So, months before I was diagnosed - about 5 months to be more precise - one of my dearest friends got engaged. My sweet friend asked me be her maid of honor and I gladly accepted the honor. Much like any bride-to-be she wanted to get in shape for her wedding and needed a goal to get her kick started. I suggested running a 5k, and I'd be happy to sign-up with her and cheer her on. This was her very first 5k! We looked up a number of races that were months away giving us plenty of time to condition and train, so we randomly decided on one at the end of September (we were signing up in April/May 2012) and the race just happened to be a benefit for the Washington Cancer Institute. Well, time went on and life got in the way as it usually does though we'd keep a loose running schedule.
Long story short, I was diagnosed with cancer on a Tuesday, September 25, 2012 and that Saturday - my friend and I were scheduled to run the 5k. We decided to do it, to go for it. We showed up and I was shocked to learn that the very race I was running was not only to benefit cancer patients, but all the proceeds went to the Washington Cancer Institute which is where I was being treated. In my haste in signing up for the race, I had completely overlooked that detail! I believe only God could orchestrate such irony, and I definitely Him giving me a hug that day. We ran and finished the 5k!
So now, coming up on one year later, I've decided to run the same 5k! I'm not on treatment right now, and Lord willing, I won't be on treatment at the end of September. It's a goal I can shoot for, and I've hired a personal trainer to help me achieve the goal safely. On that note, if YOU are interested in running with me, you are more than welcome to join in! You can register by clicking HERE. The 5k (3.1 miles) is held on September 21, 2013 which is a Saturday morning in Georgetown, Washington DC along the canal. It comes with a free T-shirt and free breakfast! There will also be lots of giveaways which make it even more fun. All the proceeds go to the Washington Cancer Institute, which treats numerous melanoma, sarcoma, and breast cancer patients every day. My prayer is that people will see that cancer doesn't have to hold you back, and God can receive glory from your life in your weakest, darkest moments. I have no idea how my lungs may handle it, but I'm willing to try through wisdom and God's grace! Let's do this and kick cancer in the teeth!
In our sermon at church two weeks ago on the first part of Judges, our pastor explained how God uses the weak to show His strength. It is when we are our weakest that He is strongest. And the only way the weak can show strength in those weak, dark moments is through the life and strength of Jesus Christ.
He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. - Isaiah 40:29, NIV
That is why for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. - 2 Corinthians 12:10, NIV
As for an update, my appointment at Johns Hopkins' Kimmel Cancer Center went well. First, I was so impressed with the care at Kimmel Cancer Center! Registration took just a few minutes, and they handed me an orange credit card looking thing, sort of like a student ID card. It has a barcode and all my information in it! No filling out papers, no losing papers, no taking hours filling everything out time and time again - nope, its all right there in the card including my pharmacy, insurance, medical history, and demographic information. Amazing! Anytime you go anywhere in the hospital for a procedure or an appointment, you scan the card and sit down, then they call you back. SO efficient! It was like a Disney World for cancer patients.
The doctor spent an hour with me, and showed me the scans and pictures of my lungs. There are definitely two masses in my lungs - one 6mm on the right side and one 3mm on the left. He can't be sure what they are just yet, as he said the quality of the scans weren't that great. So we are rescanning with a high resolution CT scanner (with more slides - more slides equals more accuracy) on August 13, and get this: I get the results, THE SAME DAY!!! That never happens. I was shocked, but thrilled I didn't have to play a waiting game for more than 2 hours after the scan would be done. The doctor also wanted more genetic testing. Right now, I'm BRAF negative, which is very good - it means I have no melanoma genetic mutation in my DNA, so I did not receive the cancer from my parents and I will not pass the cancer on to my children should I have any. However, he mentioned two other tests - CKITS and NRAS - that he wanted done if I hadn't had them already. I couldn't recall having them done, so he said if I wanted, as the patient, I could have my original tumor sent up to Johns Hopkins for them to test and examine. Yes, not joking. I was shocked....apparently they keep everyone's tumors in a block of wax inside some crazy vault at the hospital where you were first treated, how crazy is that?! Weird. Anyhow, the genetic tests will help determine if I qualify for more treatment options.
And.....what would a hospital visit be without an order for a minor surgery?! Dr. Lipson said the nodes in my lungs were a bit too small for surgery still (they have to be 1cm for lung surgery), so we're sticking to the scans right now with possible treatment. However, he examined me from head to toe and wants another surgical biopsy done on my left arm. So I'll be having that done the afternoon of August 13 as well - all done in one day!
