The Medical Process:
This morning Elizabeth had her first of three body scans, an MRI of the left breast (right side has the 15cm cancerous mass). The other two she will get on Wednesday will be a bone scan and a PET/CT torso scan. We can start the week off with a praise that they confirmed the left side did not have any cancer! Praise the Lord.
The most common places breast cancer spreads is into the bones, lungs or liver. They will be looking for that on Wednesday. The results of those scans will determine what stage cancer she has. Pray they find nothing there.
The Help Process:
I had no idea how much breast milk existed in our circle until we needed it… super weird, I know. Judah is eight weeks old and is still fully enjoying momma’s nectar. Elizabeth’s cancer is Estrogen AND Progesterone positive, which means those hormones feed the cancer. Guess what amplifies those hormones?… breast feeding. She has to ween quickly to help the fight.
We asked one person if they had extra, we got SEVEN WOMEN OFFERING THEIR EXCESS *jaw…drop.* We have a freezer full of breast milk from different people. People offering life to our son. My eyes are welling up as I type this. This is the first and probably only time I am allow (or want) to be thankful for other women’s boobs.
We’ve had people bring food, give our kids rides, stop outside our house to pray. Beautiful flowers and comfort items were dropped off as well. Countless texts, messages and calls of “seriously, ANYTHING we can do to help. Let us know.” We love you guys.
The Thought Process:
On Friday night we sent out a public message breaking the news of Elizabeth’s cancer. Leading up to that it would be an understatement to say that every conversation or even passing thought of what was happening brought tears to our eyes and anxiousness or downright balling. This sucks.
Then something happened that I truly cannot put into words, but I’ll try. People prayed. By Saturday night Elizabeth and I were sitting down talking matter-of-factly (forgive the Duncanese writing you’ll have to endure) about breast cancer and the coming tests and life change. We weren’t crying at the mention. We weren’t anxious or afraid. We were at peace. On our now nightly walk we talked about how odd it was that it almost felt like there was nothing wrong. That will change as things like chemo and hair loss become evident, but our souls are at peace.
Being a Christian comes with a lot of baggage these days. So many are representing a perfect God with imperfect actions and theology (myself included). I struggle with some of different topics and theological philosophies that cause so much division and hate. There are so many people who have had terrible experience with others who do horrible things in the name of Christianity.
All I can do is share my experience. I asked people to pray for my wife and family, then experienced something the Bible states very specifically:
Philippians 4:6
“The Lord is Near! Do not be anxious about anything. Instead, in every situation with prayer and petition with thanksgiving, tell your requests to God. And the peace that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.”
We FELT that this weekend. I cannot vouch for all those who claim to be Christians. I can vouch for Christ. People are imperfect, but they called on the name of a perfect God this weekend who brought us peace in the midst of this imperfect, broken and dying world. In the midst of our chaos we felt peace. I can’t explain it., but we felt it. I’d wish cancer on no one, but I hope everyone experiences the type of peace that I felt this weekend and continue to feel.