beaconchurches

ehart
old friend


Joined: 15 Oct 2005
Posts: 429

Posted: Tue Oct 23, 2007 11:30 pm Post subject: Louise

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

A dear friend of mine just learned that her best friend Louise, who is more like a sister to her, has the most aggressive form of breast cancer. She has just turned 40. She has a husband and three children--one in her 20's with a baby and twins in their teens. Right now she is just getting started on therapy and has a "rock bottom" attitude about the whole thing. She knows she will have to have one complete mastectomy and possibly two plus chemo. They are giving her a 50/50 chance. Thank you for your prayers.

Back to top


ChipAndKerry
old friend


Joined: 04 Jul 2006
Posts: 449

Posted: Wed Oct 24, 2007 5:56 pm Post subject:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Blessings to Weezie (my mom's name and daughter's middle name). We have tons of cancer survivors in our church. I wish I could sick all them on her. I will pray for her outlook and her sisters presence in her life.
_________________
chip.

Back to top


ehart
old friend


Joined: 15 Oct 2005
Posts: 429

Posted: Wed Oct 24, 2007 6:25 pm Post subject:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

My friend does call her Weez--must be the common nick. I intend to compile all the well wishes for her I am seeing on the message boards I frequent and the e-mails that are returning.

She was going for an MRI today and will get her chemo shunt on Friday. She has been told to expect to lose her hair in 2 weeks.

Back to top


ehart
old friend


Joined: 15 Oct 2005
Posts: 429

Posted: Mon Oct 29, 2007 10:19 pm Post subject:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Louise had her chemo shunt put in on Friday. It has been determined that the cancer has spread to the lymph nodes but no further. A double mastectomy is not recommended at this time.

Thank you for your prayers. All well wishes are being forwared to Louise through snail mail as she does not have computer access.

Back to top


ChipAndKerry
old friend


Joined: 04 Jul 2006
Posts: 449

Posted: Tue Oct 30, 2007 2:21 pm Post subject:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Thank God for that. I hope she keep her eyes on the Lord and not this cancer. God has taken us all through some difficult things. As we look back we find these circumstances often altar our direction to places we never dreamed possible.

I will keep lifting her up and not just because her name is "Louise".
Keep the faith, chip.
_________________
chip.

Back to top


ehart
old friend


Joined: 15 Oct 2005
Posts: 429

Posted: Tue Oct 30, 2007 11:43 pm Post subject:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

God Bless you Chip.

My friend got a laugh out of you wanting to sick the cancer survivors in your church on Louise. She mailed the message to her today and hopes and prays that Louise chuckles as well.

Louise had her first chemo treatment today and got a bit woozy. She did chuckle some tonight when our friend called her which is the first time she has managed a chuckle for the last couple of weeks.

Louise is at stage 3.

I'm getting several well-wishes to send to her. Thanks to all the message boards and e-mails, people as far away as Australia are praying for Louise. We know that God hears and answers our prayers.

Back to top


littlebear
old friend


Joined: 13 Feb 2006
Posts: 439

Posted: Thu Nov 01, 2007 8:26 am Post subject:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

May God continue to rebuke the devourer!
Jesus is so good. I am glad for the good news and the hope. May the chemo work better than expected with no side effects at all.
love
Art

Back to top


ehart
old friend


Joined: 15 Oct 2005
Posts: 429

Posted: Tue Nov 06, 2007 11:31 pm Post subject:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

My friend talked to Louise last night and reports that she is back to her old spunky self and has the attitude of beating this!! Thank you all so much for your prayers so far. Her next chemo is in a couple of weeks and this is still just the beginning.

I'm on the phone with Louise and my mutual friend and she is concerned. She has not heard from her since Louise's chemo on Wednesday. She has tried to call her and gets no answer--not even the answering machine. Please pray for Louise that she is just resting at a relative's house and please pray for our friend, Karen.

The good news is that Louise's phones all had dead batteries so that's why she wasn't answering the phone. Thank you for your prayers in that area.

The bad news is two-fold--Louise lost her hair on Thursday (sorry Art) and one of her sisters has discovered a lump. She will be going with Louise to the doctor on Monday.

Sometimes people find God's grace and mercy in the midst of these horrible circumstances. I pray that's the cace for Louise. chip.

chip wrote:Sometimes people find God's grace and mercy in the midst of these horrible circumstances. I pray that's the cace for Louise. chip.

Amen!

Your prayers are worth putting up updates.

Louise's sister's lump was benign but the experience has given Louise an insight into how her sister feels about Louise's illness right now.

Karen was able to spend several hours with Louise on Friday. Louise is in great spirits and they spent most if not all the time talking and laughing. Karen related that a group of high school kids came over to see Louise last week. Louise was holding her baby granddaughter and as she talked, the granddaughter yanked Louise's wig off her head to much cheers and applause. As Karen said, like grandmother, like granddaughter.

A benefit will be held for Louise Dec 6 with soup and an auction. Louise is Baptist but Karen is Lutheran and apparently Louise has other Lutheran friends for the Lutherans are giving matching funds for this benefit. Also Louise's son has just had knee surgery and the surgeon has generously donated his services and has said there will be no fee from his office for the surgery.

Blessings are rolling in. Thank you for your prayers. They are being heard and answered by a great, powerful and loving God.

I pray Louise enjoys each day despite the pain and hardship. May we too.

Thanks for the update. chip.

Louise has finished her chemotherapy and spent spring break in Arizona complements of a friend.

However, her mastectomy is scheduled for Monday, March 31. She will be at the hospital 6:15 am.

Please continue to pray for her and her family.

Louise's mastectomy went well. She sees the pathologist tomorrow morning and if all is well, she will be heading home tomorrow before noon.

Louise is home and in some pain. She doesn't like to take the pain medication as it makes her sleepy.

The pathology report came in and it's not great. There were two lumps in the breast and not just one. They also had to take 10 lymph nodes which means it's in the lymphatic system as well. This means that she will have to do another round of chemo before doing radiation.

Louise has a strong faith but had a dream when she was first married that one of them would be dead by 46. She has remembered the dream and thought it would be her husband. She's now thinking it will be her.

Please help all of us hold her up, emotionally and spiritually.

Thank you for the continuing updates, ehart. I will continue to pray.

I would like to recommend a book for Louise: When God and Cancer Meet by Lynn Eib. A cancer survivor herself, she became a patient advocate for her oncologist, and shares her own story and those of other cancer patients. I have shared this book with cancer patients and with a cancer social worker and they have all affirmed it as a great help as they have dealt with the disease. Our prayers for Louise will continue.

Dennis Reeves

Thank you Dennis. I'm passing that along now.

Louise has now finished all her treatments and will just be monitored now. Praying for no recurrences of the cancer but everything looks good at this point.

Louise went for her one month check and they found more cancer. After some tests, the word at this point is that the chemo they gave her before "fed" this cancer which is in both lungs and her lymph nodes. She goes Friday for tests to see if it's in her brain and bones. She says if it is, she won't fight it. She has tentatively been given 6 months to a year. Her best friend asks for a miracle (more like begging actually).