Tag: Faith and Breast Cancer (Page 3 of 4)

Back at Home and to Birmingham

May 4, 2011 / Jennifer Coleman / 0 Comments

We packed up camp fast as we could Sunday morning. A storm was blowing in and we didn’t want to take home wet tents. Arrived home safe and took a nap.

After lunch, we took Holden home and went shopping again. Lucked out and found an ice truck at Publix shortly after it pulled up. Ice, propane, batteries and generators were still going fast.

3% of Huntsville now had power. We saw a couple of lights 3-5 miles from our house that gave us some hope, and Publix now had generators for running their freezers.

Mike and I went to bed shortly after dark. Joel fell asleep on the couch in the living room with the dogs and they were all three awakened around midnight by a looter on our back porch. The dogs earned their keep by barking up a storm and Joel by screaming.. the looter ran away and jumped in his get-away car. So glad we were there that night and I am hoping that we can find a solar motion sensor light for our back porch today.

I woke up two hours later being bit by a big tick. Boy, can they bite. I ran to Judi’s room because she had a candle lit. She couldn’t sleep after the looter incident. She tried pull off the tick with tweezers.. he was stuck on tight.. then to burn the tick with her candle lighter – I suggested we find some matches and get Mike to help. He burned it with a lit match (not much better) and was finally able to get him off. I should really look up symptoms for lyme disease.

Next morning I was about to enter an ice cold shower when I had an idea.. we could spend the night in Birmingham that night, take a hot shower, and not wake up as early for my appointments the next morning. Didn’t take much to convince Mike; he’d already been thinking about it. We went to a near by store and used their internet to find and book a hotel, bought the kids a few groceries then ran off to civilization. Almost felt like a date instead of a doctor’s visit.

We had two hot showers, ate at Jim and Nick’s (one of our favorite bbq places) and slept in maybe the nicest hotel we’ve ever stayed at. Appointments went well. I didn’t have an allergic reaction to the CAT scan die (yay!) but did have a reaction to the rubbing alcohol the lab prepped me with. It was probably a good thing.. it was my first time to have an immediate reaction.. and now I can just tell them I had a reaction and request they use something else in the future.

It’s nice to be home again and now that the power is back on, I can get some laundry done. We have a lot to do before Judi goes to TX on Saturday, and even more to do before Mike and I leave for Alaska.

Love,

Preparing so I can Forget

April 8, 2011 / Jennifer Coleman / 0 Comments

I’ve been privileged to speak at and/or lead a few different lady’s groups.

To this day, I fear it more than death, but I love pressing in close to God

so that I can hear what He would have me to say,

and I am trying to learn to focus on the message

and not worry so much about actually being the messenger.

Usually I can put off the fear until some hours before…

then when I have to open my mouth, my voice quivers

and when I am really nervous, I stutter.

I am in that phase now with my surgery where on the outside

I am calm and happy.. especially that it’s not anytime soon, but

I know from past experience that I need to look ahead and prepare.

When we had our first child, I read everything in the book about giving birth,

breathing, etc. but was totally unprepared for the recovery..

Four children later, I made the same mistake when I had my tubes tied.

I never looked up the side effects or what to expect when recovering.

Fast forward to now.. the internet is such a wonderful invention

filled with recovery stories, blogs, forums, advice from medical personnel..

This week I found out more than I wanted to know.

I just keep telling myself, “A couple of months after, it will be all behind me.”

The sooner I get prepared the sooner I can forget about it

and enjoy my trip to Alaska with Mike.

Yesterday, along with our regular grocery shopping

Judi and I starting gathering some recovery supplies.

I was so glad to have Judi with me..

because it was hard and a little embarrassing.

She loved teasing me about buying “granny panties” and the “old lady walker.”

She even called a friend to tell her about it.

The “Peace Man” pillow is to protect me in the car from my seat belt.

I am hoping the neck pillow will help me to sleep in the recliner.

Everyone says that was the only place they could sleep..

I have a hard time sleeping in mine as it is.. my head doesn’t know where to go.

