy of seeing her stand up and sing her heart out, Jenna was crowned Miss Apache 2008!! (Click on the link to see Jenna sing.) http://youtube.com/watch?v=Kt048QmRae8

Miss Apache 2008

...our own Jenna Miranda!

1st runner up: Elizabeth Soto (left) and 2nd runner up: Dawn Faolui (right)

The Fantastic 4

Sophia, Liz, Jenna, and Genevieve..best friends since 9th grade.

Introducing Ms. Jaguar 2000 and Ms. Apache 2008!

Faren, Jenna's cousin was the the first to be crowned Ms. Jaguar at Jesse Bethel, too.

(I guess it runs in the family.)

Paul was so thankful to witness this unforgettable moment with us! Yes…he did come with us claiming that love makes you do crazy things like break every rule of chemo treatment warnings of going to crowded public gatherings and restaurants (which we did as well at Applebees...I know, we’re bad but we had to celebrate with our Miss Apache at the restaurant of her choice!) It bordered on being reckless but I was so thankful that the Lord gave Paul peace that his well-being is in the hands of the Almighty and it allowed him to cherish and enjoy this sweet memorable time with our Jenna.

We give the Lord all thanks and praise who has done wondrous things before our eyes. We have seen and recognized that the hand of the Lord has done this! What a gusher of a spring!!

It’s amazing that though there were times not even mentioned this week of being lonely out in the bare heights or the valleys, and feeling lost in the wilderness or dry lands, God has faithfully led us to many rivers, springs, and fountains found richly in His Word as well as in the form of cards, emails, phone calls, meals, rides for our children, groceries & gifts from you, our dear friends and brothers & sisters, who have come alongside us to refresh us. What’s more remarkable is that while in the midst of our valleys, we find ourselves lingering and savoring His abundant provisions. He is so good!

May the Lord give you eyes to see and recognize, to consider and gain insight of the springs He gives you in the midst of your valleys. It is a work of His hands…glorify Him!

IN THE VALLEY

1. When You lead me to the valley of vision, I can see You in the heights. And though my humbling wouldn't be my decision, It's here Your glory shines so bright. So let me learn that the cross precedes the crown, To be low is to be high, That the valley's where You make me more like Christ.

Let me find Your grace in the valley. Let me find Your life in my death, Let me find Your joy in my sorrow, Your wealth in my need, That You're near with every breath...In the valley.

2. In the daytime there are stars in the heavens. But they only shine at night. And the deeper that I go into darkness, The more I see their radiant light. So let me learn that my losses are my gain, To be broken is to heal, That the valley's where Your power is revealed.

Let me find Your grace in the valley. Let me find Your life in my death, Let me find Your joy in my sorrow, Your wealth in my need. That You're near with every breath...In the valley.

By Sovereign Grace Praise 2006

The Mercies of God

As I was starting my chemo treatment, Arlene was reading Psalm 18 to me. This verse was such a comfort: "In my distress I called upon the Lord, and cried to my God for help; He heard my voice out of His temple, and my cry for help before Him came into His ears." -Psalm 18:6
God always knows what we need to hear! He is actively involved in our moments of distress, and I am so thankful that my cries for help ascend to His ears and He lovingly responded with mercy! My first chemo treatment was successful! They were able to administer all 5 chemical agents and my body received it without any reactions.


It was a long 9 hour process but the LORD carried us through sending us affirmations of His kindness throughout the day. Before I went in to the back while I was registering, the Lord had me cross paths with an old high school friend whose mom had the same exact kind of cancer as me. Her mother was in the advanced stage of this cancer, very frail and sickly and had gained a lot of tumor weight. In fact, she wasn’t diagnosed until 2 weeks before she could have died, and has been undergoing many months of chemotherapy. God used this to reaffirm his merciful kindness to me in how mine was caught early on in its development. Moreover the Lord answered a very specific prayer request from the day before, for Him to set up “divine appointments” for me to be able to minister to those He puts in my path. This friend was also a good friend of Arlene’s in beauty school and in high school. We definitely have been & will be praying for her and her mother as we hope to see her again.


