Wishing You All a Merry Christmas

I'm sure you all have heard about the piles of snow we had last week in South Western Ontario.
Many places had much more snow then we had.

I told the kids our birthday cake was out on our deck. Gary and I are both Christmas week babies.

Merry Christmas from our home to yours...


It's been almost six weeks since we updated our blog. There's a saying, "no news is good news"." 

Well, things have been going quite well. Other then routine appointments every 2 weeks and a snow day, Gary has been going to work almost everyday. He had his second week of chemo treatments the week of Nov. 29th-Dec.3rd. It has been one of the hardest weeks for him. It has left him more tired and with less energy then before. All of this is somewhat to be expected as this last treatment was his first full dose of the chemo medication. At this point Gary is just very thankful that he is able to continue going to work.is just so thankful that he is able to continue working.
On Dec. 14th Gary went for another MRI. The weather had been stormy on and off for the last week and meetings were canceled the night before. To make sure we got to the 5:30 a.m. appointment we got up at 3 a.m. (We were both surprisingly wide awake before 3) Gary blew out the lane way before we left. Thankfully the main roads were quite clear however very slippery. We made it there in good time.
We will not hear the results of the MRI until Dec. 29th when Gary will begin his third week of chemo. We hope and pray that the radiation and chemo have been effective and the results of the scan will be positive.

Gary and I are looking forward to getting away for a few days next week to celebrate our birthdays together.

We want to wish you all a Merry Christmas , thanking God for sending his Son, Jesus Christ into the world to be our Saviour.

Joanne

Great Is Thy Faithfulness

"Great is Thy faithfulness," O God my Father,
There is no shadow of turning with Thee;
Thou changest not, Thy compassions, they fail not
As Thou hast been Thou forever wilt be.

• "Great is Thy faithfulness!" "Great is Thy faithfulness!"
    Morning by morning new mercies I see;
  All I have needed Thy hand hath provided—
      "Great is Thy faithfulness," Lord, unto me!

Summer and winter, and springtime and harvest,
Sun, moon and stars in their courses above,
Join with all nature in manifold witness
To Thy great faithfulness, mercy and love.

Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth,
Thy own dear presence to cheer and to guide;
Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow,
Blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside!

© 1923. Ren. 1951 Hope Publishing Co., Carol Stream, IL 60188
www.hopepublishing.com

Source: http://www.hymnal.net/hymn.php/h/19#ixzz26OYs8B00

Your Mercies are New Every Morning

Thanksgiving Day has come and gone, but we need to express our thankfulness every single day and not only to God but to those around us, not only for big things but the little things too!

For some months Gary and the boys were planning to re-shingle the back part of our house. So mid-October Brad Meinen and his crew graciously volunteered to help them out. Late Friday afternoon they came to set up and continued early the next morning. It was done at 12:30 p.m.


Thanks Brad Meinen, Dan Bergsma, John Timmermans and Norm Rolleman for helping Gary and the boys out and for coming out on your day off!





I was looking at some old emails the other day and one had a text reference at the bottom, Lam. 3:22. I forgot what it said until I came across it one morning while reading.
It says, "Your mercies are new every morning, great is Your faithfulness." Then not long after that I heard Frenando Ortega sing, "Great is Thy Faithfulness" and I knew I had to share this song on our blog. (Gary and I are now calling it 'our' blog)

I have attached the song on another post.

Jess and I went for a walk to the back of our farm one frosty morning this week. The land looked so bare with all the crops harvested. It felt all too much like a winter morning.

God is faithful. He keeps everything in order like the sun, moon and stars. We experience summer and winter and spring time and harvest every year again. God never changes and is compassionate.

We are thankful for a great harvest of our crops. Also, Gary has had a good week while taking his first out of six monthly chemo treatments.




I hope this song, Great is Thy Faithfulness, is a blessing to you as it is to me. These words of the text/song come to mind often and I can only thank God for blessing us so much.

I pray that we will praise Him everyday no matter what his plans are for our lives.
Joanne

The End of Radiation

Christine and her Dad

The six weeks of radiation are over!!
We are all happy about that! Amazing how your family life adjusts to the routine of therapy and you go along life's path just as before.

