June Update

First off, I apologize that it has been so long since you’ve heard from me! As you can imagine, the last few months have been a whirlwind. I know many of you have kept up with me through my blog, but in case you haven’t I’ll fill you in.

At the end of April, two weeks after my surgery, I met with my doctor to talk about my results and the next steps. He explained to me that though the biopsies of my organs came back negative, my cancer type was more aggressive and there were traces of dead cells in the washings. Because of these things, we decided to go through six cycles of chemotherapy. Each cycle is 3 weeks long, with a treatment at the start of each week. I’ve made it though the first 2 cycles, and every treatment we have a celebration dinner!

The first week of every cycle has been rough, with nausea and fatigue like I’ve never known. But I’ve been surprised at how well I feel during the other two weeks! I’ve lost most of my hair and decided to shave it a couple weeks back. I like wearing scarves and my friends have given me so many that I have fun with it. Some days I get sad, but mostly I am happy! Some things I have enjoyed: getting to know my nurse and the other patients, living with the Woznicki family (they’re on staff with me), reading books, having my family come to visit, walking, sometimes running, spending time with my friend Ginnie who comes to all my treatments, a deeper understanding of Scripture, dreaming about the future, visiting with friends, resting, and praying.

Summer Leadership Project
They were able to put a big enough space in my treatment schedule for me to go visit the SLP down in Panama City. I am grateful for the time I got to spend with students and staff the time I was there. Their theme for the summer is “Founders” based on Hebrews 12: 1-2. In each of the girls I spent time with, I saw a real hunger to know God’s Word and to grow in spiritual depth. They are living out Hebrews 12: 1-2 – throwing off sin and running to Christ. Two of the girls in my discipleship group, Casey and Nikki, are room leaders this summer. It was fun to see them giving up their comfort and time to love the girls they are leading.

Cross Cultural Project
The CCP team leaves for South Africa on July 2nd! I’m sad to not be joining them, but I am still excited to see what God does through them during their time there. They’ll be spending their first week in a township doing mercy ministry and then the last five weeks building relationships and sharing their faith with South African students. Two other girls from my discipleship group, Lauren and Kelsey, are a part of this team. So in some way, though I won’t actually be there, it’s neat to think that I will be, in a way, through my influence in their lives.