2nd big chemo done
Hi everyone-
I am feeling well enough today to sit down at the computer and type a little bit. I came through my big chemo treatment relatively better than the last time. I ended up staying in the hospital an extra night, which helped to get my nausea under control, and while my stomach doesn’t feel the best right now I can actually keep some food down. Although there are still many foods that I can’t even stand the smell of yet. I eat cold cereal, oatmeal, cream of wheat, and ice cream shakes. Quite the diet if you ask me. Oh, and my parents are very good at juicing fruits and vegetables for me so that I can drink them instead of eating them. That helps out a lot.
There is a lot of down time right now for me as my main goal in life, at least as it seems to be, is to get healthy. Today I went for a 30 min. walk which was a lot of fun, but it wore me out. I am also working on finishing up a couple of classes from last semester. It is slow progress but I am working at it. That still leaves a lot of hours in the day.
I am still receiving so many chards, and know so many people are praying for me. I really appreciate all of your support as I struggle through this challenging chapter in my life. And I have faith that God is answering our many prayers as I am experiencing significantly less pain and the lump in my neck is getting smaller and smaller. Praise the Lord! One of the side effects of my big chemo treatment is a drop in my white blood count. I would really appreciate prayer to keep my white blood count up this weekend, as it will be around the time of my greatest chance for loosing too many white blood cells.
May God’s peace be with us all,
Nathan
I am feeling well enough today to sit down at the computer and type a little bit. I came through my big chemo treatment relatively better than the last time. I ended up staying in the hospital an extra night, which helped to get my nausea under control, and while my stomach doesn’t feel the best right now I can actually keep some food down. Although there are still many foods that I can’t even stand the smell of yet. I eat cold cereal, oatmeal, cream of wheat, and ice cream shakes. Quite the diet if you ask me. Oh, and my parents are very good at juicing fruits and vegetables for me so that I can drink them instead of eating them. That helps out a lot.
There is a lot of down time right now for me as my main goal in life, at least as it seems to be, is to get healthy. Today I went for a 30 min. walk which was a lot of fun, but it wore me out. I am also working on finishing up a couple of classes from last semester. It is slow progress but I am working at it. That still leaves a lot of hours in the day.
I am still receiving so many chards, and know so many people are praying for me. I really appreciate all of your support as I struggle through this challenging chapter in my life. And I have faith that God is answering our many prayers as I am experiencing significantly less pain and the lump in my neck is getting smaller and smaller. Praise the Lord! One of the side effects of my big chemo treatment is a drop in my white blood count. I would really appreciate prayer to keep my white blood count up this weekend, as it will be around the time of my greatest chance for loosing too many white blood cells.
May God’s peace be with us all,
Nathan
posted by Nathan's Blog... at 2:23 PM
11 Comments:
Dear Nathan,I continue to pray for you in faith while deployed at Camp Atterbury IN.Your courage and faith inspire me.I am very proud of you and am blessed that you are my cousin.I think of you and your family everyday.It says in the Bible that if you pray in faith your prayers will be answered.I BELIEVE THE BIBLE!Love,your cousin,Myron.
Nathan,
I hope when you read this message you are feeling much stronger and well rested. I have recently learned of the experience that your are going through and I want you to know that I am praying for you. My mother shared your website with me. My Mom prays for you everyday.
The words you write humble and inspire me in a way that I have never experienced. I know the Lord has a great plan for you and all through my life I have never doubted that he carries each of his children through any and all challenges we face.
I prayed tonight that your white blood count will increase. I prayed that your family will feel peace in knowing that you are getting stronger each day. I prayed that the Lord would give strength to all those that are praying for you 24/7.
Tomorrow I plan to share with my students your courage and faith. I will do my best to add links to your prayer chain. I wish you and your family a restful and good weekend.
Nathan,
Your prayer vigil is complete..........24/7 we will "pray without ceasing" (1Thessalonians 5:17)!!! These prayers along with so many others.....may you and your family rest in the peace of Christ as our Father hears our prayers for you.....our God answers prayers too!!!!
You are so loved, Nathan, and there is so much deeply felt hope that you will be healed! Keep taking care of yourself!! And keep the prayer requests going so we know your needs.........thanks!!
love, Jane :)
Nathan: my prayers for you on Tues. A.M. included that your Chemo cocktail would not have the same adverse effect on your body, that you would be about to rebound from this 'biggee' more quickly, and that you would be surprised at the difference from the last 'biggee'. I was encouraged by your words that were written, that God was indeed answering our prayers for you. I am challenged by your positive attitude and courage. Thank you for keeping us all posted about your progress. You will continue to be my focus on Tuesday mornings. If you get too bored, I'm sure I can find something for you to do at Camp!
Blessings--Julie B.
Hi Nathan, I am so glad the second big chemo treatment is now history and went well. Did you ever dream that eating oatmeal would be reason to give thanks? Special blessings come in strange ways. I was so pleased to see you looking so good on Sunday morning at Washington Mennonite Church. It was reason to give thanks. It was the best I have seen you in a while. Roger Farmer is starting on week four of his prayer vigil but I am only ready for week four. My assigned vigil is from 4:00Am - 4:30AM every Tuesday morning. It has been an awesome experience for me. Each Tuesday morning I extend my time allotment further. I arrive early and stay late for my prayer vigil. I have the night watch and I bridge the gap with prayer at the darkest part of the night. I once read that the darkest part of the night is that span of time just before dawn. My time this past Tuesday morning was 50 minutes so for twenty minutes you were getting double petitions before the throne. I start out my prayer time with praise and use Revelation 4:the last part of verse 8 and then 4:11 and then each week I pray a Psalm and I have used Psalm 139, Psalm 27 and Psalm 20. I insert your name into the Psalm and the Psalm actually becomes your prayer. I closed this past week with Psalm 20:5 We will shout for joy when you are victorious and will lift up our banners in the name of our God. May the Lord grant all your requests Nathan. What an awesome God we have.