Now Gary is back to working full days. The only inconvenience is that he is still not allowed to drive, but he is not lacking willing drivers.

Gary, David and Dixie taking a stroll to the back of the farm

He is feeling well. Eating and sleeping well. Now he is on a no-chemo 4 week vacation. The next doctor's appointment isn't until November 1st. The next MRI is booked for 3 weeks from now. This may not give us a true picture as it takes some time for the radiation and chemo to do their jobs and there may be some swelling present from the radiation.


The only side effect that shows is some hair loss which makes it look like his hair line has receded. His forehead looks sun burnt and a little dry but this has not been a major problem.


We are so thankful for how the treatments have gone. The Lord has been good to us and has wonderfully given Gary continued strength and good health to do what he always did.

We know that much prayer is still needed for continued healing, peace and for patience as we await the results of the radiation and chemotherapy.

Thanks again for all the support, love and care we have been given over these many weeks, but especially for your prayers.

A special thanks to all the drivers who so kindly took at least 3 hours of their time each day to take Gary to the hospital over the last 6 weeks.

The road ahead is unknown and uncertain but that is the same for any and all of us. We must continue to trust in God alone and leave our future in His loving and caring hands.

Please continue to keep us in your prayers.

Joanne for all of us

Felicia (the Father's Day gift) is growing up fast, taking over the place and entertaining us all.

Prayers Being Answered

Hi Family and Friends,

Gary is now entering the middle of his fourth week of treatments. I know many, many people have been praying for him daily that he will tolerate the radiation and chemotherapy. Well, the Lord has graciously answered our prayers as Gary has been feeling so good that he returned to work this past Monday and has been working everyday. He has not been experiencing any of the expected side effects; he has very little nausea, lots of energy, good appetite and no hair loss.

We are doing a lot of driving, bringing him to work in the morning and picking him up at work whenever his treatment is booked and then returning him to work to finish off the day. David, our son, who works in London picks him up on the way home. With my flexibility and all the volunteer drivers to take him for treatments at least 3 times a week it is all working out very well and we are most grateful.

We know that God hears prayers and wants us to continue to depend on Him.
Please continue to pray that this good health continues, that the treatment is killing off the cancer cells and that he may continue to go to work.

All praise and thanks to God.
Joanne

Cancer is so Limited

Cancer is so Limited
It cannot cripple love,
It cannot shatter hope,
It cannot corrode faith,
It cannot eat peace away,
It cannot destroy confidence,
It cannot kill friendship,
It cannot shut out memories,
It cannot silence courage,
It cannot invade the soul,
It cannot reduce eternal life,
It cannot quench the Spirit,
It cannot lessen the power of the resurrection.
-author unknown

Visits with Doctors

Once again another week has gone by. I have now received two full weeks of treatment. We were at Victoria Hospital every day this week, and two days we met with three different doctors. On Monday we met with the Neurosurgeon Dr. Steven. That time, we had hoped that I could go off the anti-seizure drug,Dilantin, and that I would be able to drive again soon.

Today, however, we met with Dr. Macdonald and Dr. Fisher, the chemotherapy and radiation oncologists, and I found that a notice had been sent to the ministry and my license will be suspended for at least six months. This was somewhat disappointing news. However,I will be tapering off one of the other drugs, and this is good news, because it is the one that had caused the most side effects. As well, we have not yet heard from U.I. as to when and how much I will be receiving from them.

I am feeling very well and have so far not experienced any side effects from the radiation or chemo. I am thankful that I am remaining in good spirits and am able to trust that God is in control and He is trustworthy. I am very grateful for the help we have received, both in financing the cost of driving, as well as the people who have generously volunteered their time to drive me to London and back. We have also received many delicious meals (to the extent that I am worried about getting too fat).

The total time spent for a radiation treatment is about two and a half hours a day, with it being a one hour drive and the average time spent there being a half an hour. On the days that I meet with doctors Joanne drives me in because it will take longer (We set out at 8:30 today and returned at 3:30 P.M.) and she likes to be there for the consultations.

Thanks for the nice card Nigel, your prayers mean a lot to us!

We continue to receive cards and best wishes and the assurance of prayers as well and this is most appreciated.