thank you

Thank you.

I know it has been a long time since I gave an update on my sister, and for that I’m sorry. It has been a crazy few months. Shortly after I wrote last time I got a call that Sheila was back in the hospital and going in for emergency surgery the next morning. I quickly bought a ticket for the next morning.

When I arrived on Tuesday, Sheila was still in surgery. A few hours later she was out of surgery and in her recovery room. The surgeon said the surgery went well and they were able to remove all of the cancer. The rest of her abdomen looked great and didn’t give her any cause for concern. The surgeon removed several enlarged lymph nodes and sent those off to pathology. We would just wait to hear back on the results of those.

Sheila was in a lot of pain initially and I had the opportunity to serve by staying with her in the hospital that night. Quite the experience, as I’m sure those of you who have had to stay in the hospital with loved ones before know. There were tubes everywhere and the nurses came in every hour or so to check on her.

And then the surgeon came back with the pathology result. Of the 24 nodes she removed, zero came back positive. ZERO!!! This is great news and a very obvious answer to prayer as it was highly unlikely that they would all come back negative. Seriously, praise God.

Sheila then met with an oncologist and they decided that since the surgery was such a success and the lymph nodes all came back negative that she wouldn’t need chemo or radiation. SAY WHAT?! Again, another answer to prayer. This was seriously the best case scenario for this awful situation. I don’t think it could have gone any better. We just kept getting good news. My heart is so thankful for how God protected my family during this season.

Also, while I was in California I gave Sheila the book of prayers and financial gift that my friends all contributed to. It was an honor for me to put this together. To show her how much she is loved by people she doesn’t even know. She loved it, so thanks everyone for contributing and praying. Thank you again for all the ways you supported me and my family.

Sheila has impressed me all along the way. She was amazing during the whole process. I think I would have been a crying mess a lot more than she was. What a remarkably strong woman my sister is. I feel blessed to have been able to be there with her during this time. It grew our relationship as sisters and as friends.