General Update

 

From Paul:

With this next stage of treatments, it is beginning to sink in that we will not have to plan for a infusion four weeks after the last one, which would be on January 29.

We are trying to mix up our walk routes at different locations. There are some parks that are in proximity to our home. By proximity I mean that we don’t have to travel too far by car to get there. We watch the weather, and sometimes we choose to walk indoors because of the concern for Doris’ walking on potentially slippery surfaces.

In our search for what the Lord would like us to learn from this experience, I am finding opportunities to enhance my communication skills. This is not without a symbol in our lives. I thought that we had really good communication skills. I often go back to a conversation that Doris and I had in 1989. I would typically call her each day during the lunch hour (before we had a cell phone). At that point in time, she would often ask me what time I would be coming home. That was a difficult thing for me to answer at that time, because it would depend on when I reached a good breaking point in what I was working on. When I got home, I brought it up with her. I explained that I could not necessarily predict when I could find that logical break in what I was doing. Her response was very sweet. She said she just wanted to know when I would be getting home so she could have dinner ready for me when I arrived. Since I worked about half an hour from home, we agreed that I would call to let her know when I was leaving, and that would give her the time she needed to wrap things up.

Now as we are spending more time together, I am learning a few things: 1) Conversations in different rooms are difficult to hear and understand. 2) Listening to what is meant is more important than what is said. There are other things we are learning along the way.

In our communication with Heavenly Father, these two elements have a parallel. 1) If we are distant from God, and His presence, we don’t feel His presence or answers clearly. 2) We need to take time in praying and pondering to understand what God wants us to know and learn.

From Doris:

My physical body’s blood is sick, but through the blood of Jesus Christ I am healed of my sins.

Mantle Cell Lymphoma is a type of blood cancer. My treatment targets the cancer cells in my blood and removes them. I take chemotherapy pills every day and hope my cancer cells are being killed, but it requires a blood test taken every twenty-eight days to learn if they are. 

There is a spiritual “test” I participate in every week. It is called the sacrament. Every seven days I partake of the bread and water of sacrament, a symbolic representation of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. The bread represents Christ’s body and the water represents the blood Jesus Christ shed for me. If I am spiritually prepared, partaking of the sacrament helps me to target my sins, repent of them and be cleansed by the power of Christ’s Atonement.

I don’t have to wait nervously for the results of this spiritual test as I do my blood tests. Each week I receive comfort and assurance that because of Christ’s blood I am made whole, or free from my sins, once again.