Birthday Presence

I don't have a clue how many people have November 2nd, as his/her birthday but along with a niece and a great-niece, it's my birthday, too.  As my mom used to say, " what are the odds of me having a daughter, a grand-daughter and a great-grand-daughter share a birthday?  Maybe I should buy a lottery ticket."  Personally, I think it's just another of those creative oddities that seems to define our family and makes me grin at God's sense of humor. As for my darling nieces, I pray your birthday was filled with love and laughter.

And what about moi?  My birthday was filled with presence, His presence. He gave me the gift of a brand new day filled with endless choices to make and I chose to keep my appointment with my new oncology doctor. Now, I realize someone might find that a totally depressing thing to do on ones' birthday but for me not knowing test results would be truly depressing. Besides, I can't properly fight this monster without knowing the extent of its' invasion on my turf.

Here are the test results:
Heart and Lungs   good
Spleen                   enlarged but functioning
Liver                     end stage cirrhosis due to previous chemotherapy need to monitor
Kidneys                 good
Bladder                radiation damaged but functioning
Upper GI              affected by liver damage and hiatal hernia but functioning
Lower GI              radiation damaged but functioning
Bone Structure     osteoporosis due to radiation and arthritis due to bone fractures

 Blood Results      No diabetes, No cholesterol issues, Blood counts were in acceptable
                             ranges, but I am anemic and need to get an iron infusion asap

CT Scan (drum-roll, please) Clearly shows NO further invasion of the monster!!!

On October 31st, a Smart Port was implanted in my chest.  Although it won't entirely keep me from having to be stuck with needles elsewhere it will reduce those times.  Right now my chest is still healing from this device being implanted and once again I'm trying to get used to this gagging feeling in my throat because there's a tube connecting the port to my carotid artery.  November 15th is when my chemo cocktails will begin sailing into this port. (yes, pun intended)

 Even without balloons or cake and ice cream this birthday was spectacular! The gift of knowing the monster is contained and only consists of two tumors and the lab and CT results being in my favor brought tears of joy to my eyes..  I was in critical conditional before the three previous battles I've had with this monster and even though I emerged from those encounters battered and bruised the fact remains the monster did not emerge.  This time I've had five years to work towards physically healing from those battle wounds; more importantly, my faith and trust in The Lord is even stronger now.

Thank You, Lord, for Your presence on my birthday and every day!