Thank you for your prayers during our mission trip to Chinle, Arizona. I can't begin to tell you how important it was to be covered in prayer. I honestly felt as if we were in a bubble of protection, and there were certainly many dangerous moments that could have gone very wrong.
As we started off on this trip, I could not move my right arm due to the cellulitis. My arm was completely swollen. With lots of help from the parents, we were able to get the RV loaded and get on the road, with a mini van of girls following. We were 40 miles from Needles when the RV blew a back tire!! Thankfully, Jon got off the road safely. We used the van to shuttle the girls to a rest stop 4 miles down the highway. Three hours later, we were back on the road and thankful nobody was hurt.
The next day was a long drive to Chinle, which is an hour below four corners. As we drove through the Navajo Reservation toward our hotel, we could see dark clouds and lightening ahead. We got to our hotel with five minutes to spare before the sky totally unleashed a fury of rain, wind, and lightening. What a relief to be in our safe rooms and not on the road.
I cannot say enough about how hard the girls worked while at the church. They spent a good portion of Sunday setting up for Vacation Bible School. Monday, they welcomed the children and displayed lots of good energy. The Navajo people are very reserved, and so it took a little time to get the kids to loosen up, but by the end of the week many were up and moving around to the great songs we had about God being our strength.
The girls did skits, and an interpretive dance. They gave lots of piggy back rides and worked hard to make connections. They were in charge of a meal one night for the team of 40. They did get to enjoy the incredible Canyon de Chelly, which was close by. They rode horses and did a hike.
Meanwhile, I had to sit quietly and just be a bystander to everything. The pain in my arm did not clear up as fast as I would have liked. Fortunately, a team member had an RV at the church I could lay down in during VBS. It was very frustrating to not be able to use my arm and be in such pain. I often asked God why I could not catch a little break, but it was were He needed me to be, and I think there will be a time when I look back and understand why. I did get to give my testimony to a group of Navajo women, which was a personal highlight for me.
I was so thankful that Jon and Rachel were also on this trip. Between them, and my dear friend (and Girl Scout Co-Leader) Maria Brock, I was well taken care of. Jon and Rachel had to get me ready every morning by blow drying my hair and getting a little make-up on (Rachel, not Jon did this). I could have never survived the week without them.
Upon return from this amazing trip, I had a giant to face on Monday. I had a 6am PET Scan, followed by an echocardiogram. When I saw the doctor, the PET results were not ready yet, but my blood panel showed that I was very, very low on blood cells and need to get a couple of liters of blood immediately. On top of that, I started a new, and aggressive, chemo.
The PET results finally came in, and the news was not great. There is a big increase in my liver mets, and a lesion has shown up on my lung (a big blow). My bone mets have also increased dramatically. They are giving me chemo every week for 12 weeks and will rescan again. It is their hope that we will see some shrinkage of the tumors at that time.
I feel like everything is out of control right now. I am losing weight faster than I can eat. I am weak and tired all of the time. I wonder what happened to the person that could go on a hardy two mile walk in April. Will I ever be that person again? I'm scared, but I am strong in my faith and hope that God can work through all of this and restore my health. It will be a long road, but I know I don't walk it alone.
I have an amazing group of family and friends that are helping us tremendously at the moment. Next Tuesday I have out patient surgery to replace my port, but I am on Coumadin for the blood clot, which I have to stop until after the surgery. I also suffer greatly from the shingles in my right jaw. When I get very tired, the tingling gets very bad.
All this to say, that I can sure use your continued prayers. I have a fight ahead of me, but I know that mainly I just need to rest in the Lord and let Him fight for me. I know He likes us to be persistent in our requests. I will never stop asking for complete healing.
Thank you for your support and love,
Sandy
