Update for January 9, 2017

I love January. Not because of the weather (although I enjoyed the extra day with the kids due to an unexpected snow day on Friday).

I love the promise of a new beginning. A clean slate. An opportunity to start all over. January gives us a blank canvas and another opportunity to create something beautiful and pleasing to God with our lives throughout the next 12 months.

In the last weeks of the year we were assaulted with so many opinions regarding my health. Doctors and their opinions. I’ve had enough of both. *insert eye roll*

I’ve decided those doctors and their opinions aren’t the boss of me. Some of them I like, some of them I don’t, so I’m going to cherry pick a little. I’ve earned it. 🙂

I get to decide (we ALL do, by the way) what I am going to think on, and believe in; what I want to see come to pass in this promising new year. For me, 2017 will bring restoration and healing.

My mind has to think on something, so I’m going to park it right there. Restoration and healing.

I love The Message translation of Isaiah 43:19-21.

This is what God says,
    the God who builds a road right through the ocean,
    who carves a path through pounding waves,
The God who summons horses and chariots and armies—
    they lie down and then can’t get up;
    they’re snuffed out like so many candles:
Forget about what’s happened;
    don’t keep going over old history.
Be alert, be present. I’m about to do something brand-new.
    It’s bursting out! Don’t you see it?
There it is! I’m making a road through the desert,
    rivers in the badlands.
Wild animals will say ‘Thank you!’
    —the coyotes and the buzzards—
Because I provided water in the desert,
    rivers through the sun-baked earth,
Drinking water for the people I chose,
    the people I made especially for myself,
    a people custom-made to praise me.

I was custom made to praise God. (Love that!) I’m choosing to praise Him in this new season. I’m going to “forget about what’s happened” and not waste my thoughts “going over old history.” I’m not getting stuck in the muck of all I have been through.

I’m moving forward! God has been at work building a road right through the ocean, a river in the badlands, just for me. He’s doing a something BRAND-NEW.

And it starts today!

I have an appointment at 3:00 this afternoon with Dr. Joyce O’Shaughnessy at Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas.

Dr. O’Shaughnessy specializes in Triple Negative Breast Cancer (TNBC) and is the doctor heading up the Immunotherapy Clinical Trial that I have wanted to participate in since August of last year.

For those who have asked for clarification, this is not chemotherapy, it is immunotherapy. Rather than fight the disease by destroying both good and bad cells, immunotherapy boosts the immune system and allows the body to fight the disease itself.

It is the most promising, cutting edge therapy the oncology world has seen in decades. Preliminary testing with Keytruda (the name of the drug) for TNBC and IBC, as well as several other cancers, have had fascinating results and I’m so grateful God carved a path through the desert, (which in this case was mountains of red tape), to get us this appointment today.

As with any clinical trial, the first appointment is just the beginning of the endless protocols and procedures that must be followed and cleared before I can officially enroll in the study.

Please continue to pray with us that I will qualify for this clinical trial and that my insurance will approve my participation. I have peace that God will continue to build a road through the ocean, to make a way for me to receive this treatment. I know He hears every prayer and I don’t want my petition to go silent. Please, pray, pray, pray.

I’m not sure what our schedule will be this week. Most likely it will take a few days for us to hear back from the insurance company after I meet with Dr. O’Shaughnessy. Even if she clears me to participate, I cannot move forward with required scans and various diagnostic procedures until insurance approval is solidified. We will probably come home tomorrow, but return to Dallas to complete testing in the next week or so.

Tests (i.e. biopsies) will have to be sent to Scotland for this study and I am told it takes 3-4 weeks to receive results once it has been sent. Given that time frame, combined with other variables such as insurance, travel, doctor schedules, etc, I am looking at a start date from early to mid February.

I will find out most of those particulars today. I will keep you posted on the process and progress, and you keep praying and believing.

Deal? Deal!

Love and appreciate you all!

Tina