Working Things Together For Good

"Come on ring the bell"............and I did.  Monday before noon I rang the bell at Jacobson Building, Mayo Clinic, in Rochester MN to signify I was done with radiation.  An emotional moment for us, to say the least.  We packed up our things, filling the car!  We had our last lunch in our assigned communal kitchen, and then we headed out of town having said our good-byes to new friends earlier in the day, last Friday, and even before then when other friends rang the bell finishing the radiation part of their journey and went home before us.

Today we decided to verbally list the things we were thankful for during the past 5 weeks.  Mostly it centered around Mayo staff and the proton teams and Hope Lodge and the friends we made there.   We could throw in their the fact that 3 different times certain family members were at Mayo for various reasons and we could touch base with them.  Yes, many blessings came to light as we shared together, giving God praise.  

God brought us together with great people, with others who were on similar journeys and we could share how we felt and what we were experiencing.  It was helpful for me to know "I was not the only one".   God brought us together with great doctors and staff. He brought us together with several groups of Mennonites who came to share their music and meals with Hope Lodge.  There are also younger Mennonites who come from around the country to serve as volunteers at places like Hope Lodge and Mayo Clinic.  We were told by one young woman we got to know that they do not believe in war so they serve their country through volunteer work at places like Hope Lodge. And we all benefited from their service to their country.   We met people who have outlived their "expiration date" and enjoy each day they open their eyes to.  God took a difficult time in our lives, and blessed it ~ working it out for good as only He can do.

Now we are "adjusting" to being home again.  I remember it took us awhile to adjust to dining and interacting with so many new people and routines, and it is taking us awhile to adjust to our quiet house and lack of communal type living!  We keep asking God what we can take away and apply to our lives from this experience. We know He never wastes an opportunity to bless and teach us.  He works all things out together for good....that which is meant for harm.  We are also asking Him the question, "What now, God?"  

As we both snuggle under quilts, Joel with the starting of a funky virus, and me spending too much time in the bathroom, as we tune in to easy listening music, get ready to eat Homemade Chicken Veggie Soup, and Joel sips our go-to tea when head and chest colds try to settle ~ (ginger root, garlic cloves, cayenne pepper, fresh lemon, and honey to sweeten) we are reflecting and giving thanks for God blessing us so much the past 5 weeks at Mayo/Hope Lodge.  And for keeping us healthy the whole time we were there!   How is He blessing you on your journey?  I would love to know!  

Saturday's Scribbles

Good Saturday to you from our corner of Hope Lodge in Rochester MN.  The weather has been messy this past week, with rain, snow, and sleet at times.  What did we expect when we "decided" to go north for the winter!?

With this coming Monday being my last treatment day, we stuck around for the weekend.  It is very quiet here at Hope on the weekends as most people go home.  We have met several people from Iowa and other surrounding states, and a few from "far away" states as well.  On Thursday we went to a nutrition class and it was pretty basic. For recommendations, they go by FDA guidelines, and have not done their own studies. I wish they would take the time and money to look into preventive and supportive nutritional measures more.  I came back here to the Lodge after the class and talked with one of our kitchen pals, who is a dietitian herself and here for her own treatments.  It was helpful to discuss the whys and why-nots with her.

Everyone here has a story to share, but I don't really feel comfortable sharing their stories here.  Privacy is very important here at the Lodge, and people respect that.  Gatherings take place in the kitchens or TV room....library.....game room, etc. but not in our private rooms.   In a world where all our information is out there for anyone to google, it's nice to still maintain some sense of privacy.

Speaking of the world, with no cable in our rooms we have not seen much news.  I have always watched the nightly news, but have only watched it 3-4 times here at Hope.  Whenever I do see it, I am aware that it can wire me right up because of all the negative things that come across the screen. I believe I could watch the news once or twice a week and for the most part not really miss anything of importance!   There are no TV's in the Jacobson waiting rooms and I think that is intentional.  It is a large waiting room with several sitting areas and a private family room area.  The private family room has a TV for kids from my understanding.  One large table holds a puzzle where you will usually see someone working to fill in a few pieces.  You may see people knitting, or doing stitchery, many on their phones or ipads, or some reading or napping as they wait their turn with the beam or for someone in treatment.  But no TV's.  It keeps the place more stress free, which is a very good thing.  One time I came out of treatment and Joel was not where I had "left him".  The woman behind the desk said, "Oh he has been chair hopping the whole time you were in there!"  Yes, people do visit with each other too, and we knew quite a few faces there each day from Hope Lodge!  Chair hopping!  That is a new one!

This week I saw a video that went viral, where a little guy was praying at his pre-school before the kids ate.  It was so sweet, I could not help but share it!  Adorable!!

