6-Month Check-Up

In case any of you happen to think to check this blog or stumble on it by accident (like Suzanne from Colorado did recently), I thought I should give you the 6-month update. (Yes, it has actually been six months since this all
started!) The good news is, all of my check-ups came back clear!!! We're so thankful!!! It was a little unnerving to start back through the medical system again - waiting for test results, meeting with doctors, etc. It does bring back memories. For the most part, we had been able to put the cancer behind us since my radiation was finished in July and kind of hated to be reminded of it again. (Even though there's always just a little hint of it at the back of your mind.)

So, we praise the Lord that we're able to move on with our "normal" lives for another 6 months! What we want to take from this experience is to be reminded of God's faithfulness and goodness, rather than having it leave us with a sense of anxiety about what could have happened or what might still be to come. "Yet will I exult in the Lord, I will rejoice in the God of my salvation." Hab.3:18

Just a bit of "normal" news - We're halfway through the first semester of our new teacher education program and things are going well. We're excited to have 26 students! Ron and I, plus Kris and Kym, will spend Thanksgiving with my folks in Modoc. Ryan (Kristy's boyfriend from Denver) will join us for the rest of the weekend back in Elyria. We're excited that all the kids (along with Ryan) will be here for Christmas! We trust each of you will have a wonderful holiday season. I'll try to be more faithful in updating this site with family information now that there's less need for health information.
We're thankful to be able to get back to our daily lives. Mundane is good!

-Cindy

A note from Kansas (via Colorado)....

We're finished with my radiation treatments! It actually went very quickly. For the future, I'll be on medication for five years and have 6 month check-ups for 2-3 years. The outcome for me is nothing compared to many people with breast cancer. We're very thankful to the Lord!

You haven't heard from Ron yet, so I'll let him finish out this blog (since those of you who know him know how he loves to talk!) Thank you, everyone, for your support, encouragement and prayers. You've been such a blessing!

Ron's Thots

My heart has been refreshed through these past several months. God has given peace and contentment just as He said he would. I have been reminded He has mine and Cindy's best interests in mind as He has entrusted her cancer to us. It has not been a happy time, but He never promises happiness. Rather He supplies joy in knowing that our trust in His plan brings glory to Him and benefit to us. Thank you for being used of the Father to minister to us to bring glory to Him. May He bless each one of you greatly!

(This message has been approved by Cindy!)

" I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth!"

Half-Way!

We're now officially half-way through my radiation treatments as of last Friday! I'm still doing amazingly well, with no side effects (not even dry skin). I was able to do a major garage sale this past weekend, with the help of Ron, my sister Kathy, and three of her grandkids (Jessie, Kelsey, and T.J.). The kids are lots of fun, so we made a real party out of it!

Thank you for your continued prayers as we make the 50 mile drive each day. Ron has gone with me most of the time to keep me company. He's been great through this, as he always is. We appreciate everyone's encouragement and concern so much!

"Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised!"

Ron and Cindy

Making progress....

Just a quick update - Thursday, June 12, is the one-third mark for my
radiation treatments! Yay - I know I can do this now! As of yet, the only side
effect has been a slight "sunburn" at the end of last week, which healed
over the weekend. There will probably be some down days physically in the
next few weeks, but right now I'm rejoicing at being back to normal! I woke
up this morning feeling like I could really accomplish something for the first
time since my first biopsy two months ago.

Thank you all for the continued cards and notes, acts of kindness, and gifts.
It's such a blessing that you keep on encouraging us even though the initial
concern is over! We're enjoying our quiet summer days at home. My
treatments are at 8:45 in the morning so the rest of the day is
uninteruppted. We go to work a couple of days a week. The final hurdle of
our teacher education project (after four years) is approval by the State
Board of Education, which meets Wednesday, June 11. Then, hopefully,
we'll have real, live students this fall! And yet again, "I will bless the Lord at
all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth!"

We love you all. May God bless you - Cindy and Ron

Since several of you have asked about my radiation treatments....

We're finally set to go this Thursday. I've met with the radiation oncologists in Hutchinson twice. The first was a consultation and yesterday they prepared for setting up the computer specific to my treatment. I was measured, x-rayed, cat-scanned, and tattooed. Yes, I said tattooed! I actually got them before any of my kids (I think)! They're really just small dots, but I don't plan on getting others any time soon - they hurt!

I'll be having 6 1/2 weeks of radiation (a total of 33 times), five days a week. The drive to Hutchinson will take longer than the radiation! They don't anticipate any major side effects. (Of course, the permission form I had to sign was a bit frightening!) Please pray for minimal side effects and for safety in traveling the 50 miles daily. We're just excited to be starting so we can get it done! We're very thankful to be doing this over the summer rather than during the school year. The doctors tell me that a year from now we'll hardly remember the last couple of months at all. The Lord is so good! We pray for His blessings to all of you!

Ron and Cindy

Update from Cindy

We wanted to give you all an update since there hasn't been any news to report lately. We had our first visit with the oncologist late last week. I'll be having about six weeks of radiation (five days a week) along with five years of medication. We're very happy to be on the up side of this process, dealing with prevention rather than the cancer!

Its hard to imagine, but this has been a very positive experience for us in many ways. We've been so touched by the way all of you have lifted us up and very thankful for the Lord's grace to us! A reminder of our total dependence on Him!

We have our first appointment with the radiation oncologist this Thursday.
Please pray for safety as we make the daily drive to Hutchinson (25 minutes each way) for the next six weeks. All for a ten-minute treatment!
But, we're thankful that it will be during the summer when our schedule is totally flexible. Also pray that my blood pressure will return to its nearly perfect pre-cancer rate. Somehow, whenever I see a doctor or nurse coming towards, my blood pressure goes up! Probably because I've had some not-so-fun experiences with them lately!

