SHOCK TREATMENT
T. WIELAND ALLEN
My husband Steve has being undergoing chemotherapy for a few months. Radiation treatment was recently prescribed for his neck because a tumor popped up on the thyroid gland. We were momentarily devastated to hear about the new tumor. He had not had radiation up to this point, but since he was losing his voice the doctors prescribed radiation of the area in the neck, hoping it will shrink the tumor so that Steve can regain his strong voice.
One of the worse side effects of chemo and radiation of the neck is an excess of thick clods of mucus in his throat that choke him and interfere with swallowing. It results in gut retching coughing for ten to twenty minutes and then sneezing for 15 to 20 times for him, which is a family trait when anything gets caught in their throats. All of that is exhausting to any patient and Steve wilts with loss of energy many times a day when the mucus builds up. Then he has to rest for a long time to regain his strength. Then later the cycle repeats itself.
After researching the internet, I found that the mucus buildup is normal for chemo and radiation patients. There were some suggestions from doctors and also from patients and their caretakers on the researched articles. We had already come up with the most helpful thing which is Mucinex. It helps tremendously but does not completely alleviate the problem. Other suggestions were hot tea with honey and lemon, also lots of water, gargling Ginger Ale, a decongestant, salt water nasal sprays, and cough drops.
Steve has tried all of the suggestions but sometimes we forget to access all of the aids. Last night was a particularly bad night. Before going to bed he had an attack of coughing which caused him to vomit, then more coughing to bring up the mucus, then sneezing for many, many times. He barely made it to bed he was so weak.
In the middle of the night the same thing occurred. He was awake hacking for a long time, then laid awake for a long time weak with the process of getting rid of the mucus.
At 4:00 this morning I was still awake from the middle of the night episode. I had been praying for hours for him, knowing that he was feeling defeat from the constant coughing spell and possibly wavering in his faith. I know that I also was struggling with that battle between holding on in faith and giving up to the disease because of the effects of the chemo and radiation on his body.
I went to the guest bedroom to pray, hoping to get some comforting words from Our Heavenly Father which would bring me back into faith instead of temporarily entertaining defeat.
I merely told Our Father that I was asking for His words in the matter, and asking in faith that He would comfort me, counsel me, encourage me, whatever He knows will catapult me to the top in faith again.
As I laid on the bed, expecting to hear something from Him or anything from Him which would help me in the struggle I was having, determined not to give in to defeat.
God's personal words to me always have shock value. That's the way he talks to me, always saying something that I would never think of saying myself.
So the word of the Lord came to me in this shocking statement, "Are you going to let SNOT defeat you? You need to become the master of the snot instead of letting it be your master."
I bolted out of the bed and threw on my clothes, telling that snot that it has to come under the authority of my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and greater is He than is in me than he that is causing that snot.
Now you need to know that that word, snot, is not in my speaking vocabulary. It's one of the words that crawls all over me when other people say it. I prefer the word mucus. In this instance I knew that God needed something that would get my full attention so he used the word "snot" in His admonition to me.
I sang a victory song for several hours.
I could hardly wait to tell Steve what God had told me, hoping it would spur him onto the offensive rather than being on the defensive. I was in for a shock when he came into the kitchen two hours earlier than his normal time. He came walking in with determination and a new command of the situation. He said, "I'm going to get ahead of this thing right now." He began to take all the necessary aids to become the master of the mucus instead of it being his master. He still coughed a little, but not with hacking and retching for fifteen or twenty minutes. By the time he took all the aids we had, he was calm enough to go back to bed for his much needed extra sleep.
God is so precious. I would call His comments to me of, "Are you really going to let snot defeat you," to be a loving chastisement. I had not realized we had let it get the best of us, succumbing to its harassment by letting it dominate our lives.
Steve's resolve to stay ahead of it was God's way of telling Steve the same thing He told me, but in a way that he would muster up courage and strength and become the head again and stop being the tail.
To be honest, after the sleepless night and hearing and seeing my loved one in such misery made me feel like I was the tail and I was barely holding on to the tip of that tail.
God is faithful. He always gets his messages across to us.
He sure knows how to shock me into action. All He had to do was use the word "snot."
There's not a thing wrong with that word. It's just that I was not raised hearing it so it's strange to my hearing.
We've declared a war on snot. See, I can use it, too, and not feel badly for it. But I do know that we need to gain victory over its harassment in our lives. Using all of the aids available at the proper time is the secret.
Steve got his message at the same time I did. His admonition was in the words he could understand and my admonition was in words that would spur me to action.
God knows all of us inside and out and He knows what words will bring us from the tail back up to the head again. I never imagined the word He would use, but Our Dad always knows best.
Whatever is harassing you in your life, don't let it be your master. You need to become its master. Thus saith the Lord.