I found the panties in the maternity section on clearance..

I need the big ones to keep the elastic from touching my scar.

Slippers are to keep me from slipping.

Walker is for the first couple of weeks.. then back to the thrift store.

I found the lap tray for a dollar. Isn’t the painting cute?

I didn’t notice until I got home that the name tag says, “Grace.”

I am so thankful that His grace is always there when we need it most.

Hebrews 4:16

Jenny

Making Decisions

March 24, 2011 / Jennifer Coleman / 0 Comments

We really liked Dr. Fix and his physicians’ assistant Dee. They’ve worked together for 18 years. They said with my body type, age, and health I could have whichever reconstructive surgery I wanted. And the answer to my big question “Can you do both in one surgery?” was “Yes.”

We’ve decided to keep going in the direction of having a double mastectomy with reconstruction. It seems kinda extreme at first but when you think about it in the end it has the least amount of side effects and you get all your risk and healing out of the way in one swoop.

I still have to decide about if or not to allow them to take lymph nodes. My choices boil down to:
A. Keep my lymph nodes and trust God that I don’t have cancer in them or anywhere else in my body.
B. Let them take the lymph nodes and trust God to protect me from getting lymphedema. This is especially hard for me because it’s my dominant arm and where I first get hives when I am exposed to corn. It could mean that every time I am exposed to corn my arm would swell with the hives.

Warning TMI ahead… What Kind of Reconstruction?
Only for those who have a fascination with science and the medical world like me.

The reconstructive choices are also hard. I could have a relatively quick surgery with implants, but then my body may reject them. I could have muscles moved from my back or stomach to my “breast,” but after seeing the “Bodies Exhibit” a few years back, I am even more sure that God put each muscle where it is for a reason.

We are choosing the longest (10 hrs.), hardest (microscopic) surgery which comes with a 2 month recovery. They will take some skin and fat and possibly a little mussel (depending on how my blood vessels look when they open me up) from my nice little streached out from babies tummy and place it where my breast used to be. The end result will be like a tummy tuck. 😉 Good thing I’ve been too lazy to work on my abs. If you want to look up the procedures up they are called a SIEA flap, DIEP flap or mussel sparing TRAM flap.

Ahead:

An appointment with an allergist here in Huntsville on Monday morning.
Praying that I will have wisdom and ask the right questions and that he’s able to give us some good advice.

A CAT scan where they give will give me an IV of contrasting dye to get a good look at my blood vessels. Praying for perfect vessels and no allergic reaction to the dye.

A wonderful trip to Alaska with the loves (Jesus and Mike) of my life.

A decision about my lymph nodes.
More Wisdom. Peace.

Surgery possibly on June 1st (they are still working out the details) and a nice, relaxing summer where I am not allowed to lift more than 5 lbs.

Love,

Jenny

“Carpe Diem”

March 11, 2011 / Jennifer Coleman / 1 Comment

“Enjoy the day, pluck the day when it is ripe.” Was the much needed Word I got early yesterday morning.

I wrote my last post just before going to see my nutritionalist and Dr. Harriman and asked for prayer, “Pray that I will have favor with Dr. Harriman and he will agree to do the lumpectomy only as a first and prayerfully last step and that my appointment with the nutritionalist will also be filled with wisdom and peace. “

My appointment with the nutritionalist went very well and I believe we had the wisdom and peace that we prayed for. Mike was able to get off work a little early and go with me to my appointment with Dr. Harriman. I am so thankful because it went the opposite of what we had hoped.

When you are diagnosed with DCIS, you are basically given two options. The first being lumpectomy with radiation and a drug that you are required to take for 5 years called Tomoxifen. Dr. Harriman was with us in that he didn’t believe radiation and Tomoxifen were very good options. They both can have very bad, long term side effects.

