Just Be My Friend

Comforting

A brand new cancer diagnosis affects not only the recipient but friends, family and co-workers in various and sometimes strange ways. It can scare with stereotypical images of extreme nausea, hair loss, fatigue…early death. These things may or may not come to pass because types of treatment depend on type and stage of the cancer. Get all the facts! Yes, that is vitally important. Families and friends should also “Get all the facts, and don’t be afraid to ask questions.” For the most part, most loved ones tread lightly in the early days sighing that they “don’t know what to say.” Of course that’s only natural. To come right out and speak plainly about fears could include tears. Neither party may be ready for such possible awkwardness, but whoever said it’s time to be brave and act like nothing has changed? Wishing cancer hadn’t come won’t make it so.

The Bible has a few bits of wisdom on how to handle these times of crisis with someone you love who’s battling cancer. Galatians 6:2 simply states; “Bear one another's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.” Wow! We fulfill the law of Christ as we shoulder the load of those around us. Proverbs 17:17 teaches “A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.” It can be very difficult to simply sit with someone undergoing treatment especially in a room full of people harnessed to IV pumps who’ve lost their hair and their ‘get up and go.’ So, how can you just be a friend? Remember Philippians 4:13 – “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.” In the same way your friend with cancer must rely on Christ to get through the trial, so too must you draw from His strength to be the kind of friend you want to be – serving and selfless.

Life is forever changed when cancer calls; that’s for sure. Not to hope for complete healing would be silly, however the reality is that the Lord may call some of us home sooner than we planned. I’ve run into a few well meaning people with ideas about healing.  They have said that God doesn’t want us sick. The way to get well is to muster up enough faith, praying the right way, a certain number of times per day and buying the latest teachings on the subject of health and wellness. Others have offered to sign me up with companies who market nutritional supplements that “fight cancer.”  Even though there are definitely some helpful remedies out there, I guess what I’m really saying is that there isn’t a single synthetic treatment on the market that can compare with a simple, kind gesture. Oh, how I’ve been uplifted with being asked “how are you?” “A merry heart makes a cheerful countenance, but by sorrow of the heart the spirit is broken.” (Proverbs 15:13)

By just being a friend in obedience to God’s call to love one another, the mercy of God is made manifest in the body of Christ. It’s been a tremendous and powerful testimony to tell those inside and outside the church how the love of God has been demonstrated by people who don’t even know me. Likewise, God has used these ‘angels’ in human form to teach me how to give more fully to others in need of the same comfort I have received. “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. (2 Corinthians 1:3,4)

For more posts from Comfort in Christ Cancer Support go to http://comfortinchristcancersupport.blogspot.com/

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Cord Blood Cancer Research

All women expecting a baby take note of a way for you to help enhance the life of someone suffering from cancer by donating the umbilical cord for research. After your little bundle of joy is delivered, the umbilical cord is typically tossed away as useless. I’ve read that for at least the last 20 years research had been in the works that is finally starting to get attention; the benefits and positive results attained from using cord blood to treat disease.

As one with cancer, I am interested in this because all the chemotherapy and radiation I’ve already had in the last two years is now having its effect on my bone marrow. My white blood count is almost always low so I have to get a shot of Neulasta each time I have chemo to get those white cells going again. Someday I might need to consider a treatment involving an infusion of umbilical cord stem cells. It involves an IV infusion up to a 5 hour period, no different than the chemo treatments I’ve taken in the past. Since an essentially foreign substance from another person is being introduced into the body, it’s of course not without risk of rejection and also carries potential side effects such as “nausea, vomiting, fatigue, loss of appetite, mouth sores, hair loss, and skin reactions.”  Although there may be some side effects, the benefits may out way the risks. 

Consider this: “Chemotherapy and radiation therapy generally affect cells that divide rapidly. They are used to treat cancer because cancer cells divide more often than most healthy cells. However, because bone marrow cells also divide frequently, high-dose treatments can severely damage or destroy the patient’s bone marrow. Without healthy bone marrow, the patient is no longer able to make the blood cells needed to carry oxygen, fight infection, and prevent bleeding. BMT (Bone Marrow Transplant) and PBSCT (Peripheral Blood Stem Cell Transplant) replace stem cells destroyed by treatment. The healthy, transplanted stem cells can restore the bone marrow’s ability to produce the blood cells the patient needs.” (http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/Therapy/bone-marrow-transplant)

So how is cord blood obtained for use in treatment? Here’s more information from the Cancer.gov website: “Stem cells also may be retrieved from umbilical cord blood. For this to occur, the mother must contact a cord blood bank before the baby’s birth. The cord blood bank may request that she complete a questionnaire and give a small blood sample. Cord blood banks may be public or commercial. Public cord blood banks accept donations of cord blood and may provide the donated stem cells to another matched individual in their network. In contrast, commercial cord blood banks will store the cord blood for the family, in case it is needed later for the child or another family member. After the baby is born and the umbilical cord has been cut, blood is retrieved from the umbilical cord and placenta. This process poses minimal health risk to the mother or the child. If the mother agrees, the umbilical cord blood is processed and frozen for storage by the cord blood bank. Only a small amount of blood can be retrieved from the umbilical cord and placenta, so the collected stem cells are typically used for children or small adults.” One such public bank available in Arizona is http://www.clinimmune.com/cordbloodbank/index.htm Click the link to the site and watch a short video on how you may donate your baby’s cord for this useful therapy.

