Home for Thanksgiving!

Because of all your prayers and petitions, I was home for Thanksgiving with my family and friends. Even though the floor I stayed on is very "spa-like", home is most definitely better! I am feeling the side effects of the chemo - so please pray for less nausea/fatigue as the Lord leads.

I had to go into Dana-Farber yesterday to have IV fluids since I was so dehydrated from the nausea/vomiting etc. from the chemo. I feel MUCH better today.

I found this hymn for Thanksgiving that I thought I'd share with you: it might be a repeat from last year - please forgive me if it is:
Here is a link to the tune: http://www.hymnal.net/hymn.php?t=h&n=1342&f=mid

Our praise we are bringing
With hearts of thanksgiving,
With joy and with singing,
We thank You, O Lord.
Your goodness surrounds us,
Your power astounds us.
Our wonder abounds as
We thank You, O Lord.
Behind and before us,
You heal and restore us,
Your love evermore is
Our strength and our song.
Our praise we are bringing
With hearts of thanksgiving,
With joy and with singing
We thank You, O Lord.

For laughter and living,
Receiving and giving,
For love so suplifting,
We thank You, O Lord!
So freely You bless us,
You daily refresh us
Through people so precious.
We thank You, O Lord!
For tenderly caring,
For guiding and sharing,
For giving, for bearing
Through all of our needs.
Our praise we are bringing
With hearts of thanksgiving,
With joy and with singing
We thank You, O Lord.

The Bible is full of verses about how good it is to give thanks to the Lord, or to be thankful. Thank you Lord for Your bountiful supply which You so richly pour out on us daily.

Love you,
Joanne

Chemotherapy Tomorrow

My mom was moved over to the Connors wing at the Brigham and is back on floor 7. She calls it "the spa". She found out today that she will begin chemotherapy tomorrow. Her note to me says "I will be having chemo tomorrow-carboplatin and taxol. I was on these drugs before I had the IP chemo. Please ask the saints to pray for a complete defeat of the cancer." These two drugs have been tough in terms of side effects as well and my mom is getting ready to say goodbye to her hair. She will receive the chemo over 4 hours tomorrow and will probably be released to go home on Wednesday. Another treatment option they are considering is radiation to deal with the tumor under the duodenum but they will begin with the chemo tomorrow. Please pray that the chemo shrinks and kills the tumors.

Thank you for your continued prayer and support.

Stent Procedure Update

My dad just called to let me know that the procedure was over and my mom is now resting. The doctors believe it was successful. My mom was awake during most of it which was somewhat uncomfortable but regardless they completed the procedure. My dad mentioned that the doctor performing the procedure was Dr. Carr-Locke who is an expert in his field. He was able to put in two stents which overlapped and would allow to expansion. Two stents were necessary because of the length of the narrowed portion of the intestine affected by tumors. They were able to take the NG tube out and release some of the gas pressure which was good. Now, she is just resting from the endoscopic procedure and will work on getting her strength back so she can begin chemotherapy to shrink the tumors. She will begin with a diet of clear liquids and move to whole liquids. The hope is she will be ready to begin chemo sometime next week.

She now has three teams working on her case, the cancer team, the OB/GYN team, and now the GI team. She will be moving from the "Towers" at Brigham to the cancer floor in Connors. There she will have a private room and we know most of the nurses.

Thank you for continued prayer and support. We will keep you updated. If you are interested in visiting, please contact my dad or Mrs. Connors as they will have the most up-to-date information about how my mom is feeling and whether or not she can receive guests.

Thank you for your care for our family. My mom mentioned that she can sense the love of the Body.

Anna

Intestinal Stent Procedure

Today at 3:45pm my mom will have a stent procedure done. The doctors found tumors outside the upper part of her small intestine are pressing against it causing irritation and compromising proper function. Rather than surgery, they will do an endoscopic procedure in which they will place a stent in that part of the intestine to push it open and fortify it. The doctor is supposed to be one of the best but there is some concern that the the stent will shift or will not settle in the correct place. Please pray that the doctors are successful with the placement and that the stent helps restore the function of the small intestine so my mom can eat. They were hoping to begin chemotherapy today but cannot until she is able to eat.

The NG tube is still in place although 1000ml of fluid have been drained. My mom is still uncomfortable and somewhat anxious that about the procedure. Please pray for her comfort and her peace as well as the effectiveness of this stent.

Thank you.

Anna

Text received from my mom at 9:50AM

"Pls pray-pain is unbearable from nose tube. O Lord!"

