He Strengthens Me

"So do not fear, for I am with you; 

do not be dismayed, for I am your God. 

I will strengthen you and help you; 

I will uphold you with my righteous right hand."

Isaiah 40:10

I've been in and out of church my whole life. I may have not always lived for the Lord, but I have always loved the Lord. I have always believed in His power and might. I have always believed in His grace and love. 

Early in 2012 I had started back to church. I remember being amazed at how quickly it felt like I had never been out of church. God, through the Holy Spirit, wrapped me in His arms and His love. Nearly every church service He spoke to me, He moved me and in me. Looking back, I realize now He was preparing me for what was to come. He was building me up, strengthening me and restoring my faith so that I would turn to and lean on Him.

It had began with just some narrowed stools. Occasionally, I would have some mild constipation and there had even been a few episodes of blood, bright red blood, with my stool. Not enough to be alarming but enough to make me think I had hemorrhoids. All of this over a period of 4 or 5 months. Then the pain started. I had cramping in my lower abdomen, an ache in my lower back/tail bone and a sharp pain that would sometimes shoot up my back.

Then over the next couple of months, the constipation increased. The bleeding occurred more often and the bowel movements became more and more abnormal. The doctor treated me for hemorrhoids, chronic constipation and it just got worse. The pain started becoming nearly unbearable.

I was working on a postpartum floor and we were busy! We worked three 12 hour shifts a week plus had to sign up for on-call. At that time, I was also volunteering for extra shifts. I was working 4 to 5 days a week, living with pain that I would realistically rate an 8 or 9 out of 10. I was surviving on extra-strength Tylenol, Advil, and the grace of God.

Not sure how my poor family stood me. I was not very pleasant to be around at times. By the time I got home at night, I was just done. I hurt so bad. I would come in, eat, soak in a hot bath, and go to bed. (Many times Jim brought me my dinner while I was in the bath tub.) I'd get up the next morning and repeat the process.

During it all, God was with me, constantly renewing me and lifting me up through the Holy Spirit. He put people in my life that I was able to turn to. My family, even though they got frustrated with me, were supportive and did so much to make life easier for me. My co-workers, or as I like to call them, my work family, were awesome. Always offering to help even before we knew what was wrong. Family and friends praying and interceding for me, encouraging me... I am so very blessed and thankful for the people God put in my life.

~Delta~

I saw this on Joyce Meyer Ministries Facebook page today and thought I'd share it.

 https://www.facebook.com/joycemeyerministries

Welcome

Psst...I have a secret. I am really nervous starting this adventure but extremely excited, as well. This is my first attempt at having a blog so I will be learning as I go. I guess this first post should be mostly background information to catch you up to where I am.

In a nutshell, I am a child of God, a wife, a mother, a grandma, a daughter, a sister, an aunt, a friend, a crafter, a nurse and a cancer patient. Right now I am a fighter! I am going to be a survivor! And I can officially add blogger to that list now. LoL!

My prayer for this blog first, and foremost, is to honor God. Secondly, it is to bless others. Third, to be an outlet for me to express some of what I am going through. Finally, I want it to be a tool to raise awareness of colorectal cancer.

As time goes on you will be introduced to my family and close friends. (Yes, y'all get ready. You know who you are, I will be talking about y'all.) My husband Jim and I have been together for nearly 9 years. Between us, we have 9 children; 5 his, 3 mine, and 1 together. We also have 9 grandbabies; 5 girls and 4 boys. I love them all and thank God for bringing each and every one of them into my life.

In October 2012, I was diagnosed with stage IV colorectal cancer. Considering there is no family history of colon cancer, this completely caught me and my family off guard. This past year has been a real roller coaster of a ride; yet, through it all, God has been with me and has seen me through the scariest time of my life. As this war rages on I am thankful for God's promises that He has a plan for me (Jeremiah 29:11) and that this battle is not mine, but the Lord's (2 Chronicles 20:15), to name a couple.

Since diagnosis, I have undergone radiation, 2 surgeries, blood transfusion, port placement, chemotherapy and numerous CT scans. I've battled low counts, WBC and platelets. I've had to deal with a colostomy and an ileostomy and all the fun stuff that goes with that; like a trip to the emergency room because I was a knuckle-head and ate something I knew I shouldn't and caused a blockage. I'll tell you about that some day...God saved me from another surgery!

Currently, I'm waiting for the Cancer Center to call me with my referral appointments to see a gynecology oncologist, for an ultrasound, and to have a barium enema. (Yay me!) The last CT scan showed a lesion on my uterus. It could be something or it could be nothing, hence the ultrasound and gyn/onc referral. I have to have the barium enema to make sure the last surgery was successful and that everything is reconnected properly before I can have my next surgery to takedown the ileostomy. I have peace. I know God is in control and He is with me.

Thank you all so much for stopping by and checking out my blog. I hope you will stop back by and read future posts. You can sign up to follow me via e-mail right now. Eventually, you will be able to follow me on Facebook.

As I close this post, I want to thank my friend Kerry for setting up this blog page and helping me get it started! I truly appreciate her! I pray that God will bless her and each reader and allow this blog to be used to His glory.

~ Delta