Update 4/4/24: Catching Up

Philippians 4:6-7 “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

After a few texts from others looking for an update, I realized I have failed to keep everyone up to date. Honestly, after months of cancer treatments, the last month has been a marathon of trying to catch up around the house and in life now that I’m slowly feeling better. Remember Covid? Of course, who can forget the virus that turned all of our lives upside down. But if you had Covid, remember how physically drained you felt? I have felt that way after treatments. I felt like I was walking through thick mud the past few months. I had to keep moving forward because being a mom and a caregiver doesn’t stop. I’m sure all the moms out there get that.

Needless to say, I fell behind with the house. I’m slowly reorganizing and putting our life “back together”. I say that in quotes because our life “back together” doesn’t look anything like before. In some ways, that is a good thing. In other ways, we have had to mourn some losses that seem to be permanently different, like Wayne’s communication. If you knew Wayne before brain cancer, you know he was a talker. He loved road trips because he not only loved seeing the country, it gave us hours to talk. Sadly, our car rides now are quieter. Instead of hours of talking, we spend time listening to music and books. Neither of those are bad, it’s just different and we both feel the loss. 

One thing Wayne and I have been doing lately is going to the gym together. He takes the elevator upstairs to walk while I go downstairs to the gym or pool to exercise. I reward myself most days with a visit to the infrared sauna. I’m excited to let everyone know that Wayne has worked up from 4 laps to 14 laps (1 mile). He jokes that his one mile took him as long as an elite athlete to run a marathon. But, he made it to a mile, which is huge. 

Update Wayne: As I mentioned, Wayne’s ability to walk has been slightly improving. He is doing so well that we recently had a few friends take off the wheelchair lift gate from our minivan. Last week, Wayne had an evaluation for outpatient PT and speech at Clark Hospital. He has improved enough that he “graduated” from home health PT. While we were there, the speech pathologist offered to get Wayne an iPad with a program that will help him with his speech. Wayne and I are very excited about the potential this provides him! As she said, it’s not to replace him from speaking, but to help when he’s struggling to clearly communicate what he needs or wants. 

So what’s next for Wayne? He is scheduled in a couple weeks in Chicago to have an in person appointment. I think they’d like to eventually do an MRI to see what is going on, but Wayne doesn’t want one. He’s told me that he is just trusting God with the outcome. 

Funny story: Wayne got stuck in the elevator at the gym. He took it in stride and it didn’t even bother him. The team responded quickly. I didn’t even know what happened. I had called Wayne to tell him to meet me at the car. I went to the pool to get Shan. By the time we got upstairs, Wayne was already “rescued” and was waiting for us at the car. 

Wayne at his PT/speech assessment

A friend brought over virtual reality glasses for Wayne to try. He thought it would be a fun thing for Wayne to try since he has limited ability. It was fun to try…Wayne even visited the pyramids.

Update Rebecca: As I mentioned before, I’m slowly gaining my strength and stamina back. Tomorrow I have a follow up appointment with my oncologist and I have my next immunotherapy treatment. I met with my radiation team last week and he scheduled me to have a pet scan in two weeks. That scan will show if the chemo and radiation worked to kill that second spot of cancer in my pelvis. 

I have to admit that daily surrender is part of my new routine each day. Every time I feel twinges or weird things in my body, I have to pray and trust God. It’s hard not to worry that what I am feeling isn’t something more. I’m learning to live with my hands open in full surrender to God and trust Him, but some days that is very hard. 

The past few weeks I have been experiencing joint pain in my body, especially my knees and elbows. My oncologist said it could be a few things including residual side effects of chemo or side effects of immunotherapy. I’m excited to say that my hair is slowly coming back! I can’t wait until it’s long enough to do something with it.

My garden is coming along. I have seeds in my dad’s greenhouse and I have planted a whole raised garden bed with carrots and beets for juicing. My lettuce grew on its own from last year! That was a fun surprise.

Naomi snapped this picture of me and Wayne. I love the way Wayne is looking at me when I wasn’t feeling well. This isn’t how either of us imagined our lives at this point…but God! He knows what He has planned and why He has allowed this in our lives.

