I want to start by thanking everyone for being so patient with me. Life has been incredibly busy for the past 2 months. There have been wonderful people that have come to stay with us for a time (my brother Mel, and our dearest friend Iran, and my in-laws); I have had the incredible honor and privilege to be part of a wonderful team for the recent women’s Emmaus walk; doctor appointments, etc. When I get a day off I have the unfortunate habit of being lazy and selfish and doing as little as possible. I tend to not really even feel like sewing. So thank you for being patient and continuing your prayers. I could not be more grateful.

Ok. So as of December 10 I have received 14 treatments. On November 12 they changed up my medication from oxaliplatin to irinotecan due to neuropathy. The Irino is the med they used to use exclusively for colon cancer. It has side effects that tend to be stronger and more difficult than the Oxali. They use the Irino now as a backup if there are issues with the Oxali. So after 2 treatments with the Irino, my doctor ordered a PET to see where we stood. On December 10, I sat in the office with him and went over the report. Here are the results:

MY LIVER IS CLEAR!!!!!!! From 2 - 7.5+ cm tumors (almost 3 inches) and LOTS of little ones to completely clear in 6 months!! Stage IV is gone!! I cannot even begin to express the level of gratitude that I have over God’s mercy and grace. I have been in a state of almost disbelief for the past week. I have been praising and thanking God, but almost holding my breath not willing to put hope in the truth. Today, the damn broke and I have been rejoicing and crying tears of overwhelming joy. I am finally able to really look at and put hope in all the things I get to share with my family and my children. I guess I didn’t realize how much I was holding onto till I let go of the burden. God’s patience with me is mind boggling.

The rest of the report was just as good. The polyp in my colon that was the source of this has shrunk to the point where they didn’t even measure it. There is almost nothing left there!

So the game plan is this: I had my last chemo med on the 10th!!!  My doctor figures that it will finish the job off. He has referred me to a radiologist for the Y-90 evaluation. His hope is that we can inject the areas that used to be cancerous with the y-90 and kill off any of the cells that might remain. He doesn’t want to allow anything to re-establish itself. I will continue on the maintenance meds that have been helping prevent the cancer from spreading. The maintenance will be ever 2-3 weeks till March. The best news is that these meds don’t make me feel as fatigued and weak. I just have to remember that I can’t push yet. I still need to be patient and rest. Yeah… good luck with that hahaha

It has been incredible to see how God has led and revealed His plan and used it for me to share Him with others. I have learned so much about myself and about Him in the process. The gift and grace of being able to share His love and grace with others has been the highlight of the past 6 months. The best example of this was the Emmaus women’s walk just before Thanksgiving. The talk that I was given to share with the ladies was on the Body of Christ. How perfect God is!! Y’all have been such an overwhelming example of the Body of Christ! What an incredible blessing to receive such an abundance of grace and get to share about it!! I am working on a way to attached the audio of the talk at the request of several people. I will re-post once I have it figured out. Every one of you have been in my heart and on my mind during the process. Your prayers have been felt every day.

So the light at the end of this tunnel is finally showing itself! And to God’s credit and mercy, it is not a gorilla with a flashlight. I still have a bit left to run, but WOW!! What a ride it has been. I promise I will try to do better about keeping up with this and sharing things as they happen. For now, I do not go back in till December 31st! Three glorious weeks of feeling mostly human. And surrounded by my family!! My parents will be coming to share Christmas with us, and my beautiful niece, Jessie, and her husband will be coming for a few days as well. Enjoy EVERY minute you have with your family. It is blessing from God, no matter how difficult it can be at times.

I ask you to please keep a few people in prayer:

Lupe

“George”

Trevor

Iran

My brother, Mel and his family

My parents, Mel and Darlene

My children: Brandon, Gretchen, Tiffany, Melvin and Elizabeth

My grandchildren: Terran, Billy, Anika, Charlie, Avery, and Pennelope

Thank you again for your generosity and selflessness to pour out God’s love on others through your prayers. It is an invaluable gift that has consequences so far reaching that you will never know the full extent till you are able to see things through God’s eyes when we are face to face with Him. May He bless you all abundantly, shaken down and filled to overflowing.

Blessed Christmas to you!!
Melody