Dear Reader:

Don’t we all wish  ‘ that the peace that passes all understanding‘ would automatically pop up when we are worried about a particular problem?

Actually sometimes it does just that!

Let me share Libby’s story with you…something rather extraordinary that happened last week. But first let me explain the events that set the stage for this miraculous occurrence.

Betsy Clarkson Crick, Libby’s daughter, who we (blog readers) have kept in our prayers since last December when she first began to experience heart problems… just recently was diagnosed with medullary thyroid cancer…an extremely rare form of cancer…seen in only 3 % of thyroid cancers.

It is a particularly nasty little cancer monster… so that is why the past two weeks have been a whirlwind of activity. There is only one surgeon in the state (MUSC) qualified to operate on this rare cancer with all its complex side effects… Betsy found herself  a diamond in the sky with this particular surgeon.

Betsy has, also, had to overcome several medical hurdles/blood tests to even be eligible for the surgery and then was told that it still could be aborted if things didn’t look good when the surgeons went in. *To date Betsy has flown over each hurdle looming on the track ahead with inches to spare.

Not only was her thyroid removed, but also three of her four parathyroids (4th one was diseased/removed) were transplanted into her arm…because, with this particular type of cancer, the goal is to remove anything in close proximity to where the cancer once “lived”…including all her lymph nodes and parathyroids..this cancer is quite a bully and doesn’t like to share or play fair with anything close to it.

Fortunately….all the biopsies on the lymph nodes have come back negative (Hallelujah!) and the malignant thyroid is now gone. (Hallelujah!) Unfortunately it takes a couple of  weeks for the transplanted parathyroids to start working and this absence is causing Betsy to suffer through a temporary condition called “hungry bone” syndrome. (Sounds like something you might  find on the menu at a T-Bonz steak house, doesn’t it?)

Quite simply… she is experiencing very low levels of calcium in the blood which causes numbness in her extremities and facial/head area…it is extremely disconcerting and uncomfortable….she has calcium tablets to take but has also had to get calcium IV’s put into her at the local ER (in the wee hours of the night/morning) to try to balance out the calcium equilibrium.

I have told you all of this… because this situation has created a quite challenging healing process. It  has, also, put Yen and Yang (mother-daughter) into the closest relationship imaginable and “Mother Strong”  (Libby) has risen to the occasion like a phoenix rising from the ashes.

Collin (Betsy’s husband) and Libby talked about the best place for Betsy to convalesce (following the surgery) and it was decided (their houses are in the same neighborhood close together) that Collin would take care of their two little daughters if Libby could help out by providing Betsy a quiet place to recuperate at her home.

The family comes over a couple of times each day/evening for Hailey and Rebecca to talk and hug up on their mama.

No one is getting much sleep but they are making it work…pulling together as a family. When I asked Libby how in the world she was holding up…she said “By God’s Grace and the five P’s.”

It was then she told me about a book she had read several years ago… that came into play with this rather daunting situation. Trading Your Worry for Wonder. She remembered something in one chapter about the ‘Power of the P’s.’ 

It came flooding back to her while she and Collin sat in the waiting room during Betsy’s surgery…nervous that the surgeon would come out too soon saying she saw something she didn’t like and she had decided to abort the surgery.

Libby said it went something like this:

1) Start communing with God by Praising Him for His blessings

2) Do this through Prayer and Petition

3) It is then that the Peace of God (which passes all understanding) will be granted unto you.

4) Practice communing with God until your attitude about facing anxiety eases….because you have turned it over to Someone who can take care of the situation. It is out of your control to do so.

Libby said she kept practicing this train of thought through prayer and petition that morning at MUSC and then it came…arriving in the form of an intense feeling of warmth and comfort…as if she had been placed in a cocoon…

She felt like she was being gently caressed by God and that the “peace” she so longed for had completely enveloped every pore in her body. For the first time she felt that she could take a deep breath and let go of all the pent up anxiety…turning it over to God.

Libby said she finally understood the author’s suggestion on how to petition God: “God, I wonder what You will do with this situation?”  rather than continuing to make herself emotionally and physically ill worrying about things that she, alone, could not control.

To date Betsy’s convalescence is a roller coaster ride of ups and downs…but she and Libby know that they are not alone…Betsy is blessed to be part of a most amazing tight-knit family who adore each other and God hasn’t left her side for a second.

So until tomorrow…Betsy… remember this scripture:

“For I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord… plans to give you hope and a future. You will seek Me and find Me when you seek Me with all your heart.” Jeremiah 29:11- 13

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

* Actually yesterday was one of my all-time favorite days…made so by a most wonderful incident that occurred…but that story will have to wait until tomorrow….

* Amidst our worry and concern for Betsy….God continues to bring wonder into our lives and I have no doubt that Betsy’s story is going to changes lives for others, particularly people facing rare diagnoses….I feel it in my bones!

* And look at this wonder: The blog reached 25,000  views today… since starting over last November…Inch by inch and day by day the little blog that can ….does…Thanks to all of you!