Shortly after I got settled in and hooked up to an IV, our doctor sent us the good news of all my tests. He informed us that the PET scan, sigmoidoscopy and bone marrow biopsy all came back normal! This is HUGE!! This means that I am truly only at stage 1 of my cancer development and will only need the 3 chemo treatments, not 6!! Praise GOD for his infinite mercies!!
The Lord also sent my way a wayward jolly nurse who happened to pop in and introduce herself to us. She stood there and rambled on about other “younger” patients who have had successful treatments with similar types of cancer. How encouraged we were to hear these stories. Again, the Lord knew what I needed to hear as those foreign chemical agents were being pumped into my veins! And as Arlene was going about her business picking up prescriptions and such, she, too, was greeted by familiar faces from church in the hallways to fellowship with and let us know that they are praying.


How we thank the Lord for giving us eyes to see His loving hand of mercy at work in our lives as he takes us through this journey.


Okay, Paul...Let me share some prayer requests! (If you haven’t guessed, Paul is dictating and I’m typing!)

• It’s only been 48 hours so far, but we praise God that the only side effects he has been experiencing has been very minimal. He’s sleeping a lot, eating well, and has been able to take nice brisk walks outside with Silas.
  


• Regarding the prayer request for the health of our family, last week on Saturday, Jenna came home from work feeling very weak and tired. Her condition seemed to worsen through the weekend into her school week and we had multiple visits to the hospital to get some lab work done. We thought we were in it for the long haul as this bug would need to run its course, but by Friday, the day Paul began chemo, Jenna’s health was on the mend and was actually able to go to school that day and sang the National anthem for the 3 consecutive rallys held at Vallejo High School! We weren’t able to be there of course but her friend was able to tape some of it. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oFQueRXh2Ok Isn’t God so amazing! Perhaps now we ought to pray that God would guard Paul in the midst of the sicknesses in our own home!
  


• Another request would be for Paul’s glaucoma in his left eye. The pressure in his left eye has been stabilized with 4 different eye drops for quite some time but as of last Thursday’s appointment with his ophthalmologist, the pressure has increased from 14 to 38. 38 was the same level that his right eye was at before he needed surgery. Please pray that his eye would respond to the new 5th prescribed medication, that his eye pressure would drop and prevent possible vision damage and/or blindness. The need for surgery on this left eye and chemotherapy would make things complicated, if it’s even possible, due to the effects of chemo and low blood counts.
  
  

The Lord has continued to keep us dependent upon Him. We are all dependent upon His mercies, but it has been made more evident to me since He has ordained this trial in my life. This was so clearly stated in a line from a poem a sister (who survived breast cancer recently) at church wrote and gave us this morning: “There is a certain glory of the Master that can only be seen when the wind is contrary, and my ship is being tossed by the waves.”

“Behold we count those blessed who endured. You have heard of the endurance of Job and have seen the outcome of the Lord’s dealings, that the Lord is full of compassion and is merciful.” James 5:11

Having Been with Jesus

Thursday, January 17, 2008

“Now as they observed the confidence of Peter and John and understood that they were uneducated and untrained men, they were amazed, and began to recognize them as having been with Jesus.” Acts 4:13

Peter and John were uneducated and untrained men. They were mere fishermen. Yet the people saw something different about them, especially their critics, all who were of high priestly descent (v.6). They saw a confidence and assurance which, they had to acknowledge, came from a source outside of them. They began to recognize them as having been with Jesus! Who can dispute against a changed life? Who can refute against a personal testimony and win? The rulers and elders and scribes of that day couldn’t. Surely it must be true for today, too.

