Those jumping monkeys...

Greetings to you who read the blog! I hope this finds you well and in the Christmas spirit as it is nearing Christmas Eve (not the stressed out, spent the day in traffic shopping spirit, but the joyful and thankful for Jesus, family, and friends spirit- I've experienced both today so just wanted to clarify lol). The past two days have been busy with doctors appointments and plenty of wonderful x-rays, sonograms (yes sonograms, and no they don't think I'm pregnant), and CT scans being done on me. Let's just says its getting far more fun to fill out medical history forms now; I'm becoming loaded with good info and history!

A few big items of news. Went to the doctor and the doctor said, no more monkeys jumping on the bed... (just kidding. If you know that reference, I don't know whether to congratulate you or disown you as a friend. In fact, I have no idea where I learned that song and what the significance is of it. Oh well...) but seriously, A chest x-ray did not show the tumor as it once had, which means the first round of chemo did a great job and greatly diminished the size of the mass in my chest! Praise the Lord! Next, since I'm feeling well and since my resting heartrate is still fairly high, they are going to readmit me for chemo round 2 on Monday the 26th. Yikes! Much earlier than I expected. So that's going to be fun. Have Christmas and then jump back in! No time like the present. That's what I always say (I don't really always say that).

A few prayer requests:
1. Please Pray that my blood clots will be gone and that the tumor will be shrunk enough so that they can put a port in, as opposed to the femoral artery catheter. This will be permanent and easier for treatment as well as allow for more mobility during the chemo treatments. Also, they use anesthesia for that procedure. I like being asleep. :)
2. Please pray for me and my family as we mentally, physically, etc. prepare for another round of chemo and hospital. It's tough gearing myself up to go back to the hospital.

And lastly, here is what God is teaching me at the moment. I came across one of my favorite Old Testament passages in my Bible reading the other day (yes jr. Highers I said favorite :)). It is the story of the Assyrians attacking Jerusalem, King Hezekiah, and mainly the LORD. You can find this in 2 kings 18-19 or Isaiah 37-38. The story in a nutshell: King Sennacherib or Snatch a Rib (for short- he's a sucker for barbecue) of Assyria is about to come and lay siege to Jerusalem. He sends some people to Jayroo (nicknames are more fun) and they basically make fun of King Hezzie and blaspheme the LORD in front of all the people. They say something like, "what god has stood in the way of Assyria? Do you really thnk yours is any better? We're going to crush hm like all the others. Oh yeah, and hezekiah's a baby for believing in him too. Why don't y'all jut give up?"

Well you just don't say those kind of this to the One, true, living God who is Lord over all. Isaiah shows up to tell Hezekiah that God has got this and that he's going to whoop up on the Assyrians. And whoop up he does. That night, after giving a message back to the Assyrians straight from the Lord, he kills 185,000 of them. The rest wake up that morning having no idea what is going on. Ole Snatch a Rib decides its best to scurry on back home. Well, he ends up getting killed by his sons (you kind of lose credibility as a king when you can't explain how you lost that many men), and Jerusalem and Judah are safe for the time being. The Lord delivered them in a mighty way. And then it hit me. What is a little lymphoma compared to the predicament the Israelites were in? A whole nation was looking at death and destruction in a horribly miserable way; siege, not to mention how many of them were questioning where God was in all of that. And Hezekiah, he trusted the Lord despite the ridicule he received from the Assyrians and from his people. He was alone, leading his people by trusting in the Lord. And guess what, God delivered them; all of them. So what's a little cancer compared to that! If God delivered them in such a mighty fashion, surely he can deliver me in just as mighty of a fashion. I can put my trust and hope in a God who can do something as great as that. Knowing that our God has that kind of power gives me great confidence in the face of seemingly enormous trials. In fact, it kind of makes those trials seem like little mole hills in comparison to what he's already done. That's good news to me! My God delivers his people from their enemies. He delivers them from the devil. He delivers them from sin. He delivers them from sickness. And he delivers them from death. Booyah.

As an aside, if you are wondering if that story has any extra biblical evidence to corroborate such an outlandish tale, let me encourage you to take a look at this video. It exhibits an artifact from the British museum explaining from the Assyrian perspective a little bit of what happened. Watch it if you dare (and by the way, I was there when it was filmed and even make an appearance on the film to prove it!). enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qsKEoX1_J80&sns=em