Option two is to have a mastectomy or double mastectomy. The cool part is that you can have reconstructive surgery at the same time. The uncool part is that it’s a very long surgery 8 hrs. or longer, recovery can take 8 wks. or longer, sometimes the reconstruction doesn’t take, and if you are lucky, you will no longer have any feeling in your sad, scared “breast” because one third will have phantom pains. The worst part about having a mastectomy is that they want to take a few of your lymph nodes and this can cause lymphedema (swelling in your arm) that can last the rest of your life. There is the possibility that they could find an invasive cancer in your lymph nodes and will want you to take chemo “therapy.”

In response to our desire to do a lumpectomy only as a first step Dr. Harriman repeatedly said, “That is ABSOLUTELY the WRONG decision. If you were my wife, I would drag you kicking and screaming for a mastectomy.” I did like him and I don’t think I can say that seeing him was a mistake, so “Where does that leave me?”

I am not sure. If we decide to do a mastectomy, we will do it in Birmingham because they have better options there for reconstruction. Yesterday, I called Birmingham to get things rolling that direction and got an appointment for a consultation with a plastic surgeon named Dr. Fix on Tuesday, March 22 at 9:00 AM. Once I see him and hear my options, he and my surgeon will have to find a date when they can both operate on me.

I will most likely ask them to wait until June because this year Mike and I are celebrating our 25th wedding anniversary. In May, we are flying to California to see Savannah, our daughter from Thailand, for the first time in 17 years. Then we are taking a 7 day cruse to Alaska. Yay!

What makes it really hard to make a decision is that although most American doctors will only give you the two options, there are in reality many, many more options. There is prayer and miraculous healing, there are natural healing alternatives, and there are medical doctors around the world that are curing cancer with other medical procedures.

After a much needed nap yesterday, I watched several of the Joseph Prince episodes that I’ve recorded on my DVR. He said several things that stood out to me. One was “That it’s more important to have peace than to be right.” You can send your life trying to be right, when choosing peace is life giving.

One series was about putting on “as a helmet the hope of salvation” from 1 Thessalonians 5:8. He says that hope is “the joyful, confident, expectation of good.” That we can’t live in the past thinking, “If only” or in the future thinking, “What if?” “God is our refuge and strength, A very present help in trouble.” (Psalm 46:1) We have to live in the now where God is.

This very much fits with “Carpe Diem.” Thinking, “I may be having a mastectomy in June.” does not give a very easy feeling. Focusing on having “a joyful, confident, expectation of good” is a much easier way to live.

Another verse that he quoted was: Mark 11:24 Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them. During worship a couple of Sundays ago, Jesus whispered in my ear “Receive your healing.” Ever since I’ve been speaking in faith, “I receive my healing.”

So now I am waiting with a “joyful, confident, expectation of good” for a very visible sign of healing. I wake up each morning looking for the angel of the Lord and hoping to hear him say, “You are made whole. Cancel all your doctors appointments.” My mom said that she, and Mike would have to see him, too. With God all things are possible. 🙂

If he doesn’t come, I am not sure what decision we will finally make, but I will still hold on to my “joyful, confident, expectation of good.” Maybe my “good” will be a supernaturally quick recovery. I know that God is faithful and will be with me every step of the way and that in it’s self is a special kind of miracle. Thank you, Jesus, for making a way for me.

Romans 5:13 I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirit.

Love,

Jenny

He Knows My Name

March 8, 2011 / Jennifer Coleman / 1 Comment

Jennifer

Fair Lady

Her ways are ways of pleasantness,

and all her paths are peace.

Proverbs 3:17

Dawn

Dawn of the Day

Cause me to hear

Your loving-kindness in the morning,

for on You do I lean

and in You do I trust.

Cause me to know

the way wherein I should walk,

for I lift up my inner self to You.

Psalm 143:8

I am a morning person. I love to get up with the sunrise and spend quite time alone

with the Lord and preparing for my day. It wasn’t until recently that it dawned

on me how perfectly my middle name, Dawn, fits me. 🙂

Shortly after we moved to Florida, just a few days before

my birthday, I had an accident where I

very stupidly opened a pressure cooker to see if

the corn on the cob I was cooking was done.