Update Kids: Grace and Naomi had a great time in Florida. Grace loved being back with her Life Action team. Naomi enjoyed time with friends and serving for a week with Ethnos360. God even opened a potential door for her to share about her desire to serve God through missions. 

Naomi was home only a couple days for Easter before flying to Washington to visit Wayne’s parents. Of course the day we had to take her to the airport was the day of the terrible storms. Thankfully, we missed the tornadoes as we drove her to the airport. With all the delays, it took her 16+ hours to make it there.

Abigail and Grace have been working hard with their online classes and working at their jobs. Sophia and Shan are cranking out the last few weeks of their school year through LUOA. They both are also working hard at their jobs and trying to get in more driving hours to get their drivers licenses. Sophia’s ankle has almost made a complete recovery since she has been working hard at PT.

Finally, the youngest two are working hard finishing up their school years as well. They are excited about going to school next year. But meanwhile, we are all looking forward to the summer off. 

We were all home together to enjoy Easter. 

We had to take two Easter photos since we couldn’t find Joella in time.

Abigail, Grace, Shan, and Elijah enjoyed a hike in the woods.

Sophia was having a rough night and decided the solution that made the most sense was to sleep outside in the freezing cold.

The kids enjoying the counseling mascot.

Civil Air Patrol: the kids have been doing some amazing events. Micaela has loved following in Sophia’s footsteps learning search and rescue. She loves the weekend events learning more about this.

Sophia learning how to drive. 

Catching up on birthday dates: Wayne and Shan celebrating Shan. Below is my ice cream date with Naomi.

Naomi had a blast in Florida. Can’t beat spending time with friends and serving Jesus!

Prayer Requests:

- Wayne: For his PT, speech, and speech device to be quickly approved. Also that he continues to get stronger and that his speech improves.

- Rebecca: please pray for my immunotherapy treatment tomorrow and that any cancer cells are removed completely. Please also pray for my joint pain and for all that I have to juggle between being a patient, caregiver/wife, and mom.

- Kids: pray for stamina to finish the school year strong and that they continue to grow closer to God through all the trials. 

- Please pray for the people of Taiwan. My friend Juyi lives there and is okay, but they need our prayers.🩷

Update 3/6/24: Fear is a Liar

Isaiah 26:3 “You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You.”

Jeremiah 17:14 “Heal me, O Lord, and I shall be healed; save me, and I shall be saved, for You are my praise!”

Fear is a sneaky little thing. It can be subtle as it first comes at you. Suddenly, it pounces and it can cause you to feel paralyzed. This happened to me last week. I read something online about my cancer that sent me spiraling. I felt overwhelmed with fearful thoughts. I know scriptures like we are to take every thought captive (2 Cor 10:5), and do it be anxious about anything (Phil 4:6-7), but in that moment, fear pounced and was threatening to paralyze me. After spending some time in prayer, I reached out to a few people to pray for me. One of them sent me a few verses, including the verses above. I could feel people’s prayers helping me and I felt peace. 

During the night, I was assaulted once again. It seemed like every time I woke up, I was instantly hit with fearful thoughts. In the book of Psalm, we see David cry out to God a lot at night too. It’s like satan likes to hit us when we are the most vulnerable. Psalm 77:2 says, “In the day of my trouble I seek the Lord; in the night my hand is stretched out without wearying; my souls refuses to be comforted.” Or in Psalm 22:2-3 “O my God, I cry by day, but You do not answer, and by night, but I find no rest. YET, You are holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel.” I realized today that I was getting to put into practice what I have been reading about, learning how to lament and be brutally honest with God. I told Him that this diagnosis scares me and that I’m weary. I told Him I’m praying for a complete healing, and yet I trust His plan for my life. As much as I fear not being here for my kids and them growing up without parents, I also know that He loves them even more then I could imagine and He will take care of them if we aren’t around. So, I can rest peacefully knowing that they are in the best hands…God’s hands. Meanwhile, we keep pressing on and trusting God with the future. 

Update Wayne: Wayne’s palliative team came the other day. They couldn’t believe how well Wayne was doing. She said he looked better now than he did 6 weeks ago. Wayne walks around the house again with a cane and we have even ventured to the gym for him to walk on a flat surface. Thankfully, he is much more cautious now and doesn’t push himself too hard. I believe he learned his lesson with his broken ankle. 

