"Leap of Faith and into His Will" by Mary LaFrance

August 2, 2005, I had two doctor appointments that day. The first one would be with Dr. Brouns before I began chemotherapy on the 12th. There wasn’t to much more to say, other than he wanted to make sure that all or most of my questions had been answered in the previous visits. He told me if I thought of anything after I left to call him on his direct line at the clinic. I found that to be thoughtful of him and I tucked his business card away in my wallet. My other appointment was with Dr. Slovic to have him check my incision site one last time, and he too wanted to know if I had any questions, which I did not.

The rest of the week was filled up clear to the brim! I helped facilitate the activities for the junior high Bridges Program students each day. Lots of my energy was spent on them, but I received a lot of blessings by doing so. I played golf three days in a row, and enjoyed some more summer sunshine. Went shopping for Aliceson for some things for her dorm room, along with a food supply to last her when she would be studying in her room. Saturday and Sunday were spent getting the household chores done, along with some relaxation. I BBQ’d all weekend which has always been a fun thing for me.

The beginning of the next week I spoke to my sister Debby and my brother David. I kept trying to assure them in our conversations, that I was going to be okay, and I was determined to remain positive as life would move on, no matter what was coming down the road.

I continued on with my vigilant prayer each day, 3 times a day. It was a powerful tool that kept me in tune with Jesus, and provided the extra strength that my spirit needed before chemotherapy began.

August 11, 2005, finished getting Aliceson settled with everything she needed for college. We went to lunch and she was somewhat quiet, but seemed to have a good time. She told me to make sure I let her know exactly how I was doing each day. If I needed anything, she wanted to know right away. Her ocean blue eyes told me about her concern when no words were spoken. All I could do was tell her I had peace, and believed that God would meet every need in a way that no one else could.

Drum roll…it’s here…the first day of what will be a journey for me unlike any other road I’ve traveled so far in my life. It is often said on Friday, “TGIF”! Well here I am, it’s Friday, August 12th, and my “TGIF” will be known as “Thank God I’m Free”…free to believe in the power of prayer, free to have faith and trust in my Creator, and free to be bold in my stance for Jesus Christ. My heart’s desire as this detour begins, is to be the example of God’s grace and speak the truth of his holy Word to anyone that is placed in my pathway. Lord Jesus…let it be so.

I got to the oncology clinic at 10:00 a.m. the morning of August 12th. I no sooner sat down in the lobby, and a nurse called my name to come back to the infusion center. As I walked through the doorway, I was taken aback by the size of the room. You see, it was filled with 70 recliners, all to be used for patients who were receiving chemotherapy treatment. What a shock to see that many seats in a room! There were also 5 individual rooms that were used for patients who could not sit for treatment, but needed to lay down for whatever reason. I was told by the nurse to pick any recliner I wanted that was empty and my infusion nurse would meet me. I picked a recliner close to a television up on the wall, because I wanted Leon to be able to watch ESPN major league baseball while we were there. Soon my nurse came and sat on the rolling stool in front of me. She introduced herself and her name was Dina Brown. She was a sweet young woman, fair skinned with bright red hair. She explained how I would be getting two kinds of chemo drugs, Adramycin and Cytaxin, one right after the other during the duration of 7 1/2 hours. Leon sat quietly and listened. She told me that she would first administer a steroid to keep me from being nauseated. I asked her if I could decline the steroid because I felt I was already going to be given so much. She hesitated and said it really helps with the nausea, but it was up to me. I was glad I had some say. She left to go get my “cocktail” bags of drugs. Leon turned to me and said, “Wow…7 1/2 hours! How are you going to do this?” I grabbed his hand and simply said, “Remember…God is in control…have faith.” The infusion began through my port. Now mind you, for me to sit for even 30 minutes at a time is a huge stretch, so THIS was going to take a lot of effort plus! I watched part of the baseball game with Leon. I noticed that in the corner’s of the room there were card tables set up with jigsaw puzzles on them. So, I thought that would kill some time. I worked on one of them for about an hour. Still had 4 hours to go. We had brought along our cribbage board and a deck of cards to pass the time. The nurse came by several times to make sure I was doing ok, which I was. She smiled at the fact I was not getting sick to my stomach, no headache or numbness. Thank you God for protecting me. It was 5:45 p.m. when we finally walked out of that first session. I told Leon to stop at the Subway next door and grab something for his dinner. I wasn’t hungry, but would snack on my crackers and string cheese when we got home.

When we arrived back home, Leon was assuming that I would just go to bed. He had prepared a bucket on the side of the bed, (just in case I got sick), had Tylenol, Sprite and a heating pad on the night stand. I wasn’t feeling any after effects from the drugs, so I did a load of laundry and put away the dishes. He was a little frustrated with me for not “taking it easy.” So, rather than continue on, I went in and changed into some pajamas, and found something to watch on TV. “The Sound of Music” had just started and it’s been one of my all-time favorite movies. Leon decided he would sleep on the couch so I wouldn’t be disturbed. I told him he didn’t need to do that but didn’t argue. I was going to have to remember to look at all of this going on from his perspective too, and simply try to understand where he was coming from, his concerns, and so much more.

The next day, I was still feeling good. No sides effects and my energy was normal. Thank you Jesus for answering my prayers and the prayers of those who had lifted me up in their own way! Please help my family, friends and co-workers to sense your peace and calm their fears. The third day, I woke up a little tired, but I think it was because I kept tossing and turning all night. I had a weird dream about being chased by a cougar and every time I thought I’d lost him, he came out of nowhere. Ugh…dreams you just want to get over in a hurry.

August 16, 2005, Dr. Brouns called this morning to see how I was doing. Leon answered the phone and told him I wasn’t home. He asked where I was, and Leon said I had gone to the country club to meet some gals for a round of golf. Apparently, there was a bit of silence on his end of the phone. He told Leon to have me call him in the afternoon and hung up. I’m sure the good doctor was maybe beginning to wonder if I was right, and God was certainly in control and the statistics were going to be wrong. The new school year would soon start, and it would be time to face the faculty and students with my new look and all that I had gone through this summer.