With Monday being my last treatment, I will be ringing the bell as I leave.  It is almost surreal to me as it seems to have gone quickly.  One of our friends said we won't know what to do when we don't have so many daily appointments.  X-rays and treatments daily, CT's, Dr. visits, nurse visits for mepetel film patching, O.T., bloodwork, and classes.  And thrown in there are the naps to catch up from the 6:45-7:15 check ins for treatments!  Ha!   We will miss our new friends, but we look forward to being done and settling back in to our home.

Speaking of home, Joel tells me that it only took about two weeks before I started calling Hope Lodge "home".  What can I say?  It must be that gypsy blood I have.....you go somewhere more than two weeks and it is "home"!

I hope and pray you each are staying cozy in your own homes wherever you find yourselves.  Stay warm and safe............and God be with you.

Intentional Kindness

As I watched a segment on the CBS Sunday Morning show, Mayo Clinic came to mind.  The show was talking about a study that revealed that the smallest gesture of kindness given to someone can help prevent suicide.  Just communicating that we care brings about a connection that is enough to help someone who is suicidal.  Dr. Jerome Motto came back from World War II with an understanding of how important receiving and sending letters were to his and others mental health.  After the war, as a Psychiatrist he studied ways to intervene with patients who were suicidal and began sending patients caring notes. It made a world of difference as many told him that the small but important regular communication helped them feel connected and stay alive.  A kind word had the power to change others lives.

This is what we see at Mayo Clinic.  They are very intentional in making sure their employees , around 60,000 of them, treat those who come through their doors with kindness.  They have monthly training in how to treat the patients and caregivers. They communicate that they actually care about you as a person.  We have experienced it first hand day after day.  Certainly we know that there are a few who do not follow this way of thinking, but I have run across only one person who was crabby and rude.  One.  I told our daughter that if you even look a little confused or lost in the maize of Mayo, 3 people will stop to help you.  They are intentional about their attitudes, but it is sincere, and their kindness seems to be contagious!

Today when Joel was waiting for me to come out of treatment, he was talking with the people at the front desk, and he told them they were healers.  The one woman looked surprised and said, "Healers"? Joel replied to her, "Yes, definitely.  You are part of the healing process in how you greet people by name and treat them."  The doctors and nurses are also very very accommodating, very compassionate, very concerned.

I have shared this before, but it still amazes us.  I pondered why it matters so much and when we watched the segment on Dr. Motto's plan of intervention with his patients years ago, it made perfect sense.  The people at Mayo connect with their patients  They remember things about you that make you feel like they care.  And I believe for the most part they are sincere in their words and actions.

So what can we learn from this?  If the Mayo Clinic with all it's employees can show kindness and connection with the 1.3 million people who come for help each year, what can we do as individuals for those we rub shoulders with.  Can we be intentional in connecting with others, sharing a kind word or deed?  Our world would be a better place.  God has told us to love one another.....and we can do so one kind word at a time.  Intentional kindess is a good thing to practice. 

Saturday's Scribbles

Good Saturday to you from our corner of the world here in Iowa where we find ourselves under a blizzard warning.  Yesterday's snowfall and today's high winds (30-40 sustained and gusts to 50 mph) have the meteorologists issuing a blizzard warning until tonight.  Certain counties have pulled their plows off the roads and I saw that I-35 is closed from our area to the MN border!  It is definitely winter in the Midwest.

Speaking of snow, we made it back home from Rochester just before it started.  I had a 6:45 treatment time check in and then we hung around awhile to be part of the cheering squad for a Hope Lodge friend who rang the bell after her last treatment!  It definitely is something to celebrate!.  I have 6 treatments left and will finish up the morning of January 27th,  So far, so good.  The mepetal film Mayo created is helping my skin to not burn or blister.  My energy is okay too.  This past week I have started having episodes where if I stand to long I feel like I am going to hit the floor.  My knees buckled the one day, but now we are aware of it and I make sure to pay attention.  Blood work, BP checks, and a doctor visit have turned up nothing out of the ordinary so I just think it is my body's way of saying. REST!

This past week my sister Jo (who helped raise me) was down at Mayo for three days of procedures requiring sedation.  She will be 87 in April, hasn't felt right for a year with many challenges and too much suffering.  The two days of invasive tests resulted in a procedure on the third day to hopefully fix the problem.  Praying it works!  Was good to see her and spend time with my siblings Janelle and Todd.  The week before our niece was having a very difficult surgery so Joel spent a day with his family at the hospital in Rochester. Her surgery went the best it could!  This coming week another family member is seeing a specialist at Mayo for a foot problem that other doctors have not been able to resolve,   Mayo has been an unusual place for our family to gather!