He also continues to work hard on speech. Not being able to communicate clearly has been the hardest thing on him, and to be honest, is hard on all of us. It takes a lot of patience to wait for him to try to speak and sometimes, a guessing game ensues. We are all thankful that he is doing as well as he is. Once again, we are reminded that doctors are wonderful, but only God numbers our days. As Wayne says, God isn’t done with him yet. 

Rebecca Update: It has been one full week since I completed my radiation, which has been wonderful. I don’t miss the daily drive to Lexington! If you missed it, God provided a gong for me to borrow. Below is a quick clip of me banging my gong to show my radiation was over. I felt silly, but also seen by God. I made the most of this celebration by spending some time relaxing and enjoyed some fun food with the family. Now I’m back to buckling down: eating right and exercising. 

When I reached out to one of my friends that I mentioned above, she made me some laminated verse cards with the verses my other friend shared. It was totally God’s perfect timing. She was traveling from IN to WV and passed right by our house. Jennifer, and Jody, have been such an encouragement to me. Thank you for the special gift! 🩷

My sister and I celebrated the end of radiation with Indian food! 

I brought cupcakes to my oncology and radiation team as a thank you for all that they do for me. I love all of them!

Lots of vegetables and fruit! Eating to keep my body strong and keep cancer at bay.

I grew my own sprouts! This is a new adventure I’ve added to making my own kombucha and juicing. It only took 4 days to grow my own sprouts. I read they are supposed to be a great cancer fighting food, so I’ve added it to my daily menu.

Wayne at counseling. Cornelius decided that he liked Wayne. At first he was unsure because Wayne was so tall, but he quickly realized Wayne is sweet.

Cooking class with friends.

PE for school 

Celebrating Dr. Seuss: reading books, diagramming Dr. Seuss sentences, and of course eating goldfish and Swedish fish along the way.

We spent Saturday and Sunday at church for missions emphasis. We cheered Shan on during the cornhole tournament and my cookies sold for $400, which all goes to support the youth mission trip fund. It’s always a fun evening. 

Wayne hasn’t lost his touch! He looks good with a baby in his arms.

My friend Juyi, who is from Taiwan, sent gifts home with her son Jujubi. We had a very nice visit with him and I cannot wait to cook with the XO sauce he brought to us. His mom makes the best!!

Sophia may get mad at me, but I’m so proud of her and her accomplishments with Civil Air Patrol. She persevered with a sprained ankle traveling all over DC for the week. She had meetings with congressional leaders and even met with Andy Barr. Sophia still hasn’t 100% given up her dream of West Point and she is one step closer to that becoming a reality. 

Sophia took this picture for my dad, who loved James Bond.

What a great group of young people! I’m so glad we discovered Civil Air Patrol! 

Some fun Facebook memories from this day: this was right before Wayne’s brain surgery in 2015 for his cancer. Below: Wayne taking the girls sledding.

I had to recuse Grace today. She was as waiting at the light to go get gas, and she ran out of gas. Like father like daughter! This is her walk of shame.🤣

Prayer Requests:

- Wayne: that his speech improves and that we are able to get him into a new PT/speech program at Clark Hospital so that he can be challenged more with PT. Just pray that we continue to make the most of every day. 

- Rebecca: please just pray for me as my body heals for treatment and for my pet-scan that will be happening in a few weeks. Please pray for a complete healing from this cancer so that I can spend many more years with my kids. 

- Kids: Grace and Naomi are traveling to FL in a week. Grace will be joining her Life Action team in FL and Naomi will be staying with friends and volunteering at Ethnos360 for a few days. Please pray for a safe drive and that God would use each of them. Please also pray for Naomi as she is making decisions about next year. 

Abigail is looking for a job and so far isn’t having any luck. Please pray that God brings the right job her way. 

We decided to send Micaela and Joella to school next year. Please pray for all of us as we make this transition. It will be the first time in 13 years that I won’t be homeschooling. With all that has gone on this year, we thought it would be wise to give everyone a break and give them a chance to get out of the house since this year has been hard on them. 

A friend sent me this song and I thought I would share it.