The steaming hot water exploded up and caused second

degree burns on my right arm and shoulder.

An angel’s wing protected my face.

I ran to the bath tub and tried to put my arm

under some cool running water where my

melted skin looked like it was going to wash right off.

I cried uncontrollably from the pain all the way to the ER.

On the way home, I looked up and noticed that just

a couple of blocks from our house was a street named “Jennifer.”

The Lord spoke to me that each time I saw that sign I was

to remember that He knew my name. 🙂
I purposely chose to drive that direction many times.

The spring before, I had looked up the meaning

of my name and chose the verses above to go with it.

Both verses speak about being led by Wisdom.

I so need, love, and deeply desire Wisdom (Jesus).

The moment I became a mom I realized how destitute I was

without God’s Wisdom and have since continually prayed for Wisdom.

God has been so faithful to give us words of Wisdom

and to lead us though open and closed doors during this recent trial.

Yesterday, I started from scratch looking for a

surgeon here in Huntsville. I’ve liked all the doctors we’ve met so far,

but didn’t feel like we had the right one. I had on my heart one

person I felt like I was supposed to call for a recommendation.

I left her a message on Saturday and was waiting for a return call.

One thing about being a morning person is that by the time most people are

up and moving around, I’ve already been up and waiting to talk to them for hours. 🙂

Eight O’clock, Nine O’clock, Ten O’clock went by. I finally called the only breast

surgeon here in town to see if I could get an appointment with him.

He’s taking time off for the next several weeks and doesn’t

have any appointments until April (closed door).

His nurse gave me a name of someone else I might try. I called to make and

appointment with him but didn’t feel peace about it and was starting to

wonder if I should just go with one of the surgeons I had already met (no peace).

A good friend came over to visit that afternoon. I so needed the distraction

and we both enjoyed the time of fellowship and refreshment.

Just a few minutes after she left, the one lady who I felt like I was

supposed to get a recommendation from called. I can’t tell you the whole

story because I could get her in trouble, but she told me who she would go to.

And after talking to her, I knew that God had given me favor and I had found my surgeon.

By this time, it was pretty late in the day, so I didn’t waste anytime in

trying to get an appointment. I told his receptionist my situation

and asked if he had any appointments. She said he might have one opening up

this Wednesday, but she had to make a phone call to see

if she could work it out for me and call me back.

If I had called that morning for an appointment, she would have told me that

they didn’t have any openings until March 22nd. The whole day I was

impatiently waiting for a recommendation and struggling over who I should see,

God was working on my behalf to open up an appointment for me. 🙂

He is so GOOD!

I will be seeing Dr. Harriman and the nutritionalist, who didn’t have any

appointments until April, tomorrow. 🙂

Pray that I will have favor with Dr. Harriman and he will agree to do the

lumpectomy only as a first and prayerfully last step and that my appointment

with the nutritionalist will also be filled with wisdom and peace.

Isaiah 43:

1 But now, thus says the LORD, your Creator, O Jacob,
         And He who formed you, O Israel,
         “Do not fear, for I have redeemed you;
         I have called you by name; you are Mine!
    2 “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you;
         And through the rivers, they will not overflow you
         When you walk through the fire, you will not be scorched,
         Nor will the flame burn you.

Love,

Jenny

Saturday’s Decisions

March 6, 2011 / Jennifer Coleman / 1 Comment

Saturday morning, Mike and I got up early expecting a long agonizing, discussion over what to do. Although the doctors are proud of their 99% “cure” rate with DCIS, there are many things to take in to consideration.

First, their definition for cure is that their patient is still alive 5 years later. If they die 5 years and one day later from breast cancer, it doesn’t change their percentages. This is why it’s so important to live a healthy life style. Body, soul and spirit are tied to your health and we have to take care of them by eating right, exercising, keeping our stress levels in check, getting plenty of sleep, taking Sabbaths, loving God and taking time to allow Him to work in your life and help you have healthy relationships with others.

Second, their “cures” can cause other very bad side effects; including lung and ovarian cancer.