So we'll see. No doubt it is a journey, with many steps and many challenges. I'm so grateful for the Lord in my life that He never leaves me nor forsakes me throughout any of it. I'm always learning to fully trust Him no matter what - if I get healed or not - He is still so trustworthy, and I truly just want God to be exalted and glorified from my life however He sees fit. Trials and suffering often refine us when we go to God to become more like Himself, and I can only hope I reflect God's character more and more with each difficult step. Thankful for your prayers!
Long story short, I was diagnosed with cancer on a Tuesday, September 25, 2012 and that Saturday - my friend and I were scheduled to run the 5k. We decided to do it, to go for it. We showed up and I was shocked to learn that the very race I was running was not only to benefit cancer patients, but all the proceeds went to the Washington Cancer Institute which is where I was being treated. In my haste in signing up for the race, I had completely overlooked that detail! I believe only God could orchestrate such irony, and I definitely Him giving me a hug that day. We ran and finished the 5k!
So now, coming up on one year later, I've decided to run the same 5k! I'm not on treatment right now, and Lord willing, I won't be on treatment at the end of September. It's a goal I can shoot for, and I've hired a personal trainer to help me achieve the goal safely. On that note, if YOU are interested in running with me, you are more than welcome to join in! You can register by clicking HERE. The 5k (3.1 miles) is held on September 21, 2013 which is a Saturday morning in Georgetown, Washington DC along the canal. It comes with a free T-shirt and free breakfast! There will also be lots of giveaways which make it even more fun. All the proceeds go to the Washington Cancer Institute, which treats numerous melanoma, sarcoma, and breast cancer patients every day. My prayer is that people will see that cancer doesn't have to hold you back, and God can receive glory from your life in your weakest, darkest moments. I have no idea how my lungs may handle it, but I'm willing to try through wisdom and God's grace! Let's do this and kick cancer in the teeth!
In our sermon at church two weeks ago on the first part of Judges, our pastor explained how God uses the weak to show His strength. It is when we are our weakest that He is strongest. And the only way the weak can show strength in those weak, dark moments is through the life and strength of Jesus Christ.
He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. - Isaiah 40:29, NIV
That is why for Christ's sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong. - 2 Corinthians 12:10, NIV
As for an update, my appointment at Johns Hopkins' Kimmel Cancer Center went well. First, I was so impressed with the care at Kimmel Cancer Center! Registration took just a few minutes, and they handed me an orange credit card looking thing, sort of like a student ID card. It has a barcode and all my information in it! No filling out papers, no losing papers, no taking hours filling everything out time and time again - nope, its all right there in the card including my pharmacy, insurance, medical history, and demographic information. Amazing! Anytime you go anywhere in the hospital for a procedure or an appointment, you scan the card and sit down, then they call you back. SO efficient! It was like a Disney World for cancer patients.
The doctor spent an hour with me, and showed me the scans and pictures of my lungs. There are definitely two masses in my lungs - one 6mm on the right side and one 3mm on the left. He can't be sure what they are just yet, as he said the quality of the scans weren't that great. So we are rescanning with a high resolution CT scanner (with more slides - more slides equals more accuracy) on August 13, and get this: I get the results, THE SAME DAY!!! That never happens. I was shocked, but thrilled I didn't have to play a waiting game for more than 2 hours after the scan would be done. The doctor also wanted more genetic testing. Right now, I'm BRAF negative, which is very good - it means I have no melanoma genetic mutation in my DNA, so I did not receive the cancer from my parents and I will not pass the cancer on to my children should I have any. However, he mentioned two other tests - CKITS and NRAS - that he wanted done if I hadn't had them already. I couldn't recall having them done, so he said if I wanted, as the patient, I could have my original tumor sent up to Johns Hopkins for them to test and examine. Yes, not joking. I was shocked....apparently they keep everyone's tumors in a block of wax inside some crazy vault at the hospital where you were first treated, how crazy is that?! Weird. Anyhow, the genetic tests will help determine if I qualify for more treatment options.
And.....what would a hospital visit be without an order for a minor surgery?! Dr. Lipson said the nodes in my lungs were a bit too small for surgery still (they have to be 1cm for lung surgery), so we're sticking to the scans right now with possible treatment. However, he examined me from head to toe and wants another surgical biopsy done on my left arm. So I'll be having that done the afternoon of August 13 as well - all done in one day!
So we'll see. No doubt it is a journey, with many steps and many challenges. I'm so grateful for the Lord in my life that He never leaves me nor forsakes me throughout any of it. I'm always learning to fully trust Him no matter what - if I get healed or not - He is still so trustworthy, and I truly just want God to be exalted and glorified from my life however He sees fit. Trials and suffering often refine us when we go to God to become more like Himself, and I can only hope I reflect God's character more and more with each difficult step. Thankful for your prayers!
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