Speaking of family, it is an interesting dynamic at Hope Lodge.  Most of the people there in the 62 rooms do connect with others during their stay.  Some like playing cards and games, others gather for coffee and a visit in the kitchens they are assigned to  There is the one common denominator that holds us all together loosely as "family".......our fight to be free of cancer.  We have enjoyed getting to know people from Michigan, MN, Iowa, WI, Alabama, Tennessee, and Missouri.  I am assuming that most who come to stay are from the Midwest although there is one man and his son or grandson who are from Africa.  A large number are getting radiation and many are getting both radiation and chemo.  Most have a caregiver with them, although I am surprised by how many are alone.  A doctor needs to sign off for that to be possible at the Lodge.  We have enjoyed potlucks 2x a week.  One with all of us bringing dishes and the other with someone bringing in the food and entertainment.  This week was a group of Mennonites out of Iowa who fed all the people ad sang to the group during supper and beyond.  There are a lot of Mennonites who volunteer at Mayo and places like Hope Lodge.  In all the people I have come in contact with at Mayo and Hope, only one was negative and rude.  We all have noticed the kindess shown.  One caregiver expressed his feelings this way...IF everyone everywhere treated others like Mayo treats their patients and caregivers, our world would be a better place!"

Our world...........it has been pretty small the past year, focused on one goal.....treatment and freedom from cancer.  Being at Mayo has expanded our world while at the same time uniting us ~ no matter our lifestyles, careers, ages, or home locations on our journeys with a disease that Satan uses to "kill, steal, and destroy".  In the midst of the battle, blessings come.  One night last week  several of us sat visiting together in our assigned kitchen.  We found ourselves laughing wholeheartedly.  There we were, caregivers, and patients with different kinds of cancers, different diagnoses, different outcomes, but all laughing in the midst of difficult circumstances.  What a blessing.  What a gift.  So grateful for those we have met and how they have enriched our lives.   Thank you, God.

We hope and pray you are richly blessed by the people around you ~ family, friends, and those whom you have not met yet.  God created us for relationships with others and with Himself.  We just need to open our hearts to them.  We pray you are having a good weekend and staying warm and cozy in your corner of the world.  And don't forget to laugh a little.......it is good medicine for the soul.

What Defines Us?

We came in the front door of Hope Lodge last Monday night close to nine.  My treatment had not gone so well.......the X-ray machine in Treatment room 4 was on the blink.  I lay on the hard metal table for a very long time, face mask in place, body in position, half covered by a heated blanket but still chilled.... I waited and waited as people came in and out of the room working hard to fix the machine.  Finally it was ready to go, and the treatment could begin.  At the end, while I was getting off the table I cut my finger on something sharp.  Frustration rose in me.  I was definitely ready to go back to our second home after a challenging night.

As we walked down the main hall of the Lodge  to the elevator I heard the most beautiful violin music.  At first I thought it was coming from the TV room but it sounded so clear.  Sure enough in the large dining area a woman was holding audience with a group of around 25 people.  Everyone was captivated by this young woman (who's lack of hair identified her as a member of our club), while she played the most beautiful notes on her violin.  She was sharing her talent with others, while fighting her own personal battle with cancer.  The music was literally soothing to my soul, and by the looks on the faces of others, they too were being blessed by one woman who was not letting cancer totally define who she was.

I could not help but think about how cancer is so big, and it can be so consuming with treatments, surgeries, and more, that it seems to be all that defines us.  And that is a lie.  It is comforting to sit at a table with a group of people who speak the jargon that has come to be so familiar to us on this journey.  It is comforting to talk with people who get it~ to hear their stories with cancer.........but they are more than that.  Cancer does not get to define who they are or Whose they are.

Yesterday Joel and I went to a class at Mayo on releasing stress.  We were the only two there so the leader could adjust the session to our needs.  As we talked about what stresses us out she shared ideas on how to manage our emotions and shift our thinking.  She brought up declarations to speak over ourselves and mentioned, among other things, stating daily, "I am a child of God".  Yes, this is what defines us!  Being a child of God is first and foremost who we are, and Whose we are.   There are times in life where we are focused on the battle before us, and that is as it should be, but we can never forget that we do not fight the battle alone.  God walks with us.

I don't remember the number of times God has brought to me Exodus 14:14 through Scriptures, devotionals, Facebook and Instagram.  I hold to it tightly as I remember to define myself not by the battle I fight but by my God who fights for me.  I am a child of God!

Saturday's Scribbles

Good Saturday to you from snowy Iowa where the bare ground is now covered with a few inches of the white stuff.  Temperatures are mild for January, and that works for us!  We made it back home yesterday before the snow started, so the roads were easy to drive on.  It felt good to settle in to our own beds last night, and we are enjoying not only the winter view, but the Christmas tree that still graces the corner of our living room.  Neither one of us is ready to take it down so we will just keep enjoying it as long as we want to. 