Allow the Lord to cover you with his love and may you feel the love of your many, many friends who are praying on your behalf and standing in the gap for you.
Remember you are not on this journey alone. Remember our verse in Deuteronomy 31:8 The Lord himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged. Sleep well tonight and may you awake in the morning, renewed and ready to face a new day with increased vigor. Love you. Phyllis Litwiller
Nathan,
May the joy of the Lord be your strength throughout each day as you rest, as you recover from treatments, and as you renew your soul through each stage of recovery. We here at East Goshen MC place you in our thoughts and prayers, trusting that the very One who created you and can heal you, will uphold you with a peace and life-giving joy for your body, mind and spirit.
I was encouraged after seeing you a couple weeks ago, knowing that as you are at home, it is the best place for recovery. Also, you seem at peace in the midst of much turmoil. I thanked God for that.
Nathan, I am committed to pray for you and those around you every Friday night at 10:00. Thank you for the prayer helps which you posted awhile back; they are being passed on to the congregation here.
As Catie, Troy, Tyler and John led part of worship yesterday, I was reminded of your place in this body of believers. We miss your gentle spirit and willing heart.
Continue to trust, to laugh and to hope through the power of the Holy Spirit.
Merle Hostetler
Hi Nathan,
So glad to hear that your last chemo went well. Our family thinks of you and yours often. The congregation at Mountain Community Mennonite remembered you in our prayers on Sunday morning. I continue to remember you at 8:30 p.m. on Mondays. May God's peace continually bless you.
Rae S.
Good Morning Nathan!
Normally I just send my well wishes through Erika and my prayers, but I just wanted to let you know directly how much support you have from here in Kansas. There are so many people in Hesston who are touched deeply by your illness and who are interceding diligently for you and your family. There is much love for you and great faith that the Master Physician is working in a mighty way--whatever it may be.
I just finished a study on Revelation 4 and 5 and am especially struck by these words of great hope. Here, Christ enters the heavenly throne room as an all powerful (seven horned), all knowing (seven eyed) Lamb. He has claimed victory over the dark powers of this world through his death and now he is declared worthy to take the scroll of God and break its impenetrable seals. This scroll contains the will of the Father and is entrusted to Christ who has power to carry out what is written. Commentator Albert Barnes writes, "when we feel that that the future is wholly impenetrable to us; and when the efforts of the highest created minds fail to lift the mysterious veil which hides those events from our view," we can still hold hope for the future because the Lamb of God knows what is to come and is in ultimate control. That is great hope in a world seemingly ruled by chaos!
In these last weeks, I have felt a strong need to draw nearer to the One who is near to us. As advent moves on, I pray that you also may sense Emmanuel's presence more clearly and powerfully than ever before. God With Us, the Lamb of the Apostle John's Revelation, has the ultimate power and insight over the coursing of all of history and yet is able and willing to pay attention to details as small as you and I. He did, after all, ransom us with his sacrifice (Rev. 5:9)!
Erika and I praise God that her and Kendra have been able to find as many ways to make it to Iowa as they have. We continue to pray for healing upon your ailing body, for mental encouragement, and for strength in your spiritual battles. May the Lord continue to reveal himself to and through you.
Prayerfully and Hopefully,
Nicholas Stoddard
Hi Nathan, It was so good to see you and Kendra at our house on Sunday evening...sorry it was a bit chaotic and I didn't get to visit with you. Things are back to normal now, so remember whenever you need a get-away or place to come rest...we have just the place! Have you ever had the chance to hear Dr. Robert Schuller on The Hour of Power telecast? He is a definite "power of possibilities" thinker. Check out the website at www.hourofpower.org if you'd like. Anyway...I read a little booklet published by him called The Ten Commandments of Thankful Living and I used that as I prayed for you last evening and this a.m. He told of a friend who battled with cancer and as he prayed with her shortly after she was diagnosed, he began every sentence with THANK YOU: "Thank You, God that they've discovered it early. Thank You that we are living in America where there are all kinds of potential treatments available. Thank You that Nathan has a faith that can carry him through. And I thank You, that he has a loving family & friends that will support him. And I thank You, God, that You are hearing and answering this prayer. Hallelujah. Amen." At age 78, Dr. Schuller says that he has never had anything happen in his life, including tragedies, that did not turn out to be blessings in disguise. We need to be thankful for all things, and very simply start our prayers with thanksgiving. I'm thankful that I know you, Nathan, and that every day I'm learning more about you and a witness of your awesome faith through this website. May God's peace, strenth, love, and comfort be with you~ Tammy Negrete
Nathan; You sound so courageous and I know that is possible through God's helping you through these rough times. I know your father Tim, he is our conference minister to our S.E. Iowa church. Your Blog address and came out in our church bulletin. We have had prayers for you in our church and will continue to am sure. Keep up the good mindset. All things are possible through God's help. In Christ's Love, Ev
Good evening, Nathan
I just wanted to touch base with you and let you know I am thinking of you tonight and that you continue to be in my prayers. May the love of Christ surround you and uphold you at all times. Love, Sharon
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