T. WIELAND ALLEN
My husband Steve has being undergoing chemotherapy for a few months. Radiation treatment was recently prescribed for his neck because a tumor popped up on the thyroid gland. We were momentarily devastated to hear about the new tumor. He had not had radiation up to this point, but since he was losing his voice the doctors prescribed radiation of the area in the neck, hoping it will shrink the tumor so that Steve can regain his strong voice.
One of the worse side effects of chemo and radiation of the neck is an excess of thick clods of mucus in his throat that choke him and interfere with swallowing. It results in gut retching coughing for ten to twenty minutes and then sneezing for 15 to 20 times for him, which is a family trait when anything gets caught in their throats. All of that is exhausting to any patient and Steve wilts with loss of energy many times a day when the mucus builds up. Then he has to rest for a long time to regain his strength. Then later the cycle repeats itself.
After researching the internet, I found that the mucus buildup is normal for chemo and radiation patients. There were some suggestions from doctors and also from patients and their caretakers on the researched articles. We had already come up with the most helpful thing which is Mucinex. It helps tremendously but does not completely alleviate the problem. Other suggestions were hot tea with honey and lemon, also lots of water, gargling Ginger Ale, a decongestant, salt water nasal sprays, and cough drops.
Steve has tried all of the suggestions but sometimes we forget to access all of the aids. Last night was a particularly bad night. Before going to bed he had an attack of coughing which caused him to vomit, then more coughing to bring up the mucus, then sneezing for many, many times. He barely made it to bed he was so weak.
In the middle of the night the same thing occurred. He was awake hacking for a long time, then laid awake for a long time weak with the process of getting rid of the mucus.
At 4:00 this morning I was still awake from the middle of the night episode. I had been praying for hours for him, knowing that he was feeling defeat from the constant coughing spell and possibly wavering in his faith. I know that I also was struggling with that battle between holding on in faith and giving up to the disease because of the effects of the chemo and radiation on his body.
I went to the guest bedroom to pray, hoping to get some comforting words from Our Heavenly Father which would bring me back into faith instead of temporarily entertaining defeat.
I merely told Our Father that I was asking for His words in the matter, and asking in faith that He would comfort me, counsel me, encourage me, whatever He knows will catapult me to the top in faith again.
As I laid on the bed, expecting to hear something from Him or anything from Him which would help me in the struggle I was having, determined not to give in to defeat.
God's personal words to me always have shock value. That's the way he talks to me, always saying something that I would never think of saying myself.
So the word of the Lord came to me in this shocking statement, "Are you going to let SNOT defeat you? You need to become the master of the snot instead of letting it be your master."
I bolted out of the bed and threw on my clothes, telling that snot that it has to come under the authority of my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and greater is He than is in me than he that is causing that snot.
Now you need to know that that word, snot, is not in my speaking vocabulary. It's one of the words that crawls all over me when other people say it. I prefer the word mucus. In this instance I knew that God needed something that would get my full attention so he used the word "snot" in His admonition to me.
I sang a victory song for several hours.
I could hardly wait to tell Steve what God had told me, hoping it would spur him onto the offensive rather than being on the defensive. I was in for a shock when he came into the kitchen two hours earlier than his normal time. He came walking in with determination and a new command of the situation. He said, "I'm going to get ahead of this thing right now." He began to take all the necessary aids to become the master of the mucus instead of it being his master. He still coughed a little, but not with hacking and retching for fifteen or twenty minutes. By the time he took all the aids we had, he was calm enough to go back to bed for his much needed extra sleep.
God is so precious. I would call His comments to me of, "Are you really going to let snot defeat you," to be a loving chastisement. I had not realized we had let it get the best of us, succumbing to its harassment by letting it dominate our lives.
Steve's resolve to stay ahead of it was God's way of telling Steve the same thing He told me, but in a way that he would muster up courage and strength and become the head again and stop being the tail.
To be honest, after the sleepless night and hearing and seeing my loved one in such misery made me feel like I was the tail and I was barely holding on to the tip of that tail.
God is faithful. He always gets his messages across to us.
He sure knows how to shock me into action. All He had to do was use the word "snot."
There's not a thing wrong with that word. It's just that I was not raised hearing it so it's strange to my hearing.
We've declared a war on snot. See, I can use it, too, and not feel badly for it. But I do know that we need to gain victory over its harassment in our lives. Using all of the aids available at the proper time is the secret.
Steve got his message at the same time I did. His admonition was in the words he could understand and my admonition was in words that would spur me to action.
God knows all of us inside and out and He knows what words will bring us from the tail back up to the head again. I never imagined the word He would use, but Our Dad always knows best.
Whatever is harassing you in your life, don't let it be your master. You need to become its master. Thus saith the Lord.
