Hello, friends from all over!  Sorry for my long silence here on this blog.  I’m writing from my Parent’s basement.   It is finished so nicely into a great apartment, providing us with a little home for as long as we need it.  

So much has happened in the last weeks.   Returning from surgery, Holidays, sending off Dani, Dad, and Noah and Shaina to Ohio ahead of us, tests and visits in Anchorage, then the big trip down here.  I’m exhausted!   It’s good to be here safe and sound and reunited as a family.   The children’s reunion at the airport was incredible.   They were shouting each other’s names and embracing with gusto I couldn’t have dreamed of.   Little Wesley kept shouting, “Wo-wah, Wo-wa!”   That’s what he calls Noah, and they are still seeming to enjoy being all together again.

I have been meaning to type here for weeks that my chemo brain symptoms have totally left.   Praise the Lord!   Thanks to everyone who prayed, it was NOT permananet.   My lymphedema has gotten much worse, my hand and wrist are constantly swollen, and unfortunately, typing seems to make it even worse.   We’re doing massage and I’m wearing a pressurized sleeve and glove to help keep it down.  

As a result, I’m not going to type much here, the swelling is already increasing.  Soon I’ll try again, there’s lots I wish I could share.   Jesus has been very near these last days, for the first time in many long months, I can sense His close comfort.   God’s Word has been very alive, and I’m grateful for the truths I have been finding there.

For the sake of sparing typing, I’m going to copy a letter uf update I sent to our church in Nome.   It will help you understand where we’re at and how to pray more clearly.   Please do keep praying!   When they talk about my “odds” the picture is rather  bleak.   Sometimes you just have to find something to laugh at, so here’s one from Kate.

She informed my Dad tonight that the “A B C D E H I K Truck” was here.   He was a bit confused.  Then I realized that Kate had heard Mom mention the U P S truck.   It just sounded like random letters to her! :)

Here’s the letter to the church... I’ll write more as I can!   Oh yes, one last thing, I have an appointment with a specialist but not till February.   I can call daily to see if there are cancellations, and I’m praying that something will open up soon!   I’ll keep you posted!

Letter...

Greetings to the saints who are in Nome!   Your prayers for us are of such precious importance that I wanted to be sure you were updated following our visits with the surgeon and oncologist in Anchorage.   Let me first of all remind you and myself that our hope is in God - HE who formed and sustains us.

I'm not sure how to share all of this briefly, so please excuse the bluntness.   There is no consensus among my doctors or those that they sent my reports to for counsel.  My oncologist basically stated that the assumption is that because surgery found my lymph system so packed with the aggressive cancer that it has indeed spread to the rest of my body.   As far as we know it has not begun forming tumors, but my rate of recurrence elsewhere is extremely high.   (I interrupt with a happy thought... we serve a God who loves to show up and demonstrate His power when the odds are stacking up against success!)

Some feel that I should continue with radiation and nothing else, basically just hoping it doesn't show up elsewhere or at least not for a while.   Others feel that I should try some sort of chemo basically out of compassion.   It's a shot in the dark because there are very few cases of my exact situation, and absolutely no studies that suggest what drug would be right to treat this.   They feel better to try something and hope it would work than to just wait for it to show up again.   They have encouraged me to seek specialists and second opinions and basically left it up to us without a specific recommendation.   There is no tried method to help at this point.

Already the Lord has begun to open doors for us, the top breast specialist at Cleveland Clinic is a friend of a friend and willing to meet with us.   We meet with my radiation oncologist on Monday.  We need wisdom and guidance, God alone knows what we should do and how He intends to work.   Thank you for praying for us.   Psalm 3 has been blessing me with it's reminder of where our confidence should be...

"Lord, how they are increased who trouble me!  Many are saying, 'There is no help for her in God.'  But You, O Lord, are a shield for me, my glory, and the lifter of my head.   Salvation belongs to the Lord."

Nathan would like me to add that he is very aware that Satan's goal in our trials is to get us to damn God.   But we will choose to praise God who has already conquered him.   The Lord reminded Nathan of a statement He had given on our wedding day.   "Sheep may safely graze where the Shepherd has led them to pasture."  It may not feel safe, but if the Shepherd led us here, He is the One keeping watch.   In that knowledge, we trust and we praise.

We love you!   Carlee for Nathaniel and the hobbits