Taking Advantage of a Captive Audience

Long overdue for a nail pick-me-up (aka manicure), I head to my local nail salon. It’s Tuesday so not the usual crowd. Great – I’ll be in and out in a jiffy! An adorable Vietnamese girl, who by the way, speaks English very well, greets me and invites me to sit at her booth. Her name is June. "Like the month”, she says. I reply, “I’m Donna, not like Madonna!”

Initially, I go into a zone of thinking internally, but not for long. I start getting those nudges again. I’m learning to yield to those nudges, more often than not. June is my captive audience and what do I have to lose? I find out she’s 20-years-old, lives here with her uncle and aunt and their two young boys (who, by the way, annoy her sometimes, but she loves them anyway). Here for four years, she misses her family in Vietnam. I ease up on the questions as we are taken with Dr. Oz interviewing a former pharmacist on a TV screen behind her. The pharmacist incorrectly filled a prescription for a 3-year-old girl that took her life. He served time in prison though it was a combination of mistakes made by others in the medical industry. The child’s father was on the show and apologized for what the pharmacist had gone through. He says: "God helped me forgive."

June and I are touched by this story. I know I need to go in for more: “So, June, what are your dreams?” June replies: "I go to college two days a week to become a pharmacist." No wonder she is taken with Dr. Oz’s interview. "But, I don't want to stop there. I want to become a doctor, but it's going to take so long!" Now, I step up my game to being “Mama Donna”, rather than “Madonna” to her. We talk about God’s love and plans for her -- that if she’d let Him be a part of her life, He'll help her. I say, “Play the movie in your mind. Six or eight years will go by whether or not you continue on with your dreams. The movie is playing. See yourself graduating and serving in a clinic or hospital and making a really good income. Or, see the movie where you stop your studies and at the end of six or eight years, see yourself wishing you had stayed with it and regretting your decision.” She says, “I’m not quitting!”

Then I go in for the jugular. “June, do you believe in God?"
June: “I’m Buddhist”.
Donna: “I understand that Buddha was a very good man.”
June: “Yes, he taught when we do good, we receive good."
Donna: “That’s what I believe too! Jesus said, 'You reap what you sow!' The beautiful part about God is that He loved us all so much that He gave His Son to us and He died for us, but the best part that’s different from Buddha is He didn’t stay dead. He’s alive and He lives in our hearts when we invite Him in.”

June finishes my nails and starts to stand up. I ask her “Can I pray for you?” Wide-eyed, she says, “Here? Now?” I say, “Yes”. She sits down and I hold her hands and pray: “Heavenly Father. Oh, how much you love June. She’s your daughter and she has big dreams. I pray that she is given the will power to finish strong in whatever she pursues, and I pray that she wants to pursue You with all her heart and come to know you and your Son in a real and personal way. In Christ Jesus' name, I pray. Amen! I love you, June!”
June: I love you too! Will you come back?"
Donna: I will be back. What days are you here?
June: Everyday except Monday and Wednesday. when I go to school.

Going to the nail salon has always been about me settling in for a nice, relaxing, it’s-all-about-me experience. I tune out the manicurist mostly because of a language barrier. But, this day, I sensed I was on a mission. I like to think that I’ll see June again on this side of heaven and I’ll water the seeds I planted a little more. I pray that someone else will come along and water the seeds, too, and God will make them grow.

The Apostle Paul wrote: “I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow. So neither the one who plants nor the one who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. The one who plants and the one who waters have one purpose, and they will each be rewarded according to their own labor. For we are co-workers in God’s service; you are God’s field, God’s building.” (1 Corinthians 3:6-9)
Dear God, please help sweet June grow in You! Amen!

Aboard Our Hospital Cruise Ship

Several years ago, while we were on the 2nd day of a cruise to the Southern Caribbean, we were just about to retire for the night, when all of a sudden, the lights on the ship began to flicker and then we heard, and felt, the engines come to a fast stop. It was a dramatic sight as people ran to their cabins to get their life jackets. Fear seemed to permeate the passengers. We know many were thinking…. "TITANIC!!!!" On the other hand, Ron and I, completely calm since this was not our first cruise, moved through the passengers to encourage, settle down and help the crew bring peace to the situation. Yes, we had alarming news and even the loss of many vital necessities aboard the ship became cause for anxiety and discouragement. Sparing the details, I'll tell you our cruise ended the next day because the ship's engine had caught fire and as the ship was towed to Montego Bay (150 miles away), several 747 jets awaited to take the 1,500+ guests back to our home destinations. Many people were so upset about the inconvenience and that their cruise had ended so abruptly, but Ron and I kept thinking "something good is going to come out of this". And, indeed it did -- not only did we obtain a full refund for that cruise, but we were given an 8-day cruise for free on the ship and time of our choice. In addition, when we took the next cruise, our flights were overbooked on both legs, so we chose to receive the flight dollars to delay to the next flight -- we received over $1,800 in flight dollars.

