Prince of Peace...

Easter reminded me that unto us a Savior was born, a small King destined to be crucified. Sunday reminded me that Christ is exactly who He said He was. He finished what was incomplete. Without the resurrection our sweet Savior would have been a liar, a hypocrite, and a false prophet. But our God is faithful!! On the 3rd day He rose again proving that He IS our Wonderful Counselor and Everlasting Father... our Prince of Peace.

I went to the doctor this afternoon for a post-surgery check up with Dr. Casas. I got my brace and bandages removed and I'm trying to teach myself to walk again (my leg is surprisingly stupid right now). I'm hitting up the gym tomorrow!

Well, today I got some heavy news. When they removed the tumor last week, my doctor examined a small sample of it and told my family and me that it was a mixoma (benign tumor), which is what they expected. They sent the tumor off to a lab to examine every cell and today I got the results. They found that half of the cells are cancer. It was very suprising to all the doctors and myself. My case has always been rare, so it has been looked at by many specialists. It's called myxoid liposarcoma, about 100 cases appear in the US per year. They are sending the cells to a sarcoma specialist in Boston that will verify and advise on treatment.

Here's the next step. Because my doctor did not think it was cancer he didn't remove as much surrounding muscle as he would have (had he known before). So, on April 24th I have a 2nd surgery and he will go in and remove 2 times more muscle to make sure to remove any remaining cancer cells. Everything I just went through - I have to do all over just when things are starting to heal (not too excited about that).

Chemo and radiation have not been proven to help with this type of cancer, so we just have to pray that there are no more cells any where else.

I was so, so suprised by this. I was almost in the clear. I want to maintain my trust in the Lord and confidence that He is the Prince of Peace. He is sufficient to meet all of my needs and totally sovereign to heal anything. Pray for healing. Pray for no more cancer. Pray for Peace...

"The LORD said to Moses, "Tell Aaron and his son, 'This is how you are to bless the Israelites. Say to them: "The LORD bless you and keep you; the LORD make his face shine upon you and be gracious to you; the LORD turn his face toward you and give you peace." ' "So they will put my name on the Israelites, and I will bless them." " Numbers 6:22-27

Recovery....

Hey friends! It's two days after surgery and time to update you on my status.

Surgery was Tuesday morning and everything went well. Gremlin was removed and the doctor confirmed that it is not cancerous. Tuesday was a rough day. The anesthesia made me really sick and I was unable to leave the hospital that day. My mom stayed with me overnight and it was one horrible night. I finally got some powerful nausea drugs that knocked me out at 9pm and then I was able to sleep through the night.

My mom was amazing. She took care of me at my worst and I am so so grateful that she was there! It was a bad night for both of us, but I am glad she stayed with me. Please pray blessings over her life this week!

When I woke up the next day, I felt so much better so I took a lap around the hallways on my crutches and I was cleared to leave. I am staying at my dad's house for the next couple of weeks. I have a big dressing over the wound and a full leg brace that will be taken off at my follow up appointment next Wednesday.

Overall... that was a bad experience. A little worse than I expected, but things are getting better each day. I'm moving around pretty good (with the help of some pain killers of course).

I'm bored! My life was too active before to just be sitting still all day! Movies, sewing, and painting is the extent of my activities. Please come visit if you can :) Call me before so that I can make sure that I'm awake!

Thank you again for all the prayers. I'm on the road to recovery now :) Things can only get better!

Here we go...

Ok surgery, let's go. Tomorrow is D-day, little gremlin is about to leave the building! Please be in prayer for me on Tuesday, March 18. My surgery is at 7:15am at Presbyterian Dallas. Here are some specifics. Please PRAY through this list as you read it...

1. A calm heart for me.


2. Pray for the Holy Spirit to be seen in my words and actions tomorrow.


3. A steady and wise hand of my surgeon, Dr. Casas.


4. That my body would react well to all the drugs.


5. No complications. That it would only be a day surgery and I will get to go home in the evening.


6. Pray for smooth recovery.


7. Pray for minimal/no damage to my leg muscle.


8. Pray that NO cancer cells are found after it is removed.


9. Pray blessings over my Dad as he takes care of me the next couple of weeks.

Thank you all for your love and prayers. I have felt the Father calm my heart because of your prayers and Praise the LORD that this is not cancer.

I'll be out of work and staying at my dad's house in Richardson for the next two weeks. You are all welcomed to a craft/movie date with me on the couch!

True or False???

True or False? April has cancer.....
FALSE!!!! That's right, you can now do the Tiger Woods fist pump! (3/26/08 - fist pump is retracted! This blog is old, read the new ones...)

Through hundreds of prayer and petitions before our Lord, He has spared me from cancer and allowed a rare benign tumor to form in my muscle. It's called an intramuscular myxoma (pronounced "mix-oma"). Dr. Casas and 15 other surgeons agreed that it is not malignant. At today's appointment, Dr. C went over everything and explained all the reasoning for his diagnosis. So at 22, I'm still cancer free!

PRAISE THE LORD!! Thank you, thank you, thank you for all the prayers that have been lifted up over the past week. What a blessing it has been to be at complete peace, without anxiety or fear this past week. The Lord truly is our comfort, security, and shield.

New tumor name: Sir. Mix-Alot (a little play off the 'myxoma' word)

TREATMENT: Surgery is scheduled for Tuesday, March 18 at 7:15am. Like I mentioned in previous blogs, the treatment for this tumor will be an open incisional biopsy. Dr. C will make a 3-4" incision in the front of my leg (where the tumor is) and than cut the tumor out by removing the surrounding muscle and fat. It should only be a day surgery, followed by 10 days of bed rest. He said it should take about 6-7 months to totally re-strenghen the muscles. I think there will be some physical therapy, but I don't know the details yet.

After the tumor is removed they are going to slice and dice it up and look at all the cells to make sure there is no cancer or crazy disease in there.

Tess (my roommate) says my scar will be my new flare. I'm not too pumped about the scar, but it should make for a good conversation and testimony of how great our God is!