Good afternoon- Dale called!
Caroline here writing on Carol's behalf as you, who are checking in and praying along with them today while she was in surgery and we have all been waiting for news, hopefully good news -and that it is!
Surgery went well.She came out of surgery around 5:00.
The Doctor came out and reported that they were able to get ALL the spots removed from the liver! Amazing report! Truly more than Dale and Carol had hoped for. The initial thought from the doctor weeks ago was that he would remove what he felt could safely be taken, than possibly in January go for surgery again. But with this wonderful report they will not need to have another surgery!The tumor in her rectum was also completely removed.
She will be in ICU tonight and possibly another night depending on how she is tomorrow.
They are expecting her to be in the hospital for a week.
Dale's parents and Carol's parents spent the day at the hospital with Dale.Ben was there for a bit this morning. I was glad to hear of the support which of course, didn't surprise me at at all.Dale said the day didn't really seem long for them- more evidence of the presence of God and answered prayer.
I so wish I could be there and look forward to being there next week. Carol is like a sister to me and one of my dearest friends!
I am going to take the liberty here to say thank you to all of Carol's friends for surrounding her the way you do. It has given Chip and me so much encouragement as family- so very far away - to know that she has such incredible support! I know you all are so blessed by her life and she is blessed by yours.
Keep praying!
~Caroline
Thursday, October 16, 2014
Sunday, October 12, 2014
Just the Hem
There is this story in the gospels of a woman who had a bleeding issue for 12 years. She spent all her money on Drs who tried to heal her. I read the story lots of times and always was a little critical of her for just sneaking up behind Jesus and touching His garment. I understand her story a little better these days.
She was considered unclean because of her bleeding issue and if she touched others they were unclean then too. She pressed into the crowd and when she finally got close enough she reached out and touched the hem of Jesus' garment. Immediately she knew she was healed! Jesus stopped and asked who touched Him. When the woman came forward he simply told her her faith made her whole.
How amazing is that? It only took her having enough faith to touch his clothes. She didn't even ask Him for healing!!
When I imagine if Jesus came to my town I would run to Him and put my arms around Him and beg for healing. But some days the voice of the enemy is so persistent in trying to make me believe that God has bigger problems and he tries to discourage me and make me feel like I don't have enough faith. Those days I picture myself just reaching out to touch His hem.
I have labeled those days as "hem days" meaning all I can muster is to breathe the name of Jesus and cry out for grace and strength to walk this journey and I reach out in faith that His hand is reaching down to me.
The amazing part is Jesus is always there for me when I cry out to Him.
I don't know how my healing will look but I know He will heal me in His time. I might not get an instant miracle when I touch His hem but I may need to walk through my healing. There is another healing that God chooses sometimes for His children and that is healing through calling His children home. The important part for me is to trust Him and keep on in faith and hope of healing.
Surgery is scheduled for the 16th - it is only days away now! Dr. G will remove part of my liver that has cancer spots on it and also the original tumor that is in my rectum. They anticipate it will take 6-8 hours and I will be in the hospital for 7 days. We will be at Mercy Hospital in Baltimore. Please pray for continued peace in the next couple days. Pray too for the surgeon and all the nurses who work so hard! I pray God blesses them in a big way!!!
Please keep our boys in prayer too. It won't be easy for them to be at school and their jobs that week but I know they will be taken care of too! Dale is planning to take the week off and be with me most of the time. He is my rock and I love knowing he can be there.
I will continue to hold on to what I know - God is real no matter what I feel and He is always with me!
- Be blessed!
She was considered unclean because of her bleeding issue and if she touched others they were unclean then too. She pressed into the crowd and when she finally got close enough she reached out and touched the hem of Jesus' garment. Immediately she knew she was healed! Jesus stopped and asked who touched Him. When the woman came forward he simply told her her faith made her whole.
How amazing is that? It only took her having enough faith to touch his clothes. She didn't even ask Him for healing!!
When I imagine if Jesus came to my town I would run to Him and put my arms around Him and beg for healing. But some days the voice of the enemy is so persistent in trying to make me believe that God has bigger problems and he tries to discourage me and make me feel like I don't have enough faith. Those days I picture myself just reaching out to touch His hem.
I have labeled those days as "hem days" meaning all I can muster is to breathe the name of Jesus and cry out for grace and strength to walk this journey and I reach out in faith that His hand is reaching down to me.
The amazing part is Jesus is always there for me when I cry out to Him.
I don't know how my healing will look but I know He will heal me in His time. I might not get an instant miracle when I touch His hem but I may need to walk through my healing. There is another healing that God chooses sometimes for His children and that is healing through calling His children home. The important part for me is to trust Him and keep on in faith and hope of healing.