I wanted to find an example of how cord blood research has benefited an adult with cancer and Google provided this article about treating adults with leukemia.  Click on "Umbilical Cord Blood Transplant: Effective New Leukemia Treatment For Adults" to read the article. The following is an excerpt: “For years, we've been able to use cord blood successfully to treat children with leukemia and other blood disorders. But researchers have wondered whether the small amount of stem cells in cord blood can create a whole new immune system in fully-grown adults, who are also more likely than children to reject a less-than-perfect transplant,” says Dr. Laughlin. “We’ve been able to show that just two ounces of blood harvested from an umbilical cord can generate a new blood-producing immune system, and we don’t even need a perfect match for a successful transplant because of the immature nature of cord blood stem cells.”

As if all this isn’t reason enough to be a proponent of cord blood research there is no ethical problem with using biological material otherwise destined for the trash can to save lives. Because a child has to die for an embryonic stem cell to be used and if aborted fetuses are being acquired for research, I will not, in good conscience, participate just so I can live a few years longer. The Apostle Paul taught the Athenians long ago this principle that describes the One, True Creator God of the universe… He gives to all life, breath, and all things.  And He has made from one blood every nation of men to dwell on all the face of the earth, and has determined their pre-appointed times and the boundaries of their dwellings, so that they should seek the Lord, in the hope that they might grope for Him and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us; for in Him we live and move and have our being…(Acts 17:25-28).  

We’re here because of the Lord, His infinitesimal power, intelligence and grace. We have no pre-ordained right to kill an innocent baby to extend another life not mean to last more than 70-80 years at best anyway. Cord research is a humane way made allowed by God to kill cancer, but if we live or die let be to the glory of the Lord knowing Heaven is our forever home, keeping our gaze on Jesus the giver of all good things. 

For more posts from Comfort in Christ Cancer Support go to http://comfortinchristcancersupport.blogspot.com/

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Intentional

Sunrise Rincon Mountains - Tucson

Time passages seem much more significant when the scene of the sand running through the hourglass seems to trickle through at a much more rapid rate. Just growing older makes it more obvious that time is precious, not unlimited as we tended to live when young and spry. June 1, my husband and I celebrated our 16 year wedding anniversary. Praise the Lord I am still here to spend time with my husband and continue finding out how the Lord wants to use my testimony to glorify Him. May 27 marked an anniversary of a different kind– one year since my left lung was removed in the battle against cancer.

As a Christian, long ago knowingly set free from bondage to sin and death, I am grateful to the Lord Jesus for salvation. An attitude of gratitude comes to the forefront for each day I am able to continue taking in oxygen, all the more so using just one lung! Constant awe might more accurately describe the realization that though medical professionals weighed my chance of still being here as less than 25%, the Lord God has seen fit to continue my sojourn here for a while longer; hours, days, years, known only to Him. My job description given each day I wake up is to simply seek to do His will. Suffering, I think, is a relative term when going through cancer. After all, it’s different for everyone depending on the stage one is at. Right now, my physical capacities are at about 75%. Other people can do more or less than I can do, but no matter what condition we all find ourselves in we can still be used by God to touch hearts and lives.

The Apostle Paul didn’t have an easy time staying faithful to Christ. Paul described his life as a Christian this way: “We are hard pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed-- always carrying about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our body. For we who live are always delivered to death for Jesus' sake, that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh.” (2 Corinthians 4:8-11) With regard to hard pressed, a sermon I heard once pointed out the illustration of the olive press.  This press must work very hard to extract the oil from the olive and so must the Lord work hard to make us meet for His use. Paul is exhorting us here to remember the greater good at work when going through life trials – so others will see Jesus carrying us through.

Sunset - Gates Pass Tucson 

Yes, I do believe the Lord has us all here for a reason. Not so we can indulge our flesh by much inward gazing, trying to uncover our individual giftings. No, I believe no matter what state we find ourselves in at this moment, the Lord simply wants us to walk in obedience with Him knowing the best is yet to come. God’s Word assures us, "Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man The things which God has prepared for those who love Him." (1 Corinthians 2:9) Heaven, meeting Jesus face to face, never again to experience crying or dying and this isn’t even the half of what’s in store for those who love and seek to follow God. We can’t be obedient in our own strength. Our sufficiency for such things is of God. While we are in these earthly tents, let us focus simply on the fact that God has intentionally allowed us to be here at this time and in this place so that we might intentionally allow Him to live in us and through us.

For more posts from Comfort in Christ Cancer Support go to http://comfortinchristcancersupport.blogspot.com/

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