But then I think, “Do I live as one who can be recognized as having been with Jesus? Can people observe the confidence that comes only from You, Lord?” I do pray that this would be true of me; I pray this all the time, it seems! And yet, at times, I still have my doubts. There has been enough circumstances lately that make me feel quite at a loss and not too sure how my weaknesses and inadequacies are supposed to look like God’s strength and power. Sometimes I do get it, usually when someone else is going through a fiery trial and I see that He is their Strength and Refuge but it surely is another thing when I’m going through it and I’m in such great need to experience His very real Presence of Help and Strength and Peace in time of trouble.

“LORD, please gird me with Your strength and put within me Your confidence that I am so desperately in need of!” Everyday I face opposition!
I battle with fear of what’s to come and what to do when the unexpected happens.
I battle with my inability to understand cancer and chemotherapy and its scary side effects.
I battle with time management of what should be my “normal routine” as I feel pulled in different directions. Is there really such a thing as “normal”?
I battle with feelings of inadequacy and ineffectiveness.
I even battle feeling guilty for being so overwhelmed by my present circumstances because I know that there are many whose struggles are far more greater than ours.

But if there was one who could tell you not to worry or be afraid because he’s got everything in control and won’t allow you to have more than you can handle (Matthew 6:27; 1 Corinthians 10:13)…
Or if there was one who told you that you don’t have to try to understand it all and become a pharmacist overnight because he’s intimately acquainted with how our body works and knows exactly what it needs (Psalm 139:13-16)…
If there was one who told you that he knows all the deeds that must be accomplished by you because he’s ordained them & made you perfectly fitted to do them, not one more nor less (Philippians 1:6, 2:13; Ephesians 2:10; James 1:2-4)…
If this one told you that your abilities and accomplishments or lack thereof doesn’t change his love and acceptance of you (Jeremiah 31:3; Titus 3:4-5)…
If there was one who told you that every single little care and concern of yours down to losing one single strand of hair was his genuine concern too because he’s compassionate and mindful of our frailty (Matthew 10:30; 1 Peter 5:7; Psalm 103:13-14; Matthew 6)…
Then I would have to say that I do know of One who has told me these things; He told me again of them today. I have been with my Jesus and He’s not going to let me go.

The Great Physician

Earlier this week, I read this verse: "And the news about Him spread….and they brought to Him all who were ill, those suffering with various diseases and pains...and He healed them." Matthew 4:24

Praise God that my Great Physician is Jesus! O Lord, have mercy and heal me! I know He can do it if it's His will for me. I know that it may be months of treatments but one thing's for sure: He will carry me through. I've been praying that He would and will continue to use this to stir, grip, and motivate me, in love and not fear, to serve Him the rest of my days as they have already been numbered. Even if He heals me quickly may I not lose the sense of urgency He has put in my heart to glorify Him...and may I not lose sight of why He's allowed me to undergo this trial: it's so that "the works of God might be displayed in me (John 9:1-3)." -Paul

Worship in the Wings

Thursday, January 10, 2008
Since our email and our request for prayer in detailed areas, God has seen fit to answer so specifically! Things have been happening so fast! We had 3 set appointments that were scheduled for this week (chemo class, heart scan, and a bone marrow biopsy) and by the end of this week, the 2 “prayed-for” tests to be scheduled will actually be completed by tomorrow! If you have the time, I’d love to tell of this wondrous work the Lord has done.

By Monday afternoon, when we hadn’t heard from the hospital about the two pending tests Paul needed, we decided that a call to check would be in order. Paul called the X-Ray dept. in Walnut Creek Kaiser and the gal that answered said that Dr. Schwartz’s order for him was still in her pile, but she went ahead and pulled his order out of sequence and booked an appointment for the 18th anyway. It was two weeks out, but we were thrilled! Yet while talking with the lady, she noticed that Paul had had some appointments at Richmond Kaiser for his recent glaucoma surgery, and suggested, “Well, why don’t you go to Richmond since they have an open slot for this Friday on the 11th?” We know that this was no small thing for her to suggest! This meant that she would have to forward the doctor’s order to Richmond first, and then they (Richmond) would have to call back and verify before an appt. could be booked there. But all the extra steps she initiated were made and half an hour later, Richmond Kaiser called to confirm his PET scan appt. for this Friday!