Surgery is scheduled for the 16th - it is only days away now! Dr. G will remove part of my liver that has cancer spots on it and also the original tumor that is in my rectum. They anticipate it will take 6-8 hours and I will be in the hospital for 7 days. We will be at Mercy Hospital in Baltimore. Please pray for continued peace in the next couple days. Pray too for the surgeon and all the nurses who work so hard! I pray God blesses them in a big way!!!
Please keep our boys in prayer too. It won't be easy for them to be at school and their jobs that week but I know they will be taken care of too! Dale is planning to take the week off and be with me most of the time. He is my rock and I love knowing he can be there.
I will continue to hold on to what I know - God is real no matter what I feel and He is always with me!
- Be blessed!
Wednesday, September 17, 2014
What I Know
There is this song that i heard for the first time the day I had my scans and the Dr called before I even got home and he wanted to see me that day yet. I was on my way back to his office when I first heard this song.
What I Know talks about when we don't understand what we are going through and the tendency is to throw our fists in the air or have an all out shouting match because of how unfair and scary this all is.
But what I love about this song is how it talks about holding on to what I know. Knowing that no matter what I feel God is never more than a breath away and He is real - more real than anything else. As I talk about my cancer journey to my boys I remind them often of three things that I hold on to no matter what.
The first thing is God is real and He will never change. This means I can read all about Him and who He is in the bible and it is always true and real for my life today. How comforting to know that when all around me things are changing so fast I don't know how to keep up.
Second on this list is God will never leave me. He is ALWAYS with me. I don't have to ask Him to be with me when facing a scary test or procedure - but rather I can THANK Him for being right with me. I often picture myself crawling on His lap for comfort. Because (I will let you in on a secret I have) I am actually scared of lots of things when it comes to needles and pain and anesthesia and on and on...so He is my safe shelter when I am freaking out or scared.
Third is God always has a plan and purpose for everything we walk through. Some days I struggle with wanting to argue with God about some stuff. One thing is I just want to know how me spending days on end with no energy to do anything but sit on the sofa is a good plan. But I was challenged 5 years ago by my brother Amos when he was going through cancer and fighting for his life. He said to me one day when I took him for his radiation treatment. "Carol, if you don't believe and trust that God has a good plan for everything you don't have faith." He went on to say that his journey doesn't make sense to him but he is willing to walk the journey in faith that God has a good plan. What a testimony of faith he was to me that day.
So I choose to walk this journey one day at a time and trusting in God's plan for my life.
On Monday Dale and I met with the surgeon in Baltimore again. He was happy with the last scan and we scheduled surgery! I am relieved to know there is a plan in place to remove the tumors but at the same time a little freaked out. He talked about things that could go wrong and complications that could happen. But once again I say God is the final authority over my body and I am not counting on the Dr to perform a miracle but I am trusting my God for healing and any miracles He sees fit to bless me with.
I am believing that surgery is just another step on my path to healing.
Be blessed!
What I Know click link to listen.
Wednesday, September 10, 2014
My Story
My story doesn't start with cancer but cancer is a part of my life and has challenged and changed how I do life currently.
In February 2014 I went to our Dr with symptoms that had been slowly getting worse over a couple months time. I am a wife to the amazing Dale Glick and mother to three awesome sons and i wanted to keep ignoring my physical symptoms because I wanted and prayed for them to just disappear and life to go on as we knew it. We had a family vacation planned in Feb to Florida for my nephews wedding and i decided I was going to wait until after the trip to go to the Dr. Initially the Dr wasn't worried but she did refer me to a Gastro specialist. The specialist also wasn't worried but he did schedule a colonoscopy and endoscopy. When we did the tests they found a tumor in my rectum.
So that day we did a ct scan to check for more tumors those scans were clear and we were so thankful for that. I did 6 weeks of chemo and radiation 5 days per week. That was all done by May 23. I didn't have severe side effects and was very tired but most certainly not sick like I was warned I could be. We did a follow up ct scan the end of June to prepare for surgery to remove the tumor. I wasn't even home from doing the scan and my nurse called and said the Dr wants to see me at 2 that afternoon.
I knew right then that there was bad news. I called Dale and was barely holding it together. He was working in Lancaster that day so his boss dropped him off at the cancer center and met me for the appointment. The cancer spread to my liver. The scan showed 6 spots on two parts of my liver. The conversation we had that day with the Dr made it feel like my world was coming crashing down and I still can't write or talk about that day with out shedding tears. In his words " This means your cancer is stage 4 now and it that means we label it incurable and surgery is not an option for the near future. We will treat it with strong chemo and try to make the spots shrink then maybe do surgery."
Up until this point the Drs were very positive and had a plan that everyone was confident would get me back to life as before. But this day the nurses and Drs words were more like "I am sorry and we will make you as comfortable as possible" I wanted to yell at them and say - nothing changed - I am still reaching for healing - don't give up on me. We did more blood work and a liver biopsy in the next weeks and prayed for a miracle like never before. We got the results on a Monday and started chemo the next day. I am currently in a pattern of chemo every two weeks.
