Glory
God Most High appeared to King Solomon one night and said, "ask for whatever you want me to give you."
Solomon didn't ask God for 24 hours to consider his response. He answered immediately from his heart. "You showed kindness to my father David before me. You have made me king over your chosen people, Israel. Give me wisdom and knowledge to lead your people."
God answered, "Since this is your heart's desire and you have not asked for wealth, riches or honor, nor for the death of your enemies, and since you have not asked for a long life but for wisdom and knowledge to govern my people over whom I have made you king, therefore wisdom and knowledge will be given you. And I will also give you wealth, riches and honor, such as no king who was before you ever had and none after you will have."
If God were to appear and present this offer to me today, my answer would be, "please make my daughter, Valerie, a powerful witness to the truth." I think God likes short answers.
This was Jesus' last command to us before He ascended to the Father. You shall be my witness to the ends of the Earth. He was a faithful witness and now it is our turn. For the redeemed of God, every moment of every day you are commanded to be a witness for Jesus Christ. That's it.
Last Friday, we met with Dr. Sue Hanks from USC to discuss using Sir Spheres to kill the tumors in Val's liver. USC started doing this procedure last November. Dr. Hanks has done it twice. We are not aware of anyone who has used it for cholangio on the west coast.
The use of Sir Spheres is a door that God has bid us to open. We have opened it and walked through. There are more doors yet to be opened. Albumen level must be above 2.0. A shunt study and arterial mapping must be done.
We have contacted several doctors around the country who are experienced with this procedure. Dr. Imigawa from UC Irvine, Dr. Kennedy from Wake Radiological Oncology, Dr. Salem from Northwestern, Dr. Geller from U. of Penn.
We have an appointment with Dr. David Rose from UCSD on 1/30. So far, it looks like he has the most experience in Southern California.
Charlene is working to get an approval from the insurance company.
Our goal is to get enough information to make a decision on the use of this procedure in fighting Val's disease.
Val continues to be troubled by pain, fatigue, and ascites. She has a stent change scheduled for this Friday at 9:30 am. at Cedars Sinai. This is a long outpatient day.
A CT scan and pain management appointment at USC was re-scheduled from tomorrow to next week. At this point, it looks like we will also be cancelling her shunt study and arterial mapping scheduled for 1/23 at USC. I know these committments are tough to keep but I hate to see us lose any ground in this battle.
Also, Nancy is working on finding the right dose of Ambrotose, a holistic medicine. Finally, we are looking at Low Dose Naltrexone that apparently has been used as an immune system builder.
There are so many sides of this war that it sometimes gets overwhelming, especially for Valerie. Please pray that we always remember that our God is with us in the unseen world of our lives. He sees the doors that are yet to be opened. He bids us to come. To open the door. To trust Him with all our tomorrows.
In I Corinthians 13:12, Paul makes the giant leap from time to eternity; "Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love."
Why, Paul, is love the greatest?
Because you take it with you to Heaven beloved.
And we shall behold Him.
In the Rogers & Hammerstein musical "Carousel", there is a song whose lyrics speak of lost opportunities. Don't miss your golden moments today.
If I loved you Time and again I would try to say All I’d want you to know
If I loved you Words wouldn’t come In an easy way Round in circles I’d go
Longing to tell you But afraid and shy I let my golden moments Pass me by
Soon you’d leave me, Off you would go In the mist of day, Never never to know How I loved you
If I loved you
May all praise and honor and glory go to the immortal, invisible God of all ages.
posted by McCrea Family at 1:13 PM
5 Comments:
My husband had cholangiocarcinoma and Dr. Charles Nutting in Denver treated him twice in 2005 with SIR spheres. The proceedure and recooperation were "relatively" easy. The worst part was that he had to stay about a yard away from everyone for several days because he was radioactive. My husband also had very good luck with the drug erbitux. It shrunk his tumor enough so that they could resection his liver. Erbitux works like Avastin and was approved for colon cancer. You may want to look at a test drug called Trail R-1 (R-2??) that was showing promise for this type of cancer.
Keep up the praying and keep up your spirits. New drugs are constantly being tested. Miracles happen everyday.
Val,
I am thinking of you today and praying for a quick recovery from your stent replacement surgery on Friday. I think about you everyday and pray for your spirits to be lifted up.
It makes my heart hurt when I think of you in pain. I am hoping that the pain specialist has you on a good regimine to combat the pain.
Remember miracles do happen every day. My dad is going on 4 years post diagnosis. He was NOT a surgicial candidate and they gave litte hope for him upon diagnosis. His cancer had spread and they treated him systemically with both radiation and chemo.
Today he is doing well and he is praying for you to have the same recovery
God is with you through this journey.
I believe in you Val,
Love,
Marianne
P.S. Mark sends his love to you too!
Hey Val, I think about you and pray for you all the time. I'm sorry that you are going through all of this, but miracles do happen all the time, new drugs are constantly coming out, and the Lord can heal you and I believe that He will!! I would love to see you some time. It's been a while.
Michelle Greer
To The McCrea's - We are just across the street but do not see you that often. I hope you know that we send prayers on the wind daily and think of you more often than you know. We are in this fight with you, albeit quietly.
Love, The Ensor's
Val,
I am praying for you today as you have your stent replacement surgery. Feel God's arms wrapped around you as you enter the room. Remember you are never alone.
Happy Anniversary tomorrow!
Did you get to see Deanna and her new baby Hunter yesterday? I imagine he is very cute and cuddly.
I miss you Val,
Love,
Marianne
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