Riding the Storms of Life

Health News

Vanderbilt did the "heart cath" on Friday. They put dye in the arteries around my heart to check for blockages. I had a 30% blockage, but not in a main artery to the heart. Apparently, that's normal, and it's assumed that most Americans my age have that much blockage.

So that was really good news.

Monday they will check my bone marrow to ensure there's been no relapse, then my spinal fluid one more time, and finally do a PET Scan to do a thorough check for possible infections.

Those are the last tests. Then we go home for a week, and on December 30, they will mark me up in preparation for radiation beginning on January 2.

Riding the Storms of Life

A friend sent me a devotional from the book, Streams in the Desert. I don't know what page or day of the year she got it from. Here are a couple excerpts:

The gospel and the gift of God are structured so wonderfully that the very enemies and forces that are marshaled to fight against us actually help pave our way to the very gates of heaven and into the presence of God. Those forces can be used in the same way an eagle uses the fierce winds of a storm to soar to the sky.

Dear believer, after experiencing the terrible valley of suffering, did you depart with the spoils? When you were struck with an injury and you thought you had lost everything, did you trust in God to the point that you came out richer than you were before?

That's what leukemia has been to me. It's a storm to billow under my wings and lift me higher. It's a route to victory and spoils.

The righteous are bold as a lion (Prov. 28:1). We love a battle.

Some news on Jerry

I've been keeping tabs on Jerry by text. He's had bad back pains that the doctor says are the result of his marrow coming back and creating pressure on the bones.

Even the bad is good. It's pretty exciting.