Update & Living a Loan

I had a scan done yesterday down in Pittsburgh to check and see how things are going.  Brad went with me so it was a pretty good time.  I got to drink the special Tang and he prayed for revival at the cancer center.  Then we had fun driving around the north side looking for a bridge/the highway.  Other than that… it wasn’t very exciting.  The doctor called me last night and said that things are still looking really good.  The tumors still look to be fluid collections mostly, and they’re still shrinking a good bit.  As a result, the doc said he doesn’t want to stop chemo just yet.  This is the 2nd time that I thought I was going to be done with all of that and I’m not.  I’m not upset or anything because that’s a really good report.  I think about what God has brought me to right now compared to where things were at in January and it creates this emotion in me that I haven’t ever had before.  I can’t describe it… I don’t mean to say it’s just an indescribable good feeling although I’m really excited about not dying back then.  I guess it’s hard to explain.  It sort of feels like a sad emotion almost when I think about January, but there’s also extreme joy at knowing where I am right now.  Part of me feels like the sadness associated with where I was a few months ago is actually a place of compassion that’s been carved out of my heart to move me to action on behalf of others in deadly situations.

I’m definitely not being ungrateful at where God’s brought me.  God is incredible and I can’t say enough good things about Him (but I can still try).  Right now, I can really FEEL the truth from the bible where it says “you are not your own, but you were bought at a price.”  It’s true whether we really feel that way or not, but I know that since that truth takes up residence within our emotions, I think I’ve moved to an even greater place of reckless abandonment to God.  As believers, we are stewards of the lives we’ve been given.  It’s like we’ve been given one life on loan from heaven… so what are we going to invest it in?  …I feel like I really get that now.  It’s not a principle that I claim to have on lock-down.  I don’t even know that I’m walking in as deep of a place in it as I want to be, but I’m really glad to have been brought to a deeper place in it than where I was.  It’s a big deal.

So, the plan medically is for me to have one more chemo treatment next week.  Then I will go on a once-daily pill that is supposed to kill the type of cancer I have really well.  There aren’t supposed to really be any side-effects from the pill.  The doc said it’s in between a chemo-type drug and a biological drug that works with your immune system.  I forget the name of it.  It just has a number name right now because it’s very new.  I have what seems like it could be a rather busy summer.  I like writing blog posts, so I’ll probably do it more often if I’m able to.  In a couple of weeks, it’s looking like I’ll be in Atlanta, Kansas City, Washington DC, and maybe Nashville and/or Virginia… I’ll also be back home here off and on doing some work and finishing school.  By tomorrow night, I will be in Michigan for a wonderful weekend of snacking on bullets and beating up giant squid.  …and by that I mean I’ll be hanging out with this sweet guy named Jeremiah doing things that I don’t really know about yet.  The bullets/squid comment was made because, at times, Jeremiah and myself talk about ourselves as if we are like Chuck Norris as he is ridiculously portrayed in all the Chuck Norris jokes.  My guess is no one will find this as funny as we do.  Nevertheless, here’s a few examples:

*The military tests bombs on my left shoulder.  They’re approved if I get a rash.

*I legally own half of Montana.

*Superman was my side-kick until I became a teenager.

*I drive a 1997 grizzly bear (w/positraction).

(Here’s a few from Jeremiah)

*I spanked Rambo in a game of bloody knuckles.

*I use hot tar for shaving cream.

*I almost got in a fight with Arnold Schwarzenegger, but after we made eye contact he started crying, curled up in the fetal position and wet himself.

*When my fingernails get too long I just rip off my finger and another one grows in it’s place.

…I’m actually laughing right now as I type this… hahahaha

~ by leemyers on May 29, 2008.