Recovery Road

The morning after my surgery, I woke up super early and used that time to thank Jesus for holding me in the palm of his hand during this battle with breast cancer.

Throughout these last 7 months of being diagnosed with breast cancer, tons of appointments, 16 rounds of chemo, surgery preparation, and more, He has done just that...

Fought for me,

and paved the path to victory.

I love reading the devotions at Proverbs31.org and this one particular entry was just what I needed to read during this time in my life. A young guy was sharing his testimony about how angry he was with God when his life started to fall apart. He shared the bible story about time the Israelites were free to leave Egypt. When they got to the Red Sea, they began to feel that their journey ahead was impossible, and as they looked back, Pharoah and his army was chasing them and very upset about setting them free. So there they were, trapped. And then they said very ugly words to Moses and he responded back with this...”The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to be silent.” The sea opened up and the people of Israel were commanded to walk quietly.

So when reading these words, I couldn’t help but think about those trapped feelings. We’ve all been on a road with tough circumstances. I can honestly say that I’ve felt His presence, walking beside me, before me, and behind me during this journey. When I’ve felt trapped or scared, I lean on Him. I make myself BE still and quiet. He wants us to trust him and He has the power to calm my heart each time. He didn’t bring me this far to walk away from me.

The morning after surgery, Doctor Millican, my surgeon, came the room to check on me. After asking how I felt and if I was ready to go home, (I could’ve hugged his neck at this question) he began the discharge paperwork. I was wheeled out of the hospital before lunch and was in that building less than 28 hours. Is that not absolutely unbelievable? We had our bags packed and real clothes on when the discharge nurse came in the room to go over the rules before sending me on my way. The sweetest nurse wheeled me out, careful of every bump we hit. And as I told the staff goodbye, the best feeling came over me as I know that God truly called them into the nursing profession, to take the best care of others.

I feel blessed that I was one of their patients.

The plan was to come home to my parents’ house for a couple of days while I recovered. They insisted that I stay with them for awhile until I regained all of my strength. My mom is still picking Jett up in the afternoons, and J comes straight here to eat supper. He then takes Jett back to our house for tubby time and bed, and then my sweet mother-in-love, takes Jett to school since J has to be at work super early. The plan has just worked out so nicely and that’s God again. Like a puzzle, He’s made the pieces fit together perfectly so that all can help during this time of need. Even little Jett helps and loves on me, gentle as a lamb.

The pain has been well managed with good meds. My mom has been my number 1 nurse, making sure that I take them at just the right time. Since J went back to work this week, she’s fixed my plate, helped with baths, talked to me when I couldn’t sleep, fixed pillows just so, and more. I’ve been a little edgy but she’s just as calm and sweet as she’s ever been, although I know she’d probably like to give me a spanking at times.

J was wonderful while in the hospital and after coming home too. He was totally in charge of emptying and stripping the drains. That was a big and important job and the doctor today gave him the best compliment....that whoever was in charge of my drains, did a fantastic job! I was proud to tell him that my sweet husband had done that and couldn’t wait to tell J about that conversation. Wearing these drains and moving around with them has been so uncomfortable and truly the worst part of the recovery. And the removal of them today wasn’t fun either. Yuck! There literally was like 2 ft. of tubing under the skin, that had to be pulled out on each side. It made me very queasy but afterwards, I felt like I could run out of the office, happy to have them removed.

The doctor gave us the news of the pathology report that the lymph node tested negative and he got good, clear margins.

PRAISE HIM for this wonderful news!

We talked about next steps with radiation and then possibly an oral form of chemo to keep the chance of reoccurrence away! I’ll be praying daily that cancer stays away from me and many others. Every cancer survivor fears that, but knowing that God has carried me this far, He will continue walking this journey by my side, fighting for me all the way.

The song by Matt Maher,

“Your Love Defends Me”,

is the ultimate fight song. He sings about the war of life and how it has already been won with God. He’s our refuge our whole life long. Yep. Cancer won’t stop me from living my life fully and loving my people. I will continue this journey, fighting this battle with all of my might.

Thank you all for the prayers and love that you’ve poured over us. We love you all more than words can say.

Oh and one more important thing...my eyebrows and eyelashes are growing out of control! Woowee!