05/30/2019
This is for my friends who are going through cancer treatment and encouragement for those watching them and helping them through it. Long post.
I remember when I finished my cancer treatment in May of 2012.
8 months of a complete nightmare.
Double mastectomy with reconstruction the same day, 8 hrs of surgery.
That was Oct. 6, 2011.
Then 6 rounds of heavy chemo.
With stage 3 breast cancer, 5 out of 9 lymph nodes had been affected.
3 heavy chemo drugs each visit that took me to dark places and debilitated my mind, body and soul.
Only God kept me going.
After that 5.5 weeks of radiation which debilitates one even further.
I could not function physically and mentally I had chemo brain bad. Forgetting words, forgetting what to say, to tired to do much. Neuropathy played havoc with my hands and feet. Common side affect from chemo. You feel like pins and needles in your hands. No real feeling. Affects the nerves.
Taste buds made all food taste like metal.
My spirit was trying to breath, however it was sad and depressed from my normal life gone.
Tiredness beyond comprehension. You hit a wall in a snap of a finger and want to crumble and melt like the wicked witch in the Wizard of Oz.
Honestly, I was discouraged on so many levels. Our house was a disaster, I forgot to pay car insurance as my mind was not there and we lost car insurance.
No job because I could not work.
Our finances hit a all time low with my sudden loss of income.
The bill's had overwhelmed my husband and I for months to come.
On top of that my daughter was 14 going to high school. She witnessed the nightmare at a young age.
I even remember the surgeon questioning taking out my port that helped feed the tough drugs into my body. With stage 3 he had his doubts.
Not me, I knew I was here for a purpose and all I had been through was Gods plan.
I had full intentions through all of this to not only survive, but thrive.
To use what I have been through to help others.
The oncologist was the best and assured me I would slowly pull out of the side affects in levels. I would slowly reach new levels of energy and regain my brain ( still working on that).
It took 3 long years and there are days 8 years out the affects of the drugs still remind me of those tough days.
I take a cancer drug every day 8 years out to keep my estrogen at bay a cause of my breast cancer.
That has side affects on my bones, but the tough one is weight gain. It is tough to loose weight with this drug.
So, I tell you all this to let you know the great news, my perservernce to thrive and not just survive, to rise above all the sadness, sorrow and suffering, to pull myself up and help others going through this nightmare has brought me to a place I only dreamed of and prayed for.
My faith, my trust in Jesus, and my belief in a restored mind, body, and soul has come to a true vision.
The level just changed in the past few weeks to one of embracing and thanking the Lord for all that he has brought me through.
My friends going through this I bring you light and love and a story I am writing to encourage and share with as many as possible.
On Eagles Wings- Isaiah 40:31-
But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength.
They will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.
Little did I know when I opened On Eagles Wings in April of 2013 God would use my life to reflect this verse.
I believe all things are possible through Christ who strengthens me.
