Gratitude and Grace in Nuclear Medicine

I made it through today's barrage of tests. The day started with a bone marrow aspiration. I actually thought it wasn't awful... Not something I'd want to do for kicks and giggles, and DEFINITELY some weird/uncomfortable/mildly painful moments. Apparently, watching them, however, is not for the faint of heart. Kristen can attest to that. Later I had a PET scan (why are those rooms SOOO cold?!?!) and finished with an echocardiogram.

We only have a result from the echo, which showed my heart is healthy and normal, which is always good. (I need a strong heart for some of the chemo doses.) There was some concern since my CT scan showed a moderate pericardial effusion (fluid around the heart) likely caused by the tumor, but it doesn't seem to be bad enough to cause strain. We should have results from the PET scan tomorrow. The bone marrow aspiration/biopsy will take a week. Please continue to pray that those will come back clean! Pathology finally has my tumor biopsy slides, so we are also hoping to have an official diagnosis by Thursday.

Tomorrow I will have a procedure to place a central port into my chest (to make administering chemo safer and easier). That will be tomorrow at 9am. The goal is still to start my first round of chemo on Friday.

In closing, I thought I'd share something that was meaningful to me today. Part of the PET scan involves having a radioactive tracer injected and then waiting an hour for it circulate through the body. As I sat alone and waited, I pulled out my phone and opened a daily prayer site (there's also a book) that has been helpful for me. There was so much good in there today, but what really stuck out to me was the passage from 2 Corinthians 1:

3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. 5 For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, so also our comfort abounds through Christ. 6 If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we suffer. 7 And our hope for you is firm, because we know that just as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our comfort.

8 We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers and sisters, about the troubles we experienced in the province of Asia. We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired of life itself. 9 Indeed, we felt we had received the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead. 10 He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us again. On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us, 11 as you help us by your prayers. Then many will give thanks on our behalf for the gracious favor granted us in answer to the prayers of many.

A few things stuck out to me:

• Our God is a God of comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles.

• He does so that we may comfort others with the comfort we've received

• "This happened so that we might not rely on ourselves, but on God, who raises the dead."

• He has delivered us before, and he will do it again.

• He will continue to deliver us, as you help us by your prayers.

• Many will give thanks for the answered prayers of many.

I'm so grateful for a God who comforts, and I hope one day (or even in the here and now), to be able to comfort others with comfort I've received. And I'm so grateful for the abundant prayers from so many of you, and I truly hope we will come through on the other side of this rejoicing and giving thanks TOGETHER for all of OUR answered prayers.