Amazing Grace..... another Miracle !

The Lord has done great things for us, and we are filled with joy! Psalm 162:3 Another incredible day in the journey...one that went from wrestling with fear and clinging to our hope in God to the overwhelming joy of celebrating the miracle of a clean MRI. It was an incredibly long day of waiting ... the 10:00 MRI finally happened around 11:00. We finished that about 1:30 and then headed to the clinic where with traffic and the inevitable hospital time pushed that appointment to 3:00. On the way to the clinic Kate shared that she had a perfect peace while in the MRI tube - a definite answer to a specific request. We did blood work and check up with the nurse practitioner while waiting for the doctor. Finally, our long day of waiting came to an end around 4:00 when Kate's oncologist came into the room and shared the words we had all been praying for... "the scan is clear, it looks great!" Words simply cannot express the magnitude of joy and relief that filled our hearts. "God has surely listened and heard our voices in prayer. Praise be to God, who has not rejected our prayers or withheld his love from us!" Psalm 66:19&20

We spent the next hour discussing the headaches, nausea and extreme fatigue that Kate is experiencing. Kate's oncologist shared that by the appearance of Kate's bone marrow in her spine visible on the MRI, that it was very evident that it has been hit hard and depleted by all the treatment she has been through. It will take quite a while for her bone marrow to recover. Because of the depleted bone marrow, her blood counts continue to hover at lower levels which of course directly impact how she is feeling. It will still be some time before she is feeling truly well. Kate's doctor feels the low sodium is a response of the brain to the influences of the radiation. We will continue to monitor Kate's sodium levels and she will remain on her salt tablets until this stabilizes. We were all relieved and thankful that there was no tumor related cause for Kate's headaches. It seems that they must be muscular/skeletal in nature. We will combine medical massage and chiropractic medicine to address this issue. We have made some adjustments to Kate's meds in hopes that will help Kate's nausea. Dr. Jakacki also talked with us about the impact of Kate's radiation and high dose chemotherapy on Kate's cognitive and processing skills. The challenges that Kate is experiencing in these areas are very understandable given all that her body and brain have been through. Right now Kate is definitely battling the acute side effects of her treatment - harsh to her body and brain. Please pray with us that this will improve with time as her body and brain heal and that the long term impact on her cognitive abilities will be minimal. Dr. Jakacki indicated that some modifications are necessary in order to accommodate these changes in processing skills. She insisted that Kate can have no time restraints on her tests. She also highly encouraged us to delay Kate taking any sort of placement or proficiency tests during this time that she is recovering. She said she will only experience frustration and become discouraged when she can't perform academically like before. She strongly discouraged Kate taking the SAT's in October and encouraged us to wait several months at least until Kate begins truly feeling better and stronger. We will continue using medication to increase Kate's energy, but have also with the help of the high school's very understanding administration made some adjustments in Kate's daily class schedule to allow some extra rest and reduce the wear and tear of hikes from one end of the building to the other. How grateful we are for the support and encouragement Kate has received from her teachers and the administration.

After receiving the ultimate gift of God's grace and mercy with the clean MRI scan, our hearts were so full we didn't think life could be any better. But God had another very unexpected gift in store for Kate. Kate came home from school on Friday afternoon with the special news that she had been selected for home coming court.
She was so surprised and touched that her friends and classmates would honor her in this way. She has said over and over this weekend what an encouragement this has been to her heart. Thank you God for still another unexpected blessing!

Personal reflections....
As I sat beside Kate during the long MRI, I read the Psalms in an attempt to keep my mind focused as I wavered back and forth between fear and peace. In so many of the Psalms David cried out in fear or distress to God. Time and time again, God's hand was at work in David's life and David's cry for God's help would soon be followed by songs of praise. We too have time and time again felt the hand of God at work in our lives, and in Kate's journey with cancer. We too can proclaim with David the words of Psalm 77:14 "You are the God who performs miracles; you display your power among the peoples."

In the two days leading up to Kate's MRI, as I prayed and prayed, the doubts and fears would attempt to take hold of my heart. In our human weakness our faith often falters and fails. I found myself praying the words of Mark 9:24..."Lord, I believe, help me in my unbelief." I was encouraged the day after Kate's MRI to read in a book that I'm reading...that God hears these words as a cry for more faith - a plea to conquer all unbelief, all lack of trust. That cry heard. That prayer answered. More faith, and at the same time more power to see where trust is lacking.

God heard our voices and our cry for mercy. We can say... "Be at rest once more, O my soul, for the Lord has been good to you." Psalm 116:7 How can we ever thank you for standing beside us in prayer and rejoicing and celebrating with us God's faithfulness?!

Amazed by grace,
Elaine