Merry Christmas

Christmas season is more than just a holiday. It's a time of giving thanks for all the goodness one has received throughout the year. I am truly grateful for my health this past year. I am appreciative of my family and friends, work colleagues, Dr., nurses, pharmacists, and all those who work to support my well being. My heart is full of gratitude. I hope this season brings all of you joy and many blessings as it does for me.

Best wishes and have a wonderful holiday!

A Hymn of Faith

Habakkuk 3: 17 to 19

 

Though the fig tree may not blossom,
Nor fruit be on the vines;
Though the labor of the olive may fail,
And the fields yield no food;
Though the flock may be cut off from the fold,
And there be no herd in the stalls—

 

Yet I will rejoice in the Lord,
I will joy in the God of my salvation.

 

The Lord God is my strength;
He will make my feet like deer’s feet,
And He will make me walk on my high hills.

 

---------

 

I am dedicating this hymn to a family who had been praying for me while I was very sick. I met the father and one of the daughters yesterday - in conversation, I asked where their mom is, only to find out she passed away last December. That was heartbreaking. She had pancreatic cancer and only lived for 6 months from when she was diagnosed. May her soul rest in peace.

New season, new joy

The summer season is now coming to an end. I managed to do things I had never done or even imagine doing. Due to my lungs, I was uncertain about traveling on an aeroplane so I went camping instead. I camped in a travel trailer, a tent, and a cabin - yes, three different camping trips. I am fortunate to live in British Columbia - with all the beautiful lakes, mountains, and rivers. I camped in some remote areas, in places where I had never been before. The trips were all enjoyable and filled with fun. I was fortunate not to have any flares and to spend time surrounded by very happy and joyful people. These trips were rather refreshing and special.

Wishing you all a refreshing, happy and joyful autumn.

A season of rest

Summer is here, the grass is green, the birds are singing, and the flowers are blooming. I pray the Lord will give you rest, rest from all your battles, rest from all the assault against your spirit, body, and soul.

Joshua 21:44-45

The Lord gave them rest all around, according to all that He had sworn to their fathers. And not a man of all their enemies stood against them; the Lord delivered all their enemies into their hand. Not a word failed of any good thing which the Lord had spoken to the house of Israel. All came to pass.

Wishing you all a restful summer.

Poverty through sickness and diseases

From my experience of being sick, I learned that sickness can be very expensive and costly. Sickness and disease often lead to poverty. In fact, sickness, disease, and poverty can become a cycle. Medication and accessing treatment can cost lots of money. Being unable to work means you are spending while not earning. Medical insurance can go a long way in covering some of your expenses, but it does not always cover the 'new' costs of living. If through sickness and disease you become disabled, i.e. now limited in what you can do, it can be difficult to get a higher paying job. Your costs of living can go up while your income stays the same. Your costs of living can also go down or even become zero. New insurance policies typically will not cover existing or on-going medical conditions, and the cycle continues. This can leave you stuck in a rot and perhaps a helpless position.

The good news is that we have been redeemed by the blood of Jesus!

1 Peter 1:18-19 Amplified Bible (AMP)

¹⁸ You must know (recognize) that you were redeemed (ransomed) from the useless (fruitless) way of living inherited by tradition from [your] forefathers, not with corruptible things [such as] silver and gold, ¹⁹ But [you were purchased] with the precious blood of Christ (the Messiah), like that of a [sacrificial] lamb without blemish or spot.

We have been redeemed from sickness, poverty, and diseases. Have faith that God will take care of all your needs regardless of what they are. God will cover everything that your insurance will not cover, God will provide for you to cover all your new costs of living. He will make a way for you in your career where there seems to be no way. He will even top up your pension funds. He will take you to new heights and give you new wisdom. He works in ways that we can not see. He knows the end from the beginning. Have faith and live by faith.

