Mountain Ride

Published on by Joan Category: Devotions

Mountain Trip 2 - 9.30.17

I did something the other weekend I never imagined I would have done.

My husband had a motorcycle when we were first married but when I became pregnant and life started changing, he sold it.  But after a period of 30 years, he bought a Harley Davidson back in April.

So one weekend, we joined five other couples from our church and took a bike trip to the mountains. Five couples rode bikes and one of the couples, who normally would have ridden their bike, drove their car due to his recently having surgery.

My first worry was how to pack.  Two people.  Two small saddle bags.  One back pack.  Right.

We met for breakfast Saturday morning.  I admit I was a little nervous.  I had never ridden for more than an hour at one time.  I wasn’t sure what to expect, but the other ladies helped me a lot.  One lady let me borrow some chaps.  Another thing I never imagined would be a part of my life (or on my 53-year-old body.)

We left Richfield around 9 AM and headed to Morganton to meet up with some other people.  We made some pit stops along the way.  I felt like I was doing pretty well.  The only thing I haven’t liked the whole time Ken has had the bike is the fact that I can’t see directly in front of me so I always lean slightly to the side, enough to see around the left side of his helmet.  So my neck and shoulder was really beginning to ache by noon when we stopped in Morganton.

When all of the other people showed up that we were meeting, our group of five bikes became a group of eleven.  I felt like a nervous little kid.  We rode up toward Lake Lure and Chimney Rock.  We rode the Blue Ridge Parkway.  Whenever we pulled off to stop and then start to get back on the road again, our couple in the car would pull out when nothing was coming and then sit and let us all get out on the road safely.

As the day started getting later, we stopped and got our heavier clothing, our chaps and gloves back on to handle the falling temperatures.  Some of the ones who had joined us earlier started leaving the group and we headed to our motel in Cherokee where we had reservations.  To be completely honest, the winding roads, the darkness, the falling temperature, my tired, tight, aching neck and shoulders had gotten me to the point where I was just ready to stop.  I was trying to be a big girl, but I really just wanted to cry.  Not to mention I really needed to pee and I had chaps on.  What!?!

We finally got to the hotel around 7:30, although it felt like midnight.  The couples we were with are all so much fun to be around.  There was a restaurant across the street so we all walked over to it to eat supper.  The laughter, the sharing of stories and lives, the joking, everything that makes sharing life with friends good, helped adjust my attitude immensely.

Sunday morning was much better.  I got up an hour early and was able to stretch out my body to prepare for the long day of riding.  We met at 8:00 and went across the street again and ate breakfast.  Again, it was another meal eaten surrounded with laughter and fun.

After eating and getting all packed up, we all prepared to leave.  It was a cool, crisp morning.  We all had our chaps, leather, gloves, and coats, anything warm on.  We left out around 9:30.  A couple from the previous day rode with us, so seven bikes and our personal “Pilot” car headed through Cherokee and then to Gatlinburg, Tennessee.

We got out of the touristy areas and I settled back to enjoy the ride.  I had a totally different attitude that morning.  My sister-in-law, who has her own bike and rides a lot by herself, says she uses her rides alone to talk to God.  I had started doing that some on the short rides Ken and I had been on.  But on that Sunday morning on that beautiful mountain road, I couldn’t help but start pouring out my heart to God.

Mountain Trip 3 - 9.30.17

As I looked up, the sky was a gorgeous, beautiful dark blue.  Perfectly clear, not a cloud to be seen.  The road we were on was following the creek where the crystal clear water was streaming over perfectly smooth stones of all sizes.  The road was curvy, but instead of tensing up and straining to see around Ken, I relaxed against the back seat and swayed along with the bike.  And I prayed.  I thanked God for His love.  I thanked God for His Son.  I thanked God for loving me so much that He allowed His Son to die for me.  And then I thanked God that He raised Christ from the dead so that I now have that hope of everlasting life with Him.  When we see the beauty of nature, we are without excuse in believing in our God.

As we continued to ride, I continued to pray.  And just as the bike swayed from side to side going around the curves, my prayers wove in and out from petitions to praises to repentance to awe and all the issues of life flowed from my heart just as the water flowed over the stones.

It never ceases to amaze me that so much of everyday occurrences parallels spirituals matters.  Just as we were riding along those curvy mountain roads, we all are traveling along in our spiritual journeys.  We have twists and turns.  But I’m learning that instead of straining to looking ahead, instead of looking around the obstacles in my path, I need to just relax, allow the Holy Spirit to have full control of my life, to Pilot me through every circumstance.  By doing that, I can look at the wonders He is performing all around me instead of worrying about what I can’t control before me.

As the day went on, the sky that had been a beautiful dark blue, paled and became filled with thin wispy clouds that took away from the clearness of the day.

We stopped for lunch at a family style restaurant that was very good, but it took a long time.  It was becoming clear that we were not going to be able to get home before dark. So we headed to the interstate.  Suddenly, the leisurely pace we had been taking on the back roads and parkways was over.

Ken and I had been at the back of the group when we got on the interstate and when the group sped off, we fell even further behind, but our faithful Pilot car was still behind us.  I found myself hunkering down behind Ken.  I didn’t try to look around him.  I didn’t even try to look from side to side because of the wind blowing so strongly against my helmet.  After several miles of going pretty fast, we all pulled off at a rest stop.  I was shaking with fear when we stopped.  My lack of experience at riding was definitely showing again.

We had pulled off because the hour was getting late and the sun and temperatures would be descending before the next anticipated stop.  Everyone once again bundled up in preparation for the last leg of the journey.

When we got back on the road, I began reflecting again over all I had experienced.  After having spiritual highs in life, how like it is to experience a trying, mad rush, a trial, and a period of testing.  A time that may be filled with fear and confusion.  When the feeling of complete trust and peace that had just been enjoyed is forgotten.  But if I had bothered to look back, I would have seen my Pilot, my source of Comfort was still there.  He was still watching, was still ready to pick me up if I needed Him to.

All I ever need to do is just hunker down in the Word, recall God’s promises, remember how He’s always been with me and that He always will.  I just need to put on my armor and re-enter the race more fully prepared.

After we got off the interstate I did relax a little more.  I began to look around once again.  The sun was mostly below the horizon and that’s when I noticed it.  Those thin, wispy clouds that had taken away the beauty of the blue sky were now a deep, beautiful pink and crimson.  The pale blue, now a beautiful aqua.  It was breath-taking.  Isn’t that how it is in life?  We dismiss something, thinking it as less than beautiful.  But in God’s hand, it becomes more than beautiful.

When we were about 30 minutes from home, we stopped one last time at a service station.  This time it wasn’t to gas up or potty.  It wasn’t to add more layers of clothing.  It was just to say goodbye to one another.  We all hugged and told each other how much fun we had.  That we needed to do it again.  It was almost as if we were not going to see each other for a very long time, but in reality we would see each other in three days at the Wednesday night church service.

Then we gathered in a circle, held hands and prayed.  Again.  I haven’t mentioned that yet.  But our trip had been bathed in prayer.  We prayed each morning before we started our journey.  We prayed over every meal.  Our petitions had not been just the routine, ritualistic Christian thing to do.  They were the kind of prayers that were prayed with believing hearts and the fruits of those prayers were being gathered right there in the parking lot of that gas station.

As we rode on toward our home, the moon, God’s “lesser light,” was shining in the sky, lighting up the road before us.

