Turning a New Page?

After the gloom of the last DHC Hope Blog entry, we need a brighter entry.

Last night our small group ESFNG (Every Second Friday Night Group) was here for dinner.  Barbara cooked a delicious roast chicken dinner with lots of vegetables.  Judith brought entrée of cheeses and olives, Jocelyn brought a gluten free cheesecake style dessert and Noel and Lynne brought drinks.  Naturally these friends were concerned about my last blog entry.  They quizzed me and offered Barbara and I support.  Theirs is another example of the many loving emails received in response to my last blog entry.  I already have about 10 social bookings for March and April!

I told our fellow ESFNGers that today (Saturday 5 March) I was having the stent removed at the Chris O’Brien Lifehouse.  Barbara and I were aiming to walk there and home again.  It turned out way better than this!

This morning Barbara and I were up at 5.45 am and walking to the Chris O’Brien Lifehouse where we were due at 6 am.  We arrived at 6.10 am and were checked in.  Unfortunately I had given the first two pages of my admission form to the pathology department when I had a urine test on Monday.  This delayed things as Dr Arthur Vasilarus and I had to sign a new consent form.  So, I was second rather than the first operation.  A second boo-boo was I forgot to bring the CT scans.  So, Barbara had to walk home to get them.  She ended up doing her normal morning’s walk thanks to the extra trip.

Dr Arthur had recommended that I should replace the stent, which was from my left kidney to my bladder.  I chose to have it removed.  The stent was inserted last July because a lymph node had swollen to 1cm and blocked tube from the kidney to the bladder.  The last two CT scans show that the lymph node had reduced to 0.5cm and was no longer blocking the tube.  Each time you have a general anaesthetic it drains you to a degree.  So, in consultation with Dr Kate Mahon I have decided to take the risk of no stent and see how I go.

The staff at the Chris O’Brien Lifehouse were proficient, friendly and welcoming.  Things were well explained.  At about 9.00 am I was taken to the operating theatre.  Dr Paul, the anaesthetist said that my blood veins had withstood the chemotherapy treatment very well.  They are in very good condition considering how much chemo has flowed through my body.  Dr Arthur and I signed the new consent form.

Around 10.00 am I awoke in recovery feeling amazingly alert and well.  I felt like a new page had been turned.  There is no logical reason for this feeling but it is a good feeling to have considering how down I have been feeling the last few weeks.  I had two drinks of water and a cheese and salad sandwich.  I was allowed to leave with Barbara at about 11.00 am.  We went to the nearby Hoochi Mamma Café where I enjoyed a delicious salmon eggs benedict and large latte coffee.  I then finished Barbara’s scrambled eggs.  I found the 20 minute walk home easy.

At home, we found a youngest cooking.  I co-opted him to take photos to show you that although the prognosis is about another year of life I am not decrepit yet!  I am finishing this blog entry with one of the many lovely emails I have received.  This one is from Pastor/Mr Naika Wilber, head teacher of Canaan Junior School and second pastor in Kamuli Pentecostal Church, Uganda.  This week your loving emails and Facebook comments have uplifted me.  (I have been listening to The Beatles ‘1’ CD as I write this entry.)

Glad to share good news with you.

Wilber’s Email (reprinted with his permission)

Dear David,

At last I have gained some strength to write to you after reading your recent blog which was so so touching and made my tears roll down!

To be honest David, your email broke my heart and you will excuse me if my communication will not be coordinated. It was a hard time for me to go through all your email until the end of it and every paragraph was so touching and I could not stop my tears.

As a Christian and a Bible reader, it reminded me the words apostle Paul wrote to his fellow minister Timothy in (2Timothy 4:6-9) and told him that ''  Now the time has come for me to die. My life is like a drink offering being poured out on the altar. I have fought well. I have finished the race, and I have been faithful. So a crown will be given to me for pleasing the Lord. He judges fairly, and on the day of judgment he will give a crown to me and to everyone else who wants him to appear with power. Come to see me as soon as you can''.

As a write this email David, I understand the pain you are going through and how you are feeling, but I would like to encourage you with the words of Apostle Paul he wrote to the Romans in (Romans 8:22-29) where he said that, ''We know that all creation is still groaning and is in pain, like a woman about to give birth. The Spirit makes us sure about what we will be in the future. But now we groan silently, while we wait for God to show that we are his children. This means that our bodies will also be set free. And this hope is what saves us. But if we already have what we hope for, there is no need to keep on hoping. However, we hope for something we have not yet seen, and we patiently wait for it. In certain ways we are weak, but the Spirit is here to help us. For example, when we don't know what to pray for, the Spirit prays for us in ways that cannot be put into words. All of our thoughts are known to God. He can understand what is in the mind of the Spirit, as the Spirit prays for God's people. We know that God is always at work for the good of everyone who loves him. They are the ones God has chosen for his purpose, and he has always known who his chosen ones would be. He had decided to let them become like his own Son, so that his Son would be the first of many children.''

It is my prayer that GOD encourages and strengthens you as you go through the next treatment, and I am confident as Paul write in Philippians 1:6 that, ''God is the one who began this good work in you, and I am certain that he won't stop before it is complete on the day that Christ Jesus returns.'' Amen.

Yours in-Christ,

Wilber

Thank you all for your loving support.