Paul then proceeded to call the Gastro-Intestinal dept. for a sigmoidoscopy. If you remember, we were told by Dr. Schwartz that the G.I. doctors’ appointments were fully booked for the next two weeks, and even he was not able to force Paul into the computer system. Yet, somehow when we called, there was an appointment available on this past Wednesday for that initial consultation with the GI doctor. Again, we knew that once we met with the GI doctor, it would bring us one more step closer to getting on their special procedures room appointment book. Isn’t God so good?! We thank Him for graciously allowing us to move forward so quickly! At this point, we started praying specifically for this procedure to be scheduled before chemotherapy would begin since it would not be possible to go on a 24 hr clear liquid diet to flush out his stomach while undergoing chemo side effects.

On that Wednesday morning, Paul and I were sitting in the hallway of the X-Ray dept. waiting to get his heart scan done. When it comes to hospital appointments, we were automatically prepared to just hang out and wait around if need be. Equipped with our little pocket Bible, a journal, our binder crammed with all the cancer information handouts, brochures & papers we’ve quickly accumulated since Dec 28, only 1 ½ weeks ago, and a couple of bottled waters, we were ready to spend a good chunk of our day in the hospital wings.

Together we enjoyed our daily Bible passages from the book of Psalms & Matthew and this was the verse that spoke to us loud and clear:

“I will give thanks to the Lord with all my heart; I will tell of all your wonders. I will be glad and exult in You; I will sing praise to Your name, O Most High.” Psalm 9:1-2

I love the 4 “I wills..” in these verses! So while we waited for a time period to elapse before they could re-inject his blood mixed with radioactive material to take the heart pictures, we sat there sharing the many things we were thankful for, recounting His wondrous works He’s done in our lives, exulting in His Presence, and singing praises to His Name. (I can’t recall a hospital appointment that was so spiritually uplifting!)

After the heart scan was done, Paul’s next appointment, down another wing of the hospital, was with Dr. Martin, the GI doctor. This next visit was nothing less than incredible. After going through all the explanation of what was needing to be done, Dr. Martin informed us that Dr. Schwartz was hoping to get this procedure done as soon as possible. He then proceeded to ask Paul of his availability this week. Well, with Paul being on disability, we were open to any appointment...and the sooner, the better!
“How about tomorrow?” he said.
“But I have a bone marrow biopsy scheduled @ 11:50 that I can't miss.”
“That’s fine..the appointment that’s open is at 9:15.”
“As soon as tomorrow morning? Wow, sounds good to me,” Paul said, somewhat in a state of astonishment.
Then before we could ask any questions, Dr. Martin, motioning us to follow him, quickly got up, and ran down the hallways to his office where his nurse was sitting in front of a computer.
“Quick! Schedule in Mr. Miranda @ 9:15 tomorrow morning.”
She typed it in and said, “Okay, got it!”
Dr. Martin turned around to us with a smile of triumph on his face and said, “Good, I beat the other doctors in booking that special procedures room!”
All right...so we were a little stunned & amazed at what had just happened. Did this doctor really run us through those hallways so he can secure this appointment for Paul? Amazing! I mean we could hardly gather our coats from behind his exam room door when he took off running!
Needless to say, we are in awe of God’s wondrous ways!! We weren’t half way exiting out of those hallways, when Paul and I just couldn’t help ourselves but to stop and pray, with tears running down our faces, and worship Him in the wings.