Our spiritual paths are not always brightly lit, either.  We rely on God’s Word to guide us.  We rely on His wisdom and knowledge to help us make right choices and decisions.  And as Christians, we surround ourselves with awesome prayer warriors, they’re called friends, who can give wise counsel.

It had been a wonderful trip.  I was ready to call it a night.  But my body wasn’t.

When I laid down, it felt like my body was still vibrating, as if I was still riding on the back of the motorcycle.  And the next morning, my body was sore.

But that is a lesson, too.  When we have had a personal experience with our Lord, it should have a lasting effect.

And, yes.  I’m ready to do it again!

Just Hold On…..

Published on by Joan Category: Devotions

Clouds

If there is anything I learned when my Dad went through his battle with cancer, it was that nothing ever stays the same.  Things can change in a second.  Or less.  The Bible phrases it as, “in the twinkling of an eye.”

We take so much for granted.  Things may be going smooth, life is good and we are complacent.  We tend to think that things will remain the same, at least for our foreseeable future.  But that’s just the problem.  We cannot see the future.  We don’t know what next year, next month, tomorrow or even the next moment holds.

All during the time my Dad was sick, I kept having this feeling that things will never be the same.  I trusted and held on to my faith for Dad’s healing and God graciously answered the prayers of the hundreds of people who were praying for him.  But even as that healing came, he will never be the same.  I will never be the same for watching him go through his battle.

I keep thinking about the fact that so many of us just take for granted that our lives will remain just as they are.  It’s almost like in some part of our mind we know that things can change at any moment, yet we live as if they won’t.  We really don’t expect a change.  We have a head knowledge that nothing lasts forever but until we truly experience a change, the fact that things can change remains an aloof possibility.

And so it is spiritually.  So many people have that head knowledge that yes, there is a God.  Yes, He sent His Son to die for us.  Yes, Jesus resurrected from the grave.

Satan believes all that, too.

But it is not until we let those facts become a heart changing experience that we can really know what it’s like to truly believe.  That head knowledge changes into a life altering intimacy with a personal Savior.

I’ve always heard that as Christians, we are either in a storm, coming out of a storm or going into a storm.  If I’m really honest, I’ve never liked hearing that.  It’s no less true, but it’s always been scary to me.  No one likes the storms of life.  It would seem that the best place to be is out of the storm, free from all of the emotional turmoil that being in a storm or headed toward one can bring.

But then I got to thinking – which is sometimes dangerous for me.  When life is going good, it can be compared to the absence of storms.  Blue skies are above.  The sun is shining bright.  It’s great to be able to get outdoors and just enjoy it all.  We start taking the nice weather for granted and no longer appreciate it as much as when we just got through some rainy, stormy days.  But when our world goes for too long without the rain, drought comes.  Everything starts drying up.  The blue sky becomes hazy.  The sun bears down unrelentingly.

We start wishing for the evening storms to bring refreshing rain.

When we start becoming complacent in our lives, expecting all to continue to go well, we can start experiencing a spiritual drought.  We can take God for granted.  Reading the Bible becomes a routine instead of the soul longing for a fresh word from our Lord.

But when that storm comes, when we can experience the Word of God pouring out like rain to sooth our broken, worried, confused minds and hearts, it’s then we appreciate that storm.

I still have the sense in my spirit that things are going to change.  But I’m learning to think that all change is good.  Losing a few pounds would definitely be good!  But even the changes that in the beginning start with what we consider a storm, in the end are for our good and for the glory of God.

The biggest change I am looking forward to, the change I find my soul longing for more and more with each passing day?  It is when my UNCHANGING Lord changes me from mortal to immortal, where my soul can forever spend eternity praising the One who is charge of all the changes in life.

So dear friend, whatever situation you may find yourself in today, good or bad, just hold on.  Amazing changes are a comin’!

Dad’s Journey – Part 5

Published on by Joan Category: Dad's Journey, Uncategorized

A Dad By Any Other Name Is Still My Super Hero!

On Wednesday, July 5th, Dad went to the cancer center for the sixth, and we hoped, the final chemo treatment.

For as long as I can remember, my Dad always wore button up shirts.  Whether they were dress shirts or work shirts, they were buttoned in the front and had pockets where he would keep a pad and an ink pen.

On his birthday in May, my daughter Christy gave him a Superman t-shirt.  It seemed to tickle him.  He wore it to the next chemo treatment.  The ladies at the cancer clinic got a kick out of calling him Superman.

Then my brother Nelson and sister-in-law Anna gave him a Tony the Tiger t-shirt.  He wore that to the next treatment and again got a good response from the nurses.  The names from the two shirts were combined and he became known as Superman Tony.

Dad's shirts

For his final treatment he wore a t-shirt my daughter Martha gave him.  In the center of the shirt, it says, “My favorite people call me.”  All around the shirt were the words: Dad, Papa, Husband, Brother, Father-In-law, Brother-In-Law, and Uncle.  When one nurse saw it, Dad told her she could call him anything on the shirt she wanted to call him, but to not ask him for money.  She asked him for a car, instead.

Before starting the last chemo treatment, they checked his blood levels.  Because his heart attack had been caused by his low blood, they wanted to make sure his levels were good before giving him a treatment.  When they saw that his blood levels were ok, they started the fluids and nausea IV.  They had to wait on the chemo so it was almost 1:00 before it was started.  He finished up around 2:30.  Martha came to the cancer center and greeted him with balloons when he came out, in celebration of his last treatment.

As with all the other treatments, he felt ok for a couple of days but began feeling weaker and weaker.  He began to run some fever on Monday, July 10.  He ran a little on Tuesday and had chills Tuesday night.  He had a scheduled appointment at Levine on Wednesday.  He was so weak he could hardly walk.  They decided to give him some fluids and an antibiotic by IV.  They checked his blood and the levels were low so they sent him to the hospital to get two units of blood.  He was finally able to go home around 8:00 PM.

He felt much better Thursday morning.  Superman Tony was back!  He was up at 5:30 ready to eat breakfast and start his day.

When I think of all of the various names my Dad has, I realize that all of those names describe the relationship that different people have with him.  To me, he’s the best Daddy in the world.  His grandchildren and great grandchildren endearingly call him Papa.  He is many things to many people.  Just as we all are to the different people in our lives.

When we have accepted Christ as our Savior, we have a unique relationship with our Heavenly Father.  He also has various names depending upon the need that is in our life at any particular moment.  When we need peace, He is our Jehovah Shalom (the Lord is Peace.)  When we feel alone, He is our El Roi (He Who Sees Me.)  When we need protection and guidance, He is Jehovah Rohi (The Lord is My Shepherd.)  When we are in the midst of a battle, He is our Jehovah Nissi (The Lord is My Banner.)  When we have needs, He is Jehovah Jireh (The Lord Will Provide.)  And many, many more.  God is our Everything in every circumstance.

Over the last several weeks since Dad’s last chemo treatment, he has been very weak.  The doctor has said it could be just from the chemo and the stress his body has been through and also from the heart attack he had.   It has been hard and discouraging not getting his strength back as quickly as he would like.

Dad went for the PET scan on Tuesday, July 25th.  It was a long 24 hours waiting to see the doctor for results.

On Wednesday, July 26th, Dad’s appointment at Levine was at 9:20.  Mom, my brother and I eagerly waited with Dad for the doctor to come.  When the doctor came in, he brought up the image of the first PET scan next to the image of the PET scan from the previous day.  The results showed the cancer was gone.  Dad is in full remission!

There is a bell that hangs on the wall in the hall of the cancer center.  When a patient is declared cancer free, they get to ring the bell.  As the nurses and family members gathered around, Dad rang the bell.  Everyone cheered and clapped.

