Healing

This is the big week. My mom will have surgery to remove the cancer that his been invading her body for the past months. Originally, her tumor was 3-5 cm around and had grown outside of the milk duct. It was considered invasive ductal carcinoma meaning that it had also travelled to the lymph nodes. In the breast MRI she received before her chemo treatments, 2 lymph nodes were of concern. They proceeded with a treatment of chemo to try to stop the growth of the tumor and spread to more lymph nodes. She endured 4 treatments, every 2 weeks, as well as a round of daily shots to help her bone marrow produce. She was also told that with the size of the tumor, she was most likely going to have to undergo a full mastectomy to remove the entire breast.

At her last doctor's visit, the tumor had shrunk to the point that they couldn't even detect it by feeling! Because of this, she will now undergo just a lumpectomy to just remove the tumor and the infected lymph nodes. This will result in a much easier recovery as well as a less serious surgery.

We can attribute this to the wonderful works of science, or we can attribute this to God. I think it's a little of both, but I truly think God has done the work in my mother. God is good, and without him in this process, I truly don't think this is what would be in store for her this week! God is good!

I am reminded by one of my favorite passages in the Bible. As I've grown older, it's meant more and more to me. It's simple, but it speaks so much about every situation we are in.

"For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted; a time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing; a time to seek, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away; a time to tear, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; a time to love, and a time to hate; a time for war, and a time for peace. " Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 (ESV)

God has a plan. (Remember, this is a lesson I'm learning right now!) And yes, his plan could have been to take my mother from this Earth, and I would've hated that. However, God's plan is showing that this is His time to heal. He is healing my mother. Science has helped, but it's God's plan to have her here on this Earth to do more of what He planned for her to do.

Please have her in your prayers Wednesday morning. It will be a long surgery. I will keep you posted via facebook if you want updates! :)