God Happenings
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First let me just say....ONE DOWN, THREE TO GO!!! I am 25% done! A 1/4 of the way through! Yahoo!
Yesterday was the big day...my first round of chemo. Joann went with me and we spent 5 hours at the hospital. I'm so thankful for my sister. I know being there wasn't easy for her after we watched my mom go through this just 9 years ago. But she was a great comfort to me and we were even able to enjoy our time together inspite of the stinking reason we were there. We looked at each other at one point and just said, "We should not be here." In fact, there were many times that I thought to myself, "This cannot be happening. I should just get up, walk out and forget about the whole thing." Immediately thoughts of my 3 precious kids would come to mind and I'd think, "I have to stay."
The first God Happening that took place was at 6:00am when I got up after tossing and turning since 5:00am. I grabbed my Bible and the devotional book given to me by Shirley L. The scripture for the day was totally from the Lord. Joshua 1:9 says, "Be strong and courageous in the Lord. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go." I'll just be sappy and say that when I read it, I cried. "Terrified" would describe just how I was feeling. "Strong and courageous" certainly would not. But, God began "injecting" me (seems like a good term at the moment) with the strength and courage I needed and I could feel His presence throughout the day. When it was time for the first "cocktail" of chemo drugs, I was quite afraid. They give you the rundown of all the awful things that could happen...just what you need to hear before they stick 'em to ya. I could feel myself becoming really anxious and then God reminded me of His words to me that morning....Be strong and courageous. I kept repeating that to myself and the calmness and peace of God flowed over me.
The other very cool God Happening began when I arrived in the waiting room. My surgery friend, Bethany, was there for her oncology appointment at the same time as me. It was so good to see her. She had already been through one round of chemo 2 weeks ago and looked great. The next God Happening was that when it was time for me to go to the "infusion" room (the cocktail room as I like to call it), I was assigned the seat right next to Bethany! Ok, that is just a miracle from God. There are 15 chairs in this room, and there is more than one room, and we were assigned our chairs a month ago at our first oncology appointments by 2 different oncology doctors. It was such a comfort to be there with Joann, Bethany and her mom. We talked and even laughed. Bethany is so strong and always looks at the positive side of life....I really like that about her. My nurse was curious about how we knew each other and when we told her the story she said, "Oh my goodness, that was from God." Then she called her nurse friend over and told her she had to come and hear our story.
The 4th God Happening is the fact that when I was all finished (the actual infusion takes about 1 1/2 hours), I walked out feeling just fine. Joann drove me home and I felt fine all the way. (They gave me 5 different pills to take before the chemo to help prevent nausea.) As the day wore on I felt pretty good and could handle waves of queeziness by keeping a bit of food on my stomach. Our great neighbors, the Withrows, brought a wonderful meal which was such a huge help for me and the pasta/chicken dish was perfect for my required high carb/high protein diet. Later when the queezienss kept coming I called my parents because my mom, Ena, is the queen of herbal teas. She had just the remedy and sent it over with Dad who was glad for the chance to hop on his motorcycle.
The night was more difficult because the drugs I take for nausea also make it hard to sleep. I was awake every hour all night, but that will only last a few days while I'm on the anti-nausea drugs.
Well, that was a long-winded blog, but many of you ask for details so there they are! I could feel your prayers all day long and I know that those prayers of petition by you; my family, friends, and church family are being embraced by our Heavenly Father and He is faithfully answering hour by hour.
With joy and victory,
Janice
PS Some of you are wondering about the future of my hair. I will lose it. In fact my oncologist said yesterday, that when I come back in 2 weeks my hair will look just like it does now, but 2 days later it will begin coming out in clumps. Oh boy, am I ever looking forward to that. I have purchased a wig...it looks ridiculous to me. It's as poofy as a sheep at shearing time. But the beautician will cut it and thin it down to resemble my own hair. My guess is I won't like it and will wear bandanas/scarves/hats most of the time. But, this too shall pass. :-)
First let me just say....ONE DOWN, THREE TO GO!!! I am 25% done! A 1/4 of the way through! Yahoo!
Yesterday was the big day...my first round of chemo. Joann went with me and we spent 5 hours at the hospital. I'm so thankful for my sister. I know being there wasn't easy for her after we watched my mom go through this just 9 years ago. But she was a great comfort to me and we were even able to enjoy our time together inspite of the stinking reason we were there. We looked at each other at one point and just said, "We should not be here." In fact, there were many times that I thought to myself, "This cannot be happening. I should just get up, walk out and forget about the whole thing." Immediately thoughts of my 3 precious kids would come to mind and I'd think, "I have to stay."
