REALITY...

Dr Sundrini Pillay of the Durban Oncology Centre

This past week the realities of dealing with cancer treatment set in. We’re all so tired –almost a year since our diagnosis. This chemo, as its accumulating, is not making me nauseous (haven’t even lost any hair as yet), but its making me very tired. So tired that some days I can’t even get up much. So we’ve needed to make some changes to the expectations of ourselves. Thanx to the gracious help of our team leader, Greg, Mark has handed over overseeing maintenance for the next 3 months. This way he can focus his energy on helping me with the house and the kids schooling on bad days, and assist elsewhere when he is able. The relief is immense. Mark will continue covering our set weekend duties (though Amy and Greg, are doing what they can to assist that load as well). He will also continue teaching monthly at the Sunbury Zion Bible School.

… Triple negative ductal carcinoma…. accounting for up to 30% of breast cancers with a high chance of metastases (the reason for the aggressive chemo treatment). That’s our reality. Dr Pillay, my oncologist at Durban Oncology Centre, does not approach our treatment with statistics, saying she has no idea which side of the 50:50 chance recurrence I’ll fall on. Its not in our hands after all, its in His. His plan, His healing, His way. We have so appreciated Dr Pillays ‘reality’ approach to our care. It always brings us back to the central truths… we treat, we keep our eyes on His face, we live, if something shows up we deal with it then… The reality is that none of us really know what our futures hold for us. But we can LIVE with joy regardless of that fact. There is so much to be thankful for and to enjoy.

… to live is a choice coming from a place of trust. Where do we put our trust? At the Oncology centre I’ve met people putting their trust in many different places. We put our trust in Jesus’ plan for our lives. We ask Him for complete healing, but we submit to how He sees fit to use our lives to show Himself to others. I sometimes plead with Him to allow me to see my children into adulthood, but then also actively put them at the foot of His cross knowing that He promises to care for them because He loves them more than me… I urge Him to allow Mark his soul mate for a much longer time but choose to calm my anxious thoughts by remembering His promises.

And, then He does amazing things… like reminding me with a small voice on the way home from my chemo… ‘the point of living is how many people follow you to heaven’.

Some of the nursing staff of the chemo suite of the Durban Oncology Centre.

All the staff - from the office staff to the medical staff - make it a happy, caring and positive place to be.