What A Lady! What A Blessing!

Many of you have read about my friend Patti's battle with breast cancer. She recently had a double mastectomy and after her 2nd chemo treatment was hospitalized for a terrible abdominal infection and other things. Well, she was released to go home on Labor day after an eleven day stay at St. Joseph's hospital in Tampa. Her journal entry today has so encouraged me and has touched my heart beyond words. Please read and be blessed with me! I'm so happy to be able to post this most recent photo of her, taken just this week since her arrival home. I wanted you all to see her in her new, blonde wig which her insurance paid for. She is absolutely gorgeous! She doesn't look as though she has just been released from the hospital, does she? . God is so good!
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Dear Friends and Family,

Today was my 3rd treatment! Yippee...only 1 more to go!! Whoo-hoo!

If we stay on schedule, the last one will be Sept. 27th in 3 weeks. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. :-)

Dr. Weaver (my oncologist) decided this morning to go ahead with treatement as scheduled since I am feeling great and doing so well. He had consulted with my surgeon, and they thought as long as I'm feeling fine to go ahead. The surgeon did say that if I have a flair up of the diverticulitis again soon, it would probably mean surgery sooner than we planned (a few weeks after the last treatment is what he's hoping for).

So I am not going to take the stronger pain medications anymore since they had such a big part in contributing to the last hospital stay. I did need the red cell shot today because they were low, and will have to go tomorrow (Friday) for the white cell shot because they were too high....and that is the shot that give such bad flu-like aches.

So my prayer is that I will be ok not using the pain meds....would you please pray for that for me? This week I can take over the counter meds for pain; but starting next Thursday, 1 week out, I can't take the strong ones because they could mask the bacterial infection. We'll just pray and ask the Lord to get me through without those stronger drugs.

How blessed I feel when I go to the oncologist's office. There are so many people there that are such worse shape than me that I can't help but be thankful for "my" problems.

I was telling my choir last night that even though I do not know what the future holds for me, I have determined in my heart to keep the attitude that Job had:

"The Lord giveth, and taketh away; Blessed be the Name of the Lord."

Whatever test the Lord is putting me through, I do not want a C or even a B, but I want an A+! I have just made up my mind to make the best of it (I've always wanted to be a blonde!) and leave the rest up to the Lord.

Thank you again, dear friends, for taking the time to pray for me. It means so much to me that you would do that. My prayer is that the Lord will be glorified in everything that I do and say, and that people can see Jesus in me. That is my heart's desire.

Love to you all,

Patti