August 8, 2013

 

It has definitely been a long rollercoaster ride of ups and downs, twists and turns but

praying we are now on the healing side of this ugly disease. From repeatedly going

to the doctor knowing that something is not right trying to find an answer– to being

told you have cancer and it is curable– to this is being very aggressive and this is not

the norm for this type of cancer– to being told that your cancer is not curable but it

is treatable can be a little taxing, mentally and physically. After going thru a year of

various surgeries and chemo that all the while the cancer continued to grow and spread,

we finally had gotten one that is beating it back. Thank you God!

 

It’s been a while since Alan has posted in his blog. I believe after battling this

disease for over a year now that it finally caught up with him, mentally, physically and

emotionally. Dealing with chemo, fatigue, pain from surgery, bone pain caused from

previous radiation, sinus infection and realizing that a major surgery that you just had

didn’t take care of ALL the problems is just too much for any one person to have to go

thru.

 

We are praying that we can get a handle on all the pain Alan is having so he can get

back to some kind of normalcy. We just met his new pain management doctor this

week and we are so excited to see what all he can do to help Alan combat it. It’s hard

to see him hurting so bad the way he does sometimes and all I can do is sit and cry with

him.

 

We have met some wonderful people on this journey. Some of the amazing people are

part of our staff/family at CTCA and the others are the ones who are walking the path

like Alan. While going through treatments you meet people from all walks of life and

from all parts of the country that are dealing with some of the same things you are going

thru. As strange as it sounds, it’s kind of like a “club” whether you want to think of it as

that or not. Although this is one club that you won’t see people standing at the door

trying to knock it down to get in, BUT once you are a member, you will not meet anyone,

more understanding, more supportive, more compassionate than those that are walking

the path with you.

 

Life can be tough and it can get you down but just when you think you have it bad

there’s always someone else out there that has it a lot worse than you and are in a

more difficult situation than you are. We have a praise report. One of our friends

at CTCA and someone I knew from years back got a clear report, Asa and Laurie,

thanking God for what he is doing in your lives. Asa is a wonderful Christian man that

helped my family many years back and I will always be grateful to him for that.

On a sadder note we lost a friend at CTCA but our praise is that John had a wonderful

“home going” to be with his Heavenly Father. John was a medic and his mom Jeanne

told me that there were over 30 fire trucks and ambulances leading the procession and

along the interstate, en route to the graveside, the overpasses had trucks with medics

and fireman saluting (chills…tears). At the service when the preacher gave a salvation

message he asked for every head to be bowed and eyes closed, about 12 people

raised their hand in making a decision. Praise God!!! Please be in prayer for Jeanne

and Cran, his parents and his twin brother. This is a very difficult time in their lives. His

mom Jeanne is a wonderful Christian lady who I think the world of!

 

Doug I., you and Connie are a constant fixture in our hearts, thoughts and prayers. We

love you so very much. Please be in prayer for Doug, for God’s will to be done and for

Connie peace and strength.

 

Deborah F., you are beautiful inside and out. Praying for total healing and God’s

blessings abundantly! Love you!

 

Carole N., we love you, lady. You are so very dear to our hearts! Praying for you and

the kids that as time goes on the pain of losing Jimmy lessens.

 

Please be in prayer for Alan and all the people that are battling this ugly disease and

also be in pray for the loved ones that are left behind. A friend of ours wrote; “It’s

strange to think cancer can be a blessing, but when one goes through the trials this

disease creates, yet one finds people like you and places like CTCA, you know God is

real and true.” (thank you Deborah F.) This is our sentiments, exactly. Thank you for

reading Alan’s blog. Praying in some way it can help you too.