Pressing on

Dear friends,

I hope you are each doing well and enjoying autumn. 

It is a bittersweet time. My maternal grandmother recently passed. I mourn her passing and absence, but rejoice in the beautiful memories of her life and love and am grateful she is now in the presence of her Savior and is able to dance and sing again, free of the lung cancer that caused such difficulty these last months. I am grateful for her prayers and wise advice over the years. She truly blessed me and many others through her life and faith.

It is hard to say goodbye. Cancer is an awful disease and it is hard to see a dearly loved one suffer from it and pass away because of it. 

I, too, have been battling a cancer diagnosis for nearly a year now . For some reason I do not believe that I will be saying goodbye any time soon. I know that "to live is Christ and to die is gain" (Philippians 1:21). Yet I also believe God has given me the promise that "I shall not die, but live, and declare the works of the LORD" (Psalm 118:17). I also believe that while I do not need to fear death and that dying will bring me to the joyous presence of my Savior, Jesus, that I am also called to choose life and do all I can to live the life God has given me: "I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live" (Deuteronomy 30:19).

It is easy to take blessings and manna for granted. In Exodus, we see how the Hebrews were miraculously delivered from slavery but then grumbled against God in the desert. It is all too easy for me to focus on the extra time it takes to change dressings, travel the hour and a half each way to my many medical visits, or the bother of carrying TPN, which is an intravenous feed,  around on my back during the day. God was gracious to me and I was granted a brief, 24 hr stay in the ER in mid September. That was a good reminder that it is so much better to be out of the hospital than in it and able to enjoy time with family, walks in the rolling hills of central Pennsylvania, and healthy, nutritious homemade food. 

This past month was busy with labs, a biliary drain change, ascites drain removal, some pericentesis procedures, adventures to the ER for blood transfusions after dangerously low hemoglobin, and a recent endoscopy to reposition a jejunal feeding tube and check for possible internal bleeding. Hemoglobin is now improving after lots of prayer, blood transfusions, and iron infusions.

My liver indicators appear to be high, so I appreciate prayer for liver health and that I can safely get off TPN, as that could be a cause of liver stress.

I was encouraged in a recent doctor's visit with the comment that there is light at the end of the tunnel and that I should be able to have several tubes removed by the end of the year.

I appreciate your prayers for ongoing, complete healing and for strength, courage, and patience in this healing journey. Please pray that God will continue to teach me His ways and make me into the person He wants me to be. 

Thank you, dear friends, for standing with me in this journey, even if it is a long one. We will see victory because God is faithful, merciful, and mighty to save.

May God encourage and bless each one of you. May He give you strength for your journey. 

Much love,

Tim

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