Ring That Bell

We are praising and thanking God for all He has done.  It has been a long, hard four months.  And Dad still has a way to go in building up his strength.  But God has been with us all every step of the way.  May the bells in heaven ring to the glory of my Abba!

And to my Dad, God has most recently been Jehovah Rapha (The Lord Who Heals.)

Dad, you will always be my Super Hero.  And now you have a couple more names.  Cancer Survivor and a Healed Child of God! Amen!

New Names

 

 

 

 

Dad’s Journey – Part 4

Published on by Joan Category: Dad's Journey

Mum's

As with all of the previous treatments, Dad started feeling better the weekend before the next scheduled treatment.  That was June 10th and 11th.  He felt well enough to go to my brother and sister-in-law’s house for Sunday lunch.  That was the first time he had gone anywhere other than to the doctor or the hospital since he first got sick in March.

On Tuesday June 13, he had an appointment with his doctor.  The doctor seemed pleased.  He could not feel any swollen lymph nodes during the examination.

He had his 5th chemo treatment the next day.  While having the chemo he started feeling dizzy.  When he got home he laid down and took a nap.  This treatment affected him differently.  He was very weak and barely able to walk.  He had pains that would come and go in various places of his body.

The next day he was feeling some better.  He would push himself to get out and walk.

Father’s Day was Sunday, June 18th.  It was the first time I remember that we didn’t have a big family Father’s Day meal after church together.  It’s still too much to have the whole family and all the grandkids together at one time.  Not only would it be tiring to Dad, but there is still the issue of being careful because of his low immune system.

We did visit for awhile that afternoon, and even though he was tired, he seemed to enjoy the company of each one who came by.

After everyone left that afternoon, he walked outside some.  He laid down when he came back in.  He got up to eat and then laid down again.  He asked Mom to check his heart rate and then finally told her his chest was hurting.  His blood pressure shot up as well as his heart rate.  Mom called 911 and gave Dad an aspirin.  The ambulance came and the medics did an EKG and gave him nitroglycerin.

By the time they got him in the ambulance, he was feeling some better.  Mom locked up the house and we were trying to figure out how we were all going to the hospital, who was riding with who.  Christy told us to just stop a minute and we held each other on the carport as my daughter said a prayer.

The medics said they were going to transport him to Northeast traveling at routine traffic.  We had left a few minutes ahead of the ambulance so that we could be there when he arrived.  But when the ambulance left the house, it was with sirens blaring and lights flashing.  When the ambulance passed us, we were worried that Dad had gotten worse.  We later learned that they ran lights and sirens because there were not many ambulances available in the county and they needed to hurry to get back.  Dad said he had quite the ride, having to hold on and brace himself against the bed rails.  We arrived at Northeast around 9:00 PM.  It took a little while before we could go back to see Dad.

Once in the Emergency Department they did blood work.  His cardiac enzymes were elevated some but not to the point where they thought he was having a heart attack.  They did a CT scan to check to see if he had a blood clot in his lungs.  That showed up clear.

While in the Emergency Department, Dad admitted to us that he had been hurting in his chest off and on ever since the last treatment.  When he would get up and walk much, his chest would start hurting so he would go sit down or lay down and just try to breathe deep until the pain went away.  He had not told Mom because he didn’t want to worry her.

He said his chest had been hurting as he walked around after everyone had left earlier that evening.  That’s why he would lay down and then get back up when the pain eased off.  When he had asked Mom to check his heart rate, the pain was not going away, but was getting worse.

The doctor decided to admit him to be monitored overnight.  They would draw blood every couple of hours to keep a check on his cardiac enzyme levels.  He finally got out of the Emergency Department and into a room around 1:45 AM.  Mom stayed with him.

Early that morning the doctor gave orders to give him blood.  He was very anemic and had been since starting the treatments.  The doctor had gone back and forth, trying to determine if he had a heart attack or not.  They finally said that the echocardiogram showed changes since the first one they did before he started chemo.  Based on that and his blood being low, they said his heart was having to pump too hard and that he had had a heart attack.

He was released from the hospital on Wednesday.

The rest of the week, he was pretty weak.  He would get up some to walk, but laid down a lot and napped.  He began to feel better over the weekend, other than the weakness.

On Monday, June 26, 2017, he had an appointment with the oncologist.  Everyone at the Levine Cancer Center had heard of his heart attack.  The oncologist agreed with the cardiologist, that the heart attack Dad had was probably due to his blood being low.  He checked him out and could feel no lymph nodes.  He told Dad that he wanted to change the date of the last chemo treatment, which had been scheduled for the next day.  He had it rescheduled for Wednesday, July 5th, a week away.  They wanted to give him time for his blood to build up before doing the last treatment.

Many of the nurses fussed at Dad for not letting Mom know when he had been hurting in his chest.  One of the nurses was going to clean his pic line.  Before she started, she pulled a stool up in front of Dad, crossed her arms and stared at him.  Dad crossed his arms and stared at her.  Finally Dad said, “What’s up?”  She laughed but she also fussed at Dad, telling him to let Mom know when anything was hurting him.  He needed to speak up.

Even after all Dad has been through, he still doesn’t want to worry anyone.

I have always had trouble speaking to those I do not know very well.  I get nervous and feel like everything I say sounds stupid.  Put a pen and paper in my hand and I’ll write a long letter, but face to face I can’t find the words to say.

There are a lot of times in life when we have to hold our tongue.  Times when it isn’t appropriate or right to speak what is on our mind.  But there are also many times when it is important to speak up.

I was convicted of that recently.  I felt God nudging me to speak out and praise Him for His love and goodness He so generously bestows.  But I kept quiet.  Then I finally had to repent and I publicly expressed how good my heavenly Father has been to me.

Dad has been praying that God will reveal to him what he is supposed to do once he is well.  He wants to see God turn this battle into something good.  I know that Dad will be able to minister to others, speaking up about all God has done and will continue to do.

So this lesson is for us both.

Mum’s not always the word, Dad.

I Just Want To Go Home

Published on by Joan Category: Devotions, Uncategorized

If you stopped by because you read my devotion June 22, 2017, over at Encouragement Cafe, WELCOME!   So glad you are here!

 

HomeSweetHome

Let not your heart be troubled: ye believe in God, believe also in me.  In my Father’s house are many mansions: if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also.  John 14:1-3 (KJV)

My home is ten minutes from my work.  Once I get to work, I change vehicles and drive 35 minutes to my current work location.  That doesn’t really sound like a lot.  And it is better than the hour I had to drive on my last work assignment.

The morning drive I don’t mind.  In fact, I enjoy it.  I listen to music and preaching on the radio.  I love looking at the morning sky.  Most days I like my job.  But the drive in the evening bothers me.  It seems to take longer getting back home than it took to get to work.

There are days when I get back to my main office that I have to run errands or go to appointments that prevent me from going straight home.  By 7:30 or 8:00, though, I feel like I have hit a wall.  I just want to go home.  I not only feel physically tired, but mentally tired as well.

There’s just something about being home where I can totally relax.  Even if I have household chores to do once I get home, I just want to be home.  I want to shut out the noise.  I want to shut out all of the talking and people.  And if I’m totally honest, I just want to be able to stop putting a smile on my face, pretending all is well.

I often feel the same way spiritually.  Sometimes I get so tired of living in this sinful world that I just want to go to my heavenly home.  I want to worship at the feet of my Savior.  I want to be able to feel the complete peace and freedom from the trials of life.

