THREE YEARS!

Thank you LORD. June 6, 2010, marked three years since my surgery! I forgot to post on the blog - I was so busy graduating Anya, (we are over the hump now - 4 down, "only" 3 to go!!) and planning her grad party which we combined with July 4th, one of her favorite holidays. I am thankful for each kid's birthday, graduation, wedding or adoption anniversary, and each holiday and season that I get to enjoy, savoring each one as a "bonus"! All of them are things I felt I might not ever see when I looked forward three years ago. I know that all my days are in His hands, and I might not stay cancer free forever. But, maybe I will! :-) Either way, He is God!

And here is a miracle - we finally got the settlement from the truck accident!!!!! FIVE YEARS afterward, and much less than our losses from the accident, but at least it is OVER. Our new lawyer, Dennis Abrams, was great. A godly man, with integrity, which we appreciated so very much after the terrible treatment we got from our prior attorney who handled the case so badly. Anyway, we are through that valley now, and God sustained us. It was a hard, hard road, but, we did not lose our home, business or health insurance.... we had enough to eat although often not until the day we needed it! We have paid many creditors back and can breathe a bit now and begin to climb back the rest of the way! We are THANKFUL. Hopefully we have learned the lessons that God had for us, and are stronger as a result of the trials we have been through the last five years.

Thank you each so MUCH for standing with us through the storms of life! I am SO grateful for your concern for me and my family. Life here continues to be C R A Z Y - with 5 kids at home, aged 20, 19, 17, 14, and 12 that keep us BUSY - so please keep praying as we come to mind. We need it! :-)

Next scans end of August....... I will post in early September!

GREAT NEWS AGAIN!

I am so thankful, once again, for the blessing of another set of clear scans this week! It will be 3 years in June since my diagnosis. I am so grateful for each day that I have had, and am actually starting to allow myself to believe that I might stay cancer free forever! I am hesitant to get my hopes up, but the doctors say that the longer I go with clear scans, the better and better my chances are of remaining cancer free. Even if it does eventually come back, the fact that it is taking a long time to do so means it would likely be slow growing and more easily treated again.

So, back to our crazy lives with 5 kids at home in various stages of "tween / teen / still basically a teen" (ages 12, 14, 16, 19, 20). Please pray for our parenting as there have been some challenging days lately with a kid or two. :-) Our grown up daughters and sons-in-law are doing well and we get to see them often.

Our business is still struggling in this economy, and the truck accident settlement is STILL held up in red tape. Please pray that the reimbursement we need would be released SOON. Last news is that the judge is required to sign off in the next 21 days, and then we should be 30 days away, but we have heard this stuff many times before. So we will believe it when we see it. Meanwhile the Lord is sustaining us little by little, day by day, like the manna in the wilderness. But we are so TIRED of the stress. We really do appreciate your prayers for us in this "waiting room" we are in. We are working as hard as we can to keep the business moving forward, but it is tough with the accident losses weighing us down and the economy struggling too.

Dear Dona Dean went to be with the Lord in November, from the same cancer I had. She was such an example of faith and trust in the Lord through each day of her life. Please pray for her husband and children. Her adult daughter Kelly has much on her plate, as she lives at her parents' home with 2 small children of her own and is helping to fill Dona's shoes now, in caring for her young twin sisters too.

If you are reading this blog after all this time, and still praying for me, thank you SO MUCH. I know some of you have asked me or my family how I am doing and I am very grateful for each of you caring so much about us.

Thank you!

CLEAR AGAIN!

Praise God! Another set of "no evidence of metastatic disease" scans!!!! This was a hard wait, six months since the last ones. The longest they stretched me out yet. So the last few weeks I had a lot of "suspicious" aches and pains. As my family doctor said when she called to give me the good news (so I wouldn't have to wait until my oncology appointment), "well I bet those aches and pains will mostly disappear now, huh?" And they pretty much have. I am just plain going on 52, that's all. :-) I was 49 when diagnosed, so 52 sounds really happy to me. So, round about 52 and a half I will do the scan routine again. Each time I am clear my chances improve not to have a re-occurrence. Thank you, LORD, for the time I have been given, and thank you all for praying for me and for my family through it all.

Some really great news also, our son-in-law Joel just returned SAFE and SOUND from PA Army National Guard duty in Iraq!!!! We were privileged to be there when they marched into the welcome area at Ft Dix on Tuesday around noon. We are GRATEFUL, and our daughter Melissa is a happy girl too. :-)

We are all doing fine, but the economy in addition to our prior financial struggles from the truck accident, which we still have not recovered damages on, is really taking its toll on our small business. Add to that the PA state budget not being approved and folks in PA are just not buying or paying much the last few months. God is sustaining us day by day but it has been very stressful on both Charles and I. So, please pray for business to pick up. We are working hard trying to bring in new sales and complete the jobs we have as fast as possible, and we are exhausted!

My friend Dona Dean is on hospice now, with the same cancer I had. Please do pray for her and her family. She is looking forward to heaven. She is experiencing pain quite a lot now. Please pray she will be able to be as comfortable as possible, and that her husband, children and grandson will hang onto the Lord through this time.

Thank you so much to all who are still checking this blog, and PRAYING.

Love in Christ, our only anchor in the storms of life,
Karen

(Dearest Diana, if you are reading this, know that I am praying for your family, but am TERRIBLE at sending cards, even though YOU are wonderful at doing so. Please know I have been hurting for your precious family ever since the sadness you all experienced earlier this year)

TWO YEARS

Hello friends!

Wanted to post a little note on the occasion of my upcoming TWO YEARS cancer free (June 2nd diagnosis, June 6th surgery). It is a bittersweet anniversary, but I am thankful, so thankful to be here on earth, with my husband and my children and all of my family and friends who have loved and cared for us through the dark valley. Praise God for His mercy and kindness to our family. I know that I do not deserve my health any more than anyone else. We have lost one dear friend in the last 2 years from cancer and have 2 friends and a neighbor fighting even now. I count each day as a 'bonus' given to me from the hand of God Himself. Thank you, Lord! I am so grateful.

Love to you all,
Karen

ps - I have settled on Dr Naomi Haas at Penn and feel good about switching to her for my care, although I won't see her till September if all continues to be stable. Next scans in late August.

Dr. Flaherty

Just wanted to ask for prayer as I have just been notified that my oncologist, Keith Flaherty, is moving to Mass Gen. Hospital in Boston and I will have to choose a new oncologist. There are 2 others at Univ of Penn, Dr Steven Keefe and Dr Noami Haas, both of whom are experienced with renal cell carcinoma, but not to the extent that Dr Flaherty is. Dr Flaherty has been a fantastic doctor for me. He is extremely respectful and humble and knowledgeable. He genuinely cares and it shows. For example, if he walks through the large crowded waiting room, even if talking with another doctor, he catches my eye and nods and smiles, as if to say, "I am sorry you are waiting and your time and care is important and I am no better than you are". He was just really a wonderful blessing. I also felt he was brilliant, and completely on top of any and all advances in treatment that would be available for me. Anyway, now I need to choose Dr Keefe or Haas, or another hospital / practice. I would appreciate prayer that I would trust in God and God alone for my future, and would wisely choose my next doctor.

Thank you all!
Karen