Sara’s wedding went delightfully well. Thanks, again, to all of you who prayed strength for me. The bride was beautiful and each participant did their part well, even Nathaniel as the ring bearer. We were all amazed at how calm Sara was. She and David now live in Sara’s little duplex and work back to back in their work-from-home jobs.
I prod along each day, balancing food intake with nausea meds, discomfort with pain meds, movement with rest. I live with the awareness that anything could happen anytime. My tumors are well-positioned to cause an aneurysm, organ failure, or stroke, although I haven’t had a head scan since this thing began (probably not anything up there anyway!).
A friend recently asked how I thought the cancer might progress and what will happen in the end. I replied, “I don’t know. I’ve never died before. This will be my first time.” Of course, each cancer is different, and mine is no exception.
For example, a huge tumor sits on my left side, oval-shaped, now almost the size of a football. It hangs about 3 inches over my waist like an awning, the rest pushing from the inside against my internal organs, completely encapsulating my pancreas. A week ago I awoke to a sizzling pain in this area that was somewhat relieved with lots of moisturizer lotion. Turns out my skin was stretching to accommodate more of the growing tumor. Rather grotesque, but then cancer is rather grotesque.
Because my eyes are messed up, I haven’t been able to delight myself in God’s Word as much as before. But a precious verse to me is Lamentations 3:32-33: “For if He causes grief, then He will have compassion according to His abundant loving-kindness. For He does not afflict from the heart, or grieve the children of men.” Although God may allow pain as a natural part of exiting this world, He takes no delight in seeing anyone suffer. It’s not who God is. I have no doubt that whatever discomfort I must go through now will seem insignificant compared to the happiness I will enjoy for eternity. I can live (and die) with that!