But it’s the getting there that’s tiring.  I know I’m headed for heaven, but the drive seems awfully long sometimes.  We have to live in this world, working and handling all of our responsibilities.  And the longer I travel through this life, things seem to be getting worse.

Do you know, though, that God has given us errands to run?  Appointments to keep?

“And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.   Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost: Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen”.  Matthew 28:18-20  (KJV)

As Christ ascended into heaven, He gave us the Great Commission.  We are to use our time in this world sharing the message of salvation.  We are to teach people, disciple people.  We are to love as Christ loved.  We are to be busy going about doing our Father’s business.  And we can have joy in our heart as we do those things, fulfilling God’s purpose in our lives on this earth.

But then one day, we will get to our limit.  The number of days ordained for us to live in this world will come to an end.  And then, as believers in Christ, we will have the joy of going home.  Once we get there, we can totally relax, being free from all worries.  And we won’t have to pretend we’re happy because for the first time, all will be well for all of eternity.

Are you ready to go home?  Christ came and died for us so that we can have a personal relationship with Him.  He will bless us in this life, even in the midst of problems.  He gives us peace and comfort even in the busyness of life.  He gives us joy when we are in His will.  And ultimately, some day, He will call us home.  I long for that day when I can just go home.

Heavenly Father, sometimes I get so tired of this life.  Yes, there are times of joy, and I thank You for that.  There are times when I know You are using me, and I humbly praise You for that.  Then there are times when I just want to go home.  I long for the day when I can spend eternity with You.  But in the meantime, help me to be faithful to You.  Help me carry out the tasks that You have given me to do.  And help me live a life so that others can see You, and along with me, want to come home to the place You have prepared for Your children. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

It Hurts Me More

Published on by Joan Category: Devotions

If you stopped by because you read my devotion June 6th over at Encouragement Cafe, WELCOME!   So glad you are here!

“Blessed is the one you discipline, LORD, the one you teach from your law.”Psalm 94-12 (NIV) (2)

Moreover, we have all had human fathers who disciplined us and we respected them for it. How much more should we submit to the Father of spirits and live! They disciplined us for a little while as they thought best; but God disciplines us for our good, in order that we may share in his holiness.  Hebrews 12: 9-10 (NIV)

“This is going to hurt me more than it hurts you.”

Have you ever heard that?  I can’t really say that my parents said that to me, (I was the good kid), but I have heard others speak of their parents saying that to them.

I didn’t understand that saying until I had children of my own.  When our babies are born, they are perfect.  Every little smile, every “coo” is deeply embedded in our hearts.  But then they start growing.  Even very young toddlers have to be disciplined.  Some children learn quickly to listen to what they are told, but others seem to push the limits.  Even after being told not to do something, they will look at the one disciplining them in the eye while reaching their hand out toward the forbidden object.

When I had to discipline my children by spanking them or setting them in time out, it did hurt my heart.  I knew they needed to be corrected but the deep sadness they experienced made me want to cry along with them.

When I was very young, I would sometimes fail to be still and quiet in church.  Once home, my dad would talk to me first.  He would point his finger at me as he talked.  I remember thinking that his finger had to be 3 feet long as it was pointed right at my face.  Then I got spanked.  I always thought the “talking to” was a lot worse than the spanking.  I don’t remember that happening too often.  (Like I said, I was the good kid.)

As Christians we learn that it takes discipline to keep a regular time of Bible study and prayer.  It takes discipline to walk a consistent life of obedience.  But discipline can also be God correcting us.  He talks to us first.

“All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness.”  2 Timothy 3:16 (NIV)

Sometimes that discipline is painful.  We can experience pain and guilt when we are disobedient and commit sin.  We can suffer consequences that may be temporary or that will stay with us for the rest of our lives.  We can feel abandoned by God.  But God doesn’t want us to stay that way.

“Because the Lord disciplines those he loves, as a father the son he delights in.”  Proverbs 3:12 (NIV)

That discipline may include striping us of things that caused us to fall away from God.  It often involves us losing the peace and joy we can feel when we are in a right relationship with our Savior.

“No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.” Hebrews 12:11 (NIV) 

The discipline we receive should cause us to turn back to the loving, forgiving arms of Christ.  I’ve noticed that about disciplining children.  When the time of discipline is over, they want to be held.  They want to be loved.  When I had to correct my girls or grandchildren, I couldn’t wait to hold them in my arms.  Our Heavenly Father is the same.  He corrects us because He loves us.  But He also can’t wait to have a close fellowship with us once more.  If we could ask Him how it makes Him feel to discipline us, I think He would say:

“It hurt Me a lot more than it hurts you.”

And Jesus has the scars to prove it.

Heavenly Father, Thank you for loving us so much that You will discipline us when we are disobedient to Your will.  When the time of reproof and correction is hurtful, let me remember that Your heart hurts too.  Help me to be quick to repent so that I can be in sweet fellowship with You once more.  In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

Dad’s Journey – Part 3

Published on by Joan Category: Dad's Journey

From The Mountaintop To The Valley and Back Again

I will lift up my eyes Psalm 121-1-2 (NKJV)

Dad had his second chemo treatment on Wednesday, May 3rd while in the hospital.  He returned home from his 3rd stay in the hospital on Saturday, May 6th.  Sunday morning he was weak and a little nauseated.  But Monday morning he was feeling some better.  The therapist came and worked with him.  The week was full of doctor appointments.  He went every day to receive the shots that would help keep his white blood cells up.

His 76th birthday was on May 9th.  As he walked into the cancer center on that day, his age was already changed on his paperwork and the nurses wished him a happy birthday.  Everyone there has been so good to him and the nurses have made over him every time he has gone.

Dad asked for my daughter Christy to bring her three kids to come see him that week.  Visitors have been limited because of the risk of him catching something.  But he felt stronger and thought it would be a good time to see them since he was over the second treatment and was a week away from the third.  Hudson, the 5 year old, and Hadley, the 3 year old, had picked out gifts (toys) they wanted their Papa to have, including some bubbles.  Christy got him a Superman t-shirt, telling him that he was her Superman.

The kids really enjoyed their visit as much as Dad enjoyed seeing them.

Going into the week of his 3rd treatment, he had a mixture of days when he felt pretty good and others when he was weak.  He was eating well and was able to move around outside a little.  The treatment was given at the Levine Cancer Center on Wednesday, May 17th.  His appointment was at 8:30.  They began with a bag of fluids and nausea medication before administering the chemo.  The treatment was over at noon.

The day after chemo, he went to get a Neulasta shot.  This shot would take the place of the shots he had been having to go take daily.  But it also would cause more weakness and aches and pains.

Dad has always been a man that couldn’t stay inside for long.  He would go outside and piddle around all the time.  Being confined to the house, having to rely on others and feeling so bad gets him very discouraged.

One day when he was feeling especially weak and tired, his cousin Jerry Harrison came to visit. Jerry’s wife has been through cancer treatments and Jerry had an understanding of what Dad was going through.  He talked with Dad, prayed with him and was just what Dad needed that day.  A short time after Jerry’s visit, Preacher Toney Parsons came to visit.  He also encouraged Dad.  We firmly believe that little things like that which have been happening all along is God assuring Dad of His love and control over everything Dad is going through.

My sister-in-law had posted on her Facebook page several weeks back asking her friends to send him cards.  He has received cards from all over.  The posts I have written have been read by many people, who have responded that they are praying for him.  All of the cards and prayers have meant a lot to him.  We keep trying to encourage him by telling him that he is affecting a lot of people’s lives.  There’s no answer to why he is having to endure this sickness, but hopefully it will help someone to draw closer to God.

