Three times a day

Do you really believe He created us?
Do you really believe He parted a sea for His people?
Was He the muscle behind the little boy who defeated the giant?
Was He the fourth man loose in the fire?
Did he shut those lions' mouths?

King Darius sure was convinced. Shortly after the event took place, he wrote to all his people:

"I issue a decree that in every part of my kingdom people must fear and reverence the God of Daniel. For he is the living God and he endures forever; his kingdom will not be destroyed, his dominion will never end. He rescues and he saves; he performs signs and wonders in the heavens and on the earth. He has rescued Daniel from the power of the lions."

Since I last communicated with you, the ride sure has been bumpy. As most of you know by now, we made it home from the unfortunate pupil incident without too much drama. I was released from the hospital on Friday and have been resting at home since. The source of my increased mouth pain, my fatigue, and my not-so-normal blood work remained a mystery as we were not offered definitive answers at the time of discharge.

Today, things became a bit clearer. We saw my radiation oncologist who believes that there is resistant tumor on my tongue and probably in my neck. This, at the very least, explains my increased pain. He had spoken with the orthopedic oncologist, and they agree that radiating my right hip, which had been the plan, is no longer in my best interest. Since the orthopedist is certain he removed all the tumor that is there currently, both of them consider it better to proceed with attacking the resistant tumor in my oral cavity and neck along with my lungs (it was mentioned in an earlier post that I have about 10 small nodules in both right and left) first. The hip is not an imminent threat now, but the tongue, neck, and lungs are.

The plan is for me to see my oncologist, Dr. Gilbert, on Wednesday. She has already discussed possible trial therapies. Nothing she has to offer me is considered curative, but she believes we can add to the length and quality of my life possibly. We will further discuss these trial therapies along with a plan for moving forward on Wednesday.

Some of you might expect me to go quietly at this point, which is really one of the main reasons I write tonight. Why is it hard to believe that God can heal me from extremely aggressive cancer when we have no doubt that the same God created this universe? Like my sister said, "God is still so much bigger than all of this!"

I love all of you. Keep praying and believing. It is not naive - it is a chance to interact personally with the one true, living God.

Three times a day he got down on his knees and prayed, giving thanks to his God, just as he had done before. -Daniel 6:10

Thank you for getting on your knees for me.