Yesterday Was Supposed to be a Great Day

Yesterday was supposed to be a great day.  It was to be the day that my sister, Jean, was to call me to say that she was in remission from her breast cancer.  It was going to be a time of celebration and exhilaration.  But that was not what the doctors told her.  Instead she is not healed.  She is to restart radiation on Monday.   She was given aloe and some creams plus a Cool Gel pad to put over the skin in its worse spot.  Her skin is red and blistered and she is generally fatigued.

To assist in her healing, her doctor told her to stay in bed for as much as she can.  She is not bed-ridden but will know her strong and weak times and should listen to her body during the following days.  Jean says she has pain under the surgery scar and under her arm.  She had 17 lymph nodes removed, so no wonder there is pain or sensitivity there.

Walter and I both talked to her.  She is trying to stay upbeat but the undertone is some depression.  Who wouldn’t be depressed after so much hope for remission?  I am struggling for understanding.  She turns 60 on August 31.  We had planned to go where she lives and “party” for a few days.  Now she thinks she will not be able to do so.  Walter and I are trying to decide if we should go anyway and just spend a few hours with her each day instead.  She lives in a tourist area, so we should have plenty of things to amuse us other than family time.

We can’t give up.  We must stay the course.  God is good!  He will provide and he can deliver.

My niece, Elizabeth, who looks a lot like my sister did in her early twenties