DOCTORS REJOICE, TOO
After the reports from the test results arrived from Houson, the local oncologist, Dr. Jumean, was all smiles at Steve's next office visit with him. As the doctor read the results of each test he remarked, "That's good. That's good. That's good." I told him the doctors in Houston were elated with the test results, and he proudly said, "So am I."
Then he told Steve that he has 25 and 30 year old men who do not tolerate the strong, aggressive chemo the way Steve did. He was visibly impressed. His comments mirrored the remarks of the doctors at MD Anderson.
Steve told Dr. Jumean the latest testimony about the blood thinner shots and getting them for $23 a month from the mail order pharmacy instead of $900 that the local pharmacy required. Dr. Jumean kept remarking, "Wow. Wow. Wow," as Steve told the story. When Steve remarked that it was a miracle, the doctor confirmed it by saying, "It certainly is."
As we left the exam room, FiFi, the doctor's wife who is also an oncologist, told Steve how happy she was that he's had such good results and she emphatically said, "Thank God." Steve told her that it's a miracle and she totally agreed and repeated, "Thank God."
Steve's chemo friend named Brenda was in the waiting room and rejoiced with us, as did the two people with her. They kept saying that the wonderful report was God's work in the situation and the results of prayers because they have all been praying for Steve just like we've been praying for Brenda. Brenda's results were better, as reported on her last visit to MD Anderson. She said that the tumor had shrunk a little bit. She was more interested in talking about Steve's miracles than she was about herself. I know that his testimony about dramatic results and being cancer free encouraged her and boosted her faith to a new high.
God received lots of recognition, praises and thanks that day in the doctor's office just like He always does from us.
When the journey began ten months ago, we expected to be able to praise God for his miracles in healing Steve; but the,"Wow," remarks from the doctor and the, "Thank God," from his wife, who is also a doctor, were totally unexpected. Those rejoicing remarks are bonuses. That doesn't happen very often. Many times we feel like we have to convince people in the medical field that God has intervened in a matter and performed a miracle. It was wonderful to hear the doctors also proclaiming the miracles to us.
It wasn't too hard to recognize the miracles in this situation considering the extent of the metastasized cancer in Steve's body. That he would recover from the original surgeries was a huge concern to the surgeons. Drs. Robison and Daniels were God's hands and eyes in that procedure. Then the strength of the chemotherapy that was prescribed and the fact that, because of his age, Steve lived through the difficulties of the chemo is another remarkable miracle. I don't think anyone in the medical field expected that. However, when we think about it, Dr. Daniels did expect it. He told Steve before the start of the chemo, "They don't know you and how strong you are, that you're an amazing man. You'll do great." He's the one who called Steve a marvel, a miracle man and a superman. Dr. Robison called him the strongest man he's ever known.
Actually Steve was not strong in himself and his human abilities. He was like Samson in the Bible, God imparted amazingly super strength to him. The only difference is that Samson's strength was in his long hair. Steve's strength was imparted to him from God through the Holy Spirit in him and the prayers of the saints. To see his bald head, you know his strength is not in his hair. That shows us that God works with what he has to work with, but He always comes through no matter what the circumstance is.
Surely ten year old Lydia prophesied when she dreamed that Uncle Steve was cancer free. He is certainly Cancer Free, Free Indeed. Thank you, Lydia, for seeing the healing in your dream before the doctors declared it. Now they've all declared it and they rejoice along with us.
Wonderful things keep going on. Thanks again for your powerful prayers and your emotional support during the journey. Like I've said before, we couldn't have done it without all of you. How fortunate we are to have a family and friends who pray, but also we're fortunate to have a family and friends who believe in the great results of their prayers.
Bless all of you who said one prayer or a million prayers. And bless all of you who encouraged us, kept our spirits soaring. Bless all of you who provided so many meals for us so that we were kept hearty and had the strength to pray fervently.
It took heaven and earth working together to accomplish this miracle.
Praise be to God!
