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Friday, October 28, 2011

Whom Shall I Fear Blog Hop Oct 28 -31


Scroll down to reach the It's All about Catitude Blog Hop



 
Every month we choose a theme with which to honor Christ and become closer to Him. We then create a project to reflect that theme and boldly post it on our blogs so that the whole world sees that even our talents belong to Him! This month's theme is Whom Shall I Fear. Won't you come join us and be inspired?!
 Fear is a crippling thing.  I like to think that fear and worry are sins.  You might think that is harsh but for me they are things that show a lack of faith.  I know that bad things happen to good people but I also know that God has given us promises. You may recognize my layouts from another hop I did about Melanoma but it is perfect for this hop.  Just the mere sound of the word CANCER and fear is struck in the hearts of man.

When my husband Jim was diagnosed with Melanoma he literally beat the dashboard all the way home.  Slammed on the brakes, hit the gas pedal..I thought I was going to die just because of his behavior while driving that car.  But when someone tells you that you have Stage 4......Stage FOUR cancer and that cancer is Melanoma the mind immediately turns negative and believes the worst.  Quite frankly I don't know how I would have handled it had I not had my faith to fall back on.  Oddly enough I never felt it was a death sentence but then again it was not MY cancer.  We were referred to an oncologist who specialized in this kind of cancer and the day we met him I knew we were going to be OK.  He had pioneered a process of following the path of the drainage to the lymph nodes by using nuclear medicine.  It was injected all around the wound and then images were taken showing it's path.  His mole was on his left shoulder so you would think that it would drain to the nodes under his left arm but that was not always the case so to be certain this procedure was done.  They removed the sentinel node and a couple close by to test.  Only the first node, the sentinel node, the one that stands guard for the others, had any cancer in it and it was just the tip.  
The mole itself had been removed in the plastic surgeons office so Jim still had to undergo surgery around the area to remove any potential cancer tissue.  Originally they were going to have to take a skin graft from his leg to cover the shoulder wound area.  Having worked construction his upper body was very strong and  they decided to make about an 8 in incision instead of a smaller one..That would allow them to close the wound without having to do a skin graft, thus preventing possible infection.  All of this was 14 years ago and praise God , Jim is still here and still cancer free!  After the surgery he went into a study program and was chosen to not have to take any medicines or any treatments and his Melanoma was downgraded to a Stage 3 allowing us to be able to keep our insurance.
I am going to post my layout now and if you click on the pictures you should be able to read the journaling detailing our story.  

Fear can be a crippling thing.  It can control your life in ways you really don't want.  Am I saying I am never afraid or that I never fear anything?  Not at all..Me and heights still don't get along very well!  LOL  But I believe that the Bible is the spoken word of God and it is full of promises for me to lean on.  It really is amazing how calm I was through all of that time.  Our Oncologist was a Christian and he prayed with us at every visit, every procedure as did his nurses and staff.  It doesn't get much better than that kids..  Yep  God is good and I have no need to fear.

Here is your list of blogs to visit:

I hope that you can find something along the way in this hop to inspire you, drive you, give you hope..Just know that God is good and relying on Him is the answer to getting through your fears.. Next you will visit Carolyn at   http://messmuddleandfun.blogspot.com/.

13 comments:

Marjolaine said...

What an amazing story Vicki, thanks for sharing.

Scraping Miami said...

Thank you for telling your story.

lindaplus3 said...

Thank you for sharing :) lindaplusthree at yahoo dot com

Anonymous said...

Wow Vicki, This was truly an awesome testimony of how we shouldn't fear. I often wonder why people are so negative with situations and then they wonder why I'm such a positive person. It all comes down to my trust in God. I'm so happy to hear that you guys got through this and that Jim is doing well. It's truly a touching story.

Many blessings,
Zeni

Dolores said...

Wow Vicki I am blessed by your testimony. How Wonderful is our God that He was able to heal Jim.

Becky Dunham said...

What an amazing story Vicki! How fabulous for you and Jim that you had your faith to help you through this time - a lot of people would have given up and died out of fear.

rebeccadunham at hotmail dot com

Nana Campana said...

I think it is so amazing how God puts people in our lives that are filled with faith when we are not. So cool! Thanks for sharing! Hugs!

Nicole Brenna said...

Very touching story and love the layout to go with it...

HeARTworks said...

Praise the Lord your husband is alive! My brother in law was diagnosed with melanoma and he died after 3 years. But God is good and has His ways. My sister Peggy was wrapped in His consolation and strength. God gave her a vision of Him leading her up a mountain path where she couldn't see where she was walking but He was holding her hand. 18 years after, my sister is happily married to a man who also lost his wife to cancer! They have 3 children between them. It's hard not to fear in the face of uncertainty, but that's how we "practice" the Word of God! Patsy from
HeARTworks

Anonymous said...

I loved the last line of your project that defined Survivor!! OUr God is awesome! How beautiful!

Tammy G

Wendy Swenne said...

Oh wauw, what an amazing story. Praise God for such blessed specialists around your husband and you. God is good!

Thanks for sharing your inspiring story.

Wendy

Unknown said...

Praise God for the healing, for the medical team, for your husband. Thanks for sharing your story.

Scrappin' Sista said...

PRAISE GOD!!! I know He can do it and more people need to hear your story. God is more than able and if He doesn't do it, He's STILL able!!! May your hubby continue to work in his freedom, deliverance, and healing. TFS and hopping with us.

Christel
http://onescrappinsista.blogspot.com