June 1, 2008

Hello All,
Sorry it has been a while since our last update, but here it is, so far!
I begin radiation tomorrow, Monday, June 2nd, at 11:30. The rest of the 14 days will be at 7:40 a.m. and only last 10 minutes. Please be in prayer for the technicians and Dr. Manon as they treat me. Interestingly, they are doing the radiation from the front. I have big black crosses right below my sternum and on my sides. I don't begin the pill, Revlamid, until the end of June.
When we went to our educational meeting for radiation on Wednesday, we started out with a nurse named Diane. Five minutes into the meeting, I was called back to the "mapping" room because of scheduling issues. When we got back, Diane was busy and Helen was our nurse. I recognized Helen, but I couldn't remember from where. I asked her if she took Precept Bible studies and she said yes. I thought I remembered seeing her at a training session in Mt. Dora. From there, we had a great conversation and then finished our education. At the end, she was able to pray with us and asked God to be beside, in back and above me and Ron as we travel this leg of the journey. God has His servants everywhere, doesn't He?
May I ask that you pray for Ron, that God would keep him healthy, patient and strong as he deals with all of this. He is husband, father, friend, encourager, maid, nurse and technician just to name a few. He puts on my brace in the morning as well as my Lanicain strips on my back...gets my breakfast and makes sure I am set for the day before he leaves for work. These next three weeks he will be doing all of that after he takes me to radiation. I can't take a shower without him there to make sure I am safe. He dries me off and then takes the pain strips off.....if I need to go in the middle of the night, he has to get my brace and help me put it on and then take it off. He is such a gift from God to me. He needs prayer just as much as I do.
For those who do not know: if I am up above 30 degrees, my brace has to be on. This means I have to get dressed lying down on the bed. I walk with a walker because as the physical therapist says, "It is like fingers to the floor" and it keeps me balanced. I have been practicing walking with it picked up for a few steps to try to get my balance back, but only for a few steps. I also exercise with the Wii Fit for 30 minutes, twice a day, doing the balance exercises as well as the exercises from the physical therapist twice a day.
Mama and Daddy came over yesterday and caught me in the kitchen making pumpkin muffins. I was pretty proud of myself! I even made Daniel and I tunafish sandwiches for lunch on Friday!! Big accomplishments for me I must say. God is good!!
Feel free to email and let me know if I've left anything out that I was supposed to update you on.
We see the neurosurgeon on Tuesday at 8:30 so we will let you know if anything new comes from that.
Keep praying!!! I'm still waiting for those vibrations, confident that God heals completely.
Love,
Ron and Jenny