The day I started my treatment pills (my magic beans), Jeff and I began our dedicated prayer time for what the Lord was doing in my body and through my life. Earlier that day our good friend and previous pastor texted me, “Praise God for technology and a plan! Now, go tell those little pills to attack the bad guys and let this whole thing be a testimony for years to come.” I responded to him that I think I will pray over each pill beforehand, so it has divine intervention on where to go and what to do! From day one and every day since of taking my magic beans, Jeff and I pray not just over the pills, but together we spend time thanking the Lord for His presence and His work in my life.
If you do not currently have time that you spend in daily prayer let this be a plug and nudge that you start. What is one thing you do every day no matter what? Get out of bed, get in bed, shower, brush your teeth, drink your coffee, get dressed? Pick one of those one things, and tie time in prayer to it. Before you do that one thing – pray. Now you will not go a day without it, and you will not even have to remember.
We pray. We pray for the Lord to continue to work in my body and with my symptoms and side effects. We pray for the Lord to give us discernment and for us to be obedient in this journey. We express our gratitude for all that he is doing and for what blessings we have in our life, and we pray for the smart people. We thank the Lord for the people that we do not know who are so wicked smart that they have developed drugs that give me the opportunity to life. I picture the smart people in white coats working in labs at Harvard inside buildings with all glass windows and metal trim. I don’t know them, and I’ll never meet them because they live in a world that I do not live in. I have no idea how they are smart enough to develop crazy drugs like the ones I take, but I sure hope they know how grateful I am. After sharing with my daughter about these drugs and how they work, she said she was really glad the world wasn’t full of people like her (and her brother?), because if so, we would all be screwed. I love the both of them, but when it comes to this kinda smarts, she’s right.
Fast forward 6 weeks and my mom and I had the opportunity to fly to Denver and attend a summit for the mutation that I have (ROS1) to meet others with this mutation and learn more about this disease and journey. We had no idea what to expect by going to the summit, but my oldest daughter (Haley) lives there so we figured even if it wasn’t any good, the trip would be worthwhile to see her! The summit was far more than amazing. We met so many wonderful people living with ROS1 and stage 4 lung cancer. They were a testimony of encouragement to me in a time I needed it, and they will no doubt be a circle of friends and support in the journey ahead.
The location of the summit was chosen because there at the University of Colorado Hospital is the most known and educated doctor who treats ROS1, and he was set to be our keynote speaker. Day two of the summit we walked to the University for a tour of their facility and labs. The tour started and it wasn’t long at all before I realized..these are the smart people! So many days we had been praying for the smart people. We continued to thank the Lord for people we would never see or meet that work every day to research and develop ways to attack the disease in my body. And now…I see them, and I meet them – wow!
Friends, they did not disappoint! The research that they do and the work that is being done every day is mind-blowing, beyond encouraging and unknown to your everyday person. We learned about molecular testing (through biopsy’s) and what information they now can give us. We heard about the testing that is done in mice and saw the poor little lung cancer mice that selflessly give their life for us. These poor little mice have cells (and tissues) inserted into their lungs, grow lung cancer, and then get daily treatments AND regular CT scans! My mom wondered how they are able to do all this without PETA shutting them down :).
Although it was sad to see for my animal loving heart, I am so grateful for the ways they can replicate the disease to not only learn more about how it grows and develops, but how it responds to treatments being developed. The advancement of knowledge and development is far more than I ever knew or realized. The understanding of how cancer develops, changes and responds is impressive and encouraging.
Jeff and I continue to pray for the smart people. We appreciate the dedication they have to what they do every day, and we are so thankful for the knowledge they have been given. We just keep praying along my cancer journey that the smart people keep working harder and faster than my ROS1 mutation!
BUT GOD 
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