April 19,2012

Hello again dear friends,

     Today has been a beautiful on again, off again day. A little sunshine and a little rain, a little sunshine and then a little rain again.

     Dorean and I went to Dr. Shellenberger’s office this morning for my 10:30 appointment and, of course, didn’t get to see him till almost 11:30. The CAT Scan report did not show any more MCC in the other lymph glands near the present one, so that is a good thing. He will remove the gland that the MCC is in and some of the others around it and see if there is any cancer in them. If not, that will be a good thing. He will decide after the surgery if I should have radiation or not, that could be not such a good thing. This surgery is more complicated than the other I had. There are nerves and vessels and other things that are not in the cheek so there is a risk of damage to a nerve. I have confidence in Dr. S. and even more confidence in the Greater Physician that will be guiding Dr. S’s hands. He named a few of the nerves that could possibly be damaged and the effect it would have. I could not be able to lift my left shoulder, my bottom lip could drop or I would not be able to stick out my tongue. I told him I had to be able to stick out my tongue. How can I open my mouth and say "ahhhhhhh" when  someone wants to see down my throat? I am really not looking for any of that to happen, but if it does, praise the Lord! This surgery will take longer and I will probably stay in the hospital for 2 days. I hope not, the hospital is no place for sick people.
     When we left Dr. S’s office we went to pre-check-in which took almost 3 hours.        Fortunately, we had our Kindles with us which makes the time pass faster. I had an EKG and blood work and filled out a stack of papers. By this time it was after 2:00 and we were starving. After going to Cracker Barrel we came home.
     I want to bring everyone up to date on what has been going on since the end of my last blog post in November, but will save that for another day, perhaps tomorrow.
     Today I want to share some things with you. First is from a card from my dear friend Ann Towers. I mentioned her yesterday, she always sends the most appropriate things in her emails and card. I received a card from her today that had this in it:

WHAT CANCER CANNOT DO

Cancer is so limited . . . .

It cannot cripple LOVE.

It cannot shatter HOPE.

It cannot corrode FAITH.

It cannot kill FRIENDSHIP.

It cannot suppress MEMORIES.

It cannot steal ETERNAL LIFE.

It cannot conquer the SPIRIT.

     I will end with this praise to my Savior and Lord from  King David in Psalm 9:1-2,  9-10:

“I will give thanks to the LORD with my whole heart; I will recount all of your wonderful deeds.

I will be glad and exult in you; I will sing praise to your name, O Most High.
The LORD is a stronghold for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble.
And those who know your name put their trust in you, for you, O LORD, have not forsaken those who seek you.”

God bless you and good night,

Mary Margaret
The big "C" in me is Christ enabling me to deal with the little "c" which is the cancer!