We’re here!

Well, it is officially May 9 and Houston is the last place I thought I would be. Regardless, my family and I arrived in Houston this evening and thanks to some very gracious and generous friends, everyone is asleep in a bed of their own in this beautiful home (thank you so much Kevin and Kari and all of the others who pitched in to set us up like royalty).

The last two days have been a whirlwind and the reality I am going to MD Anderson because I have a rare cancer is finally hitting me. I still have eight pages of medical history to fill out before my appointment in a few hours. Although I am typically last minute, I purposely left these pages blank because I still have difficulty accepting I am the reason we are here.

With that being said, I am grateful for the opportunity to go to MD Anderson and meet the brightest minds to help in my fight to destroy this cancer. Several of you have asked about our schedule tomorrow. We need to be on the MD Anderson campus at 1pm for admission, and then at 2pm, we will meet with Dr. Benjamin, the head of the sarcoma division. Several people have told us a wait is to be expected to meet with him, so we really don’t know what to anticipate tomorrow or in the days to come. Our itinerary told us to expect to stay five to seven business days.

Several verses have been swimming through my head on our drive south. Thank you for sharing so many encouraging reminders of God’s truth through cards, Facebook messages, texts and comments on this blog. No doubt, these truths will sustain me in the journey ahead. As I was reading my devotional from Jesus Calling, one specific scripture spoke to me in light of my upcoming appointment:

“For I am the Lord your God who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, ‘Do not fear; I will help you.’”  Isaiah 41:13

This verse speaks to me because it reminds me Who is in control and the One who is in control commands me not to fear. I especially love it because He takes hold of my right hand, which is exactly the one I need healed. I know regardless of what they say tomorrow, regardless of if my hand ever works again, regardless of if I lose my hair, He is the one who will be with me every step of the way. He will be my helper, He will be my strength. And, He WILL be my healer.

I am ready to fight. Now it is time for a game plan. So many of you have expressed you are ready to fight alongside me as well and for that I am grateful. I can honestly say, I have felt tremendous peace over the past several days, that can only be attributed to your many prayers for my heart, my diagnosis and my family.

Specific prayer requests:
-- Pray for my lower back pain and healing of my body from the previous three biopsies.
-- Pray Alexa will do well with an unexpected schedule for the next several days. With such a fun place to stay, we are pretty sure she won’t want to go back home.
-- Pray that the appointment with Dr. Benjamin goes well and that we would be teamed up with the perfect doctors to tackle my diagnosis and treatment plan.
-- It would be a huge blessing if I did not have to redo lengthy scans with more radiation exposure.
-- It is currently 1:30, so please pray for rest for all of my family (most of them don’t have the benefit of hydrocodone).
-- Pray for wisdom and understanding to catch all of the information which will be thrown our way.
-- Pray we will walk away encouraged and enthusiastic about the game plan (and that we will have a clear one when we leave).
-- We won’t stop asking for a miracle. I honestly feel at times the tumor is shrinking in my right forearm. I am going to continue believing that is the case.