Monday, February 7, 2011
Friday, February 4, 2011
MIND BOGGLING INTERVENTION
MIND BOGGLING INTERVENTION
We were both weak kneed and breathless from God's latest miracle in our behalf. It had actually taken our breath away. That's pretty rare for Steve and me. Both of us rarely are speechless at the same time and also weak from an awesome happening. The story is worthy of telling.
Steve was down to his last four shots of Fragmin, the prepared blood thinner shots that he is supposed to administer at least until the next MD Anderson tests. He called the local pharmacy which has been very efficient in providing his various meds. The local oncologist prefers that particular pharmacy because they are efficient and cheaper, in some instances.
Steve called the local pharmacist, who said they would call him back when the shots were available, since they have to procure them from a supply house. MD Anderson had provided the shots the first month, and the local pharmacy had provided them for him the next month free of charge because Steve had met his deductible that our insurance requires.
Later the pharmacist called and said they had located some shots for him. I heard Steve exclaim, "Nine hundred dollars? Do you mean that that amount is the amount of my co-pay after the insurance pays their amount? " The answer was yes, that it was the amount we had to pay for a month's supply of shots. We began to know why the local oncologist had earlier remarked that MD Anderson had certainly prescribed expensive shots.
Steve told the pharmacist to hold off on ordering them until he could talk to his doctor. Nine hundred dollars a month was a shocking amount to have to pay for the blood thinning shots. In fact, it was mind boggling.
We discussed the possibility of his calling Angie, the MD Anderson oncology nurse, and have her discuss with the doctor what other comparable med would do the same job.
After recovering from the shock, Steve came up with a better idea. He recalled a past occasion the previous month when Angie, from MD Anderson, had located some shots at a mail order pharmacy after the local pharmacy couldn't find any shots at their supply houses. The mail order pharmacy supplies another medication for Steve, but they needed a doctor's prescription for the Fragmin, so Angie had phoned in the Houston doctor's prescription. In the interim, the local pharmacy had phoned us and said they had located the shots. Steve then phoned Angie again, thanked her for her help and told her the local pharmacy could then provide the shots. That problem was solved
There we were again the next month, having a problem with the same med, but this time the problem was the ridiculously high cost. Steve scrolled through his old phone messages and found the number of the mail order pharmacy he and Angie had previously contacted, dialed it, and spoke to the person who answered. Of course he explained his predicament, that he needed the Fragmin and that it was horribly expensive locally.
He listened for a moment and then I heard Steve calmly ask her a question, "You mean the cost will be $70 for a three month supply?" He asked again because the information was almost unbelievable. "You mean I only have to pay $70 and you will ship me a three month supply of the shots by overnight UPS?"
The answer was, "Yes." Praise God, it was true.
Instead of the three month supply costing $2,700 we have to pay $70, and they will ship it to our door. If he had gotten it locally it would have cost $900 a month. Now it costs $23 for a month's supply of shots from the mail order pharmacy.
When we sat down together and talked about God's efficient direction of the whole situation and the fact that the orchestration of the past two months set the entire situation up, we were amazed. Steve wouldn't have known who to call if the local pharmacy had not had a problem locating the shots the previous month, which precipitated Steve calling Angie at MD Anderson, who called the mail order pharmacy and gave a prescription to them. Even though Steve didn't have to use the mail order pharmacy the previous month, they still had the open ended prescription that Angie had phoned in. Nobody but God could have arranged that scenario.
We walked around for several days with boggled minds. In fact, we were so in awe of God's intervention in the situation that we could hardly talk. It was like getting a huge raise. Really, it was just part of the benefits of being a child of God.
How sweet it is to be loved by Him!
We were both weak kneed and breathless from God's latest miracle in our behalf. It had actually taken our breath away. That's pretty rare for Steve and me. Both of us rarely are speechless at the same time and also weak from an awesome happening. The story is worthy of telling.
Steve was down to his last four shots of Fragmin, the prepared blood thinner shots that he is supposed to administer at least until the next MD Anderson tests. He called the local pharmacy which has been very efficient in providing his various meds. The local oncologist prefers that particular pharmacy because they are efficient and cheaper, in some instances.
