Merry Christmas 2008

We have very much to be thankful for this Christmas. Of course, if you are reading this, you have been keeping up with Sharon's progression through breast cancer. We are so thankful that every test and report she has had in the past few months have come back "negative" for cancer. She had a mammogram this December, the first one since her diagnosis and surgery. The report came back saying, "showed no signs of cancer." Thank you for your continued concerns and prayers for her and for all of the family.

We enjoyed Thanksgiving with Melissa and David home. David's parents also joined us. With Laura home, we had a full house and a lot of fun. The Lichtenbergers are all in Ohio for Christmas with David's sister, Katie, and husband, Sean.

We pray that each of you has a blessed new year. May God be the center of all you do as you grow in your faith and in the knowledge of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

Happy New Year.

Saturday, September 20, 2008

If you have heard that Sharon had a little set back, let me explain. Sharon spent about a week in the hospital last week. She somehow contracted a strep infection that was in her blood. They immediately put her in the hospital to give her IV antibiotics. She was in there from Wednesday last week to Tuesday this week. That is just one of the things we will have to be careful of for some time. But she is doing well and is hoping to be back at work this week after she sees her Oncologist on Tuesday. Keep us in your prayers. We continue to need our God in our lives. Thank you for checking on us.

Wednesday, August 27, 2008

We have had a wonderful month since I last posted! Sharon continues to get stronger every day. The celebration of Melissa and David's wedding was such a happy day. God has blessed us so much. It was great being with friends and family during the week of the wedding. The weather was great. We had a huge rain storm come through after we were seated for dinner at the reception. The sky was beautiful after the rain and we even had a rainbow. It was a special day.

We are back to normal - well - the new normal. Sharon is back to work full time. Melissa and David are back in St. Augustine. Laura is back in Tallahassee for her Senior year at FSU. I am back to church, community choir, and the community college as a voice teacher. I attempted to begin a DMA program at the University of Miami. I was accepted to the program but so far the details haven't worked out. God is in control and I will continue to try to go but I will wait for God to show me a clearer path. He is not a God of confusion.

We are praying for our friend Matt Fay. Another dear friend and musical assistant, Pam Withee, is battling ovarian cancer. You can check on her at paminpinecrest.blogspot.com. Also, my secretary's mother-in-law has had surgery for pancreatic cancer. Another of our church members is fighting prostate cancer. It seems to be that Satan has chosen the cancer tool to try to defeat all of us. It won't work! We are just more convinced that prayer is the way we defeat him. Join us in all of our prayers and in our celebration of God at work.

Blessings, all.

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

This is a day we will remember! Sharon had her third PET scan today. She expected to wait until tomorrow to get the results from the doctor, but the doctor called as soon as she got the report on her desk. You can probably guess where this is going. Everyone is excited to share this kind of news. She told Sharon, "Your scan was completely clear." From stage four breast cancer to completely clear in six months, what an amazing journey. We credit this complete healing to the intense prayers of all of our friends and family. You have been such a tremendous support for us. We thank our God who is still in the business of healing.

We are now focusing our energies on Melissa and David's wedding in three short weeks from now. It has been a great help in keeping us moving forward. So we are going to celebrate it with wonderful joy! God is great and greatly to be praised.

Don't forget to check on our friend Matt Fay www.mattfay.blogspot.com. He is in deep need of our prayers.

Now on to the next chapter in our lives. More to come...

Thursday, July 17, 2008

We want to encourage you to click on the link to mattfay.blogspot.com. This is a young friend of ours in Tennessee. He is in desparate need of all of our prayers. All of the chemo they have given him over the past two years has not "conquered" his cancer. Let's add our prayer power to his cause. Call Matt's name to God as often as you can. There is a really neat prayer card that his brother has done. You can print it out and put it on you refrigerator. Thank you for taking time to do this.

Monday, July 14, 2008

We are already into our fifth month in the treatment plan for Sharon. In the midst of the darkest times it seemed that every day passed so slowly. Now, as we look back, it has gone by so quickly and Sharon has been through so much. She has just gotten home from work a few minutes ago. She happened to see her oncologist at the hospital today. Her cancer count is down to 20! 0 - 20 is in the normal range. So she has pretty much beaten this cancer! We will be anxious to see what report comes from the PET scan next week. Pray with us that the cancer is completely gone.

The effects of the drugs that Sharon continues to take are mostly that they cause extreme leg pain. Of course, her being on her feet for 12 hours at work aggravates the situation. The doctor has changed her medication from Arimidex to Tamoxofin. We are very hopeful that the leg pain will decrease soon. She is glad to be back to work.

Melissa and David's wedding plans are coming along nicely. It is hard to believe that it is one month away. We are excited for them and looking forward to seeing family and friends from near and far. Please keep us all in your prayers. There is still much to do and many decisions to make. God bless you all.

Tuesday, June 24, 2008

We are at the point in the treatment that information is a bit slower in coming and visits to doctors' offices are a little less frequent. We are glad for that but it means that we have greater periods of time between updates for you. Thanks for checking on us and for your prayerful concern.

Sharon saw her doctors last Monday and blood was drawn for the cancer markers. Yesterday Sharon got the report from the markers. The one that was 840 is now 26. The other one that was 19 is now 0.5. We are so pleased with how her body is responding to the treatment. We thank God for the healing that is taking place. Sharon will have the next infusion of Herceptin on the 7th of July and then she will be scheduled for the next PET scan. She is praying that the cancer markers that are drawn at that time will show no cancer. Pray with us to that end.

Melissa and David's wedding plans area coming along nicely. We still have a few things to solidify but we are blessed with all the things that have come together this month. Melissa is getting so excited. So are we. God, give us strength to do all that needs to be done in the next 7 weeks. And give us healing.