Archives for April 2009

Here’s a sight we’d never thought we’d see again — Don’s mom enjoying another outing to Pizza Hut. If you’ve been reading my blog the past few months and have seen the frequent updates on her recent health crisis, you’ll know exactly what I mean. This little lady is beating the odds.

Mom has a long and complicated medical history that’s led up to the serious health situation she faces now, but I won’t begin to explain it all here. Bottom line is that damage done by radiation treatments for cancer she battled over 40 years ago has finally resulted in the kidney failure of her one remaining kidney.

For the past several years she’s been getting regular outpatient IV fluid infusions to help keep the kidney functioning (unfortunately, she’s not a candidate for dialysis). With each new crisis, the kidney has more difficulty rebounding and stabilizing once again. When she crashed in December, it took longer than previous bouts, but the kidney managed to pull out of it. However, when she crashed again in January, the situation proved to be more dire. The doc told us she would not be getting better this time.

This lady doesn’t go down easily, though. She’s a fighter. Even though every day has been a struggle (up until a few weeks ago when the kidney finally started rebounding — and it’s still not easy), she’s done what she’s needed to do to stay alive. And as a result, she’s beating the odds. Nobody thought she could come back from this latest crash, but she has. We call her our Energizer Bunny because she just keeps going and going :)

Beating the odds is nothing new to Mom. She began doing it over 40 years ago when cancer nearly took her life. The way she saw it, she had five kids to raise and had to beat the odds. She even beat them once again 11-12 years ago during another episode of her ongoing health challenges. And here she is now, over a decade older and still fighting. One of her doctors has been heard to say, “She’s a tough ol’ bird.”

In addition to Mom’s fighting spirit, there have been a lot of prayers going up for her — and our God is a mighty God. He says in His Holy Word, “Behold, I am the Lord, The God of all flesh: is there any thing too hard for me?” (Jeremiah 32:27 KJV).

Do you have some odds that need beating today? Call on our mighty God, for whom nothing is too hard. And like Mom, do what you need to do to stay in the game. Be a tough ol’ bird.

“For nothing is impossible with God.” Luke 1:37

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