Grace for Every Hurdle

“So Spirit, come, put strength in every stride, Give grace for every hurdle, That we may run with faith to win the prize, Of a servant good and faithful." (Getty, "O Church Arise")

"And from His fullness we have all received grace upon grace." John 1:16

Today is "Jingle Bell" Day! As I finish up my 6 rounds of the tough chemo I get to ring the brass bell in the Cancer Center. I've struggled with whether I should or shouldn't ring it. Part of me did not want to because it would seem odd to ring the bell and then say, "See you in three weeks!" But then I realized I needed to praise the Lord with that bell for his "grace upon grace" to me as I complete this hurdle.
As I continue this journey I am looking towards the next hurdles. It's been a hard 2 weeks of confusing comments from doctors about the next step. And when I called and asked them to please meet and come to a consensus, it seemed to irritate them. We are still praying about the possibility of doing more surgery, Spring Break at the earliest. Both surgeons and the radiation oncologist felt, as I did, that we need to try and go back in to get "clear margins" if possible. Now they are telling me their recommendation is to do the surgery only if I want the reconstruction and not for getting clear margins. It is very confusing, but I know that our God is not the author of confusion. He will make it clear in his own time.
I will begin doing just the Herceptin alone on Jan. 12. The other hurdle they introduced was the possibility of starting me on a chemo pill 4x a day called Tykerb. It works similarly to the Herceptin to block the Her2 so there is a chance the insurance company will not approve it. The possible side effects are moderate to severe and nothing I would want to endure. This was a big shock to me, but not to My God. My timber markers also went up again by 6 and a half points. This represents a cancer antigen marker and you do not want to see this go up. He will check it again in 3 weeks to see if it has dropped or continued to rise. Thanks for your prayers for wisdom as we look ahead to the New Year.
Thanks to all of the dear ladies that are spending some of their vacation time to purchase or make meals for us. All of your Christmas cards and verses have been so encouraging. I would very much like to be at church on Sunday morning because Joey is playing his marimba solo for the offertory. We hope you and your families have a blessed Christmas season!