Everything has its time

Ecclesiastes 3

¹To everything there is a season,

A time for every purpose under heaven:

² A time to be born,
And a time to die;
A time to plant,
And a time to pluck what is planted;
³ A time to kill,
And a time to heal;
A time to break down,
And a time to build up;
⁴ A time to weep,
And a time to laugh;
A time to mourn,
And a time to dance;
⁵ A time to cast away stones,
And a time to gather stones;
A time to embrace,
And a time to refrain from embracing;
⁶ A time to gain,
And a time to lose;
A time to keep,
And a time to throw away;
⁷ A time to tear,
And a time to sew;
A time to keep silence,
And a time to speak;
⁸ A time to love,
And a time to hate;
A time of war,
And a time of peace.

The God-Given Task

⁹ What profit has the worker from that in which he labors? ¹⁰ I have seen the God-given task with which the sons of men are to be occupied. ¹¹ He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also He has put eternity in their hearts, except that no one can find out the work that God does from beginning to end.

¹² I know that nothing is better for them than to rejoice, and to do good in their lives, ¹³ and also that every man should eat and drink and enjoy the good of all his labor—it is the gift of God.

¹⁴ I know that whatever God does, It shall be forever. Nothing can be added to it, And nothing taken from it. God does it, that men should fear before Him.

What time is it in your life?

Knowing what time or season it is in your life is important. It guides the decisions you make, the seeds you sow, the actions you take, and the choices you make. Coping with a life changing illness has caused me to re-evaluate my worldview and perspectives. From being a driven and high performing person, I have become more cautious and less inclined to take the lead at things. I take every day as it is given and no longer have long-term or medium-term plans, knowing that nothing is better than to rejoice and do good on a daily basis.

There is a to lead and there is a time to follow!

This is a time in my life to follow the leader, Jesus Christ.

One year on!

I have every reason to be grateful. I was hospitalized on April 11 last year with no hope of surviving. But God is faithful. Here I am today, not 100%, but better than I felt before I knew there was something wrong.

I know there are a number of people out there struggling with unimaginable diseases and sicknesses. I met a few while I was in hospital and yet more online through blog sites. I want to let you know that there is hope. Here is an excerpt from my hospital diary:

------------ Hospital diary ------------------
Date: April 20, 2011
Location: Intensive care
"Blurr..... The family of the patient on the bed beside me had to make a difficult decision - to pull life support or not.
Down to 60 mg of the dreaded, yet life saving prednesone starting today.
Morning RN: NB from New Zealand - very interesting woman.
Afternoon RN: PD and MJ - give me back NB please ...."

Date: April 21, 2011
Location: Intensive care
Morning RN: CA
CK level 894. Lowest in a long time. Weight down to 63 Kg. Surrounded by lots of drama ... ops, I'm one of them.
Dr Biggest shot in the hospital came by my bed to inform me they want to do a plasma something and need me to sign a consent form. Plasma...what?.. never heard of it, no time for google either... its the only hope and last option. 30 minutes to think about it. They have run out of other options. All neurosurgeons at a national conference came to that consensus ...
Me+family "what do I have to lose beyond my life? It's about to be lost anyway .... go for it"
1 hour later, holes pierced into big veins, catheter inserted into my neck, lots of new tubes everywhere ... it took 3 people to hold me down. different machines added to everything, more blood work .... Six hours later, first plasmaphereisis (can't pronounce or spell it) completed.
I pray this works. God my hope is in you. I haven't finished my job as a mother yet. pls pls let this work .........

---------------------- End ------------------------------

The prayers of the Saints were my sustenance during this period. Today I continue to add my prayers, along with that of many other Saints, for people going through rough times as a result of illness and for their families who are having to adjust because of the situation they find themselves in. May the Lord hear our prayers and our supplications. I pray these people find healing and peace.

A Lung Story

Hurray! Helene Campbell has got her lungs.

http://www.alungstory.ca/transplant-live-blog/

As always, God showed up strong on Helene's behalf. At her 11th hour, He was there for her. Our God will never let you fall. I pray Helene's body will accept her new lungs and she would have a speedy recovery.

All of you suffering from autoimmune diseases, I pray God will show up for you as He has done for Helene, and you will be relieved from pain and sufferings.

