LIFE AT 60 - RADIATION

Well it will only be about 11 more days, and I wont be able to use that title any longer.  60 has been an interesting year.  61 will be an incredible year.  :)  Wonder what I should start calling this blog?  Any ideas?  Feel free to suggest, would be interested in ideas.  The 1st half of this year was not too bad, and actually the last few months other than a bit of a detour, has not been bad.  God has given me an incredible insight into life.  A view that had I not gotten this illness, I would not have found.  I'll be forever grateful for His love, mercy, and grace.

Well I started radiation on the 23rd of May, and have had 6 treatments.  Aside from a bit of claustrophobia, it has been OK.  I did have one issue that kinda freaked me out.  :)  If you know know how they administer the radiation, they form a plastic mesh mask to your face, head, and neck, including in my case the upper shoulders.  This is done for them to be able to "map" where the radiation is going to go.  It is also so they can literally fasten your head down to the table so you cannot move.  Im sure you are probably guessing now what my issue was.  Yes it was a bit of claustrophobia, but it was because the mask had apparently shrunk a tad and was resting across my throat and I was having trouble breathing and swallowing.  NOT a fun thing.  Well anyway, lost that day.  I really got to praying about it because I could not afford to lose any more days.  I had a foreboding that day, just a feeling that something was not going to be just right.  The next day, (yesterday), everything was fine.  I got there and they had already made a hole pretty much where it needed to be.  Pretty cool how God went before me and the path was cleared.  They had to make one more cut to enlarge the hole to make it all good, and so yesterday and today all was good.

Ive been praying since I found out that I would definitely have to have the radiation that I would not have any of the debilitating side effects.  There are several that I have been warned about.  Severe sore throat, very thick, mucusy saliva, mouth sores, and several other things.  Im just believing that God is going to protect me from this.  After all HE healed and made everything new, why would He not keep it that way?    The really good news is that the Oncologist has told me NO MORE chemo at all.  THANK YOU JESUS!!!!  There was a possibility of more, but after thinking about it decided that since there is NOTHING there, that more chemo would not really serve any purpose.  Imagine that!!!

I had a brief conversation with someone not long ago and they told me to not be surprised if God did not completely heal me.  WHAT?????  I dont know of a single incident in the Bible where God/Jesus did not completely heal.  Imagine if Jesus had told the blind man to go wash in the pool of Siloam, and your sight will be only partially healed.  You will still see blurry images.  NO that was not the case.  The man did as he was told and his sight was FULLY restored.  The same is true for the woman with the issue of blood.  She had this problem for years.  Yet she KNEW that if she could just touch the hem of his garment, she would be healed.  YEP that is the case once again.  She was completely and fully healed in an instant.

I have been so very blessed during this journey.  Im still blown away every day by Gods mercy.  When I go into that CT scanner and have that mask bolted down, I just try to rest in HIS arms for those 15 minutes.  I get up and walk out and am able to sing praises.  OH YEAH that is another thing.  My voice is BETTER than it was.  I have more resonance, and when I sing, I have gained 2-3 steps on my high notes, and probably 3-4 steps on my lower notes.  God is truly amazing.  He not only heals, he makes it better than it was.  AWESOME!!!