It is labor day weekend, the last weekend of august here in iowa. My Saturday Scribbles is going to be a bit different today. And even has a title..... "Hidden in Plain Sight".
As some of you know, there was a spot or hazy area found on my lung, whe I had an x-ray for my ribs. This past Wednesday's, I had a CT scan with contrast and the results were quite surprising. My PA Oncologist called and told me that there is a large mass, deep in the soft tissue of my chest wall, and there is also fluid between my chest wall and my lung on the right side. It appears the cancer has returned. I was told there's no surgery or chemo or radiation for this, it will just be a matter of infusions or medication to hold the cancer back as long as we can. A biopsy and the drainage of the fluid will happen the end of next week to tell us more. . And then there will be a PET scan and the usual steps and getting to a final diagnosis. This cancer was hidden in plain sight.... My blood work was good, my exams were good. There were hints because of my lack of energy. And weakness, but mostly every report i've received this year, has been good. This cancer likes to hide, it's like a spider web, like cancer. It cannot be felt. So we wait to confirm what the doctor believes. We still hope for a miracle.
Something else entirely was hidden in plain sight during the last three days... Blessings! The young lady who did my CT ask me what the key was to a long marriage and I was able to share with her that God is the center of our marriage. That we were even prayed together as a couple fifty seven years ago. A hidden blessing. When my on oncologist called with the bad news at the end of our conversation she asked, can I say a prayer for you? And she did. That was a hidden blessing because even though we have mentioned God over there 6 years, I've been with her she has not. On thursday, Joels colleague group laid hands on him and prayed for us and this morning, they all prayed at gabby, grandpas. Today we took a short trip to our beautiful East Park. Even the movie we watched last night to distract us was a hidden blessing.
I expect there will be a lot of hidden blessings along this journey. And we have the hidden blessings of all the thoughts and prayers from friends and family. I'm not going to pretend this is easy. It is extremely hard for both Joel and myself. We cling to hope with the biopsy for the pet scan, for the second opinion, with mayo clinic that we hope to get and we cling to hope most importantly because God is the God of Hope.
Today, I am grateful for the hopeful, God guided hidden blessings in plain sight..
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