The first God Happening that took place was at 6:00am when I got up after tossing and turning since 5:00am. I grabbed my Bible and the devotional book given to me by Shirley L. The scripture for the day was totally from the Lord. Joshua 1:9 says, "Be strong and courageous in the Lord. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go." I'll just be sappy and say that when I read it, I cried. "Terrified" would describe just how I was feeling. "Strong and courageous" certainly would not. But, God began "injecting" me (seems like a good term at the moment) with the strength and courage I needed and I could feel His presence throughout the day. When it was time for the first "cocktail" of chemo drugs, I was quite afraid. They give you the rundown of all the awful things that could happen...just what you need to hear before they stick 'em to ya. I could feel myself becoming really anxious and then God reminded me of His words to me that morning....Be strong and courageous. I kept repeating that to myself and the calmness and peace of God flowed over me.
The other very cool God Happening began when I arrived in the waiting room. My surgery friend, Bethany, was there for her oncology appointment at the same time as me. It was so good to see her. She had already been through one round of chemo 2 weeks ago and looked great. The next God Happening was that when it was time for me to go to the "infusion" room (the cocktail room as I like to call it), I was assigned the seat right next to Bethany! Ok, that is just a miracle from God. There are 15 chairs in this room, and there is more than one room, and we were assigned our chairs a month ago at our first oncology appointments by 2 different oncology doctors. It was such a comfort to be there with Joann, Bethany and her mom. We talked and even laughed. Bethany is so strong and always looks at the positive side of life....I really like that about her. My nurse was curious about how we knew each other and when we told her the story she said, "Oh my goodness, that was from God." Then she called her nurse friend over and told her she had to come and hear our story.
The 4th God Happening is the fact that when I was all finished (the actual infusion takes about 1 1/2 hours), I walked out feeling just fine. Joann drove me home and I felt fine all the way. (They gave me 5 different pills to take before the chemo to help prevent nausea.) As the day wore on I felt pretty good and could handle waves of queeziness by keeping a bit of food on my stomach. Our great neighbors, the Withrows, brought a wonderful meal which was such a huge help for me and the pasta/chicken dish was perfect for my required high carb/high protein diet. Later when the queezienss kept coming I called my parents because my mom, Ena, is the queen of herbal teas. She had just the remedy and sent it over with Dad who was glad for the chance to hop on his motorcycle.
The night was more difficult because the drugs I take for nausea also make it hard to sleep. I was awake every hour all night, but that will only last a few days while I'm on the anti-nausea drugs.
Well, that was a long-winded blog, but many of you ask for details so there they are! I could feel your prayers all day long and I know that those prayers of petition by you; my family, friends, and church family are being embraced by our Heavenly Father and He is faithfully answering hour by hour.
With joy and victory,
Janice
PS Some of you are wondering about the future of my hair. I will lose it. In fact my oncologist said yesterday, that when I come back in 2 weeks my hair will look just like it does now, but 2 days later it will begin coming out in clumps. Oh boy, am I ever looking forward to that. I have purchased a wig...it looks ridiculous to me. It's as poofy as a sheep at shearing time. But the beautician will cut it and thin it down to resemble my own hair. My guess is I won't like it and will wear bandanas/scarves/hats most of the time. But, this too shall pass. :-)
posted by Janice @ 6:42 AM
5 Comments:
At Fri Aug 04, 09:57:00 PM,
Anonymous said…
Janice, I finally came back from up north this week. Please know that I've been praying for you, and you were especially in my thoughts and prayers yesterday during your first treatment. I've been wondering how it went but didn't know if I should call you and "bug" you about it yet, so I really appreciated reading your update tonight. Isn't it totally awesome to have His word to get you through tough experiences, and to experience the power of prayer like you did yesterday! I hope you will find it reassuring to know that your are being "prayed" through your chemo treatments by so many Christian brothers and sisters.
Love, your B.B. (Julie)
PS That is so COOL that God arranged for you and Bethany to meet again yesterday! I've been praying for her, too.
At Sat Aug 05, 07:25:00 AM,
Anonymous said…
Janice,
You are one strong and courageous woman of God! I continue to breathe prayers for you. I will be gone this next week, but you are on my heart.
Deb V.
At Sat Aug 05, 07:31:00 PM,
Anonymous said…
This is the third time I have tired to make this work, but here goes again. Thanks for the great testamony to the grace of God. I am so very proud of you and what you and God are accomplishing together. God bless you and all who are praying for you. We really do love you and appreciate your life. Your family is proud of you.
dad
At Mon Aug 07, 03:49:00 PM,
Anonymous said…
Miss Janice,
You crazy woman. What an encouragement you are to others! Did you now that? You are in prayers and we are claiming the victory for you. Why don't you have your wig cut in something outlandish...say a mohawk!?
Blessings Carla K.
At Wed Aug 09, 08:43:00 AM,
Anonymous said…
Our thoughts have been with you and it is so good to hear that your first treatment is now history. The unknown is the most difficult part of the battle. The second most difficult is the waiting. But remember that you are not alone in your journey. Keep looking for God in the big and the little details of your life - He is working through others to touch you and remind you of His presence, love and comfort.
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