He continued to feel weak the following days.  My daughter Martha had a problem with the pump on her septic tank on Thursday night, May 18th.  She called Dad Friday morning to see if he knew who she might could call to come look at it.  Dad made several phone calls that morning, seeming to enjoy feeling needed.

One day he heard a commercial on TV and “Happy Hour” was mentioned.  He asked mom what Happy Hour was.  She told him it was a period of time when drinking was encouraged.  He said he was having Happy Hour all the time because Mom was pushing him to drink a lot of fluids.

He began to feel better the weekend before his 4th treatment.  He felt well enough to walk around outside.  Being able to get out encouraged him.  He was released from the physical therapist on May 29th.  Mom took him to the drive-thru at Wendy’s to get a frosty to celebrate.

The fourth treatment was Wednesday, May 31st.  Dad wore his superman shirt that Christy had given him.  When he put the shirt on, my Mom told him he looked cute.  He wondered that maybe he shouldn’t wear it to the cancer center since the nurses already made over him enough.

Superman 2

While he was sitting taking the treatment, in walks Preacher Joe Smith.  Joe had been at the hospital visiting and said he felt God impress on him that he needed to go to the cancer center, even though he would not normally go there.  He walked straight over to Dad and talked a few minutes.  He prayed together with Mom and Dad and then left.  One more instance of God putting people in Dad’s path to offer him encouragement had occurred.

He did really well with the treatment.  He went to get the Neulasta shot the next day.  On Friday he began to feel weak.  He has felt a little weaker each day but is hoping the cycle will continue so that he can feel stronger again before the next treatment.

He was released from the home health nurse on June 7th.  Since that was one of his weak days, instead of going to Wendy’s for a frosty, he and mom settled for a bowl of ice cream at home.

Dad has had his good days and bad days.  On the good, it’s almost like a victory has been won.  The days are enjoyed as much as possible.  But the bad days are long.  They are discouraging and hard.  It’s like going from mountaintop to the valley and back again, and again.  He’ll feel good for the week before and during a treatment and then bad for a week afterwards.

In our lives, we all have mountaintop moments.  And we all have valleys to go through.  Watching Dad going through the last couple months, it’s like seeing a condensed version of what our whole lives are like.  The ups and downs.

I have always enjoyed the stories in the Old Testament of the Bible.  One story in particular I have always liked is in Exodus 17.

“Now Amalek came and fought with Israel in Rephidim.  And Moses said to Joshua, “Choose us some men and go out, fight with Amalek. Tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the rod of God in my hand.”  So Joshua did as Moses said to him, and fought with Amalek. And Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill.  And so it was, when Moses held up his hand, that Israel prevailed; and when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed.  But Moses’ hands became heavy; so they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat on it. And Aaron and Hur supported his hands, one on one side, and the other on the other side; and his hands were steady until the going down of the sun.  So Joshua defeated Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword.”   Exodus 17:8-13 (NKJV)

There’s a couple of things that I find encouraging in this passage.  Notice in verse 9.  Moses tells Joshua to choose some men to fight.  Now these men would have been strong men, men who could fight well.  It’s in our nature, at least in mine, to question why God allows bad things to happen to good people.  But why shouldn’t He.  God sometimes chooses strong people that are capable of obeying and honoring God to fight the battles of life.  Through the humbling of themselves, through showing that their strength is not in themselves but in God alone, then God can receive all the glory when the battle has been won.

In the following verses, Moses stands on the hill with the rod of God.  When the rod is raised, they were winning.  When the rod was lowered, they were being beaten back.  As the men were fighting, they could look up to the hill and see Moses.  When they saw the rod, the same rod that had been used in all of the miracles that God had performed, the men could be reminded that the presence and power of God was with them, even in the midst of the battle.  When we are in the middle of our battle, even when we are in the valley, we can look back to the times we were on our mountaintops and know, that the same God that was blessing us so much in the good times, is still the all-powerful God that is with us in our valleys.

Now consider Aaron and Hur.  They were there to help Moses, who was the intercessor between the people and God.  When we know of people who are going through their valleys, we ought to intercede for them in prayer to our Father.  We need to be there to give them assistance.  So many people are praying for and encouraging my Dad.  People have brought food and visited.  Phone calls have been received.  All of that is so appreciated and is something we all can do for anyone who is going through hard times.

One day as I was visiting my Dad, he asked Mom to hand him his Bible that was close by.  He wanted to show me what he had come across as he had been reading.  He told us to open it to 1 Peter 5.  Verses 8 and 9 are familiar verses, speaking about the fact that the devil is seeking out those whom he can devour.  But we are to resist him and stay strong.  It says “knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world.”  Then verse 10 is the verse that spoke to my Dad.

“But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you.”  1 Peter 5:10

You may be in the valley now.  But keep looking up to the top of the hill.  God will soon take us out of the valley and back to the mountaintop again.

Look up to the hill top, Dad.

Dad’s Journey – Part 2

Published on by Joan Category: Uncategorized

Pushing Back (1)

 

Dad went home from rehab on Friday, April 21, 2017.

Over that weekend and the following week he did well.  He walked around in the house and outside.  His appetite got better.  He was looking better and feeling stronger.  Until Saturday, April 29th.

That Saturday and Sunday, he began to feel worse.  He became weaker and didn’t eat as well.  He started running a fever Sunday.  That evening it went up to over 102 degrees.  We called the nurse who was on call.  She was not familiar with his case but told us to take him to the Emergency Department.  But we decided to call the oncologist first.

While we waited for the doctor to call, we gave him Tylenol and put a cold cloth to his head.  It didn’t take too long before his fever started to slowly come down.  When the doctor called, he really did not want us to take him to the ED.  He had already scheduled Dad to have a PET scan on Tuesday.  Due to certain rules, a PET scan cannot be taken if a patient is admitted into a hospital.  Insurance will only pay if the patient is not currently in the hospital.  The doctor really wanted Dad to have the PET scan done so the extent of the cancer could be determined.

We took him to a scheduled appointment at Levine’s Cancer Center on Monday, May 1st.  At the office he had some fever.  When the doctor came in, he asked Dad to move from the wheel chair to the examination table.  When dad sat down, he started blacking out.  The doctor leaned him back on the table and went to get the nurse.  They decided to give him a bag of fluids.  After that, he began to feel some better and we took him home.  The PET scan was planned for the next day at 12:45.

After leaving the doctor’s office, a rash began on his legs.   He continued to run a fever.

Tuesday morning, Dad was weaker and the rash that had started on his legs was now over his entire body.  He was still running some fever.  Mom called the doctor’s office to make sure they did want him to get the PET scan because of his fever, rash and weakness.  They told her if she didn’t hear back from them to bring him to their office after the PET scan.

We took him to get the PET scan.

PET is Positron Emission Tomography.  The way it works is that the patient is injected with a glucose or sugar solution that has a small amount of radioactive material in it.  The radiotracers goes throughout the entire body.  Cancer cells use more glucose than normal cells.   The cancer cells take in the radiotracers at a higher rate than other cells.  It causes those cells to look brighter on the PET scan than non-cancerous cells.

His appointment was at 12:45.  A lady came to get him in his wheelchair to do the test.  She said she would give him the medicine to perform the test and that he would have to wait an hour to give the drug time to work before actually doing the scan.  A few moments later she returned to tell us she thought he had shingles.  She had seen the rash and was very concerned.  That was the last thing we had wanted to hear.