May the Lord bless each of you for your messages on the blog, the stacks of cards, meals, visits, gifts and flowers to cheer me, and especially for your prayers! You all mean so much to us. I'll let you know how I do with the radiation, but from what we've been told I don't anticipate much in the way of side effects. Ron and I are empty nesters for the summer, again, as Kym left for camp in Colorado on Saturday. Matt and his family, Kristy and her boyfriend, and Kym and some friends from camp will all be coming in this week for Kym's graduation from Central. Jennifer will be visiting the following week to encourage me as I begin the radiation. We have such wonderful children, grandchildren, friends, and family!

"Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised!"

Ron and Cindy

Note from Cindy

Thank you so much for your special messages and the many prayers! (Not to mention the phone calls, cards, visits, gifts, and meals.) We appreciate all of you so much! Needless to say, we're very thankful to know that the doctors feel the cancer cells were all removed, along with a wide margin of tissue around the areas. We really feel that this wonderful gift from the Lord is an answer to everyone's prayers! I'm doing very well - almost completely pain free, though I still get pretty tired. The next step is radiation, probably starting around the first of June. We know that will be another challenge, but believe deeply in God's faithfulness. He is good "all the time!"

Ron, Cindy and Family

Great News

Just a short - but happy - update on Mom. The tissue taken during the surgery was tested and the pathology results were favorable. Needless to say, we are relieved and thankful.

So, the next step is radiation. Sometime thereafter, they will look into reconstruction options.

Thanks for your concern and support!

-Jennifer

Thankful

A brief update on Mom: she ended up being released last night, thankfully. There was a bit of discomfort and drama post-op, but Kym and Dad persisted and she arrived home around 9:00 p.m. I spoke with her briefly last night and again this morning, and she sounds fairly strong. The pain is manageable, which is much to be grateful for. She had a little trouble sleeping; however, it seemed to be primarily from the cold she appears to have contracted, rather than because of discomfort from the surgical site. I think it is safe to say that she is relieved to have the surgery behind her. We very much hope to have the pathology report tomorrow, and that it confirms the doctors' initial finding of early stage, contained cells.

Thanks for all of the messages we continue to receive, and for your kind support and prayers on her behalf.

-Jennifer

Surgery Over

I do not have many details yet, but Mom came through the surgery well, and the surgeon is pleased with the procedure.

Kym and Dad had not yet had a chance to see her at the time I spoke with them, but were told she was in a fair amount of pain and still waking up. The surgeon was amenable to her going home tonight, if she wanted to do so. I do not know what will be decided. He believes he will have the pathology results by Friday - it would be great if we don't have to wait through the weekend without some feedback.

If there are further developments this evening, I will write another post. Otherwise, this step seems to be behind us, thankfully.

Best,
Jennifer

The waiting continues.

Just a short note to let you know that the 12:30 surgery was moved to 1:30. It is now being projected for approximately 4:00 p.m. CST, so it has not yet started. Mom's been advised that the procedure will likely run 1.5 - 2 hours.

Hopefully, I'll have some news to share early this evening.

-Jennifer

And now, a note from Cindy...

Hi everyone! We're very thankful for the good report yesterday and to be getting on with the surgery tomorrow. We feel very confident in the doctors, and know we're completely secure in God's hands. Please pray for Ron's head congestion, continued peace, skill for the doctors, and ease in waking up from the anesthesia since I've had a "not so good" experience previously. (And that the doctors will get a good night's sleep tonight!) We love and appreciate you all. Thanks so much for caring.

Cindy

This Week's Plan

Encouraging news today: the lumpectomy is back on the calendar, scheduled for Wednesday. In short, they plan to remove more tissue than originally thought, to be conservative, but the worst of the newer spots appear to just be pre-cancerous, as opposed to the original spots - those considered to be carcinoma in situ. Of course we'd prefer not to be thinking about any of this, but are glad that the situation doesn't seem to have taken a turn for the worse. Mom is glad that the direction appeared clear and that she will be able to have the surgery done this week.

She is tentatively scheduled for 12:30, subject to the progress of the morning's other surgeries. As soon as I have news to share, I will post an update to this blog.

Naturally, they will test the tissue removed and the pathology results will help to determine whether lymph nodes also need to be taken, chemotherapy is indicated, further surgery recommended, etc. Hopefully, we'll have those results Friday or Monday.

Thanks again for all of your kind messages of encouragement and for your prayers.

-Jennifer

Message from Cindy....

Hi everyone! Thanks so much for all the prayers and messages of encouragement. We appreciate you all so much! We've had our moments of "high adrenaline rush" with all the waiting these past three weeks, but we really are doing very well. We have every reason to be optimistic about the outcome, with the cancer being caught at an early stage, and definitely know that God is in control. We trust in him. We're hoping to have all of the diagnostic information late this afternoon and be able to make some decisions about treatment soon. I'm all for getting this over with as quickly as possible!

"I will bless the Lord at all times. His praise shall continually be in my mouth!" - Psalm 34:1

(Cindy)

Another Week Down...

On Tuesday and Thursday, Mom had biopsies of three additional spots. The procedures went smoothly and she was advised that the results from the first were fairly promising, all things considered, and showed that the spot was only "pre-cancerous." They have an appointment with their current surgeon on Monday afternoon and will discuss the results of the last two biopsies, at that time. So, we do not yet know the full extent of the surgery that will need to be completed. If they are able to stick with the originally planned lumpectomy, it will be done on Wedesday. Otherwise, it may be necessary to delay it a bit longer, consult with another surgeon, discuss options, etc.

She is keeping her spirits up. Kristy is visiting them this weekend, which I am sure will be a cheerful distraction.

I will post another update after I learn the results of Monday's discussion with the surgeon.

Thanks, much.

Jennifer