I Thessalonians 5:9

I Thessalonians 5:9. "Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you."

First of all, a praise. I was in the hospital last weekend, facing a procedure that I was told was necessary, but was risky. No one wants a needle near the heart pulling out fluid. All I could do was trust in the Lord and I had to turn my fears over to him. My EKG on Friday showed a build-up of fluid and the doctor wanted me to go that very minute to the hospital for the procedure. I was not expecting that and asked the doctor if I could wait until Sunday. My son, Beau. was leaving on Saturday to go to New Zealand and I wanted to be with him until then. After promising that I would go immediately if I started feeling faint or dizzy, he agreed. Well. the ER doctor told me after a CAT scan that waiting was a good idea. He didn't see the need to rush. I had another EKG on Monday morning and the doctor was a little confused, he did not see an amazing amount of fluid that was there on Friday, some was there but not enough to have the procedure. I was released that afternoon with only 24 hours in the hospital!!

I had been overly anemic and required 4 bags of blood to bring up my red blood cells. (Thank you if you give blood, it really does save lives!) I was also given other nutrients and fluids. What a blessing!!!

Even though I should be healthier, I start chemo tomorrow, it will last for 2 hours and starts at 10:30 am.

Prayer requests:

1) That I will tolerate the chemo

2) That I do not loose more weight, this usually comes in the form of diarrhea

3) I would like to gain weight and need prayer to want to eat

4) I need to drink plenty of fluids, this can be hard

5) I still have pain from my surgery and now have fluid buildup in my ankles

Thank you for all your kind messages and support. It means so much to me!

Thank you, Lord, for healing me!!

Hebrews 4:16

Hebrews 4:16. "Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need."

I had an EKG on Friday which revealed that I have fluid around my heart as well as some fluid in my lungs. I have never had fluid in my lungs but have had the fluid around my heart, which got better with medication. That was 4 years ago. This time, the doctor wants me to go the the hospital and have the fluid removed. I don't know the exact procedure but I do know that it is done with a needle to draw out the fluid. I am not sure how the fluid in the lungs is removed.

I will go to the emergency room today to check in but do not know when the procedure will be done. I was told to expect to be in the hospital for about 3 days.

An update on my intestinal surgery: The surgery was more complicated than expected. I was in the hospital for about 6 weeks. The doctors were unable to go through with the micro surgery because there was too much scar tissue, so they had to open up my long incision wound. A few days after surgery, I was back in again because I was not healing due to a leakage, so I was opened up again. Part of the first surgery was to bring out my intestion on the outside of my body and I wore a bag to collect the waste, this is called a stoma. This was to give my body a chance to rest, but this procedure did not work on me. My body was producing too much liquid and was causing me to become dehydrated. I should have had the stoma for a few months but instead my doctor made the decision to remove it, which meant that I had 3 surgery's in 6 weeks. I had been unable to eat due to the pain it caused. I lost about 25 pounds during that time and have gained back only a few pounds. I have lost my appetite and most foods do not taste good to me. I cannot imagine that this has happened to me because I love to eat!!

I am still in pain on a daily basis and take a time released pain medication plus additional stronger medication as needed. Since I am in such pain and need to gain weight, my chemo has been on hold since January. My last blood work showed that my tumor level is at 92, my highest ever and the small tumors in my lungs have gotten larger. I have 5 tumors that have grown. The same chemo that I have been getting also works on the lungs. I need to feel better so that I can go back to chemo. I would appreciate your prayers and thank you to those who pray for me daily.

Thank you, Lord, for healing me.