Tuesday, May 31st

Denise went to the doctors this morning (down in Florda) because her G-tube wouldn't drain.  The doctor admitted her to the hospital to see if they can get it draining.  If they cannot get it to drain, they will have to do outpatient surgery and put a new drain in.  Please pray that it will start draining!

Prayer Request!! May 29th

Most of you know that Denise was able to fly down to Florida.  They left last Friday and will not be back until Saturday.  Pastor called and asked me to post the following prayer request:  Denise's G-tube is not draining and we need to pray that it will start draining.    It is blocked for some reason.  If it doesn't start draining, she will need to get to the doctor and of course with the holiday weekend, that will not happen until Tuesday.  I will keep you posted as information is passed along.

A message from Denise! May 24th

Hello everyone,
Once again I thank you for your prayers, and your faithfulness. It's always amazing to me the number of people that hold me up in prayer daily; I just can't express my gratitude with words. And, praise the Lord, He has answered your prayers once again in that I will be going to Florida with my sisters and daughters. I feel so much better than I did last week before the blood transfusion and the antibiotic for the infection in my port.
I still get tired at the drop of a hat, but the fever, chills and sweats are gone. I wake up in the morning with the desire to get out of bed, which the weeks before I had to force myself to get up.
I am just returning from seeing Dr. Cunningham again. This time because I suspected that the ascites was building up again in my abdominal area. That is the case but there's not a pocket of fluid big enough for them to remove it there in the office. I'd have to go to the hospital to have it done, so I declined until I come home. (Ascites is the fluid that cancer will produce around itself. This does indicate that the cancer is active again, but at present it isn't growing crazily.)
My very current status is that the chemo I've been doing is no longer working, and it is the last chemo available. So now it's the Lord and me. And this is what I've learned on the spiritual end. I have come to realize that God does not want a fake front from us. He understands when, and even wants us to get to the place where we discard all pretenses of strength and great faith, and fall desperately at His feet and cry out, "O Lord, there is nothing I can do, I need You, I can't carry on any longer." Someone once said that when life is going good we say a prayer, but when life is though we truly pray! I do believe that my faith has grown leaps and bounds in the past few weeks, and it's all because the Lord is teaching me on a higher level how to have a deeper relationship with Him.
I could go on and on! But thank you for staying with me through all this info. And again thanks for all the prayers.
With love,
Denise

Saturday, May 21st

Praise God for answered prayer!  Denise was able to come home last night!  We didn't even have to use our escape plan!!  I don't know any more information at this point.  I do know that she is still hoping to go to Florida rhe end of next week.  So continue to keep that in your prayers!  If I hear anything else, I'll let you all know!

Thursday, May 19th

Just got back from visiting Denise.  It was so good to see her!  She was feeling a bit better today - Praise the Lord!  She did have a specific prayer request that she wanted me to share with you.  They received a letter from the insurance company saying that they were not going to pay for her TPN (which is the food supplement that she receives for 12 hours every day through her port).  She said the TPN costs about $5000 per week.  Please pray that the insurance will continue to cover this expense.
While we was visiting with her, we were jokingly talking about ways to "break" her out of there.  I am going to try and post a picture that we took of her during one of her attempted escapes.  : ) 
She is praying that she doesn't have to stay in the hospital long....she is really wanting to go home.  I told her we would pray with her on that too!
Note:  to see the picture, scroll all the way to the bottom of the blogs!  (She was trying to fit into my baby's clothes : )  LOL

Update Wednesday, May 18th

The doctors did find a small infection around Denise's port area.  They are giving her antibiotics for that.  She received a blood transfusion and Pastor said that her color was much better today and seem to have a little more energy.  Not sure how long she will have to stay in the hospital because the antibiotic has to be given in her IV.  Praise God that they were able to find the infection and pray that the antibiotic will do it's job!  Thanks for the prayers everyone - keep 'em coming!

Wednesday, May 18th

Denise was admitted to the hospital last night.  She has been having a fever off and on for quite a while.  The doctors are doing tests to see if there is an infection somewhere that is causing the fever.  So far the tests have come back negative.  Pastor said he would call me later if there was any update.  I will pass it along to you as soon as I hear something.  Continue to keep her and her family in your prayers. 

Thou art my hiding place; thou shalt preserve me from trouble; thou shalt compass me about with songs of deliverance.  Psalm 32:7

Thursday, May 12th

Pastor just called....when I saw that it was him and not Denise I knew something must be up.  Denise went to the doctors today.  Her CA125 count went up over 100 points which means that the cancer has become more active.  The doctor didn't feel that she was healthy enough or strong enough for chemo.  She has had a lot of stomach pain/discomfort.  Pastor said that she isn't even able to eat popsicles without her stomach hurting.  She is quite weak and hasn't had energy or ambition to do anything.  Please continue to keep them in your prayers.  During these times, it is so hard to know what to say or even do.  Makes me so thankful that we serve a God who knows just what we need and just when we need it...... Phil. 4:19 But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.  Another verse that comes to mind is: Heb 4:16 Let us therefore come boldly unto the throne of grace, that we
may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need. 

Saturday, May7th

Hi Everyone,

     I apologize for my delay on updating the blog.  There has not been any new developments yet.  This coming week will tell us more.  I'll have blood work on Tuesday, and then on Thursday start a new cycle of chemo.  So this is the blood work that will measure the C125 again.  That's always  unnerving for me.  But again the Lord always comforts me. 

In general I've had some good days, but it seems that my energy level was very low, and just when that improved I started with a fever. (That was two days ago) Now the fever is gone, but I woke up early this morning with a terrible cough. It felt like my throat and lungs were being ripped out of my chest.  That has passed, and today I feel pretty good. 

     So I will let you know how things are going after I see my doctor on Thursday.  Meanwhile thank you again for your faithfulness in prayer for me.

With love and appreciation,
Denise