Miracles ARE REAL!

My past few weeks have filled me with lots of GRATITUDE. 

Two weeks ago LillyMae and a I drove to the chilly north as we hiked and winter camped in Wisconsin on a trip with some of my favorite people! Admittedly, waking up in 20°F weather is becoming less of a novelty however if it means hanging out with these two…I’m all in! In addition to laughing and learning with them, I got to see my long time friend Wendy & my nieces Stephanee and Sammie! I made a commitment to upping my game and hiking minimally 1 mile a day with the hopes of several multiple miles at a time on good days! 

Some ‘exciting-for-a-grandma’ news is that my beautiful granddaughter started walking, so I can’t wait to have her run into my arms in a couple weeks!!

Here in Ohio, I got to fully enjoy what will likely be the last snowfall of the season. Although it was only a scant 3”, it was beautiful and I went out for a hike to my bench and sang my favorite Brandon Lake song, Gratitude! I don’t think I’ll ever tire of hearing it! Then I was treated to seeing robins and hearing cardinals singing! I am so thankful to have a place close to my home where I can enjoy God’s beauty in nature!

And now thanks to the melting snow, there are flowing waterfalls where I can hike and sit while listening to the gentle bubble of tumbling snow melt cascading over some fossilized rocks! I had to take 2 days off of hiking as my left calf muscle cramped so spastically for a couple nights in a row that I could hardly walk without wincing. Yet, here I relaxed at this spot praising God!! I have today! More gratitude!

This past week, during my morning reading time I came across some Bible verses that touched me. I’ll share in hopes it’ll encourage you, too. LillyMae especially loved the second verse as we read together.

Now to continue with all things gratitude, I drove to Columbus, OH twice this week for tests and my infusion.  The drive was glorious! A vibrant sunrise displaying Elohim’s creative genius.

I had an echocardiogram on Tuesday & PET scan and infusion today. Waiting for Dr Johnson to give me a call with the results. 

And on this warmish Wednesday morning, John and I enjoyed each other’s company as I had yet another infusion. Yes…I did ring my Gratitude Bell both in coming and going and asked the receptionist if anyone ever rings it and she said that ’Yes’ they do!!! This makes me happy. The infusion was easy and now we head to the shop to keep working on the building of our WonderVan! 

JUST GOT THE CALL from my PET scan results! 

I can’t call everyone, so I thought I would make a quick recording that you all can watch to see my reaction once I got my call from Dr. Johnson! I am praising Jesus all the way! He is my healer! He is my miracle maker! God is so good… So, so, so good to me! I will receive it willingly, with every fiber of my being! Thank you Jesus for the gift of this miracle that I get to experience through your healing hands! 

Reflection, Gratitude & Excitement

It is February 2024, and I am beyond grateful to be approaching the two year mark of my diagnosis for metastatic breast cancer. It is hard to imagine that two years ago today I was fighting a chronic cough that I believed to be bronchitis stemming from having Covid. I never imagined that around the corner it was going to be a complete derailment of my life the way I knew and within weeks I would fall head long into an entirely New World! The thought never crossed my mind that my nagging cough was metastasized breast cancer cells filling in my lymph channels inside of my lungs as seen here from my 4/22 PET scan. Those lungs should be pitch black, not fluorescent green!

So much has changed in these two years, and I am truly grateful for all of it! Beautiful friendships, excellent medical care, the new worship in my heart, the creation of a Gratitude Bell (now hanging in my own treatment center at Stephanie Spielman Comprehensive Breast Cancer Center)

the unexpected retirement from dental hygiene, and the gift of time to be with my new granddaughter,

adult children, loving husband, and all my beautiful family and friends that have surrounded me… All of these things are my miracles… My million little miracles! 

This week I went back up to Columbus, Ohio, for my three week infusion. For the most part it was status quo, but there were a few slight changes to report. One is that my new insurance company denied paying for one of my drugs, Herceptin and required my oncologist, Dr. Johnson, to try a bioidentical drug and that I would have to fail two different bioidentical ones before allowing Herceptin again. As much as this concerns me, Dr. Johnson was not concerned at all and said this is par for the course when new and lesser expensive bioidentical drugs are available. He did give me the assurance that he would appeal the insurance company and try to have the Herceptin approved for next time. 

The second conversation the oncologist and I had was about the spot that was noted in my nuclear bone scan back in December 2023. I saw it on the actual imaging for the first time this week and honestly it was pretty concerning as it looked like a very bright spot right in the middle of my femur (this image isn’t very clear but it was more visible than what I imagined).

It did coordinate with the PET scan from 2022 but Dr  Johnson explained that it still could be a cancerous lesion. He suggested we get another PET scan as soon as possible to compare apples to apples so I am scheduled for February 20, 2024 to do that. This will indicate whether or not that spot is actually active cancer or if it is some kind of scar tissue from a previous trauma. If it is active cancer, he said that regardless of whether I have pain or not they can always treat it with radiation first and see if that helps. If it doesn’t slow it down, they will consider changing my medications altogether. Mentally, I’m not falling pray to fear, but rather trusting that God knows the plans He has for me, and they are to prosper and heal me and be Jesus’ hands and feet on earth while I am still here. That is my goal! No matter what the diagnosis… 

Other than that report, my days are quite routine. I wake up and read 1-2 chapters in scripture, do 15 minutes of gentle yoga, eat a nutritious breakfast and prepare my food for the day.  I still try and listen to a pod cast daily on the health and longevity benefits of a whole food plant based lifestyle!! 

John and I usually spend most of the day at his shop building working on our WonderVan! This week I’ve been sealing and sanding our spalted maple ceiling boards.

John has meticulously worked on the very detailed and intricate custom cabinets that soon will have a beautiful veneer on the cabinet door faces but here you can see the skeleton at least with the drop down shelf on the underside!

I’m looking especially forward to an unexpected winter hiking and camping trip coming up next week in Wisconsin with my mountain biking coach and friend, Brenda! And great news is that my hiking buddy LillyMae will hopefully be joining me!! We are both stoked! We hope to hike 5-10 miles a day! Oh…I have so, so much to be grateful for!