Steve called the local pharmacist, who said they would call him back when the shots were available, since they have to procure them from a supply house. MD Anderson had provided the shots the first month, and the local pharmacy had provided them for him the next month free of charge because Steve had met his deductible that our insurance requires.
Later the pharmacist called and said they had located some shots for him. I heard Steve exclaim, "Nine hundred dollars? Do you mean that that amount is the amount of my co-pay after the insurance pays their amount? " The answer was yes, that it was the amount we had to pay for a month's supply of shots. We began to know why the local oncologist had earlier remarked that MD Anderson had certainly prescribed expensive shots.
Steve told the pharmacist to hold off on ordering them until he could talk to his doctor. Nine hundred dollars a month was a shocking amount to have to pay for the blood thinning shots. In fact, it was mind boggling.
We discussed the possibility of his calling Angie, the MD Anderson oncology nurse, and have her discuss with the doctor what other comparable med would do the same job.
After recovering from the shock, Steve came up with a better idea. He recalled a past occasion the previous month when Angie, from MD Anderson, had located some shots at a mail order pharmacy after the local pharmacy couldn't find any shots at their supply houses. The mail order pharmacy supplies another medication for Steve, but they needed a doctor's prescription for the Fragmin, so Angie had phoned in the Houston doctor's prescription. In the interim, the local pharmacy had phoned us and said they had located the shots. Steve then phoned Angie again, thanked her for her help and told her the local pharmacy could then provide the shots. That problem was solved
There we were again the next month, having a problem with the same med, but this time the problem was the ridiculously high cost. Steve scrolled through his old phone messages and found the number of the mail order pharmacy he and Angie had previously contacted, dialed it, and spoke to the person who answered. Of course he explained his predicament, that he needed the Fragmin and that it was horribly expensive locally.
He listened for a moment and then I heard Steve calmly ask her a question, "You mean the cost will be $70 for a three month supply?" He asked again because the information was almost unbelievable. "You mean I only have to pay $70 and you will ship me a three month supply of the shots by overnight UPS?"
The answer was, "Yes." Praise God, it was true.
Instead of the three month supply costing $2,700 we have to pay $70, and they will ship it to our door. If he had gotten it locally it would have cost $900 a month. Now it costs $23 for a month's supply of shots from the mail order pharmacy.
When we sat down together and talked about God's efficient direction of the whole situation and the fact that the orchestration of the past two months set the entire situation up, we were amazed. Steve wouldn't have known who to call if the local pharmacy had not had a problem locating the shots the previous month, which precipitated Steve calling Angie at MD Anderson, who called the mail order pharmacy and gave a prescription to them. Even though Steve didn't have to use the mail order pharmacy the previous month, they still had the open ended prescription that Angie had phoned in. Nobody but God could have arranged that scenario.
We walked around for several days with boggled minds. In fact, we were so in awe of God's intervention in the situation that we could hardly talk. It was like getting a huge raise. Really, it was just part of the benefits of being a child of God.
How sweet it is to be loved by Him!
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
ST. SAMUEL
SAM, THE SAINT
We formed new friendships with the employees at the hotel in Houston where we stayed. They became family to us, extensions of our own family. It was so heart warming to see them serve the cancer patients with love and care and kindness. It is apparent that it's one big happy family built on God's love.
Sam is one of the shuttle drivers who is a special man. He's about 60 years old, a slightly built black man. I have a wonderful image in my mind of him that will always stay there. It is one of Sam lifting a seven or eight year old cancer patient, a tiny boy with bony thin legs and arms. Sam was lifting the emaciated boy out of the front seat of the shuttle and lovingly placing him in his wheel chair. The precious boy leaned his white, bald head on the shoulder of Sam, the shuttle driver. It was one of the most spiritual sights I've ever seen. It seemed like Jesus was lifting the child in his loving arms, giving the boy the security he needed.
Sam told us later that the boys parents are divorced and they hate each other, each one always bending Sam's ear about the sins of the other one. In Sam's arms the boy seemed so secure and loved. I called Sam a saint after that. He will always be St. Samuel to me.