Dad did not get out of the scan until after 3:00.  We took him straight to the doctor’s office.  He was running a fever of 101 and his blood pressure was very low.  The doctor came in and talked with us.  He showed us the PET scan.  There were a lot of lymph nodes throughout his torso that were shining bright red.  There were also some spots on his spleen.

The doctor then told Dad that he needed to go back to the hospital.  He said the rash wasn’t shingles.  He said he really felt that the fever and the rash was coming from the lymphoma.  He thought that the chemo from his first treatment was out of his body and the lymphoma was raging back.  But to be sure that there was no infection, especially in his pic line, the doctor wanted Dad to be in the hospital on antibiotics.

The doctor also said that they were going to be more aggressive in the treatment against the cancer.  He told Dad he had to fight.  The 2nd treatment that was planned for Thursday would be moved to Wednesday, the next day.  The following treatments would then be every two weeks instead of three.

Two nurses from the doctor’s office rolled Dad in a wheelchair across the parking lot into the emergency department.  We were in the ED from a little after 4:00 until after 8:00.  The next four days were spent in room 371.

On Wednesday, Dad felt weak but did eat a decent breakfast.  They had started him on antibiotics as soon as he was in the ED the previous day.  He continued on them the whole time he was in the hospital.

The rash was still over his whole body.  A dermatologist took a biopsy from his leg of the rash.  He said it could be a reaction to some medicine he had been on.  The oncologist still believed it to be the lymphoma.  He said the lymphoma could aggravate the blood vessels right under the skin resulting in the rash.

Chemo started at 2:30.  The first drug was pushed through a syringe connected to his pic line.  The nurse pushed the syringe in slowly, over a period of 10 minutes.  The second drug was not connected to the tubing properly so it had to be fixed at the lab.  It eventually took the last two drugs until 5:15 to be finished.

Dad snored through the treatment.  He had been given something for nausea before the treatment.  That along with him being so tired allowed him to rest soundly while the drugs were being administered.

Just as when he had his first treatment, Mom and I sat in his room with him.  Maybe because he was sleeping so soundly, the mood was not as somber as before.  We talked quietly to keep from disturbing him but also joked with the nurse about his snoring.

But I also couldn’t stop thinking about the pushing.  The cancer pushing back in Dad’s body as the chemo was getting out of his system.  How the doctor said they needed to push back, be more aggressive in the treatment.  How the nurse was slowly pushing the drug into his veins.

Pushing.  How often do we feel bombarded, or pushed around, by the cares of life?  Sin pushes against our desire to live a Godly life.  Walking Christ-like is not easy – it requires us pushing, being persistent and persevering in our faith.

Sin is like that cancer.  And like the radiotracers used in the PET scan, our natural desires, the part of us that is not saved, is attracted to sin.  In order to stay close to God, we have to be aggressive in our fight against that sin.

And when we commit our ways to the Lord, when we fight the fight of faith, when we push away from the sinfulness of this world, the Lord gives us sweet rest.  Peace. We may even snore a little because of being so relaxed in God’s hands.

We just have to keep pushing, in the strength of our Lord, against the evil things pushing against us.

Dad stayed in the hospital until Saturday.  Since coming home, he has had good days and bad.  Please continue to pray for him as he keeps pushing on.

Keep Pushing, Daddy.

******************************************************************************************************************

The Children of Israel fought many battles to take possession of the Promised Land.  However, they knew the battle was not won because of their strength, but because of the strength of their God.  We have the same God and He will be as faithful to help us fight our battles as He was to them.

Psalm 44 (NIV)

1 We have heard it with our ears, O God; our ancestors have told us what you did in their days, in days long ago.
2 With your hand you drove out the nations and planted our ancestors; you crushed the peoples and made our ancestors flourish.
3 It was not by their sword that they won the land, nor did their arm bring them victory; it was your right hand, your arm, and the light of your face, for you loved them.

4 You are my King and my God, who decrees victories for Jacob.

5 Through you we push back our enemies; through your name we trample our foes.
6 I put no trust in my bow, my sword does not bring me victory;

7 but you give us victory over our enemies, you put our adversaries to shame.
8 In God we make our boast all day long, and we will praise your name forever.

 

David was surrounded by his enemies time after time.  When things looked the worse, God, in His Sovereign timing, gave David the victory.  We, too, are in a battle.  But in God’s timing, not ours, we will be victorious.

Psalm 118 (NIV)

1 Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good; his love endures forever.

2 Let Israel say: “His love endures forever.”
3 Let the house of Aaron say: “His love endures forever.”
4 Let those who fear the Lord say: “His love endures forever.”

5 When hard pressed, I cried to the Lord; he brought me into a spacious place.
6 The Lord is with me; I will not be afraid. What can mere mortals do to me?
7 The Lord is with me; he is my helper. I look in triumph on my enemies.

8 It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in humans.
9 It is better to take refuge in the Lord than to trust in princes.
10 All the nations surrounded me, but in the name of the Lord I cut them down.
11 They surrounded me on every side, but in the name of the Lord I cut them down.
12 They swarmed around me like bees, but they were consumed as quickly as burning thorns; in the name of the Lord I cut them down.
13 I was pushed back and about to fall, but the Lord helped me.
14 The Lord is my strength and my defense; he has become my salvation.  

God can and will calm our storms.  And when the storm subsides, there’s perfect peace.

The disciples went and woke him, saying, “Master, Master, we’re going to drown!” He got up and rebuked the wind and the raging waters; the storm subsided, and all was calm.  Luke 8:24 (NIV)

 

 

Daddy’s Girl

Published on by Joan Category: Dad's Journey

Copy of “Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.” John 1-12 (NIV)

I think a lot of women who have been blessed to grow up with a loving, caring, strong, Godly father, will consider themselves a daddy’s girl.  I’m no different.  I love my Daddy.  It’s not that I love my Mom any less.  I love her dearly.  She’s the encourager and comforter I know that I can count on at any moment.  But it is the dad that most children will turn to for help and guidance in life’s situations outside of the home.  And it’s a daddy that most girls will look to for qualities they hope to have in their husband.

When my Dad got sick, it was hard.  Still is.  To watch the man that was very active and always on the go come to the point where he needed help doing the simplest of things broke my heart.  While the doctors were running tests after tests trying to determine what was wrong with him, he just kept getting weaker and weaker.

Then came the diagnosis of T-cell Lymphoma.  It’s a very rare form of cancer.  During his illness, we have tried to make small jokes from time to time to help lighten the mood.  We told Dad it was just like him to have to be different and rare to get such a disease that stumped the doctors for so long.  Dad suggested to the doctor that since he had never had a patient with that type of cancer before, he should write a book about him so that they both could make some money.

The day that the first chemo treatment was to be administered was very emotional.  They came got Dad from the hospital room and took him downstairs in a wheelchair to have his pic line inserted into his arm.  We were told he would be back to the room in less than an hour.  It was almost 2 hours before he was brought back to the room totally exhausted.

When he had arrived downstairs, there were other patients waiting before him to have various procedures done.  He had to sit in his wheelchair and wait.  He was sitting with his head down and eyes closed.  When he opened his eyes, a ray of light was shining down on a tile on the floor.  In that tile, Dad saw the face of Jesus.  Our Savior was reassuring my Dad that he was not alone.  Christ has been and still is walking closely by my Daddy’s side.

It was 3:00 on April 13, 2017, when the chemo started.

