Luehrs Line --------------------: July Joy Dare

Tuesday, August 7, 2012

July Joy Dare

Join me in counting the gifts: July Joy Dare
541. A hug
542. A welcoming dog tail
543. Soft sheets on the bed
544. A.W. Tozer
545. Jesus Calling
546. Rooted in Good Soil
547. 1 year post cancer!
548. Time away - creating memories
549. Celebrated in the body of Christ
550. Necklace with USA stars
551. Whip cream
552. Blueberries in my pie
553. Memorizing scripture
554. Weed control
555. Taking vitamins
556. Winnie of the horse
557. Dog tails thumping on wood floor
558. Kids splashing in pool
559. Motherhood
560. Unresolved - pealing the layers off
561. Sunday School
562. Swimming lessons
563. Fun in the Son days at church
564. Pastor Jackie's homemade slip-n-slide
565. Ticking clock
566. (Rhyme)
567. (Reason)
568. Apologizing again
569. Opportunity for prayer
570. Grace abounds
571. Golden plum jam
572. Mom's canned cherries
573. Coins - saving for a rainy day
574. Second chances
575. Watching the garden mature
576. Aging parents
577. My hair curling & flipping out
578. The hem of my favorite jean skirt
579. Leaves about to open
580. Yellow Labrador Clancy
581. Golden yellow wheat fields
582. Butterflies in the garden
583. The original stone tablets - 10 commandments
584. Foundation of the house
585. Rock piles along fence lines
586. Ceiling fan
587. Basket of flowers
588. Branches of trees
589. Laugh at myself
590. When to ask for help
591. How to wait in the Lord
592. Borrowing my sisters guitar
593. Children singing
594. Christian radio
595. Pumpkin roll
596. Bread
597. Cake
598. Sun rays beaming through the front window blinds
599. Boys playing with flash lights
600.
601. Sharing kid stories
602. Mom teachable moments
603. Reading books
604. The air we breathe
605. Health
606. Friends
607. Bird nest in the tree
608. Humility on my knees
609. Mom
610. Remembering Hawaii sand
611. Tractors digging in the garden dirt
612. All sticky between my toes
613. VBS week
614. End of a long day
615. Last chapter of a book
616. Tomatoes off the vine
617. Blueberries
618. Paint
619. Rest
620. My bed
621. Quiet
622. This day
623. New habit
624. Serving
625. Watering the chickens
626. Dinner
627. Children praying
628. Podcast Jesus Culture
629. Phone call from an old friend
630. Speaking truth in love
631. Saying No
632. Keeping organized

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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 --------------------

Tuesday, August 7, 2012

July Joy Dare

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