St. Samuel told us a gem of wisdom I'll never forget. He said that he noticed that when someone tells a derogatory story about someone else, that the one telling the story is always the hero of the story. He said, "When I tell my brothers a story about something negative that my wife did, I'm always the hero of the story." Insight like that doesn't come from men. It comes from God.
St. Samuel is wise, also. He said he listens patiently to the stories he hears, knowing he's only hearing one side.
Love can be manifested by patiently lifting the diseased body of a small boy and giving him momentary physical and emotional stability. Love can be manifested by listening to the stories of parents who are warring against each other, letting them know that he understands. Love can be manifested by sharing truths with other people, even those people who are sitting in a shuttle being transported to cancer treatments.
St. Samuel manifests love in every activity he performs. God uses him to manifest His love and share His truths. I wouldn't have missed knowing Sam for anything. He's one of those truly rare jewels we find in life. We discovered that jewel in the middle of Steve's cancer treatment. I can't think of a better place to find a rare jewel.
We formed new friendships with the employees at the hotel in Houston where we stayed. They became family to us, extensions of our own family. It was so heart warming to see them serve the cancer patients with love and care and kindness. It is apparent that it's one big happy family built on God's love.
Sam is one of the shuttle drivers who is a special man. He's about 60 years old, a slightly built black man. I have a wonderful image in my mind of him that will always stay there. It is one of Sam lifting a seven or eight year old cancer patient, a tiny boy with bony thin legs and arms. Sam was lifting the emaciated boy out of the front seat of the shuttle and lovingly placing him in his wheel chair. The precious boy leaned his white, bald head on the shoulder of Sam, the shuttle driver. It was one of the most spiritual sights I've ever seen. It seemed like Jesus was lifting the child in his loving arms, giving the boy the security he needed.
Sam told us later that the boys parents are divorced and they hate each other, each one always bending Sam's ear about the sins of the other one. In Sam's arms the boy seemed so secure and loved. I called Sam a saint after that. He will always be St. Samuel to me.
St. Samuel told us a gem of wisdom I'll never forget. He said that he noticed that when someone tells a derogatory story about someone else, that the one telling the story is always the hero of the story. He said, "When I tell my brothers a story about something negative that my wife did, I'm always the hero of the story." Insight like that doesn't come from men. It comes from God.
St. Samuel is wise, also. He said he listens patiently to the stories he hears, knowing he's only hearing one side.
Love can be manifested by patiently lifting the diseased body of a small boy and giving him momentary physical and emotional stability. Love can be manifested by listening to the stories of parents who are warring against each other, letting them know that he understands. Love can be manifested by sharing truths with other people, even those people who are sitting in a shuttle being transported to cancer treatments.
St. Samuel manifests love in every activity he performs. God uses him to manifest His love and share His truths. I wouldn't have missed knowing Sam for anything. He's one of those truly rare jewels we find in life. We discovered that jewel in the middle of Steve's cancer treatment. I can't think of a better place to find a rare jewel.
LAST MINUTE RESCUE
LAST MINUTE RESCUE
When faith starts waning a little bit, even a mite, then God sends something to catapult us again into full fledged faith. It might be a dream. It might be a prophecy. It might be a vision. Whatever way He can get his power to us to propel us to the top again He uses.
While experiencing magnificent miracles relating to Steve's healing of cancer, during the chemotherapy experience there were a few times when caregiver exhaustion entered into me and I didn't realize that I was operating on about one half power of the Holy Spirit. It wasn't His fault. It was my fault by allowing tiredness of body and tiredness of emotions to take over. God understood and knew that I needed to be encouraged as only He can encourage a person, by giving His power in whatever way we can receive it at the time. Since my body and mind were overloaded during the daytime, I guess the only way He could get His message through to me was in a dream.
The dream was emphatic and memorable, one that was easy to refer back to when encouragement was needed. I dreamed that Steve, a small boy and I were in a car. Steve and the toddler boy were in the front seat with the toddler boy strapped in a car seat. I was in the back seat.
