Quick update

I went to Dana-Farber yesterday and saw Dr. Berlin and the research nurses. Being in a clinical trial, I am seen by the doctor and the research team each week I have chemo. The CA-125 test is done once at the beginning of each round of chemo- so it was done on October 3rd and was 119. Yesterday it was 161. Dr. Berlin says not to be too concerned about it - that the real evaluator of how well the chemo is working will be the CT scan which is scheduled for Friday November 7, the week I don't have chemo. Of course, they do like to see the number come down. But I was told to just let it be for now and not worry about it since it is too early in the treatment to tell anything from those numbers. By the way, I am losing some hair but nothing dramatic - I have a huge amount so if the hair loss continues at this rate, I might not need to use a wig for a while. We'll see - hair loss is really not a huge issue now that I have been through it.

I read this excerpt from Twelve Baskets Full by Watchman Nee - it is very sweet and encouraging:

To have a true walk with God just one time can cause your heart to marvel and worship more than a hundred years of walking on this earth by natural sight. Your duty is to be at rest in God's hand under whatever circumstances there may be.

God reveals Himself when we are in need (Exo. 15:22-26). When we consider ourselves to be strong, we rely on our own strength, resulting in spiritual weakness. When we know how useless we are and thus rely on His strength, we are strong.

Difficulties provide the atmosphere for miracles and are the initial step to miracles. If there is to be a great miracle, what is encountered must not only be something hard, but something absolutely impossible to overcome. Whether the Lord has spoken or not, we can fully trust in a Savior who is without worry or fear.

If God leads you to walk a way that you know, it will not benefit you as much as if He would lead you to take the way that you do not know. This forces you to have hundreds and thousands of conversations with Him, resulting in a journey that is an everlasting memorial between you and Him.

Your Leader will lead you to walk an untrodden way, to go down a path you never dreamed of. He is afraid of nothing, and He wishes you to be afraid of nothing also. He is with you. In desperate situations it is His joy to see His children grasping His hands.

Enjoy the journey today!

Joanne