This past week as I refereed a volleyball game between Pius X and St Vincent I looked at my arms and realized if anyone else saw what I saw they would think I am a drug addict thanks to all the needle marks there. I shook my head at the little dark marks and called for another serve. And thus begins a column I had hoped to never write.
Over the past couple weeks I've had numerous needles stuck in me to draw blood or add contrast for MRIs. They're the result of the discovery of another lump in my neck. I've had two of those in the past, both resulting in surgery, both cancerous. Now I have a third bump and yesterday a biopsy was taken so we can learn what I am dealing with this time. Results are due sometime next week.
So, as I write this I don't know much more than what I've just told you- Sherri and I are playing the waiting game. What I do know is this- I have amazing world-class doctors (who people come from all over the country to see) who did a great job removing and treating my most recent cancer episode to get me healthy again. If anyone can heal me, these men can. In addition I have a fantastic team of nurses who Sherri and I have come to know personally to help me get through long chemo treatments.
I also have as most of you know, an amazingly supportive and loving family. In a world where families move thousands of miles apart in distance, love, and care for one another, God has blessed me with one of the closest most loving families He ever created. And as if having one family like this wasn't enough, God blessed me with another just like my own when I married Sherri. So I have two families for which I could never find the words to adequately describe their love and support.
And now let me tell you about someone else I have- God's special gift to me- His wonderful blessing of a Biblical wife, a woman who loves me without condition with the exact kind of amazing love God intended a wife to have- a love I could never hope to match. She will be there with me every step of the way asking hard questions of the doctors, providing support for me whenever I need it and always ready to find those foods which still taste half-way decent to a chemo patient (no small task let me tell you!). All that plus she has an advanced degree in the foreign language of hospital statements and bills!
I think you already know my most important support person (He's yours as well in case you didn't know) - my God, the one and only God, who created the entire universe, is eternally powerful and above all, who knows me, little me by name and loves me more than I could ever understand or even describe in this paragraph (or a thousand books). I know He has a plan for me and my family, a plan for my good and so as I begin a new health adventure, I do so in His love and care, I do so with a joy and confidence in believing.
So, I begin a new journey this week- hopefully a short health adventure with a quick return to health and an 'all clear' prognosis. But no matter the result of this biopsy and the path He has chosen for me, I'll keep you informed through this blog and covet and be thankful for your prayers. For you should know I appreciate and love each one of you as well- you are another gift from God for me. I leave you with some words of comfort from a favorite hymn 'How Firm a Foundation' (and Isaiah 41:0) that bring a smile to my face even as I write to you from these uncertain times:
Fear not, I am with thee, O be not dismayed,
For I am thy God and will still give thee aid;
I'll strengthen and help thee, and cause thee to stand
Upheld by My righteous, omnipotent hand.
When through fiery trials thy pathway shall lie,
My grace, all sufficient, shall be thy supply;
The flame shall not hurt thee; I only design
Thy dross to consume, and thy gold to refine.
The soul that on Jesus hath leaned for repose,
I will not, I will not desert to his foes;
That soul, though all hell should endeavor to shake,
I'll never, no, never, no, never forsake!
To these words I say Amen and Amen!
Blest Regards,
kp
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