We were all silent.  One thought after another began racing through my mind as the drugs began racing through my Dad’s body.  The negativity of the situation competed against the trusting in the positive outcome.

Mom sat in the chair beside his bed.  I watched Dad lying there as the poison that is needed to heal his body began to be pumped into his veins.  He was looking at the work the nurse was doing, hanging the various drugs on the IV pole.  I looked at Mom as she turned her face away from Dad.  Silent tears began flowing down her face as the man she loves began his battle against the disease in his body.  I wonder if God shed tears when He looked away from His Son who hung dying on the cross, filled with the sin disease of the world.

The brown bags with “Biohazard” clearly marked, reinforced the fact that this is not the nutritious fluids that had hydrated his weak body.  Then I see the clear tube slowly fill with the red drug.  I think about the red blood that flowed from the tortured body of Christ.  I pray the drugs going into Dad’s veins will bring life back to his body, cleansing him of all disease just as Christ’s blood gives life to our souls and cleanses us from sin.

The nurse wears protective gear as she administers the drugs.  Three drugs in all.  Three nails.

Goggles cover her eyes, gloves cover her hands and a plastic gown covers her body.  When facing a battle, we prepare ourselves.  We protect our eyes, staying focused on our Lord.  Looking to Him, we gain our strength.  We use our hands to fight.  As Moses lifted his hands during battle and the Children of Israel won their fight, when we lift hands to praise the Father, that praise turns our battles to victories.  We protect our heart with the Breastplate of Righteousness, knowing that our bodies are the tabernacle of the Holy Spirit.

Then the treatment was over.  It is finished.  Christ died once for all.

Dad still has five more treatments to go.  We’re all trusting God for complete restoration of his health.  The doctor has even stated that he could feel better than before.  The unknown disease had been bringing him down for a while, and when it is gone, he will feel like a new man.  In Christ we are a new creation.

I’m a Daddy’s girl.  I’m my Abba, Father’s girl.

Dad’s Journey

Published on by Joan Category: Dad's Journey

Dad in Rehab

March 25, 2017, began a journey for my Dad, Max Walker, which will take him through many months to come.

Dad’s health had been going down for several months.  Normally a very active 75 year old, he began to have to rest frequently between his activities.  One day he started feeling pressure in his chest, was sweating profusely and was weak.  Finally, my Mom and my Uncle Harold told Dad that he was going to the hospital either in their car, or by ambulance.  Dad relented and was driven by car to the local ER.

After several hours in the ER, the results of tests were given.  His blood work looked normal and the EKG showed he was not having a heart attack at the moment, but that he had experienced a heart attack at some point in the past.  He was released from the ER, doing no better, and was told to follow up with a cardiologist.

Although nothing was done for him, this trip to the hospital began a series of events that were hard and discouraging to go through.  Yet through it all, God’s hand and control over everything was exhibited.

On Monday morning, Mom called to get an appointment with the cardiologist.  It’s very hard to get an appointment with that doctor in a timely manner.  She was told the earliest Dad could be seen by the doctor would be weeks later in April.  Hanging up discouraged, Mom walked away from the phone only to have it ring.  The doctor’s office was on the phone saying they had a cancellation.  Dad could be seen on that Friday, March 31st,.

When we took Dad to that appointment, he was so weak we asked to have a place for him to lay down instead of waiting in the waiting room.  He was still experiencing all the symptoms that he had experienced when he had gone to the ER.  They immediately took him to a room and hooked him up to run another EKG.

When the doctor came in to talk to Dad, he was told again that the EKG showed he was not having a heart attack.  The doctor listened to his chest and abdomen.  Although I could not see the doctor’s face, both Mom and Dad could.  They noticed that when the doctor listened to his abdomen, his facial expression suggested he heard an abnormal sound.

The doctor then said he thought that Dad should go back to the hospital to have further tests run.  He tried to get Dad directly admitted to the hospital in order to bypass the ER, but the hospital would not allow that.  So back to the ER we went.

I don’t know how it is at other hospitals, but at our local hospital, going to the ER meant hours of waiting.  The thought of going back through the process they had gone through the previous Saturday was not pleasant.  However, since the doctor had called ahead, they put Dad in an examination room and tests began immediately.  We were later told that if he had been directly admitted, the tests the doctor ordered would have become less of priority since any orders from the ER took precedence over the orders of patients in the rooms.

Blood work, another EKG, x-rays, ultrasounds of his organs, were all done.  Nothing was standing out in any of the tests, but he was admitted so that additional tests could be run.  Room 307 became his home for the next nine days.

On Saturday, an echocardiogram and a CT scan of his abdomen were done.  We learned that the sound the doctor had heard when he listened to Dad’s abdomen could possibly have been an aneurysm or blockage.  The tests on his heart were good and no sign of a blockage or aneurysm was found.  Although the scan did show that some lymph nodes in his abdomen and around his kidneys were swollen.

The next day, on Sunday, they did a CT scan of his chest to check for blood clots in his lung.  No clots were found, but additional swollen lymph nodes were seen.

An ocologist was consulted.  He wanted to do a needle biopsy of a lymph node in Dad’s neck.  They did the biopsy on Monday.  Results of the needle biopsy were not received until Wednesday.  The results of the tests just showed some atypical cells but nothing conclusive.  He was scheduled to have a lymph node removed on Thursday.

Two different surgeons came in Wednesday to talk to Dad.  The general surgeon said he could remove a lymph node from under Dad’s arm but because of his full schedule, it would be late on Thursday afternoon before he could do it.  He said he had a partner who possibly could do it a little earlier.  Then an ear, nose, throat specialist came in to say he could take a lymph node from Dad’s neck around noon on Thursday.  Dad chose to have that specialist to do the surgery.

On Thursday morning, the general surgeon’s partner came in at 9:00.  He had a cancellation in his schedule and could perform the surgery at 11:00.  The decision was made to have that surgery.  We later learned that the ear, nose, throat specialist had a surgery that took longer than expected and it would have been later in the afternoon before he could have performed Dad’s surgery.  It was also told that the lymph node in his neck would have been a riskier surgery due to the size and location near his jugular vein.  By having the earlier surgery, testing on the tissue began on that day.  The oncologist told us Friday evening that the initial results showed no signs of cancer so far, but further testing was ongoing.

All of that time, Dad had grown weaker and weaker.  Nothing could be given to him since they did not know what was wrong.  If they had given him steroids or anything else, the root problem could have been masked in any tests that were run.

However, while the week had progressed, his blood pressure medication was adjusted time after time.  Dad had been on two different blood pressure medications for years but his BP had never been stable.  His doctor had even told him to leave it off and if his BP went up, then take a pill.  In the hospital, the hospitalist fussed at dad for refusing to take the prescribed medication.  Dad had been refusing to take the medication because he knew regular use of it caused his BP to fall too low.  The doctor agreed to reduce the amount if Dad would take the medicine.  The following days proved Dad right.  The dosage was increasingly lowered until he left the hospital with one pill instead of two and the dosage a quarter of the amount originally prescribed.  The new amount was prescribed to be used after he left the hospital and has worked well.

Dad was released to go home on Saturday, April 8th, with a follow-up appointment scheduled with the oncologist on Tuesday.  He was very weak.  Mom had been home sick most of the week while Dad was in the hospital.  Having Dad home was good, but both were weak and needed help.   I had been able to spend the week with Dad at the hospital and was with Mom and Dad at home on Monday and Tuesday.

On Monday night, the oncologist called to say the results looked like Dad had Hodgkin’s Lymphoma.  The diagnosis had changed from thinking there was no cancer on Friday to now being told there was.

