Aglow International North Bay Area Spring Retreat this weekend!

I will be speaking at the Aglow International North Bay Area Spring Retreat this weekend, April 30 and May 1. This will be the first retreat I have done since my fight began with cancer back in October 2007! It has been a long time.

I am really excited about the retreat. I am looking forward to seeing what God will do through me and in me. I feel like I have learned much during the trials, suffering and quietness of the past two and a half years. It will be interesting to see how all of that comes out as I am teaching and ministering.

I need to head to bed, but thought I'd post this upcoming retreat. It is truly a testimony of the faithfulness of God to see me through this past battle. It is also a testimony to your faithful prayers to help me get to this new place. I hope that you are as encouraged as I am that I am able to do this. It is a new day!

What an awesome time!!!!!

Thank you, thank you, thank you for your prayers for me as I was away at the Open Heavens conference at All Nations Church. I am home now with a full and happy heart. I had a wonderful time with the Lord and with my dear friends. My body held up miraculously well. God is so very good and faithful!

It was the first time I have really traveled where I was so aware of the weakness in my body. I have always been pretty strong physically and have never felt vulnerable while traveling. This time, with the new reality of my body, I realized that I did feel vulnerable. I spent some time in prayer and realized I had an opportunity to trust God in a new way to be my strength and my defender. He was faithful and I feel like my own faith grew in the experience.

Blessings!!

Heading to the Open Heavens Conference at All Nations Church!

YES!!! I have been cleared by my surgeons to travel!! Several weeks ago I felt the Lord tell me I could go to the Open Heavens conference at All Nations Church in Charlotte, N. Carolina, but circumstances made that seem impossible! I was sick with an ear and sinus infection, I had surgery coming up and an infusion that usually makes me very sick. I talked with Ron and we both believed I was to move forward in faith, so I did. I went online and bought the ticket, though I must confess that I did buy trip insurance, just in case I had not heard correctly.

I am thrilled to say that tomorrow I will use that ticket to fly to N. Carolina. This is my first major trip since October of 2007 when I first got sick!! It has been a long journey, but all along my desire has been to go to a conference with the Chavda's as soon as I was able. That day has finally arrived. All Nations Church is like family to me. They have prayed and fasted so faithfully. I am looking forward to being able to thank all of them. I am so grateful to them just as I am so very grateful to all of you!!

It is a new day!!

Please pray that I am able to deeply receive from the Lord, to soak in His presence and be renewed and nourished.
Pray that I receive healing and impartation of all that God wants to give me over the next 5 days.
Pray that I will be refreshed and come home ready to speak for the Aglow International North Bay Area Spring Retreat that I am doing on April 30 and May 1.
Pray for renewed and deepened friendships at All Nations Church and with those there for the conference. I believe there are divine appointments awaiting me!!
Thank you!!

Check out the three new encouraging posts below

I have three new very encouraging posts below. Check them out starting with "Best Surgery EVER!" Thanks again for all of your prayers. I am so excited and I think you will be too!!

NO More Hyperbaric Treatments!!

Another truly miraculous outcome of the last week is that both of my surgeons have determined that the surgery was such a success and healing has happened so quickly that I don't need to have any more hyperbaric treatments!! I think I am still in shock.

I went into surgery with the understanding that I still needed anywhere from 30 - 50 more treatments. Suddenly, I don't have to have any more at all!!

I am still stunned. It is slowly sinking in that this has really truly healed and all of the pain and struggle of the past two and a half months is over (and that of course on the heels of two and a half years of struggle and suffering). I was even able to take a normal shower for the first time since February 2! I have only been able to shower about once a week and even then I had to wrap and tape the wound with Saran Wrap to keep all water off of the wound. Not very comfortable!

The little things in life, like a normal daily shower, are such a wondrous gift. Thank you again for your prayers and partnership in this long struggle. I could not do this without your faithful prayer and support. This sudden break through of healing is truly a miracle...our miracle! Thank you!

