Rainy April days in Minnesota

First of all, please forgive me for not updating this blog very much lately. My family and I have been preoccupied with the memorial blog for my mother, which you can find at http://rememberingsharon.blogspot.com. Your kind words and cards have meant so much to me in the last month since my mother died.

Karen is a little stronger every day and looking better. We've been told it takes about a year for one's body to get completely back to normal. Chemotherapy kills so many cells. We're trying to replenish them by drinking mangosteen juice, which has 500 x the antioxidants that the same serving of orange juice contains (e-mail me if you want more information about this at soulwise@msn.com). Her fingertips are numb and Karen has to call on me or the girls to open jars, for example. Some hair is returning...it's almost as long as my hair was at its shortest. Karen will go to the doctor every three months and see what the CA-125 is doing. She maintains the no-sugar diet.

In the meantime, we are meeting many others whose lives are being affected by cancer. While we were out to dinner about a month ago, a lady approached Karen and asked her if she were battling cancer. It turns out she had just been diagnosed a couple months before with bone cancer. While the girls went out to the van to wait on us, Karen and I spent about 1/2 hr with her and her husband. In addition, a colleague of mine at Allianz was just diagnosed and I've been able to share our experiences with her. As Paul says in 2 Corinthians, God comforts us in our afflictions that we may comfort others.

Please keep our family in prayer as we face financial hurdles right now. I know in God all things are possible, so it's hard to get discouraged...that's why it's not wise to ever listen to the news. Gas and food prices are skyrocketing and making it hard for all of us to live. God has been good to us in so many ways and we're thankful. There is so much worldly noise to shut out.

God bless and thank you for being there for us.

Latest developments in the fight against cancer - and thank you

To those who have sent cards, e-mails, phone calls, and prayers for me and my family over Mom's death - thank you. Not a day goes by without tears. The wake was last Wednesday night the 26th and the funeral mass the following morning the 27th. A few hours after the burial, my sisters, brother and I selected a simple stone to mark her burial in Green Lake, Wisconsin. It will read "Sharon Jacobsen Darnick 1937 - 2008 Love you forever"

Another blog has been created in Mom's memory at http://rememberingsharon.blogspot.com.

This morning I arose very early to take Karen in for surgery - to remove the abdominal port, the one that you may recall was causing many of the problems last November. We were home by 10:00 am. Karen saw Dr. Argenta yesterday who was optimistic at the news of the CA125 going from a 6 to a 5. He informed her that most women never see the CA125 go down at all and for hers to have gone down to 5 is excellent progress. He also told her it will in all likelihood never go below that. I prayed all morning that the Lord would give Karen some good news - usually these doctor visits are very sobering. It was great to see Karen leave feeling encouraged.

Karen's strength is back. Her hair is beginning to come back, but those of you who remember how long it was (scroll down to the photo below) know that it will take a long time. We ask for prayer for discipline and strength to maintain the no-sugar diet. You would all be amazed at how easy it is to give up. I drank a Coke last week and felt sick afterwards - I learned later that my body had gotten used to not processing such huge amounts of sugar.

Thank you for prayers during this difficult and dark season of life. We're certainly ready for the sun to shine again. Faith, however, gets us through. To see the goodness of God in the midst of this storm is what faith is all about.