Psalm 46:10

Psalm 46:10. "Be still and know that I am God"

My appointment at the Cancer Treatment Center of America was above my expectations. I feel that this is what I have been praying for and that God is surely in that place. I spent the morning answering questions, verifying my personal information, meeting with my case manager, having blood work drawn, and finally meeting my new oncologist. In the beginning, I was under whelmed by him. His name is Dr S. Frederick Brunk, who is somewhere in his 70's, and speaks very softly. He is slim and looks as though he has been eating well all his life. With his white beard, he reminded me of a slim Santa Claus. After a round of note taking in which I realized that he was very familiar with my health care so far, he had me put on a robe so that he could listen to my heart etc. He had a sweet lady come in while he was doing this procedure, who turned out to be his wife ,Mary. Then he used his stethoscope and a small rubber hammer that most of us have had doctors whack our knees for reflex, and began to gently tap me all over my back, then he had me lie down and off he went tapping on my stomach and around right area where my tumors are, and using a ballpoint pen to mark off something on my stomach. I looked at Mary and said, "what is he doing?" When he finished tapping, he said that he was listening for the tumors. What did he say? Listening for the tumors? After he left the room so I could get dressed, Mary explained that Dr Brunk has perfected a procedure over many years in which he uses percussion to give a better physical diagnosis of a patients health. He has written a paper which has received acclaim from his peers that was published in the International Journal of Clinical Practice. Mary asked if I would like a copy of the paper,and I jumped at the chance. After reading it, it makes perfect sense. I certainly don't understand the medical terms but I get the jest of it. He says that he can better understand what is going on using this technique and finds this is better than most scans. He has ordered another CAT scan for tomorrow because he told me after he came back into the room that he has a suspicion that the uptake in my CEA level is not from the two tumors near my urthuer but rather from two spots in my lungs that Mayo has told me are not active. Is this not interesting? We will find out if the tapping is accurate, but at any rate, I am intrigued.

So, I went from "under whelmed" to "in awe" in a manner of minutes, so it may be Christmas after all Virginia, and Dr Brunk could be my Santa Claus.

After meeting tomorrow with the teams in naturopathic, nutrition, and spiritual wellness, I will then have my CAT scan, and sometime early next week, I will get the results and a plan of action will begin.

Thank you for your prayers. Isn't it wonderful when we pray the God has a way of answering our prayers in a way that is far more than we can ask or think?

I can't forget to tell you about what Mary said. When I was dressing, we were talking like old friends and she said something about spiritual wellness. I remarked that this, thankfully, was not a problem of mine, and she said, "Oh Gwen, I know that. When I first saw you, I knew that you had the joy of the Lord on your face. Is that not the best? We hugged and I felt the arms of the Lord around me. From Him, to Mary, to me. What a blessing!