In the dream, suddenly Steve stopped the car, exited the driver door and ran around to the back of the car. The toddler boy moved into the driver's seat and looked out the door to see where Steve was going. Steve had not closed the door properly and the boy fell out the door onto the highway.
The activity continued in the dream with Steve running around the car to get the boy, but before he could get to the boy I leaned over the front seat and grabbed the boy and lifted him into the car. The toddler boy, whom I was surprised could talk so well, said loudly, "Thank you, Jesus. You're always there, even at the last minute. "
I realized in the dream that the boy knew who had really saved him and it wasn't me. I also knew that I was trying to be everything, caregiver, emotional supporter and spiritual cheerleader. The revelation came that I needed to leave everything to God and let Him be the rescuer, just like the child in the dream knew. I had to revert back to having the faith of a child.
Then the words to a new song came to mind.
Thank you, Jesus, You're always there.
Thank you, Jesus, You show you care.
Thank you, Jesus, You prove you're there
Even at the last minute.
Faith catapulted me again to a new height in relation to the situation. I always knew God was always here and always cared, but often He can't manifest Himself until the last minute. It's not His fault. It's always our fault, but He understands that.
Thank you, Father, for spiritual dreams that you use to communicate your love to us when our earthly minds are full to capacity and overflowing with problems relating to personal circumstances. You tunnel through them and leave your love messages in our minds through dreams so that we can again soar with the eagles by catching the currents of the Holy Spirit and letting Him carry us, confident that You will manifest yourself, even if it's at the last minute.
When faith starts waning a little bit, even a mite, then God sends something to catapult us again into full fledged faith. It might be a dream. It might be a prophecy. It might be a vision. Whatever way He can get his power to us to propel us to the top again He uses.
While experiencing magnificent miracles relating to Steve's healing of cancer, during the chemotherapy experience there were a few times when caregiver exhaustion entered into me and I didn't realize that I was operating on about one half power of the Holy Spirit. It wasn't His fault. It was my fault by allowing tiredness of body and tiredness of emotions to take over. God understood and knew that I needed to be encouraged as only He can encourage a person, by giving His power in whatever way we can receive it at the time. Since my body and mind were overloaded during the daytime, I guess the only way He could get His message through to me was in a dream.
The dream was emphatic and memorable, one that was easy to refer back to when encouragement was needed. I dreamed that Steve, a small boy and I were in a car. Steve and the toddler boy were in the front seat with the toddler boy strapped in a car seat. I was in the back seat.
In the dream, suddenly Steve stopped the car, exited the driver door and ran around to the back of the car. The toddler boy moved into the driver's seat and looked out the door to see where Steve was going. Steve had not closed the door properly and the boy fell out the door onto the highway.
The activity continued in the dream with Steve running around the car to get the boy, but before he could get to the boy I leaned over the front seat and grabbed the boy and lifted him into the car. The toddler boy, whom I was surprised could talk so well, said loudly, "Thank you, Jesus. You're always there, even at the last minute. "
I realized in the dream that the boy knew who had really saved him and it wasn't me. I also knew that I was trying to be everything, caregiver, emotional supporter and spiritual cheerleader. The revelation came that I needed to leave everything to God and let Him be the rescuer, just like the child in the dream knew. I had to revert back to having the faith of a child.
Then the words to a new song came to mind.
Thank you, Jesus, You're always there.
Thank you, Jesus, You show you care.
Thank you, Jesus, You prove you're there
Even at the last minute.
Faith catapulted me again to a new height in relation to the situation. I always knew God was always here and always cared, but often He can't manifest Himself until the last minute. It's not His fault. It's always our fault, but He understands that.
Thank you, Father, for spiritual dreams that you use to communicate your love to us when our earthly minds are full to capacity and overflowing with problems relating to personal circumstances. You tunnel through them and leave your love messages in our minds through dreams so that we can again soar with the eagles by catching the currents of the Holy Spirit and letting Him carry us, confident that You will manifest yourself, even if it's at the last minute.
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