On Tuesday, Uncle Harold, Mom and I, took Dad to the Levine Cancer Institute.  He had been throwing up and unable to eat.  Uncle Harold helped us get Dad in the car and in a wheelchair as soon as we arrived at the cancer center.  Again, as soon as we arrived at the doctor’s office, he was taken to a room and laid down.  He was running a high temperature and the nurses immediately hooked him up to an IV, giving him fluids and medicine for nausea.  Blood was also drawn.

When the doctor came in, he told us he had just heard from the pathologist an hour before.  The diagnosis had changed once again and now we learned Dad had T-cell lymphoma.  We were told this was a very rare cancer which was why the diagnosis had been so hard to reach.  The doctor said he had never had a case of that particular type of cancer before.  He seemed to think the fever and deteriorating health was due to the lymphoma and immediately wanted Dad to be admitted once again to the hospital.  Because of the rarity of the cancer, the doctor said many times patients did not know they had the disease and would die because of an infection rather than from the cancer.

So back to the ER.  This time, the Levine Cancer Institute was located across the parking lot to the hospital so Dad was taken by a wheelchair and rolled straight into the ER.  Had he not been so sick, being wheeled across the parking lot in a wheelchair could have been a fun story to tell.  Within a short time he was taken directly to an examination room.  Again, since blood work had been taken at the doctor’s office and because the doctor had ordered ahead the tests to be done, everything was carried out more quickly than would have normally been done.

They began giving him meds to bring down his fever.  Fluids and nausea medications were administered.  A broad spectrum antibiotic was given by IV.  The doctor had ordered an MRI to be done of Dad’s brain to rule out a stroke because of how lethargic he had been at the doctor’s office.  Another x-ray of his chest was taken.  A lot was done in a short amount of time.

It was discovered Dad had a urinary tract infection and the flu.   His stay in Room 325 would last for 8 days.

Wednesday was a day of continual tests to determine the strength of his heart and it’s ability to withstand chemotherapy.  They started him on steroids to help build him up along with the nausea medication, Tamiflu and an antibiotic.  Bone marrow was taken from his hip.  On Thursday, April  13th, a pic line was put in and chemo began.  Because of his ongoing weakness and nausea, he remained in the hospital.  The days were very emotional.  A combination of the medication and the reality of his circumstances took a toll on the normally strong man.

On Tuesday, April 18th, he was transported to a rehabilitation facility.  On Wednesday, it was like night and day.  He was up and moving around.   Although still lacking endurance, he began to quickly gain strength.  Food began to taste better, having real clothes on instead of the “petticoat” of a gown, the ability to care for himself, all contributed to his remaining in rehab only until Friday, the 21st.

Dad has a long road ahead of him.  Trips to the doctor’s offices to get medications and shots to build his white blood counts will occur daily.  Home health care to check his status and to clean the pic line, therapists to come in to keep him growing stronger, will take place.  Five more chemo treatments, three weeks apart, are scheduled.  He will need to take a lot of precautions to avoid getting sick.  Visits will be restricted and places he can go to are limited.  Even short walks outside will require him to wear a mask because of the pollen in the air.

It’s been hard for him to go through all he’s experienced; it’s hard for his loved ones to watch.  But God has had His hand in every event.

  • Having the sensation of pressure in his chest along with the sweating and weakness, led to his first visit to the ER and the recommendation of him seeing a cardiologist. The pressure in his chest ceased after being hospitalized.
  • The cancellation of an appointment at the cardiologist office allowed dad to be seen quicker.
  • Being so weak, although it was not a good thing, led the nurses to put him immediately into an examination room, where tests were started instead of him waiting in a waiting room that would have delayed him getting help.
  • Although there was no sign of him having a heart attack at the moment, the cardiologist hearing an abnormal sound in this abdomen led to him requesting further testing.
  • Having to go through the ER instead of receiving the direct admittance the doctor requested, led to the ordered tests being done with top priority over patients in a room
  • Because the doctor had ordered a CT scan of his abdomen looking for a blockage or aneurysm, the scan revealed the extent of swollen lymph nodes in his torso.
  • Another CT scan ordered to look for blood clots in his lung led to the further discovery of swollen glands in this chest and neck.
  • Since he was a patient in the hospital, the oncologist consulted saw him quickly without having to wait at home for an appointment.
  • The needle biopsy not showing conclusive results led to the extended stay in the hospital where his blood pressure issue was addressed and hopefully corrected with the proper medicine and dosage set.
  • The surgeon who just happened to have a cancellation in his schedule allowed the removal and testing of the lymph node to begin earlier.
  • Although getting the flu was not a good thing (which he either contracted from his previous stay in the hospital or from going home on Saturday) led to the fever and weakness that caused the oncologist to send him immediately back to the hospital when he went to the Tuesday appointment.
  • Another visit to the ER allowed them to immediately begin fluids and an antibiotic along with other tests performed quickly
  • Another stay in the hospital allowed the pic line and the first treatment of the chemo to occur quickly.

I’m not saying that it is a good thing that Dad has been so sick.  But God is working in the details.

Before he was sick, he had joked with Mom about getting his hair buzz cut.  Mom was not excited about that.  But with him being so sick, his hair was cut very short while he was in rehab so that he could wash his head easily since he cannot get in a shower due to the pic line.

Dad has never liked coffee.  Mom would brew coffee while he was out of the house so he would not be bothered by the aroma and then she would just warm up a cup at a time as she wanted it.  When Mom was sick and unable to come to the hospital, coffee did not set well with her.  But while he was in the hospital and feeling so nauseous, coffee was one of only a couple things Dad could stomach.  Dad told me that if Mom were there, she would know he was really sick since he was drinking coffee.

Thinking about those small details lightened the seriousness of the circumstances.

During the first stay in the hospital, Mom was sick; my brother was sick; both my aunt and uncle were sick.  I have a job that allows me to build up time that I can take off and my supervisors are wonderful to work with.  All of those things allowed me to spend time alone with Dad.  Most of the time he did not feel like having a lot of conversations, but just being with him meant so much to me.

And I saw something else.  Though Mom and Dad were apart, I saw a picture of their great love for each other.  The doctor my Mom went to had told her to stay away from Dad because of the risk of giving him what she had.  Thinking of his well-being over her own is the only thing that would have kept her away from him.  She eagerly awaited my phone calls to get updates on him.

And my Dad.  A nurse came in at one point to check on him.  In his weak voice, he told the nurse that his wife was at home sick.  Then with tears in his eyes, he said, “I just want my wife to be ok.”  He was worried about Mom and Mom was worried about him.

We often have no choice in the journey we find ourselves on.  There’s the age old question of, “why do bad things happen to good people?”  If ever that question applied to any situation, it applies to my Daddy.  But just as Dad had always been the best example of how to live a Christian life, he also is being a great example of humility dealing with this unplanned journey.

The first full day of rehab, when he was feeling so much better, I shared another moment alone with him.  His pastor, Toney, had visited Dad in the hospital and told him about the Easter Sunday sermon he was preparing.  In the course of his studies, Toney came across something he had not really noticed before and he asked Dad if he could explain it.  So sitting beside Dad on the edge of his borrowed bed, I got to look in his Bible with him and discuss the scripture.  Another moment I shall never forget.

We have people all over praying for Dad.  And I ask for the prayers of everyone reading this.  We are trusting that God is going to bring this journey’s end to a full restoration of Dad’s health.  And all along its way, we know we will continue to see God’s hand in every detail.