My Real Life


Today, I had a minor surgery for a venous port to be implanted under the skin of my right upper chest.  Ugh. It reminds me that I am a patient.  But, it will make chemotherapy and blood tests easier.  Afterwards, John and I had an orientation to Chemotherapy, given by a very delightful, Christian Advanced Practice Nurse.  John prayed for her and she prayed for me.  What a lovely surprise gift!

On Monday, Chemotherapy begins. My friend, Jan, who had Chemo several years ago, intentionally compared her treatments to the video game, Pac-Man.  Do you remember it? The goal is to direct Pac-Man (or his lovely counterpart, Ms. Pac-Man), to gobble up as many evil little dots as he can. I've been dreading chemo, but will try to adopt her view of the scary medicine, hoping that it will be running all through my body, killing the cancer cells.

That's the good news.



The "not-so-good" news is this. Cancer and other chronic diseases often resemble the futile carnival game of Whac-A-Mole.  Have you seen it?  Nasty moles pop up from their tunnels.  They disappear for a short time when you smack them on the head with a mallet, while others reappear in a different spots shortly afterward.  You gain points for every mole you smack, but you can never get rid of all the moles ... until your time runs out!

My oncologist told me that an average of 8% of people with Intrahepatic Cholangiocarcinoma survive 5 years from the time of diagnosis.  It's just a statistic, but not a great one.

No matter how this thing turns out, I'm challenged by Colossians 3:1-3 

"Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, 
set your sights on the realities of heaven, 
where Christ sits in the place of honor at God's right hand.  
Think about the things of heaven, not the things of earth. 
For you died to this life, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God". NLT

When I understood who Jesus is and what He did for me, I wanted Him to be my Savior and decided to follow Him. That's when I died. Now, my real life is hidden with Christ in God.  And my time will not run out.


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