They can't take out the tube until 1PM.

Thanks for praying.

NG Tube

My mom had an NG tube put in at 3:30AM to drain the fluid from her stomach. She is very uncomfortable but said that the NG tube has relieved some pressure and helped ease her nausea. Hopefully it will only remain in while her stomach drains. Doctors will meet today and give her their observations and recommendations. Pray that they are able to come to a swift decision and determine an effective course of action.

Thank you.

Update

I just spoke with my mom. She has a bad stomach ache and has heard no results from today's test. The doctors will be meeting tomorrow to discuss her case and make a recommendation for going forward. She wishes she could eat and asked that you pray that she would be able to rest.

Thanks.

Anna

Please pray.

From Anna:

On Sunday, my mom was brought to the emergency room because she was having abdominal pain and could not keep any food down. Her oncologist suspected some kind of bowel obstruction and sent her to the hospital. The doctors did another CT scan and an ultrasound but did not find the cause of the obstruction. My mom is in pain and is uncomfortable. She has been unable to take anything in. Tuesday, doctors deliberated on the next step and there was some disagreement concerning whether to perform an endoscopy (which is a scope of the digestive tract from the top). The oncologist wanted the procedure done and the gastroenterologist felt that the procedure was unnecessary. The oncologist prevailed and yesterday my mom had the endoscopy which did reveal what they believe to be the cause of the blockage. There appears to be a tumor or piece of scar tissue on the duodenem which connects the stomach to the rest of the small intestine. They were able to take some biopsies although they are not sure they actually biopsied the right tissue. Biopsy results take time and none have come back yet. Today, my mom did a barium swallow with a goal of tracking the path of the barium through a series of x-ray images. Unfortunately, this test was inconclusive because as her bowel system is obstructed, the barium did not move and has settled in her stomach.

Please pray for the doctors to gain some conclusive insight into what this obstruction is and to quickly determine a treatment plan. Pray that my mom would be a strong advocate for herself and that the communication between the doctors would be clear. Also, pray that the pain would be managed. My mom has not been able to eat, so please also pray that her system would not become too depleted and that she would be strong for the next step. Pray too for my dad as he cares for Elizabeth and my grandmother.

Thank you for your continued love and support. We appreciate the supply through the members of the Body.

Feel free to contact me with any questions: ms.annaharris@gmail.com

Anna

CT results

Hi Everyone,
I spent a rather eventful day at Brigham and Women's Hospital - I've been having a lot of stomach pain and Dr. Berlin recommended I go to the ER in case I had a bowel obstruction. I spent all day there and - they did not find any obstruction! I am still in some pain but thankful that there is no obstruction. I see Dr. Berlin tomorrow to discuss the details of the CT scan, but she called me last night and basically said "things are not moving in the direction we had hoped" so I have to go off the study drug and go on one of more standard chemo drugs starting next week, I think. I will have more details after speaking with Dr. Berlin tomorrow.

I walked out of the hospital and I had this chorus on my heart.

God is good all the time
He put a song of praise in this heart of mine
God is good all the time
Through the darkest night, His light will shine
God is good, God is good all the time

AMEN!

I'd better go to bed - I'll give an update after my meeting with Dr. Berlin. Thank you all for your continued prayers - I am sustained, uplifted and refreshed by them.

Much love,
Joanne

The Will of God

Hi Everyone,
I've been kind of fatigued with the chemo rounds but this week I am "off", and have a CT scan today to determine the effectiveness of this chemo. I have had 2 complete rounds (4 doses). I believe they will measure the tumor sites and see if they have changed - if they are the same size or smaller or have not grown more than 20%, I will continue on the trial. However, if they have grown more than 20%, most likely I will be put on another drug. I'll keep you posted. They are usually not very prompt about giving me CT scan results - so I may not hear anything until next week. This chemo has been very manageable, which is a real treat. I really forget that I am on it most days -- I am working with the nurses to manage some of the side effects - headache, diarrhea, and stomach pain can be treated with over the counter meds, but I often forget to take something. They strongly advised that I use these drugs so that I am not suffering from the chemo. My mom came home from the nursing home yesterday and is doing okay except for another flare up of the shingles blisters.

This week I have been thinking a lot about God's will. We have had some lively discussions in our family about God's perfect will and God's permissive will. This is somewhat confusing to me. So, I did some research. Here are a few verses from the New Testament:

Ephesians 5:17, Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.