Healing Beautifully

Three days after the surgery I changed the dressing. I was a little afraid to take the bandages off, I just didn't know what to expect. Going into surgery, I did not have very high hopes regarding the cosmetic outcome of the surgery. I kept telling myself that all that mattered was that the wound would get closed and that it didn't matter what it looked like. Going into surgery, the wound looked really bad, it was very deforming. I was also concerned that it wouldn't heal properly after all that I had been through after the Feb. 2 surgery.

So the morning of the third day, I very slowly removed the bandages and hesitantly peeked inside to see how it looked. I almost cried from relief. It already looked 100 times better than I had even dared hope. I had no idea that the surgeon could make it look so "normal." Clearly, I still have a reconstructed breast, no one will mistake it for a real one, but it is amazingly normal. I still can't quite get over it.

There was one dark spot that I was a little concerned about, but it turned out to be just fine.

One week after surgery, the doctor took out my stitches. It is healing beautifully!

Sometime over the summer, he will complete the reconstruction of the right breast, but for now, I am going to enjoy the wonder of healing and health!

Thank you so much for praying! This is just what we were all asking for and I am so very grateful!!

Best Surgery EVER!

Wow! I had no idea surgery could go so well. It was an amazing experience. I went in for surgery bright and early, everything was running exactly on time. They started an IV and let Ron and both of my daughters back into the pre-op area with me. It was so nice. They prayed for me and shortly afterward they took me into the surgical suite. I was fully awake. I scooted over onto the operating table and they gave me 2 cc's of some sort of sedative. Then the surgeon numbed the area with local anesthetic. The initial injections of it hurt but soon I was not feeling anything. The surgeon asked if I'd like any more sedative and I said, "Nope, I'm good!"

So he proceeded to begin the operation. He removed a majority of the granulation tissue down almost to the muscle, then brought the sides of the wound together and sewed the whole thing up. I could feel a lot of pressure and pulling, but no pain. I was completely at peace. It was an amazing experience. I lay there chatting with the nurses and my doctor in my croaky voice. One of my nurses was from West Africa, so that was fun talking with her. I had a pretty bad cold and laryngitis, but the doctor said I was well enough to have surgery, so we went for it!

Amazingly, I coughed once when I first lay down on the table, but did not cough even one time during the whole hour long surgery. That was truly a miracle.

I scooted back over onto the gurney and they wheeled me into recovery. Gave me a little something as a preventative for nausea and I was good to go. They sent me home in less than an hour after surgery. I got home and slept several hours that day and was just fine. I was tired for a few days, but other than that, just great. By the second day, all I needed for pain was Tylenol.

So many specific answers to prayer! Thank you all so much for praying. I am still in awe of God's goodness.

Surgery tomorrow, Thurs, April 8, 7:30 AM

So I am on for surgery tomorrow bright and early. I have had an ear and sinus infection, so I didn't know for sure if I could have surgery until today. I developed the sinus and ear infection last week as a result of being in the pressure of the Hyperbaric chamber day after day. I started antibiotics on Friday, so I have 6 days worth in my system. I still have laryngitis, congestion and a cough, but no fever.

I was not getting any better and then put out a request for prayer on Facebook and woke up the next morning feeling better. Prayer is an amazing gift!! I have not run a fever since folks started praying specifically. Awesome!

So, tomorrow my plastic surgeon will go in and close this open wound I have in the left breast area. The wound is a result of a severe lack of vascular support to the area caused by radiation damage from treatment I had last year. When the doctor tried to repair and reconstruct my left breast area during surgery on February 2, part of the skin graft died. Once they cleaned out the dead tissue, I was left with this wound that still has not been able to heal.

Tomorrow, I am trusting the final step in this healing process will begin!
**Please pray that the surgery goes even better than planned.
**Please pray that enough blood supply gets to the closure so it can heal quickly.
**Please pray I DO NOT cough during surgery!
**Please pray that the surgery sight remains infection free!!
**Please pray that I do not get nauseated from the sedation.

Thank you so very much!! I know that your prayers, love and support are sustaining me on this very long journey! I am so grateful.