Through Leona Smucher who has become a dear friend and encourager to me and is a rectal cancer survivor herself we met lots of other survivors that have been such a blessing. One of those ladies was very blunt with me one day and said " I don't want to tell you what to do but - get a second opinion." She gave me the hope that things can be better than just waiting on chemo to work. She went to Mercy Hospital for a second opinion after being told basically what I was - Chemo to manage the cancer. She gave me the number for her surgeon and told me what to expect and how to get all my records. I am so thankful for her and her encouragement.
When I called them they got me an appointment for that week yet. The conversation with the Dr that day felt like hope in one way because he said he is willing to do surgery on my tumor and also liver at the same time and that was what we wanted to hear. But he said things like "You are giving me a big job" and "if the cancer spreads more before the next scans we will be in big trouble" and also "I am not a miracle worker - but I will do my best". I didn't cry in the Drs office but by the time we got to our car I was falling to pieces. I can't explain how low and discouraged I was the rest of that day and weekend. I cried out to God and poured all my frustrations in a raw ugly way like never before.
I felt guilty for being mad at God but Dale once again stepped in and spoke truth to my heart and reminded me that God wants me to be real with Him and it doesn't change His love for me. I am so thankful for God's grace and love that sustains me every day.
God has blessed us with amazing friends, church, and family who make up a community of support and encouragement to us daily. In my posts I will share stories of our daily life and also things God is showing me about Him and life along the way.
Be blessed!
In February 2014 I went to our Dr with symptoms that had been slowly getting worse over a couple months time. I am a wife to the amazing Dale Glick and mother to three awesome sons and i wanted to keep ignoring my physical symptoms because I wanted and prayed for them to just disappear and life to go on as we knew it. We had a family vacation planned in Feb to Florida for my nephews wedding and i decided I was going to wait until after the trip to go to the Dr. Initially the Dr wasn't worried but she did refer me to a Gastro specialist. The specialist also wasn't worried but he did schedule a colonoscopy and endoscopy. When we did the tests they found a tumor in my rectum.
So that day we did a ct scan to check for more tumors those scans were clear and we were so thankful for that. I did 6 weeks of chemo and radiation 5 days per week. That was all done by May 23. I didn't have severe side effects and was very tired but most certainly not sick like I was warned I could be. We did a follow up ct scan the end of June to prepare for surgery to remove the tumor. I wasn't even home from doing the scan and my nurse called and said the Dr wants to see me at 2 that afternoon.
I knew right then that there was bad news. I called Dale and was barely holding it together. He was working in Lancaster that day so his boss dropped him off at the cancer center and met me for the appointment. The cancer spread to my liver. The scan showed 6 spots on two parts of my liver. The conversation we had that day with the Dr made it feel like my world was coming crashing down and I still can't write or talk about that day with out shedding tears. In his words " This means your cancer is stage 4 now and it that means we label it incurable and surgery is not an option for the near future. We will treat it with strong chemo and try to make the spots shrink then maybe do surgery."
Up until this point the Drs were very positive and had a plan that everyone was confident would get me back to life as before. But this day the nurses and Drs words were more like "I am sorry and we will make you as comfortable as possible" I wanted to yell at them and say - nothing changed - I am still reaching for healing - don't give up on me. We did more blood work and a liver biopsy in the next weeks and prayed for a miracle like never before. We got the results on a Monday and started chemo the next day. I am currently in a pattern of chemo every two weeks.
Through Leona Smucher who has become a dear friend and encourager to me and is a rectal cancer survivor herself we met lots of other survivors that have been such a blessing. One of those ladies was very blunt with me one day and said " I don't want to tell you what to do but - get a second opinion." She gave me the hope that things can be better than just waiting on chemo to work. She went to Mercy Hospital for a second opinion after being told basically what I was - Chemo to manage the cancer. She gave me the number for her surgeon and told me what to expect and how to get all my records. I am so thankful for her and her encouragement.
When I called them they got me an appointment for that week yet. The conversation with the Dr that day felt like hope in one way because he said he is willing to do surgery on my tumor and also liver at the same time and that was what we wanted to hear. But he said things like "You are giving me a big job" and "if the cancer spreads more before the next scans we will be in big trouble" and also "I am not a miracle worker - but I will do my best". I didn't cry in the Drs office but by the time we got to our car I was falling to pieces. I can't explain how low and discouraged I was the rest of that day and weekend. I cried out to God and poured all my frustrations in a raw ugly way like never before.
I felt guilty for being mad at God but Dale once again stepped in and spoke truth to my heart and reminded me that God wants me to be real with Him and it doesn't change His love for me. I am so thankful for God's grace and love that sustains me every day.
God has blessed us with amazing friends, church, and family who make up a community of support and encouragement to us daily. In my posts I will share stories of our daily life and also things God is showing me about Him and life along the way.
Be blessed!
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