Rough Weekend

"Cast your burdens upon the Lord, and He will sustain you; He will never allow the righteous to be shaken." Psalm 55:22

How quickly life can change when dealing with cancer. Thus my oldest daughter Leah, had all of us girls to her house for a 'girls night out'. She lives in the Gonzaga U area of Spokane WA. She attends E Washington U. She has a cute old house sharing it with 3 other girls that go to Gonzaga. Well we had a big dinner, made cookies and then watched a 'girlie movie'. That was the start of my rough nights. I didn't sleep well that night, getting up every 3 hours to take pain meds. And I was not drinking enough fluids because on Friday while I was at the Cancer Center getting my regular treatments, I started experiencing the dry heaves (no fun) which usually means dehydrated. So after 2 liters of solution and several hours, Doug took me home and I felt much better. By Saturday, I was having some difficulty breathing with some chest discomfort. I got winded and tired more easily. Now on Wednesday, my chest x-rays looked good (no difference over the last 2 chest x-rays). So we were not sure what was going on. So Doug and I farmed out the young girls and took it easy getting love letters and cook books together for the kids. Spent some time in the hot tub. Took it easy, Doug was my slave. Come Sunday, no change but contacted the Hospice nurse who advised taking meds and taking it easy until Monday morning when our primary nurse could check on Susan and have more direct contact with Doctors and the hospital. So more to come on this one. Went to a Seder Dinner on Sunday evening at Friends Church put on by the Jews for Jesus international ministry. Was blessed by the dinner and discussions, along with seeing good friends.
Thank you to all of you Prayer Warriors and those that give to our family. You are a blessing.
"One thing I have asked from the Lord, that I shall seek; That I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, To behold the beauty of the Lord." Psalm 27:4

Pain in the Neck

Thanks to all your prayers, the game plan is working. I have not felt this comfortable and pain released in weeks. We are taking small doses now more frequently but the plan is to get bigger doseages over more extended periods of time. My oncologist, Dr. Tezcan suspects that the pain in my shoulder that is the most intense, is probably from a pinched nerve(s) in my neck from possibly a tumor. Within a couple of weeks, we will perform an MRI on the suspected area and determine whether it is tumor related or not. Also will be seeing a nerve specialist who will be putting in a pain block around the suspected pinched nerve area to deaden the pain for a longer period of time. Pray that the MRI will clearly show the cause of pain in my shoulder and a clear direction for the nerve specialist to perform his work. I had a wonderful visit with my brother Rory over the weekend. Celebrated Mary's birthday on the 4th. We had most everone there for her party. Mary is now 12 years old and turning into a pretty, young lady. These have been special moments for me.
" We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed and broken.. But God never abandons us. We get knocked down, but we get up again and keep going."
2 Corinthians 4:8-9
It is because of your prayers and support, and of course God's Grace, that we get up again and keep going. Thanks.

New Week

"But I will sing of Your strength, in the morning I will sing of Your love; for you are my fortress, my refuge in times of trouble." Psalm 59:16

Since Doug was in San Diego over the weekend for his Naval Reserve Duty, I had my younger brother Rory come over from Seattle to help me out and mostly to visit. I so appreciated his help and moral support. He even brought over some fresh crab that was so yummy. My pain has been very tough for me to handle. Wanted to get checked into hospital on Saturday night to try and get some relief, and get some control over it. Well, God's plans of course are better, sooo I got through the night and Sunday at 9am a wonderful hospice nurse came over to the house. She checked me out and we got a new game plan started. I love game plans (especially when they work). Right now I am too drugged up and need to keep tweaking the pain medicine. But we will continue to adjust and adapt so I can continue with day to day living for our Lord. Pray that my focus is on our Lord and less on my pains. Love you all. Doug got back and it's wonderful to have him back.

More Birthday pictures!!

"Let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of Praise." Hebrews 13:15

Susan's present from Hannah: A trip to the local
SPA for a pedicure, her very first in her life.
Susan's luncheon at the local Mexican Restaurant; Nice Hat!
Lunch with the girls; Michelle, Leah, Sarah, Hannah, Susan (Laura took the picture)

Looks like Hannah's camera needs a Date stamp change!

"My Grace is sufficient for you." 2 Corinthians 12:9

Happy 50th Susan!!

A Special Birthday Visit: Wild Hatters
singing some hymms and fun birthday songs


The Family surrounds Dear Susan

MOPS Reunion

Sunday afternoon I got the joy of reuniting with 26 wonderful ladies who have served on the MOPS (Mothers of Preschoolers) steering committee for the last 15 or so years. I was involved with MOPS since 1995. What a blessed time for me as the ladies went around and shared from their hearts. I loved hearing how the Lord is working in their lives. These reunions I've been having lately are just a foretaste of the glorious reunions I'll soon have in Heaven.
We celebrated Sarah's 20th birthday on Feb 23rd. She had a very nice day meeting up with different friends for coffee, lunch, movie etc. My pain keeps being the issue. We have increased the patch to 100 and trying hard to stay on top of the pain, pain management as we call it. When I do that though, the pain meds make me so sleepy. I need to compromise here on relaxing more so I have a better level of pain. It all works out as I surrender and accept new limits with this all. As I trust in Jesus, He so gently takes me through this journey. Of course there is always a few tears along the way from me. It has truly been a sweet experience, but it has been hard. Love to you all, God Bless!

Back Home Again

The Team; Our Sleigh Ride
Well we made it back from Leavenworth. All went very well, praise be to God! We had the pleasure of staying with Dennis, Jan, Jesse, Jade Jaspers. What a sweet family. Saturday night we had Schweine Schnitzel, listened to German polka music, sang and danced to the Chicken song at a German restaurant in Leavenworth. Sunday we went on a wonderful sleigh ride, went snowshoeing and did some shopping in Leavenworth. Was beautiful sunny blue skies throughout. They had alittle less snow then we do here. Praise God I felt good through the whole trip.
Came home on Monday afternoon and been having a hard time. Struggling with pain and feeling just not good. It's been a good few days of learning to abide in the bad moments also embracing it all and still rejoicing. My devotion of Feb 9th blog is such a God send by keeping my focus on the moment. I'll ask the nurse this week about increasing the pain patch again. Pray that I'll get going on my love letters to each child and their cook books that will also have lots of little treasures and gems about each child and pictures of us together. I have alot of ladies who want to help so I got to get going.

"This I recall to my mind, therefore I have hope. It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed, because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning: great is Thy faithfulness."
Lamentations 3:21-23