So here we are aboard our "Hospital Cruise Ship". When Ron had his back surgery in April, we took ourselves out of the "hospital" mindset while he was recovering, and let our minds imagine ourselves on another cruise. When Ron's dinner tray would come to our room (which we called "our cabin"), we'd have soft music playing and we would share the meal at a table in the room….and later we'd imagine walking the "Promenade Deck" as Ron needed to get his strength back by walking the halls of the hospital. But this trip to the hospital has been very different. One of the nurses, who was our nurse previously, remembered us and asked if we were on the cruise ship again, and my response was "No, not this time -- the waters have been way too rough and the storms have been raging way too much!"

We were admitted to the hospital last Wednesday, July 14th, because of the severe back pain that Ron was experiencing. He began to run 104 degrees temperature and the next day we found out that he had a serious staph infection coming from the original surgery site that would take weeks of treatment. But that was only the beginning. As the tests started to come back that the infection was improving, other symptoms and concerns began to arise, and the pain still continued to increase. As Ron would walk to the wash room, we noticed that his legs had weakened and became rubber-like -- and on three occasions he crumpled to the ground. Immediately, the neuro surgeon scheduled him for a milogram to determine if he had spinal cord compression again (as was in the first surgery in April, yet without neurological symptoms). In addition, lab tests came back showing his creatinine level (which measures the kidney function) was at 4.9 -- our physician came in and said, "He is in kidney failure!" And to add to the negative news, that evening we were told the results of the milogram, "Indeed his spinal cord is being compressed by a tumor that has reappeared on the T-11 vertebrae and there must be immediate emergency surgery to prevent paralysis." Suddenly, we were hearing…."TITANIC!!!" In the natural, it would be so easy to run to get our life jackets and be overcome with panic and fear, because, after all, his body is not in the same strong physical shape that it was in during the first surgery in April. Now, he has only one kidney, no gall bladder or adrenal gland; he is recovering from staph infection and we have been told he has signs of anemia. But, we continue to refuse to live in a state of alarm -- instead we dialed 9-1-1 (that is: Psalms 91:1 -- "He that dwells in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.") We find that place by our trust and confidence in our Maker -- knowing that He has a plan in place and our part is to seek peace in the midst of the storm. The neuro surgeon left our room, fully expecting to perform the surgery the next day (yesterday -- Friday) if the lab reports were good, and we told him we would know the next morning what God's plan would be by the peace in our hearts. As a family, once again, we prayed, we worshipped God, we sang, and we celebrated the gift of knowing that tomorrow morning, we'd be right in the middle of God's plan. Friday morning came -- Ron's legs were stronger, he looked good, but lab results were not in yet that tell the team if he is ready for the surgery. The doctor's schedule was full with a surgery at St. John's at 7 a.m. and a day of patients to see coming in from all over the state. So the delay and the schedule were our first signals that haste should give way to rest in peace this weekend and get stronger to take on the surgery next week -- especially since our primary neuro surgeon will be back to Tulsa after being out of the country for two weeks. So that's what will happen….and oh, by the way, the lab work did come in and his creatinine level was down to 1.6 today -- normal!!! Thanks be to God!

Today, Saturday, is our son's birthday -- what a great surprise we received when, flying in from Seattle, Ryan, Shawntel and the boys walked into our room last night. Ryan said "There's no place I'd rather be on my birthday, than with my Dad". God did have a plan for this "hospital cruise" -- He knew our children and grandchildren would be here today to enjoy each other, laugh and celebrate. Yes, our "hospital cruise" continues for an extended voyage next week when we will move forward to another phase of our faith journey. Please pray for God's wisdom to our medical team, Ron's body to be fully capable of handling yet another surgery, and that all issues that have shown up in his body become normal. Thank you so much for your love and prayers. Your words of encouragement, your offers to help, and your sincere best wishes have been a true source of comfort to us! Happy sailing and cruising to you and we look forward to seeing you all very soon when we disembark at our Home Port of Call!

Our Chief Surgeon!!!

"Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand."

Those are the words (God's words) that rang in my heart many times in the last 2-1/2 months since first receiving the news and diagnosis that Ron, my precious husband of 43 years, has renal cell carcinoma cancer and that he was facing the risk of paralysis if we did not immediately have a tumor that was compressing his spinal cord removed. That surgery, on April 12th, was very successful! Then we learned of another tumor that was in another vertebrae and, subsequently, had cyber knife radiation to destroy that tumor. Of course, the main tumor culprit was in his kidney, so this week, that surgery took place.

