Round Number Two (and the current update)

Today my mom and Tony left Thunder Bay to drive to Winnipeg to take on round number two of chemo. While the side effects from the first round were difficult, we are feeling confident that it was effective. Her speech is clearer (even on the telephone). Her neck appears smaller (the site of the tumor). She has not had the excruciating pain since finishing the first round and her saliva production seems to have improved. These are great signs that the drugs are doing their thing and that our Healer is restoring her body.

She is supposed to have her blood work done tomorrow to determine if she is healthy enough and if her body has healed enough since the beginning of January.  Please pray that this all comes back strong enough for the second round of chemo to happen. If it is high enough, she'll have six hours of chemo on Tuesday and then one hour appointments Wednesday through Friday.  Katherine is going to be at the house this coming weekend and I am leaving on Saturday morning to spend a few days in Thunder Bay to help in any and every way I can.

But tonight, the weather was bad enough on their drive out to Winnipeg, that they have decided to pull off for the night at Tammy & Morley's in Dryden. They will be heading out early tomorrow to finish the rest of the drive. They will have to get there in time for the blood work appointment, so pray they get out the door in time.

Thanks for praying and all the love we have received is so overwhelming at times.

Pastors of the Least

Earl and I have been supporting Discipleship Support Ministries before we were married. This ministry is near and dear to our hearts.  Recently I received an email from Paul and Marcia Cowley who lead the ministry on the front lines in the slums of Kibera in Nairobi, Kenya. I shared with them the story of Ignace, my mom's tumor, and asked them to pray.

Today I received an email back that not only were they praying, but they have added my mom, us and Ignace to the prayer list of the pastors they are equipping and training. The Pastors of the least are interceding on our behalf.

One word: humbled.

If you would like to learn more about this ministry and how you can support them through prayer and financially, please visit their website: http://www.disciplesupport.org/.

Running Setback

Last week we ran a total of 19 miles. It was great!! I had been having some nagging pains in my leg muscles, but once I started running they were fine. After our eight mile run on Saturday my legs were pretty sore and the pain got worse.  Come Monday morning's three mile run I was gritting my teeth the whole way just trying to finish.  I finished, but this morning I ran less than three miles and walked about two miles of the whole five miles we were supposed to do.  Tonight I am going to get a new pair of running shoes and I'll be icing my legs throughout the day.  Hopefully they will start to get better.  We are less than four weeks away from the half marathon and I would hate to have to stop now.  I was so disappointed today that I couldn't run more than I did.  I could frankly barely walk what I walked because of the pain.

Despite the pain, it was a BEAUTIFUL morning. I have seen the sunrise four mornings a week for the last 12 weeks. Today's was something extra special. The sky was various shades of pink, blue, purple, orange. Soft golden rays through the clouds. Absolutely magnificant! I wish I had my camera with me, but at least I have a mental memory!

Happy Birthday RSF!!

Today marks the birth of Reality San Francisco.

This is a picture of Dave & Ashley Lomas at the Bernal Heights overlooking the city of San Francisco.  Dave & Ashley will be leading the church.  We have known the Lomas's for at least 5 years and they are solid, caring, loving, FUN! people.

This is where the church will be meeting.

You can visit their website to learn more about Reality and the vision behind the churches. We both hold the Reality churches close to our hearts. I am hoping we can take a trip up to San Francisco to visit, but in the meantime we are praying for fruitful ministry and loving hearts and hands as the team sets out to make a difference in San Francisco.

Random Thoughts

This Friday my brain is feeling a bit random.  Lots to do, lots of thoughts, not a lot of time.

Work is starting to get busier. While we aren't officially in TAX SEASON, we are only about two weeks out. It's so strange to know that in two weeks I will start staying late, working weekends, coming in early, and cutting my lunch short. And it's normal. And I expect it. And strangely, I don't hate it. *shivers*

Tomorrow we are running eight miles with the OC Rescue Mission running club. At 6:30 am. Last week we did seven miles but we started at 7:30.  This week the residents/students decided it would be better to start at 6:30 and since only two of the four volunteers prefer the extra weekend hour of sleep, we got moved to 6:30am. Which means I am waking up at 5:30 tomorrow morning.

Earl and I are starting to think about how we want to celebrate our five year wedding anniversary. It's two months away (although we might not celebrate until after April 15th, but we may squeeze it in in February) and we have a few ideas floating around. Some of our thoughts were a Mexican cruise, staying at a B&B in Napa and see the Redwood forest, and a trip to Seattle. Feel free to leave some suggestions for a four day celebration.

My mom just finished up her first week of chemo. I'm waiting to hear how today went. They are going to be making their way back to Thunder Bay by way of a short stopover in Dryden. Praying for those drugs to bring about healing and kill all those cancer cells!!

Higher Ground

Being miles away from my family during this time is very difficult. Mommy started chemo yesterday and we were sure (based on them assuring us of it) she would not feel sick for a few days. Last night she started feeling nausea and other things. Of course, in trying to determine if it was indeed side effects from the chemo I type in "Chemo side effects" in google and get a list a mile long. Seriously.

Now, obviously, my mom won't feel all these side effects, but it is a bit daunting. And the doctors indicated they think she will be feeling better tomorrow. And Katherine has been amazing taking care of Mommy.

It's strange being so far away from her, the reality of the "chaos cancer brings," the doctors, the hospital, the chemo room. She is on my mind every moment, but sometimes it's tucked back a little bit because I've got work deadlines and scheduling on my mind too. And then there are moments when it's like a wave crashing on the shore and every emotion springs to my eyes as hot tears and I'm sitting at my desk at work grateful my back is facing everyone and they can't see me blink away the tears. They don't see my body tense as I try to "hold it together" at work. When I get in my car at the end of the day and I drive through the tears home and into Earl's arms. When the tsunami of emotions hit and my heart is overwhelmed I cling to the Rock that is higher than I. I go to higher ground. I lift up my eyes to the hills for I know where my help comes from.

Christmas Memories

Katherine said on my last post that it was the best Christmas ever. It was pretty spectacular.

We enjoyed all kinds of snow activities from sledding to snowball fights, to building igloos and snowmobiling. We took walks in the beautiful snow at night, reveling in the newness of the snow. How the snow falls down and coats the old, gray and dirty snow with a fresh layer or white, dazzling perfection. We considered how rich God is that he covers the world with diamonds as the snow glittered in the street lights.

We also dealt with pain. My mom received an industrial juicer from her kids for Christmas and we began her juice regimen which brought about detox pain. Christmas night and boxing day were painful for me to watch her suffer through the detox pain. The pain has lessened, but it is still there to a point.

I left my camera card behind by accident, but I do have some Flip videos which I will post after finishing them up. Until then, here is a short, quick video I created from the first couple days of the Christmas trip. Quite a few people aren't represented in this video so this is just a taste!

Christmas 2009 from Melinda Mergelsberg on Vimeo.