As Helene would say, "Love you lung time"

I'm confident

My consultations with the Rheumatologist and Respirologist were great. Great because it's all good news. My medications have not changed but my lung function test is showing some slight improvements. Being on 2.5mg of prednisone, my Respirologist confirmed that the improvements are not drug induced but my body healing itself. While she would like to see me come off the drug altogether, the Rheumatologist would rather I stay and prefers 5mg - because that is what all her patients do! However, I am on the same side as my body - stay on 2.5mg and continue to walk by faith. I know that I am better, my body feels better, my spirit is lifted, I'm confident that I am healing ... faith is calling those things that be not as though they are .... once you have the witness on the inside of you. My body bears witness with my spirit, so I am confident!!

Romans 15: 14 - 15
Now I myself am confident concerning you, my brethren, that you also are full of goodness, filled with all knowledge, able also to admonish one another. Nevertheless, brethren, I have written more boldly to you on some points, as reminding you, because of the grace given to me by God.

The good news

Psalm 40:9
I have proclaimed the good news of righteousness In the great assembly; Indeed, I do not restrain my lips, O LORD, You Yourself know.

The good news is that it is ten months on and all is going well. I am keeping my fingers crossed and looking forward to a clean bill of health soon despite my inabilities. I am confident that someday I will go mountain climbing, bike riding, skiing, hiking, running, swimming and I will even run marathons again. I will also sing and shout at the top of my voice once again!

By faith, I am no longer in the valley of the shadow of death and no autoimmune disease will keep me down. I will arise and go forth in the name of the Lord of host. Thank you all for your prayers and support. My heartfelt prayers goes to all those people out there suffering from autoimmune diseases. I pray that you will all find the healer and your healing will last.

Here's a link to some wonderful praise and worship music to keep your spirit up:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zv65z9iJ65g

Organ donation

I was moved to tears by Helene Campbell's story, the 20 year old who is waiting for lung transplant.
http://www.alungstory.ca/a-lung-story-blog/
Helene has a lot to offer the world. I pray she would get new lungs soon and be able to dance again.

Lots of people ask how they can help, well there's an answer, sign up to be an organ donor and give other people a second chance. God bless you as you do so.

Genesis 2:7
And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.

P-I-L-A-T-E-S

I just joined the local PILATES class, yes, Pilates. I have to keep my muscles going, exercising them gently without causing more injury to my lungs and heart, so I signed up for Pilates. One hour a week for now feels like medicine. The breathing exercise is helping my lungs, a little profit!

1 Timothy 4
⁸ For bodily exercise profits a little, but godliness is profitable for all things, having promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come.
⁹ This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance.
¹⁰ For to this end we both labor and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Savior of all men, especially of those who believe.

Steam and cold

My lung capacity and diffusion rate increased by about 2% through plasmapheresis, better than it was 10 months ago. However, I found out the hard way that my lungs can't stand the exteme cold winter conditions here (-20 and below), my lungs also can't stand too much humidity (aka steam room).

Knowing what works and what doesn't helps. I am now learning and gaining new knowledge in this journey. My prayer is that we all gain knowledge and wisdom to cope with our daily challenges.

Hosea 4:6
My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge.

Life goes on, so do I

The very cold snap, -37˚C for two days and nights, was very trying.
Alas! I survived through prayers.

Matthew 26:
⁴² Again, a second time, He went away and prayed, saying, “O My Father, if this cup cannot pass away from Me unless I drink it, Your will be done.”

Let your will be done Lord!!

New year, new hope, new strength

The beginning of the year is always a good time to reflect. Last year was rough, I hope and pray this year would be better. Meds have not changed, prognosis still the same. The winter weather is not helping. One thing that is helping is a positive attitude.
Thankfully, people don't look at me and feel sorry for me - they tell me they are always happy to see my smiley face. My daughters tell me that my happiness is a source of joy for them. One said "You have every reason to be sad, yet you are always happy. It makes me look bad sometimes because I'm not always as happy as you".
Regardless of anything and everything, I press forward!

Hebrews 12
¹ Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us,
² looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.
²² But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, to an innumerable company of angels,
²³ to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are registered in heaven, to God the Judge of all, to the spirits of just men made perfect,
²⁴ to Jesus the Mediator of the new covenant, and to the blood of sprinkling that speaks better things than that of Abel.