• The 6 appointments Paul had this past week:
  Tuesday, 1/8: chemotherapy class @ 10:00
  Wednesday, 1/9: heart scan @ 8:00 & G.I. consultation @ 11:15@ 11:15
  Thursday, 1/10: sigmoidoscopy / more blood tests @ 9:15 & bone marrow biopsy @ 11:50
  Friday, 1/11: PET scan in Richmond Kasier @ 2:00

• Next week:
  Thursday, 1/17: Glaucoma Post-op appt. in Richmond Kaiser @ 10:00
  Friday, 1/18: First treatment of Chemotherapy begins @ 8:00. (We just found out today and were told that treatment is an all day affair--at least 7 hrs!)

• Praises & Prayer Requests:
• Praise the Lord for orchestrating the necessary appointments all in one week! We are still in awe!

• We should get all the results back from the sigmoidoscopy and bone marrow biopsy before chemotherapy begins. Pray that they both come back negative, otherwise chemo will be doubled to 6 treatments over a period of 18 weeks.

• Pray that God would guard our whole family from sickness and keep us strong & healthy as we soon enter the chemo stage. Paul will be needing to lay low and avoid crowded public areas.

• Pray for God's mercy on how Paul's body will respond to the 5 chemo drugs that must be injected during the 7 hour period. All the drugs may have serious side effects (short term and long term), but one of the greater concerns in this initial treatment on the 18th is a drug that must be closely monitored when administered since its severest reaction could happen in the first 15 minutes.

• Pray for the Lord’s continued good & perfect work in our hearts and lives. “I would not trade the sorrows this trial has brought me as it has deepened my love and affection for my Savior and given me a fervent desire to glorify Him through my life.” -Paul

Strangely, it has been the sweetest, most purifying, yet loudest wake up call! How we pray that we would be perfectly fitted to do as He wills for the remainder of our short stay on this earth.

“For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus!” Philippians 1:6

“And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.” Romans 8:28

God is Our Refuge and Strength

January 5, 2008

Our Dear Family and Friends...

I'm learning how to blog! This is just a copy of an email sent out today to see if I could actually post something here! Praise God for my teenager in the house!

Thank you for your comforting love and support during what we believe to be the greatest trial Paul and I have ever been in! Your supplications for us have held us up to trust and lean hard on our Loving God who always has our good and His Glory in mind. We know without a doubt that it has been the prayers of our dear brothers and sisters that have carried us through each day, this past week, as we have had to patiently wait till yesterday to meet with the oncologist to receive his diagnosis and treatment plan, if there was any, for my dear husband’s prognosis of cancer. Our God is so merciful and kind to us…

For those of you who didn’t get the news, last week on Fri, December 28th, Paul was diagnosed with Diffuse Large B-cell Lymphoma which is a blood cancer of the lymphatic system that is categorized under the non-Hodgkins Lymphoma cancers. (The lymphatic system is basically your body’s defense system against infection.) Paul took blood tests and a CT scan earlier this week to start determining the stage of the cancer’s development. Our oncologist, Dr. Schwartz at Kaiser Vallejo, informed us that this type of cancer falls under the heading of an “aggressive” lymphoma and not an “indolent” lymphoma because of its ability to rapidly grow and spread. Yet the amazing thing about it is that because of it being considered an aggressive type, they can treat it right away with chemo and radiation, as opposed to the indolent lymphomas which can be widespread throughout the body yet grow very slowly and given the treatment of “watchful waiting” which means they don’t treat it until there are symptoms.

The great news is that, according to the doctor, it was caught early and Paul is probably in Stage 1, which means that the lymphoma was only located in one area of his body, and is considered a cancer that is actually curable with aggressive treatment! We also found it very encouraging that 90% of lymphoma patients with this type of cancer have been considered cancer free after 2 years following treatment. We are so thankful to our kind and merciful Loving God, that amazingly, the blood tests and CT scan taken this week came back normal, an indication that the lymphoma wasn’t spread throughout his body. (The full body CT scan would have detected any other lymph nodes that may have been enlarged and abnormal.) There is a minor concern of his colon looking “a little collapsed or thickened”, but the doctor is ordering a colonoscopy to be done just to make sure everything is clear and that his colon is, indeed, not affected. He also went on to tell us that Paul will need to take other additional tests to complete an accurate staging assessment, ie. more blood tests, a bone marrow biopsy, & PET scan which will all happen in the next week or two, as well as a heart scan, chemo class, and radiation consultation (at Queen of the Valley hospital, Napa) to prep for the chemotherapy and radiation treatments.

