Documenting a Journey - Friend with Cancer

this photo was taken in November.  probably as the cancer was starting to wreak havoc in her body.  but this girl's a fighter.

she found out on friday, february 7, 2104 that she had aggressive invasive cancer in the breasts.  no news on where else.  we are praying it is only in that area.

we met at her house that night to talk cancer fighting strategies.  so her first line of defense is God OF COURSE!  prayer, prayer and more prayer.

but she is also diving head first into the land of the ketogenic diet.  there are stories of tumors being abolished.  real live people who were given months to live and are still alive today.   how does it work?  all cells in our bodies run off glucose.  even cancer.  if you can switch your body to ketones (running off fat), cancer cannot make the switch.  how do you do that?  going seriously low on carb count.  bobbie is around 20 or less per day.

the good news is she bought ketosis (not sure of spelling) strips to test her urine today and she is already in the highest ketosis.  AMAZING.

she meets with her doctors tomorrow and friday.  we are praying that the tumors are healed by God or demolished before surgery is needed and God will make it clear.

so i am documenting this journey.

i am trying to be her food consultant to take something off her plate so she can call and ask how many carbs does an item have in it and i will look it up for her.  AND today is day one for me to be her partner in crime.  we tested me after a day of no carbs and i was negative for ketones meaning i am still running on glucose.  it takes 48 hours.

i am so thankful for my precious friend.  heart broken for her because this type of news is devastating.  it just is.  but she knows God has a plan.

and we will record it here God willing.

a new journey - friend with cancer

my best friend up here in Maine had a routine mammogram in September.  since then a lump has formed in her breast.  she already has lumps so she didn't want to make too much of it.  but at the same time it concerned her.  a couple of weeks ago she contacted her doctor who also thought it probably wasn't anything but did have her get another mammogram.  the mammogram led to an ultrasound.  which led to a consultation with a surgeon and radiologist.  all without news of what it was.  then a biopsy last Tuesday.  she was expecting news Thursday, February 6 or Friday, February 7.  the call came in Friday, February 7 in the afternoon.  the news was not good.  invasive ductile (not sure of spelling or word) carcinoma.  all numbers were bad in every category.  no word on if the cancer has spread as of yet.

one word.  one call.  one life changed.  wait.  many lives changed.  but who can know what it feels like to received that call about yourself until you receive one.  until you have walked in those shoes.  bobbie has taken care of at least 4 or 5 close friends and family members who have died from cancer in the last 5 years.  the last one being her own father who passed away at 57 two years ago this past January.

when we road home one night from augusta she was already prepping her feelings if she heard that dreadful word.  she would be mad.  how can so many people not take care of themselves and never have an issue.  it was all surreal.

when the call came.  more so.  is this for real?

i remember that monday evening in October three months after the shocking phone call about my own brother.  into the gym.  out of the gym.  several missed calls.  dread.  i already dreaded calls and still do to this day because of the phone call about my brother.  i knew more bad news.  my sister in-laws brother was missing at sea.  i knew he was fine.  it couldn't be that my brother zac would lose his only brother and then his wife would suddenly lose her only sibling three months later.  nope.  wasn't happening.  but it did.

so the cancer call was real.  and this week she finds out if it has spread.

it's such horrible news but i already see God's hand in it.  He works everything together for good.  it's impossible not to have ripple effects reach multitudes.  relationships with rifts suddenly healed and better than ever.

a marriage better than ever.  i could cry watching bobbie and jim.  so loving.  they have fought so hard for their marriage and this bitter news has made the water sweet.  and i could go on.

i am so thankful to have a friend who trusts God and a God who holds us all in His hands.

His ways are SO much higher than our ways.

Hmmm... Food, Rest, Faith and HGTV

These short winter days just make me want to sit down with a warm drink and indulge in HGTV.   Though whenever I really feel that way I don't like the shows that are on.

My littlest peanut is cutting more teeth so we are up quite frequently during the night and have late nights and early mornings.  Not the best recipe for rest.  Learning to continue to navigate a life of extreme exhaustion.  Lack of sleep used to drive me to the brink of an asylum but God literally has giving me the grace to operate in joy (most of the time haha).

Lately I have been meditating on faith and trust.  It seems as though God is bringing me into a new level of understanding.  This spiritually dark, New England spiritual scape provides a distract contrast to the power of the Word of God.  It really excites me.  To know that My Creator, the world's Creator can easily cut through the facade of intellectualism, liberalism, extreme Yankee independence and the thin layer of happiness that is displayed as a front to mask the war you know must be battling in the soul.  I tell myself these things as I walk around the beautiful aesthetic of the YMCA in a beautiful coastal town with beautiful people who seem to have it all.  So many masks.  The raw broken lives of the poor and drug addicted is not as intriguing as those who have built the beautiful fortress to encapsulate their desperate insatiable souls.  I used to be afraid (I am sure I would be on some days now) and insecure and insufficient.   And I know I am all of those things in my flesh.  But God.  God loves the arrogant agnostic. The distant deist who dabbles in humanitarian causes.  The Word of God can slice through those walls like soft butter.

So I am learning to believe God on a new level.   Rest when the body is exhausted and anxieties want to run high.

Henry has been taking swim lessons.  The world is opening around him like a person who has suddenly gaining more and more eye sight.  I love it.  He has so many things he loves and wants to do.  He is so excited about life.  My little romantic and lover of life.  I have to remind myself to stop and see the world through his eyes because his constant chatter can become unbearable at times.  But I love seeing things through his eyes.

Hudson is a little maniac.  He's all boy.  Very rough.  He loves to dance.  Loves to get into everything and destroy things.  He isn't afraid of anything except separation from his mother.   He's very observant and wants to do everything Henry is doing but wants to take over and have Henry stop.

Henry does torture his brother but wants him around at all times.  And is the more agreeable one between the two.

Hudson has a will of steel and a temper to match it.  We are working on his all out tantrums, hitting and back arching.  But his charm is equally as strong.  He seems to bewitch all of those around him.  A crowd favorite.  Could be that he still looks so much like a baby for being 19 months old.

Henry went to his first movie.  I took him.  I was more madly in love with him after watching him watch the movie.  He was so cute.

I am still working my Melaleuca business though a bit slower going than in the beginning.  So trusting God for direction in that area.

A Dog or No Dog?

That is the question...




The dog is a REALLY good dog.  Just still unsure if ready to make the dog commitment with two small kids.  Am in constant referee mode since having the dog for a week.

Play Date

So Cute - Hudson & Dog

Morning

This kid ends up wearing the bowl and most of the food in the morning.

What a good dog!

Chilly morning devotionals.

No dogs on couch!

Christmas decorations still up...

Husband just unloaded more wood.

my favorite chair we never sit in haha.

Henry is still sleeping.

We are trying to come up with a new name for Loki.  Any suggestions?

My favorite scripture from this morning.  Psalm 19 (the whole thing but this part in particular)

7 The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul;
The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple;
8 The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart;
The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes;
9 The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever;
The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.
10 More to be desired are they than gold,
Yea, than much fine gold;
Sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.
11 Moreover by them Your servant is warned,
And in keeping them there is great reward.