Knowing all of this, we sat down to pray, took communion, then got out the dry erase board that I use for homeschooling, and laid out all our options and their risks and possible side effects, and most importantly the words that we had from God so far.

In less than an hour, we had made our decision, had peace that it lined up with what God had spoken to us, and were able to lay out what we needed to do from here. Praise God! It would have been even faster, if Zoë, our puppy, hadn’t interrupted. We were so amazed that it went so smoothly, and so happy that it was over, and we had our day of rest back.

We decided to do a lumpectomy alone, and see how the pathology report comes back. We are praying that it will come back really good; showing no cancer like the 2nd mammogram. If it does, I believe it will be a testament to God’s glory. If it doesn’t, we will have to make further decisions.

We are also praying about:

*Finding surgeon here in Huntsville that I like so that I can avoid traveling back and forth to Birmingham for follow up exams
*Getting a family membership at the YMCA
*If or not we should do the vitamin C IV treatments that one nutritionalist suggested

I really liked the nutritionist/pharmacist that I saw on Friday, agreed with his approach to health, and felt like the paths that he wanted to guide me on to health were paths that God had shown me before. I will be seeing him again on Wednesday to find the supplements that will work best for me.

Thank you so much for your continued prayers and support. I am so blessed. This is my song for today.

Love,

Jenny

Thursday’s Appointments

March 4, 2011 / Jennifer Coleman / 1 Comment

Yesterday’s appointments went as well as could be expected. Your prayers and Mike’s support were a great strength to me. Thank you.

The calcifications that first alerted the doctors to the possibility of me having cancer no longer show up on the mammograms. They believe that the biopsy got them all.. 🙂

Sad thing is that they still strongly recommend the same treatments: either a lumpectomy with radiation or a mastectomy. It doesn’t matter that they can’t see it.. “It could still be there.”

I am going to see another natural doctor this morning. Tomorrow, Mike and I will try to make a decision.

Thank you for your prayers.

Jenny

Let Patience Have Her Perfect Work

March 1, 2011 / Jennifer Coleman / 0 Comments

James 1:2-4 Consider it a sheer gift, friends, when tests and challenges come at you from all sides. You know that under pressure, your faith-life is forced into the open and shows its true colors. So don’t try to get out of anything prematurely. Let it do its work so you become mature and well-developed, not deficient in any way.

Several years ago, once a month, I would have suicidal thoughts. Nothing ever came of them. They were mostly annoying. The worst part was after while, I would wonder if I was crazy or something, then I would start my menstural cycle and find relief in thinking they were caused by hormones. Now I think what was actually going on was that my enemy was taking an opportune time to attack me. Eventually, I learned to catch on to what was going on at the onslaught, rebuked the thoughts and stopped having them. Glory to God!

At the beginning of last week, the Lord dropped the verse above into my heart. The part about “don’t try to get out of anything prematurely” stood out. I was hurting and wanted out fast. Over the weekend my heart had begun to break over my diagnosis.

Saturday Mike and I went to Nashville for a city tour which turned out for me to be the opposite of a “getaway.” It seemed like everywhere I turned something reminded me that I wasn’t whole; from driving by the Sarah Cannon Cancer Center, to the mannequins in the Country Music Hall of Fame with two perfectly formed breast (really sad, I know).

The saddest part for me was that the biggest displays for the biggest “stars” were ones who had died of drug overdoses. The displays talked about how wonderful the person was, then were deafeningly silent on how to avoid their tragic end. In the gift shop, I found myself under the old, familiar attack of suicidal thoughts. This time it came through a different open door. I prayed in the Spirit and it stopped, but my heart was still breaking.

Wednesday, I spent the day listening to more of the “Healing School” CDs by Katie Souza. Session 4 was on the healing of your soul.. exactly what I needed. One of my deepest desires has been to pray for the sick and see them miraculously recover in Jesus’ name (I’ve had just a taste) then early this year the Lord added the desire to see the brokenhearted mended. What I didn’t know was that my own heart was wounded and needed healing before I could see my desires fulfilled.