As a minimum, the treatment prescribed is 3 chemotherapy treatments over a period of 9 weeks and then 10 radiation treatments over a 2 week period to his neck where that 3cm lymph node was removed on Dec. 19th. The chemo treatments may double if, indeed, the other tests which come back, show signs of cancer in other parts of his body, ie. colon or bone marrow. But we will continue to trust in Him and bless the Name of the Lord, knowing that all this is in the Loving Hands of our Great Physician who ultimately determined it to happen! We are confident that He will accomplish His good purposes in us and through us.

So now that you’re fully updated, we humbly ask that you please continue to join us in prayer for this next chapter of our journey. We don’t know what the Lord has in store for us the next 3+ mos. of treatment with all its side effects and if it will actually be effective for Paul, personally. But one thing’s for sure, just as He’s been our Refuge, our Strength, and our Very Present Help in time of need to this point (Ps 46:1), we are confident that our Gentle Shepherd will continue to lead and carry us through this dark valley and enable us to somehow glorify Him even in this trial, as we remember the words He said to the Apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians 12:9, “My Grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness!” And may our response be the same as this apostle: “Most gladly therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may dwell in me. Therefore I am well-content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ’s sake; for when I am weak, then I am strong.”

Again, we can’t even begin to fully express our gratefulness for all your love and concern and support! How sweet & precious it has been to experience God’s tenderest love and comforting embrace though your visits, words of encouragement & hope, your notes & cards, phone calls & emails, and hugs & tears…all which seem to come just at the right time! We have been overwhelmed & humbled by the fact that our many dear brothers and sisters from Community Bible Church, to friends, family members, and sister churches thr oughout California, to the many saints throughout the US in Colorado, Texas, Michigan, Georgia, & Tennessee and to across the world, have been praying for us and bearing our burden with us. We’ve been so greatly blessed above all.

Specifically, this is how you can help us..PRAY!!!

• First of all, praise God that the surgery done on Paul’s right eye for glaucoma on Dec 20th, so far, has been successful!! Dr. Lee at Richmond Kaiser actually cancelled next week’s post op. appointment. (this is HUGE considering that additional procedures to his eye were tentatively scheduled weekly for the next 5 weeks in order to maintain his eye pressure!)
• Pray for this week’s appointments: a chemo class, his heart scan, and his bone marrow biopsy.
• Pray for the needed appointments to be scheduled soon: a PET scan in Walnut Creek and a colonoscopy (we were told that the schedules are full for the next two weeks.)
• Pray that God will give us much knowledge & understanding as we enter the new world of
  “chemotherapy and radiation.” I know that it is our ignorance of this matter that has caused us to welcome it with open arms since according to our doctor, it is the only standard protocol used for the treatment of this type of cancer.
• Pray that God would prepare us for what’s to come with this combination’s side effects on Paul’s body and immune system which is already compromised.
  
  Lord willing, as time permits, we will be able to share in detail all the incredible things the Lord has been bringing us through and teaching us these past months as there was so much that went on before given this diagnosis. I’m not sure if it’s even possible to back track and retrace this journey to this point as I know my memory would fail me and cause me to not fully give the Lord the glory due His Name, but Paul and I feel compelled to attempt to do so because of the many, many prayers offered up to our God on our behalf! It is our great desire to share with you so that much thanks and praise and worship would be given rightly to Him who is the Only True and Sovereign God, the Blessed Controller and Giver of Life, and the Lover of our Souls!

“God is our refuge and our strength, a very present help in time of need.” Psalm 46:1