Our decision

"I AM THE PRINCE OF PEACE.  As I said to My disciples, I say also to you:  Peace be with you.  Since I am your constant Companion, My Peace is steadfastly with you.  When you keep your focus on Me, you experience both My Presence and My Peace.  Worship Me as King of Kings, Lord of lords, and Prince of Peace.  You need My Peace each moment to accomplish My purposes in your life.  Sometimes you are tempted to take shortcuts, in order to reach your goal as quickly as possible.  But if the shortcut requires turning your back on My Peaceful Presence, you must choose the longer route.  Walk with Me along paths of Peace; enjoy the journey in My Presence." (Jesus Calling)

I can't tell you how opportune it was to have this devotional on this day...the day we made our decision on my treatment plan.  I can't even begin to tell you how many hours upon hours upon hours of research that I have done leading up to this day.  You've seen the book list (plus 4-5 more that aren't even listed), but the hours of internet research, the variety of people that I've talked with, prayed with....this has not been an easy decision.  But ultimately, it all boiled down to where the peace was and the peace was NOT with chemo and radiation.  The peace was with the things that God began laying on my heart and path while I was waiting to find out if I had cancer.  And the peace lay in seeking HIS Presence and His plan for me.  We did notify CTCA today and they will not be managing or monitoring me going forward since I am not doing any further traditional treatments.

"Well, if it's not chemo or radiation, what is the plan?," you may ask.  Great question!  That will be the next step and we'd appreciate your prayers for us in this for God to line up the right people for this step.  What I am NOT going to do is just go about my life as if this never happened.  There was a reason that my body didn't and couldn't fight off the cancer cells and if I don't work on figuring that piece out and correcting it, I will probably have cancer again.  When I was diagnosed, the first piece I changed was my diet.  I don't eat a lot of processed food because I'm allergic to wheat and most processed food has wheat in it.  But I still had some things to clean up so I immediately started eating organic, whole fruits, vegetables & grains and went hormone-free w/my meats.  I completely eliminated sugar from my diet as cancer feeds off of sugar.  I've been incorporating all sorts of herbs and spices into the meals that I cook and every ingredient has a purpose - to fight inflammation (which feeds cancer) and to fight the cancer itself.  I've recently begun switching out all of the household chemicals with natural products like baking soda and vinegar to clean my house.  I've continued w/my workout program and will amp things back up in January when I've been cleared to go back to hard workouts (post surgery instructions).  I'm saving to buy a really good blender so that I can begin juicing in earnest.  But I'm not going to stop there either.  Now I'm praying for God to bring the right professionals (i.e. nutritionist, metabolic physician and/or naturopathic doctor) who will help evaluate the imbalances in my body and help me address those needs via nutrition and/or supplements so that my body becomes a powerful cancer fighting machine.  I still want a treatment plan, a step-by-step plan, but one that is natural that will help build my body back up instead of tear it down.  I'm very blessed that I have a wonderful, holistic chiropractor that I have been seeing for several years and she will be playing an integral part in my treatment plan.  But I need all of these other elements to come together and we desperately need God to provide financially as most alternatives aren't covered by insurance.  But, I'm thinking that since God laid these things on my heart even before I knew, that He already has a plan!  Thank God that we don't have to worry over this because He has a plan!

We have had people still ask if there's a way that they can help or bring a meal.  Yes!  Please pray with us and feel free to click on the link to the left to sign up for a meal.  If cooking an organic meal is intimidating, feel free to check out the meal site for other ideas as to how to come alongside of us. 

It also occurred to me that I haven't really shared how I am doing and feeling since my surgery.  Everything is going amazingly well.  Having 1+ months of eating organic in conjuction with having the cancer out of my body has done wonders and I'm starting to get my strength back very quickly.  I find that I'm having more and more energy and I feel strong.  I'm still having to be careful w/heavy lifting and tight hugs on my right side but the pain has been very minimal and completely manageable.  For those of you going through surgery, I HIGHLY recommend ice on the wound area!  CTCA was amazed at how little swelling I had 1 week post surgery and I think it was because of ice several times a day.

Well, thank you all so much for walking through this with us and thank you in advance for praying for wisdom and the right people for this next step.  God is so good and because He holds it all, none of these steps are too big for Him.