I had a dream Monday morning about Jesus coming and binding my wounds then taking me into an office where He was cleaning up a mess. I couldn’t understand how an “office” related to me until I heard the CDs where Katie quoted this verse from the AMP

Luke 11:34 Your eye is the lamp of your body; when your eye (your conscience) is sound and fulfilling its office, your whole body is full of light; but when it is not sound and is not fulfilling its office, your body is full of darkness.

The eye is the window to our soul and my soul was darkened by the mess it was in. Wednesday through Friday were spent with the Lord shining His light on and healing different wounds in my soul. At first, it was extremely painful. I was not a very good patient. I was happy to run away to a field trips on Thursday, Friday and Saturday with the kids. And I think I was trying too hard. Our part is to trust and rest in His lovingkindness.

He started with the biggest hurts like the death of my Grandmother and worked down to the smaller ones like when I was a kid and these two doberman pinchers chased me from the bus stop to a friend’s house instead of the boy who had thrown rocks at them. My body escaped unscathed, but my heart hadn’t.

I’ve since become keenly aware of soul wounds in others. Seems like everyone I talk to now mentions a wound in their soul without even realizing it. Katie said to soak the wound in the “glory light of Jesus” though worship and not to focus on the hurt but on the healer. She used the story of Moses lifting up the serpent in the wilderness as our example. Our focus has to be on Jesus lifted up not the snake bite (or in my case the near dog bite).

I knew from experience that when God shows you something in your heart or way of thinking in your mind that shouldn’t be there, it’s because He wants to fix it. I have learned to see it as an opportunity to repent and rejoice because of the good work He was about to do in me, yet last week I continued to struggle. Even going to the grocery store was painful. I dreaded the cashier’s friendly, “How are you today?” because my answer, “Good. How are you?” came with a cringe in my soul.

Finally, God reminded me of the part of Psalm 23 that says “He restores my soul.” I repeated it to myself over and over until the pain lessened. Now I can say “It is well with my soul.” with joy and peace again. 🙂

I am not sure what comes next. I had a dream that I was sitting at a small, wobbly, primitive table about to be served, but I had no silverware or plate or cup. Not the way I imagine God preparing a table. So now I am claiming the rest of Psalm 23.

5 You serve me a six-course dinner
      right in front of my enemies.
   You revive my drooping head;
      my cup brims with blessing.

6 Your beauty and love chase after me
      every day of my life.
   I’m back home in the house of God
      for the rest of my life.

I found this song today and thought it went with my week last week.

We meet with a surgeon, oncologist and radiologist at UAB Thursday morning.

Love,

Jenny

Psalm 63

February 19, 2011 / Jennifer Coleman / 0 Comments

My verse for today..

Psalm 63

1 O God, You are my God; I shall seek You earnestly;

My soul thirsts for You, my flesh yearns for You,

In a dry and weary land where there is no water.

2-4 So here I am in the place of worship, eyes open,

drinking in your strength and glory.

In your generous love I am really living at last!

My lips brim praises like fountains.

I bless you every time I take a breath;

My arms wave like banners of praise to you.

5 You satisfy me more than the richest feast
I will praise you with songs of joy.
6 I lie awake thinking of you,
meditating on you through the night.
7 For You have been my help, and in the shadow of Your wings will I rejoice.

8 My whole being follows hard after You and clings closely to You;

Your right hand upholds me.

9 But those who seek my life to destroy it,
Will go into the depths of the earth.
10 They will be delivered over to the power of the sword;

They will be a prey for foxes.

11 But the king will rejoice in God;

Everyone who swears by Him will glory,

For the mouths of those who speak lies will be stopped.

A few months ago I started gathering a collection of my favorite Psalms.

I purposely left out all the parts that said things like “God kill my enemies,” because I was thinking in the natural of the people who were trying to take David’s life.