Some of our family came last weekend for our family gathering.  We had such a good time!  We were blessed to have two of our daughters take over all the prepping and preparing of meals, and the guys did clean up.  Our oldest did the grocery shopping, our son Mark brought supplies, and our two girls brought more Christmas goodies than we could eat! It was nice not to worry about anything......  There wre games of cribbage and yahtzee, lots of visiting, laughter and hugs.  Such fun.  So blessed.

At this time, 9 treatments are over with 16 to go.  This week one of the CT staff noticed indentations on my face from the mask and she trimmed it just enough that the pressure/pain feelings went down 75%.  Yay!  My appointments next week all require us to be at the clinic by 6:45 am.  Can I just say, that is difficult for both of us spoiled people who like a 7 am wake up, not 5:30 am..   I am doing well with the treatments, with today being the first time I have felt "off" .  There are daily treatments, doctor appointments, weekly CT scans, and other appointments added in to the schedule that keep me/us pretty busy. 

We moved in to Hope Lodge on Dec. 27th.  We have met some nice people there, all with their own stories related to cancer, the one common denominator.  It is a nice place, with large rooms.  We have chuckled over the tall toilets ~ my feet don't touch the floor!  What is challenging for us are the sleep number beds that are uncomfortable for me and too hot for Joel.  And we confess, we miss having a TV with cable.  We can play DVDs though, and we can watch TV in designated TV rooms and the kitchen/dining areas.  There are several Hope Lodges around the country, and the volunteers do a great job making them a comfortable and good place to be. 

And they are.  A good place.  Adjustments are many with being out of your own home, community, and often state or country,  Living among strangers who become friends with one focus.  Adjustments to treatments that are affecting us, body, soul and spirit.  But, through it all, as I have said before, we see God at work.  Every where we turn we see God at work.  We are blessed.

Enjoy the weekend!

"We Have The Beam!"

I was laying on the narrow hard metal table in a large radiation room.  I was half listening to contemporary Christian music while deep breathing to relax.  It is always an adjustment to get strapped into the facial mask that keeps my chin out of "the line of fire" and my head immobile. Suddenly, through the loud speaker I heard, "We have the beam!"  I felt myself jump and had to laugh........

There are 4 treatment rooms that wait their turn for the radiation beam to do what it has to do to travel the length of a football field to get to your room.  To come into my body.  The treatment itself lasts only 5 minutes in each of two positions for me, but the daily xrays, positioning, and waiting for my turn  can take up to 45 minutes.  Usually someone lets you know....."you are third in line.....second in line....next......and then "You have the beam!" 

"You have the beam!"  I could not help but think about Jesus as our Beam!  He is our light!  He comes into our lives and changes everything.  He lives in us!  When we receive Christ, we have THE BEAM!  And there is no better beam that Jesus, The Light of the World.

As I lay on the table one day and thought about this idea, I decided to ask Jesus to be present IN the radiation beam.  To take His beam and inhabit the radiation beam with healing power.  HIS healing power. To guide the beam so my organs would be protected and any unwelcome cells would be destroyed.  He works through doctors, and He can work through a proton radiation beam.  It is comforting to know that.

Speaking of comfort, we are staying at Hope Lodge run by the American Cancer Society and on New Year's Eve someone brought their therapy dog to visit.  It was so nice to have an animal to pet and enjoy.  This morning yet another therapy dog, this one a large poodle came to the waiting area at the clinic.  He works through animals, too, doesn't it.

We have definitely seen Him working through people ~doctors, techs, nurses, volunteers and more.  We have dealt with so many kind and compassionate people at Mayo no matter where we go.  I heard they are required to take a monthly class to stay updated on how to deal with patients who come from around the world.  They also provide classes 4 days a week for patients on nutrition, meditation, relaxation, coping with cancer and life after cancer.  It is all good and I see God at work.  It is God at work to walk into the Jacobson Building desk area and have the woman behind the desk say, "Hi Renee, I'll check you in!"  They see so many people and they make an effort to know their first names.  It is God at work to tell the doctor when I had an eye migraine due to the bright bright lights for the radiation treatment and have him pick up the phone immediately and talk to the staff who were waiting with sunglasses that fit over the mask when I arrived for the next treatment. These treatments start at 5:30 am and go on until 11pm at night!  Two shifts of staff continually working with patients in need of healing.   It is God at work when you walk in the treatment room and have a staff person ask me how our family gathering when last weekend.....So personable and caring.  I think it is part of their resume....."MUST be kind, compassionate, caring, and take interest in each patient.  God at work.  HIS beam spreading His love and healing power in the medical world. 

So, 8 treatments down and 17 to go.  We are grateful for the proton beam and especially for His beam that brings healing power into our lives and into our bodies.  We are blessed to be able to say, "We have the beam!"