Dear family and friends,

Praise be to God for his grace and mercy! It has been such a wonderful month since my last entry. I have enjoyed the time recovering from my final chemo treatment, feeling a little stronger every day. My family and I got to enjoy a trip to Spokane, WA to take a short backpacking trip and spend time with family. Not having to make the trip to the medical center for over a month was such a gift.

The day after returning to Houston, I went to MD Anderson to get my final PET scan to see how my body had reacted to the second half of my treatment. My parents arrived to visit us that afternoon so I was thankful to focus on them rather than waiting for my results. They have been living abroad for the past five years as missionaries and recently moved back to the United States. 

Yesterday Kristen and I went to my follow-up meeting with Dr. Ahmed. It was such a treat to bring Kristen along, since she had previously not been able to enter the building with me due to COVID protocol. Having someone to wait in the room with me was such a comfort. Finally the time came when we got to meet with Dr. Ahmed, and she shared with us the most wonderful news. We found out that my scan was 100% cancer free, and that I will NOT need to undergo radiation treatment! God is good!

Since then my time has been spent shedding tears of joy and spending time celebrating with family. I have to admit that radiation was always my biggest fear in this entire process. To be spared from this is such an amazing gift from our gracious God!

While I still have a mass in my chest that my body will slowly dissolve away, it is so comforting to know that I am cancer free. I will have follow up appointments in the coming months and for years to come as we continue to watch for signs of cancer. It will be something that will be in the back of my mind for the rest of my life. But I don’t need to worry about that today. I can spend my time with my family and get back to work at school knowing that each day is a gift from God that I pray I never take for granted again. Cancer has brought nothing but blessings in my life! Thank you for all the prayers and support along the way. Praise God from whom all blessings flow!