I felt kinda funny about “editing” the Bible that way

and knew something had to be wrong with it, but justified myself thinking

that maybe pre-Jesus it was impossible to love your enemies.. and now

that we are living in New Covenant times we have grown past those verses.

I felt pretty strongly about not keeping the verses

because after learning several years ago that “Hurt people hurt people,”

I had purposely developed a habit of walking in compassion and

forgiveness towards the people who hurt me.

And I definitely wouldn’t want God to destroy anyone on my behalf… until now.

This week a friend introduced me to

“The Healing School” CD set by Katie Souza of Expected End Ministries.

And Katie reminded me that I do have an enemy.. not of flesh and blood but..

“against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world

and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” Eph 6:12

I love to pray and intercede and war, but my deep desire is to worship

and sometimes war seems like an added bother. It’d sure be nice if the devil would

just admit his defeat and give up and run away with his tail between his legs.

He obviously hasn’t. There is still evil in this world and it’s up to us

to usher in God’s light and overcome the darkness.

And we can do it through His strength, goodness and faithfulness.

Worship and war are inseparable and

that is why they found are together in the Psalms.

My view of the “Destroy my enemies” Psalms has forever changed.

“Get them God. Destroy my enemies. Cut off those who seek to destroy me.

Send them to the depths of the earth. Defeat them with Your sword!”

I am hearing something like this from God:

I am His child. He claims me as His.

I am to rest in the shadow of His wings where His healing

beams are and feast on His love and goodness while He destroys my enemies for me.

He is a great and mighty warrior and in the end I am going to bask in His glory.

Jeremiah 1:8 and 20:11, 2 Chronicles 20:15, Malachi 4:1-3,

Psalms 23, 24, 36, 63 and 91

I have an appointment here on Tuesday with a nutritionist

that I hope can teach me how to take better care of myself naturally.

Then another appointment in Birmingham at UAB with a surgeon

named Dr. Helen Krontiras on Thursday, March 3rd in the morning.

We have to be there early for more mammograms and I am praying:

A. That between now and then my enemy will be defeated and I will

be completely and totally healed and the new mammograms

will shock and confuse the doctors and

I will come out of there rejoicing and the devil will be

so sorry he ever messed with me.

(and a distant) B. If mammograms show same thing as before,

God will give Mike, I and the doctor wisdom and agreement about what to do.

Thanking Jesus for His lovingkindness and for teaching me why He

wrote the Psalms the way He did.. He is so much wiser and higher than I .. 🙂

Jenny

Valentines

February 15, 2011 / Jennifer Coleman / 0 Comments

We had a great Valentine’s Day.

Mike got me this beautiful hydrangea plant.

Did you know that you can take hydrangea as a supplement
and it will dissolve kidney stones?
I know from experience. Most regular doctors don’t know.

I made Valentine bookmarks (above) for our homeschool bowling party.

The bowling party was all Judi’s idea. She remembers going bowling (ages 5-9)

on Valentine’s with our homeschool group in San Antonio.

She made these beautiful cookies (from a roll).

Everyone said they were delicious.

The radiologist that I had an appointment with today called yesterday to cancel my appointment. She wants to move me to a different location. I was glad she cancled, because after all I’ve read about radiation I’ve decided not to do it.

I am waiting now to hear from the breast center in Birmingham

about new appointments with a surgeon and oncologist there.

When I talked to UAB last week, I found out that the one allergist that worked at the hospital last day was in December. 🙂 At this point I am kinda hoping that UAB has more options than were offered here. Ones that don’t include surgery would be nice.

I’ve read that only 10-25% of people with DCIS ever develop an invasive breast cancer. If I refuse to take the drug they want to give me (one of it’s side effects is uterine cancer), and refuse to do radiation, I am not sure how much surgery will decrease my chances.

And the corn I am exposed to during surgery could increase my chances of going into anaphylactic shock when exposed to corn in the future.

I’ve been reading about a supplement called Diindolylmethane (DIM) that helps fight hormone dependent cancers (which mine is). Here is a link.

Still believing for healing and lots of wisdom.

Love,

Jenny