Luehrs Line --------------------: March Joy Dare

Wednesday, April 4, 2012

March Joy Dare

Join me in counting gifts: March Joy Dare by Ann Voskamp

Updated my list here for the blog -- enjoy reading my blessings found everyday!

176. Waiting for the bus
177. Cookies in the oven
178. Cat nap
179. Alfalfa hay
180. Blanket
181. Apron
182. Old jeans
183. Bleach stained hoodie
184. Flannel PJ's
185. CANCER
186. The road to recovery
187. Depression - only place to look is up!
188. Mending fences
189. Daniel saving a new calf
190. Cats curled up in straw
191. Cattle panels
192. Mail lady honking horn - special delivery!
193. Orchid in bloom
194. Blender
195. FOOD
196. Pretty dishes
197. Dustin
198. Wind
199. Barking dogs
200. Leather saddle
201. Time carved out in a busy day to spend with Abba
202. Huge prayers answered
203. Living Water
204. True Vine
205. My shield
206. Ann's blog
207. Note from a friend
208. Be joyful always (1 Thessalonians 5:16)
209. Smells
210. Quenches
211. Snow
212. Kong ball
213. Bouncy ball
214. Gum ball
215. Peace
216. Birds - the Killdeer's are back!
217. By myself
218. Hugs & kisses
219. Copy of Ann's book
220. Banana bread
221. Apologizing
222. Choosing to obey God
223. Letting go & letting God
224. Waffles
225. Hand written note
226. Family photo - framed and on the wall (finally!)
227. Tooth fairy pillow
228. Chipped toe-nail polish
229. Heart shaped candy sucker
230. Mango
231. Spinach pasta
232. Beef - homegrown
233. Sunshine
234. Dustin whistling away
235. Playing games
236. Pretzels
237. Dark Chocolate
238. Noodles
239. My treasure
240. My Reedemer
241. My Peace
242. Friendship
243. Integrity
244. Example of godliness
245. Her respect motivates his love
246. Get off the crazy cycle
247. I'm sorry
248. Amazing grace how sweet the sound
249. What you say flows from what is in your heart (Luke 6:45)
250. Bathroom walls
251. Coconut oil
252. Secret chocolate stash
253. Kindling stack
254. A friendship
255. Marriage - always & forever
256. Health
257. Buds on apricot tree
258. A kiss
259. Tax return
260. With God all things are possible
261. Be strong & courageous
262. And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.
263. Hyacinth's under leaves
264. Mail
265. Favorite earrings
266. Laughter
267. A baby
268. No more cancer EVER!

1 comment:

shmilyluehrsApril 9, 2012 at 9:37 AM
#268 is my favorite :)
ReplyDelete
Replies

Add comment

Please leave a comment! Say what you mean, mean what you say, but don't say it mean!

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)

My Cancer Story

Many have asked me how long have you been sick? When did this all begin? Tough questions even for me to answer...all I can say at this point is I finally found some Doctors who listened to all my symptoms and did something about it. Late in April 2011 I went to see a family practitioner who sent me to a GI specialist for a colonoscopy. This resulted in a diagnosis on May 13th, 2011 of cancer in the colon. The extent was unknown at that point in time. I had to wait until Monday May 16th, 2011 for a CT scan. Then wait till Tuesday for an appointment with the surgeon, who would later remove the colon. I was informed of the biopsy results: adenocarcinoma. The CT did not show any signs of the cancer spreading to other organs (praise the Lord). In fact the CT did not even show the tumor. It was estimated by the GI Doctor to be the size of a golf ball. So surgery was scheduled for May 31st, 2011. Surgery was successful. They removed about a foot of the sigmoid colon and 20 lympnodes. I had to wait again for lab results. On June 2nd, 2011 I was told about the lab results. The tumor had evaded through the colon wall. Two out of the twenty lymph nodes tested positive for cancer. This elevated the stage of my cancer to 3 B. This is when I knew chemotherapy would be necessary. Recovery from surgery went well. GI functions are returning on their own and pain was easily controlled. I had my first appointment with the oncology team at MSTI (Twin Falls) on Friday June 17th, 2011.

I started chemotherapy on July 13th. The plan was set to give every two weeks for infusion treatments of poison. Sounds great on paper. The reality is this: chemo drugs deplete the body of healthy cells as well as potential rouge cancer cells. Keeping this schedule of every two weeks has proven to be difficult. On my off weeks I get my blood levels checked. This is to determine if it is "safe" enough for me to get chemo again. Safe...uh...it's poison right? Anyway chemo treatments have come and gone now, twelve in all. I finished up with my last round on January 27th.

On January 29th 2012 I had a CT scan. My oncology doctor said everything looked fine. No cancer detected. Doing the party dance! I am officially on the other side of living cancer free. I am celebrating in many ways. This has been the hardest thing in my life to do. Not to mention to try to balance so called "normal" life at home on the farm.

As far as the future goes with my health I have a few more doctor appointments scheduled. I will have another colonoscpy in May. For now, it is just watch and monitor my blood work and pray cancer doesn't return. Prognosis is good and I am believing and trusting in a mighty God. He is faithful!

Fast forward seven years -- 2018! Still cancer free! After many lab tests, blood work and CT scans so far no cancer detected. Miracles still happen everyone!

Favorite Quotes

Keep your face to the sunshine and you cannot see the shadow. It's what sunflowers do. Helen Keller

"Every good work should be a revelation of the glory of God. What makes the good deed an act of love is not the raw act, but the passion and the sacrifice to make God himself known as glorious. Not to aim to show God is not to love, because God is what we need most deeply. And to have all else without him is to perish in the end. The Bible says that you can give away all that you have and deliver your body to be burned and have not love (1 Corinthians 13:3). If you don't point people to God for everlasting joy, you don't love. You waste your life." John Piper ---Don't Waste Your Life

"Surrender is the key that unlocks the vault of God's best and deepest treasures." Charles Swindoll

"You can't move people to action unless you first move them with emotion. The heart comes before the head." John Maxwell

Spiritual growth is a conundrum. The key to spiritual growth is developing healthy and holy routines called spiritual disciplines. But once routine becomes routine we need to change the routine. Why? Because sacred routines become empty rituals if we do them out of left-brain memory instead of right-brain imagination. When we learn how and forget why we start going through the motions spiritually. Mark Batterson

Serenity Prayer

God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference. Living one day at a time, enjoying one moment at a time; accepting hardship as a pathway to peace; taking as Jesus did, this sinful world as it is, not as I would have; trusting that You will make all things right if I surrender to Your will; so that I may be reasonably happy in this life and supremely happy with you forever in the next. --Reinhold Niebuhr

Luehrs Line --------------------

Wednesday, April 4, 2012

March Joy Dare

1 comment:

It's About Time

Prayer Requests

Praise Reports