Ron's sister, Karen, gave us this beautiful picture of Jesus guiding the surgeon's hands. That is the mindset we've maintained throughout this journey. Prior to each of these surgeries, Ron has held the hands of the surgeons and prayed that God, our Chief Surgeon's hands, would be directing our surgeons' hands. And with each surgery and procedure, we believe we are moving one step closer to total healing. As I said at the beginning of this blog, finding that place of peace -- not fearing the path that laid before us, but trusting God for His unfailing plan to be in place in our lives has been our focus. That has been our coping mechanism during these times of uncertainty and turning to that place of peace and rest only found in trusting God and His unfailing Word. That peace is really….undescribable, but explained best in scripture…..Philippians 4:7 "And the peace of God, which passes all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus." And Jesus Christ said, "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid." John 14:27.

Today, June 24th, we're still in the hospital as Ron recovers from the surgery on Tuesday (June 22, 2010). Two surgeons removed his gall bladder, right kidney and adrenal gland. Two immediate prayers were answered for us as all this was done laproscopically -- 4 small incisions instead of open surgery -- which means a shorter recuperation period. And we are at the new Oklahoma Heart Institute -- a division of Hillcrest Hospital -- not because of a heart issue, but because of God's favor to have a beautiful, new, private room and receiving excellent care. The pain from the surgery is gradually dissipating, dear friends are bringing us communion daily, and the prayers and encouragement of our faithful and loving family and friends are what is giving us the extra boost to "finish strong"!!!

Words we heard today: "Adversity causes some to break....and others to break records!" We're going for the gold and expect to break a lot of records!!

What's Your Family's Medical History?

We've been seeing a lot of medical doctors, filling out a lot of medical forms, completing questionaires with questions like "Does your family have history of illness: heart disease? diabetes? cancer? etc." And, as a matter of fact....there have been cases of those diseases in our family.

In a little family discussion last night, we were encouraging ourselves with God's Word -- faith, trust and hope, and then Staci said, "What if there was such a thing as a "Spiritual Doctor" who, rather than asking your family's disease history, asked, "Does your family have history of notable miracles?"

With that thought, we quickly shifted our thoughts to the Source of miracles. We thought about Ron's Dad, who at age 62, was diagnosed with Lymphoma Cancer. He had surgery, and was told he had just a short time to live, but, with his trust and faith in God, lived another 15 years. How's that for "FAMILY HISTORY" facts? And how's that for "good genes"? I think we'll stake our claim on those genetics. I Chronicles 16:12 "Remember the miracles He performed, the amazing things He did and the judgments He pronounced!" Really....with God all things are possible!

Our Great Faith Adventure Begins.....

This is Ron, my fit, strong, healthy, optimistic, husband, best friend and lover for over 43 years. And the other one in the photo is me, Donna (aka Mom and Nana -- to a wonderful son and daughter and six precious grandchildren).

Fast forward to April, 2010.....for the last few weeks our family has had the greatest faith opportunity of our lives -- one, we most certainly didn't expect! I won't go into great detail, but suffice it to say, after two months of steady, increasing, and eventually, excruciating pain in his back, and after x-rays, MRIs, bone biopsy, bone and CT scans, on Monday, April 5th, we were given the diagnosis that my husband, Ron, has renal cell carcinoma metastisized -- the primary tumor they saw is in his kidney, but the tumor of most concern was the tumor which had eaten away his #T-11 vertabrae and was now compressing and impinging his spinal cord. The tumor, itself, was what was supporting his spine and in order to prevent paralysis from his waist down, we were directed to a Neuro Surgeon who urged us to immediately have the tumor on his spinal cord removed surgically. That was on Wednesday, April 7, 2010.

At this same time our son, Ryan, and his family were vacationing in Mexico, but the news caused Ryan to focus his attention on his Dad and he immediately began to contact his associates in the medical field at the University of Washington and at M.D. Anderson to find the most credible and experienced Nero Surgeon to do this very intense and critical surgery. We were told it was one of the three most serious and life-threatening surgeries.

Our daughter, Staci, and her family were already in the process of moving to Tulsa because of her husband's new business partnership here before this ever happened. They have been waiting for their home in Hot Springs to sell. Fortunately, this medical emergency came at a time when Staci could put her busy schedule, activities and appointments on hold and she was able to come and stand alongside us when going to the doctors, getting medical reports, and then, most importantly, with her expertise and contacts in the naturopathic industry, started Ron immediately on a wellness program to give him the nutrition he needs during this time. Then Ryan and Shawntel flew in to be with us while we were at the hospital and also assisted with Ron's nutrition plan by purchasing him an alkaline ionized purifying water system which is helping to reduce the acidity in his body.