HOME! With Accessories

Linda is home! Praise the Lord! The doctors are fairly convinced she has a strain of pneumonia, though tests would not identify the particular strain. She has come home with quite a bit of medicine. We will be giving her two rounds of antibiotics (vancamyacin - a nasty antibiotic, which should kill any pneumonia) every day. The antibiotics will be delivered through a picc line, which could be tricky. It takes one to two hours to take the medicine. We did not anticipate more than an hour, so she is asleep (sitting up) on the sofa right now (11:10 PM) as the medicine is still going in, even though it has been attached for nearly an hour and a half.

In addition to the antibiotics, Linda has been sent home with oxygen and breathing treatments, which must be administered four times a day. Perhaps some of you have dealt with similar issues and you know the challenges associated with these treatments. Hey, aren't you glad we live in a day when such treatments are available? Praise the Lord!

It seems increasingly likely that Linda's tumor is an astrocyctoma, which portends toward more time for researchers to come up with a cure for these deadly brain tumors. If you have kept up with this blog, what I am about to write will be something you have read before, but needs to be written again, nonetheless. From the beginning, it has been our desire - medically - for Linda's life to be extended long enough for a cure to be found. OF COURSE we would prefer that God remove the tumor! He has not chosen to do so, but we keep asking for that to happen. Since most people are cured from something as simple as bronchitis (which I discovered yesterday that I have) with medicine, it is not wrong to desire for a cure to be found for this particular brain tumor/cancer.

Is a cure for cancer our hope? Not in a technical sense! Our hope has nothing to do with this world in the best of times or the worst of times - our hope is eternal life through and with Jesus! But since He gave us that strong desire to live, we hold out for a cure, or at least a treatment that will stop the tumor from growing any more. It does appear that we have more time, though please pray that Linda will get past this pneumonia so that she can resume the Temodar - that is a pretty big concern.

A few days ago, our daughter, Autumn, brought us a printout of the K-Love verse for the day. It was Psalm 73:26 in the New Living Translation. Oh, how that verse ministered to us! Since the verse preceding it is apropos, I will write it also, as it reads in the NLT. 25 - "Whom have I in heaven but You? I desire You more than anything on earth." 26 - "My heart may fail, and my spirit may grow weak, but God remains the strength of my heart; He is mine forever."

That's encouraging, isn't it? There are certainly times that our spirits flag as surely as Linda's body is weak - but God remains our portion! In addition, you don't know how much of an encouragement you are to us. So many of you tell us you check this site every day. I am so sorry I have not written more - life has been so full. Please know that we do not take your care and your prayers for granted! We are so very grateful for every single word of encouragement and every prayer offered on our behalf. One day - in eternity - we will catch up.

Well, Linda's antibiotic is finally done and there are steps to be taken now. God bless you and good night!