Colossians 1:9, Therefore we also, since the day we heard of it, do not cease praying and asking on your behalf that you may be filled with the full knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding,

Romans 12:1-2, “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service. And be not fashioned according to this world, but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God.”

Matthew 6:10, Your kingdom come; Your will be done, as in heaven, so also on earth.

I read something from the book The Experience of Life, chapter 8, which helped me:

When we speak of God’s will, we must trace it to the desire of His heart. Ephesians 1:5-12 is one of the most important portions in the Bible concerning the will of God. It says that God in eternity has a plan, which is according to His good pleasure. This portion mentions three related items: “purpose,” “pleasure,” and “will.” Pleasure is of the heart, since the heart is an organ for delight. God has a heart as well as man. Therefore, God also has things of His pleasure, delight, and affection, which means that He also has His heart desire.

To attain His pleasure, He has a plan which He purposed to fulfill to reach His goal. This purpose is His will. Therefore, God’s will and His heart desire are the same. Anything not touching God’s heart desire is not His will.

For example, the Bible reveals that God’s heart desire from eternity is a group of people as the companions of His Son. To reach this goal, God planned the creation of heaven, earth, and man according to His pleasure. Then He created everything according to His plan. At that time creation became His will.

Plainly speaking, God’s will is His heart desire, planned according to His pleasure. From His viewpoint, anything hidden in God is His heart desire. From our viewpoint, when His heart desire is executed upon us, it becomes His will. Therefore, the will of God which comes upon us is His heart desire, because His will is derived from His heart desire.

Hence, if we want to understand the will of God, the preliminary requirement is that we must know the eternal plan of God. We must be clear concerning what God is going to do on this earth, in this age, and in this locality. When we are clear about these matters, then we are qualified to touch the will of God and ascertain what His will is for us today.

Some brothers and sisters, who are indeed born again and realize that they are God’s children, are ignorant and even unconcerned about what God is doing in this universe, what His economy is on this earth, and what His move is for this day. They themselves, their daily living, and their business as well are all for themselves, not for God. They are completely outside of God’s economy. Yet they pray daily for God’s will in their own living, behavior, and career. Consequently, the result of their inquiry is something of their own will, not God’s will. They neither know nor are they in the plan of God. Any such person has no way of understanding the will of God.

To understand the will of God, the basic problem we must solve is to realize that God, to whom we belong and whom we serve, has a great plan in the universe. He desires a group of people for the building up of the Body of Christ and a corporate man to be the mystical Bride of His Son. Furthermore, we need to know what God would do in our locality. If we touch the plan of God and place ourselves into the plan of God in this manner, we are taking God’s economy as our career. Thus, when we engage in business, teach, or whatever we do, we are for God’s economy; our entire living and all our actions are for His economy. Then we shall have the ground and qualification to touch God’s will and be clear about His guidance regarding all the affairs of our daily life.

Therefore, each one of us should first ask ourselves: Do I clearly see the economy of God on this earth? Do I really see what God desires to do in this locality today? Even though we pursue the growth of life, the fellowship in life, and the presence of the Lord, yet without knowing His economy, these afford us but a little spiritual enjoyment for ourselves and fall short of the will of God.

Before we see the plan of God, though He is in charge of our affairs and our living, we are only under God’s providential care, not under His will. When we have seen God’s plan, we dare not use the term “God’s will” in a light manner. We will not carelessly refer to trivial situations as being God’s will. We can only speak of these matters in general as God’s care for us.

This really helped me to realize that everything God does is according to His plan, His purpose. Everything we do must also be according to His will - His economy. Oh Lord, may we all gain you today, and having our being and our living according to Your heart's desire, Your purpose and Your plan.

Here is a favorite hymn of mine about the sweet will of God.

1 My stubborn will at last hath yielded;
I would be Thine, and Thine alone,
And this the prayer my lips are bringing,
"Lord, let in me Thy will be done."

Sweet will of God, still fold me closer,
Till I am wholly lost in Thee;
Sweet will of God, still fold me closer,
Till I am wholly lost in Thee.

2 I'm tired of sin, footsore and weary,
The darksome path hath dreary grown,
But now a light has ris'n to cheer me;
I find in Thee my Star, my Sun.

3 Thy precious will, O conqu'ring Savior,
Doth now embrace and compass me;
All discords hushed, my peace a river,
My soul a prisoned bird set free.

4 Shut in with Thee, O Lord, forever,
My wayward feet no more to roam;
What pow'r from Thee my soul can sever?
The center of God's will my home.

Amen, Lord - May Your will be done in us.

Much love,

Joanne