Hello everyone:

Lynn felt nearly normal last week, just prior to her latest round of Chemo. She did have Chemo yesterday (Monday, March 2). Chemo went well, and she feels tired today, but otherwise OK.

The new Chemo concoction has a few interesting side effects, the most notable of which is bouts of sudden – and intense – itchiness on various parts of her body. Arms, neck, back, etc – you name it and she has had an itch there. Antihistamines have helped reduce these symptoms a great deal, but they do not completely go away. When I got home from work the other day I greeted her by saying “Hi honey, I bet you’re just itching to tell me how your day has been. Why don’t you start from scratch?” Being housebound can reduce some people’s sense of humor…

Lynn’s next (and hopefully last) Chemo is scheduled for Monday, March 16th. That will be the last one to scratch off the list.

We meet with the surgeon the following Monday, March 23, to discuss surgical options. They are going to perform some imaging of the tumor site to determine how much tissue to remove and how best to perform the surgery. One of the options that Lynn has to decide is to opt for a lumpectomy (removing the tumor and some surrounding tissue), mastectomy (removing the entire breast), or bilateral mastectomy (removing both breasts). Each procedure has its own pros and cons. The lumpectomy would be the least invasive and have the quickest recovery, while the bilateral mastectomy would give the highest guarantee that the cancer would not recur in either breast. This will be a very difficult decision.

We would again like to thank everyone for the meals, visits, calls, cards, and e-mails. We cherish each and every one.

Our friend Karen C. shared with us a passage out of the book of Habakkuk in the Bible.
Habakkuk, witnessing the injustices and evil acts being committed all around him, asks God why He does not intervene in these events. Habakkuk is wrestling with issues of faith common to us today – namely, how a loving and just God, who is sovereign over all events, can withhold intervention and delay justice by allowing evil to continue. God answers Habakkuk (no plot spoilers here – you’ll have to read it for yourself), and the answers leave Habakkuk assured that we can trust God in the midst of any circumstances, regardless of how bleak things appear. With this background, here is what Habakkuk wrote:

Though the fig tree should not blossom,
nor fruit be on the vines,
the produce of the olive fail
and the fields yield no food,
the flock be cut off from the fold
and there be no herd in the stalls,
yet I will rejoice in the LORD;
I will take joy in the God of my salvation.
GOD, the Lord, is my strength;
he makes me as surefooted as a deer;
he brings me safely over the mountains.

-Habakkuk 3:17-19

_________

Special request:

We would like to ask folks to please pray for the Jones family of Lodi. Their 16-yr old daughter, Stephanie, was critically injured in a vehicle collision Friday night and remains in intensive care at the UC Davis Medical Center. Your prayers for the family - and for Stephanie specifically - are greatly needed and appreciated. Thank you.