Friday, April 20, 2012

Stilll Dancing Through The Rain

A couple things have struck me through my devotional reading. The first being how our mind focuses on things. It is a choice whether we see the darkness or the light. I know I hear the negative thing and even play through my mind what this could mean, but ultimately, I turn my mind to Jesus. Thankfulness is the key for bringing the darkness into light for me. When you look around or think about all that is around you, you can find countless things to be thankful for. If I stay focused on "fixing" what is wrong then my mind whirls in the darkness of the situation. It may not come easy some times, but it is a discipline worth learning. The second thing is that we do not know the outcome of any situation, but we do know our ultimate destination. "Yet I am always with you; you hold me by my right hand. You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will take me into glory." Psalm 74:23,24 This verse became quite clear with Kelsey. Jesus had her by His hand and did take her into glory.

Karly has not been very well. I know that we aren't going to get her very well physically, not by human standards anyway. She is growing bacteria in her lungs and sinuses that we cannot get rid of. We are trying an antibiotic irrigation through her sinuses in hopes to keep her off IV antibiotics. She is already doing an antibiotic nebulizer for the same purpose. The Interferon Alpha is at such a low dose we are not seeing any reduction in the molluscum. The acid she was given doesn't seem to work at sloughing any off. Her neutrophil count is coming down from the Interferon, so really don't know if she will be able to increase the dose let alone stay on it. At the last cancer screening where they take CT's of her chest, abdomen, and pelvic regions, the stomach appears to have worsened in an area they saw last October. Therefore, the GI team will be performing an endoscopy on May 9 to look at and biopsy it.  Also, at the last visit, ENT found an abnormality on her epiglottis. If it is still present, hopefully at the same time they can get a piece of it to figure out what it is. She is very tired which is to be expected from her neutrophils dropping and the amount of disease in her sinuses and lungs. Her headaches are getting worse again. None of this news has been reassuring and has left Karly pretty worried. Please pray for her mentally stability and physical healing. The good news in all of this is that the cancer team is not worried about cancer. She has been able to keep catching up with her Ivy Tech class, go to outings with friends, attend her senior trip to Chicago last weekend, go to a retreat this weekend, prom is next weekend, finals the week after that, and a senior banquet. Life is moving on, and she is living it. Her brother's graduation from college is coming up and so is her high school graduation. She doesn't have time to be sick, so we are just putting that on the back burner.:) Everyday is a day to be thankful for. We covet your prayers always!
Love,
Mom