Making Plans

Checking the listMary has always been well organized. She’s on top of her calendar, and despite having her “fingers in a lot of pies” (as they say), she’s never made a sticky mess of any of them. Her lists are drawn up well in advance, and she enjoys checking them off. She creates practical plans and isn’t forgetful, never the type to say, “I forgot what I came in this room to get.”

That’s why her cancer journey has been so frustrating. She can’t plan. She had no warning that yesterday would be the draining day it was, which made its impact all the greater. But she also didn’t know how much brighter today would be.

The nationally famous, very busy Dr. Truty was part of this day at Mayo’s, meeting with Mary and Bervin for a post-op analysis and progress report. All the news was good, and he declared her Whipple surgery a complete success. She is healing well, and the feeding tube, no longer an irritant, is doing its job.

IMG_3581But Dr. Truty didn’t stop there. To quote Mary’s text: “He really helped us put things in perspective. He agreed that pancreatic cancer is aggressive, but said from everything he’s seen so far, we shouldn’t look at it as hopeless.”

And it was as if a window opened and spring breezes blew winter’s darkness right out. As for Mary’s decision about whether or not to choose chemotherapy, the doctor helped with that, too. She wrote, “He thinks with chemo I can look forward to good days and probably years. He’s a positive guy for sure!”

So she has decided chemo is in her near future and has committed to the doctor’s aggressive treatment program. She also said that since she won’t have to start for another week or so, she’ll get to celebrate Easter while still feeling pretty good. She said, “The Lord knew I needed that. It’s a gift, and an answer to prayer.”

After Easter, Mary and Bervin will put her list-making to valuable use as they meet with oncologists at three Chicago hospitals. They’ll get to choose where she’ll receive her treatments over the next 6 months, and Dr. Truty made some practical recommendations, persuading them it was ok to transfer their medical trust to a facility other than Mayo Clinic.

When Mary and Bervin set out for Rochester this last weekend, Mary had one of her lists with her, this one with four “to-do’s” on it: (1) meet with the oncologists, (2) meet with Dr. Truty, (3) decide yes or no on chemo, and (4) depending on her decision, maybe buy a wig. As they drove back to Chicago today, she had the satisfaction of checking off all four.

And tomorrow we’ll hear the up-and-down story of what it was like to shop for new hair.

“The plans of the diligent lead surely to abundance.” (Proverbs 21:5)

Mary’s Prayer Requests

  1. Pray for God’s choice of a Chicago hospital/doctor to administer chemo
  2. Pray that both Bervin and Mary will keep their eyes off pancreatic cancer and on Jesus
  3. Praise for being able to get a wig today

Into the Storm

A few weeks ago, I was driving from southwest Michigan around the bottom of the lake, heading for Chicago. I appreciated the good traveling weather, sunny and dry, knowing that winter winds and moisture funneling down the lake (known as lake-effect blizzards) can take drivers by storm, pun intended.

Just ahead...As I whizzed along appreciating the 70 mph speed limit, an ominous sight came into view, a swath of stormy-looking clouds hovering directly over my route. On more than one occasion at that same point in the trip, I’ve driven from dry weather into a snowstorm that was akin to blasting through a white curtain into another world.

As I continued on, I thought of how we can often see other types of storms coming to our lives, too. We might know ahead of time we’re going to experience a rough struggle, but circumstances dictate we have to head into it anyway.

Major surgery is one of those.

Although doctors usually give minimal detail about the suffering a patient will encounter post-op, we begin finding out as soon as we’re in the recovery room. And it doesn’t always get better from there. In some cases (like Mary’s) the misery hangs around for quite some time.

In hindsight, though, Mary couldn’t very well have said no to this surgical storm. Now that she’s gone through it, her prognosis is a thousand times better than if she’d opted out. And just like a lake-effect blizzard, the turbulence she’s currently experiencing will end.

No life is free of stormy periods. Our son Lars used to live in San Diego, and when I asked when the weather would be best to visit he said, “Mom, it’s warm and sunny every day here.” I thought of our crazy Midwest weather with its variety of storms, and wondered if those Californians appreciate their sunshine as much as we do ours.

Operating roomAnd that’s the thing about storms like surgery and so many others. After spending some time “down and out,” it’s a thrill to get back to ordinary life. After bearing intense pain, it’s a blessing to have a feel-good day.

Mary and Bervin gratefully drove from Rochester back to Chicago yesterday to spend their first night at home in quite a while. And it was every bit as soothing as they’d hoped. Mary reported that today was nourishing in every way.

By the way, that day I drove into a crazy lake-effect storm, I had to grip the steering wheel tight, lean toward the windshield, and squint to keep from getting hypnotized by the wild snow. But once I came out the other side, I could sit back, loosen my grip, and drive calmly the rest of the way.

Into the stormMary, too, will come through her storm to face life with a new sense of tranquility and gladness. An ordinary “ride” will have become a supreme pleasure.

Lord, help!” they cried in their trouble… He calmed the storm to a whisper and stilled the waves. What a blessing was that stillness.” (Psalm 107:28-30)

Mary’s prayer requests:

  1. Pray she’ll learn which foods work well and which don’t
  2. Pray for weight gain
  3. Praise for a good first day back home
  4. Praise for the encouraging cards/Scriptures in their waiting mail

The Finishing Touch

Two Hands KinttingWhen my friend Lynn and I were in high school, we took to the art of knitting with a passion. Whenever we were together, our needles were clicking on scarves, ear warmers, simple sweaters, mittens, baby clothes, and eventually ski sweaters with complicated patterns and multiple colors.

Within a few years, though, our zeal for knitting had shifted to college, then careers, husbands, homes, and children. It wasn’t until a decade later, when Nate and I were cleaning a crawl space, that I came across a giant box full of knitting stuff: needles, balls of yarn, pattern books, and partially knit items that were never completed. It surprised me how many I’d left undone.

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GIFWMYBack in the 1970’s there was a movement in Christian circles with this slogan: “Please be patient. God isn’t finished with me yet.” I had a button that read, PBP.GIFWMY, and a book came out by that name. Although the fad passed, the concept remained. I gave up on my knitting and many other things too, but how good to know God will never give up on us.

In thinking of Mary and her time-consuming recuperation from cancer surgery, she might be tempted to sink into discouragement. “My progress has really slowed, and I still have so much pain. And I don’t like dealing with this feeding tube, which I’ll have to manage for quite some time. And when will I get my energy back and be able to resume normal life again? I wish my body would hurry up and heal. I want this to be finished!”

But… GIFWMY: “God isn’t finished with Mary yet.” Actually, it’s true of all of us.

Well, all but one. Jesus did finish.

From his near-death suffering on the cross, John 19:28 tells us he knew the moment his work was done: “Jesus knew that his mission was now finished.” And shortly after that he let the world know it by announcing, “It is finished!” He had done what he came to do, opening a way for us to get to God. His resurrection became the phenomenal exclamation point at that finish line.

The rest of us will never be able to say we have nothing more to do until we’ve moved in with Jesus. Only then will our work be finished, our purpose accomplished. In the mean time, God wants to help us finish what we start, especially in terms of our most difficult challenges. And his desire is to keep us from discouragement along the way. In reference to Mary and her slow healing process? GIFWM*Y. Not by a long shot,

*Mary

“I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.” (Philippians 1:6)

Mary’s Prayer Requests:

  1. Praise for a partial solution to feeding tube pain
  2. Pray for continued improvement with remaining, deeper pain
  3. Praise for being released to go home today!
  4. Pray for strength and weight gain
  5. Pray for Tiff, who cleaned their hotel room for 15 days, a former crystal meth addict. They gave her a Bible.