FRIDAY 10/23: Teriyaki salmon, fried rice, vegetables. We used the fried-rice recipe linked above with no added shrimp or vegetables, just onions and garlic, since we were having other vegetables on the side.
SATURDAY 10/24: TheKid was in a show. We had tickets–so we dropped him off for an early call time and had dinner out before the show.
I purposely waited to do this today. Early this morning, as soon as TheKid got on the school bus (a Small Success in his own right, given his track record for making the bus), Hubs and I headed off to the cancer center for his checkup.
I had a container with 2 dozen cookies in hand, to thank the radiology staff who helped us through all the craziness with the needed referrals (thank you, ever-changing rules regarding who gets to provide what service for which patient…)
Yesterday, in the middle of all those awful moments when I was told Hubs wouldn’t be able to have the tests because of some insurance snafu, I cried. And then I prayed. I knew I wasn’t getting anywhere on my own with this. I prayed before I made the next phone call I had to make. One Memorare Express Novena (9 Memorares plus a bonus one in thanksgiving) and a plea to St. Jude later, I dialed the phone, sat around on hold for a few minutes, then disconnected the call when my call-waiting showed Hubs’ primary physician was dialing in–to tell us that he could, indeed, have the tests today.
THERE IS NO WAY THAT WAS A COINCIDENCE. And yesterday was the feast of St. Jude, you know.
My new friend in radiology was happy for the cookies and immediately gave me her email address so she could get the recipe. By the time Hubs was done with his CT scan, she’d printed it out.
The oncologist gave Hubs’ test results two thumbs up, so we’re all set for the next 6 months.
We had to stop back at radiology to take care of a few details before we left. I was annoyed at the inconvenience–we’d already been there almost 4 hours and I’d had enough. But back we went, and I sat down to wait.
And someone called my name. It was my favorite cashier from ShopRite. She and her husband go to our church, and he’s been quite sick recently. Today, he walked out of the X-Ray department looking better than I’ve seen him in weeks. He’d gotten a good report. We rejoiced together.
There are not a lot of good reports in cancer centers. There are not a lot of people leaving there with smiles on their faces. Today we, and our friends, did just that.
Tomorrow we’re heading back to the cancer center for TheDad’s 3-year, 36,000-mile checkup. I’m not ashamed to ask for prayers for his good health, as well as for all the patients we will see who are living out hell on earth as they navigate treatment for this cruel disease.
UPDATE: waiting is even harder thanks to some stupid medical-insurance issues that I was TOLD were resolved last week. But this morning’s phone calls proved otherwise. Now it will be at least a week, if not longer, before this can be rescheduled. I am grateful to the people at the cancer center and our primary doctor’s office for trying really hard to work it out today. Unfortunately they were not successful.
UPDATE ON THE UPDATE: We are back in for tomorrow! I prayed a “Mother Teresa Express Novena” (9 Memorares plus a bonus one in thanksgiving) and a prayer to St. Jude. 10 minutes later the phone rang.
Today TheDad and I will return to Philadelphia for his 1-year cancer checkup. He has 3 appointments: an X-ray, a CAT scan and a meeting with the surgeon. (No, there’s no surgery on the agenda at the moment, but we both thought that the surgeon was a better choice for our follow-ups, just in terms of personality and ability and willingness to explain things clearly.)
My pocket Rosary is ready to go; it will keep me company while I am waiting. Even if I’m too distracted to pray, there is great comfort in holding this Rosary, made (and prayed) by a caring friend, in running my finger over each knot that represents so much, in gripping the cord tightly in my fist.
Please pray for us as we wait, as we attempt to keep the balance between hope and dread.
I’ve been driving everyone around me crazy lately. There’s a lot to worry about, and if there’s anything I’m really good at, it’s worrying.
For my birthday, my folk-group friends generously gave me 3 tickets for the Notre Dame-Temple football game. That game’s happening this weekend. Middle Sister loves football a lot more than Hubs, so she’s appropriated his ticket.
As the game approaches, I’ve found more and more things to worry about.
It’s an 8:00 game. That’s PM. I have a hard time staying awake through an 8:00 game, and now I’ll have to drive home afterward.
We’re fans of the visiting team. In Philly, that can be difficult.
I’m going to have to navigate TheKid, and his string backpack full of diabetes supplies and snacks, past whatever inspection stations you have to get past in order to get into the Linc.
Middle Sister wants to take the subway and meet us at the game. But it’s at night, and the return trip to LaSalle (past Temple, with all the Temple fans who will either be super euphoric or super angry) wouldn’t be pretty for a fan of the other team. And a 19-year-old girl traveling on the subway alone at that time of night? NO.
The game’s on Halloween. And did I mention that it’s an 8:00 game?
I just want to enjoy the opportunity to see my team play. And I know that’s all my friends wanted for me when they gave me those tickets.
Right now I’m deep into a state of general anxiety that makes me pretty difficult to live with. I’m getting ridiculously worried about all kinds of other things, things that I normally don’t think about. For example, last night we dropped TheKid off at the play. We had tickets, and he was called early, so we decided to go out to dinner before the show. I was wearing a white fleece jacket. All I could think about was that I should have packed a complete change of clothes (down to shoes) for both of us just in case a waiter spilled something on us, because we wouldn’t have time to go home and change.
I didn’t even say anything about that to Hubs, because how insane is that?
This morning I headed out to Wawa to get a hoagie for TheKid’s lunch today (he has two more shows, and we have to head straight from Mass to the theater to drop him off.) As I was driving, it occurred to me that no one knew where I was; they were both still sleeping at home; what if I got into an accident? How would they even know?
I need to make it stop, but I’m not sure I know how. I’m manufacturing worries here.
There are enough real things to worry about, and I suspect that I’m inventing fake worries to take my mind off the real stuff. I can’t do anything about the real things.
In four days, Hubs has an appointment at the cancer center for his 3-year, 36,000-mile checkup. I can’t believe it’s been 3 years. It feels like yesterday, and it also feels like forever ago. But that appointment is coming up. He’s super-stressed at work; I don’t know what’s going on there, because he has never been one to talk about things that happen at work. (He says he thinks about work enough while he’s there so he doesn’t want to talk about it at home.) He’s stressed about his mom in the nursing home. He doesn’t take good care of himself. Put all that together and you get a perfect storm for health problems.
I can’t control whether or not Hubs’ cancer has returned. There’s nothing I can do to change that.
Controlling every other little thing isn’t going to keep Hubs cancer-free either. So why can’t I make it stop?
In his homily last weekend, our deacon observed that people always advise against discussing religion and politics–but no one actually shies away from talking politics. He asked, “why, then, don’t we feel comfortable talking about our faith?”
Maybe we just don’t know how.
The first time I was called upon to share my faith story, I had just returned from a Christ Renews His Parish (ChRHP) retreat. Newly married and new to the area, I was already feeling shy, and I was dismayed to discover that after you’ve attended a ChRHP weekend, you’re expected to be a presenter at the next one. I sat there at the follow-up meeting, listening to other women share dramatic stories of conversion and renewal of faith. I didn’t feel like I had anything to add or contribute; certainly, I had nothing that could compare to those witnesses. Finally I fled the meeting, weeping, and in a full-blown panic attack. I never returned. I felt like a fraud.
We need the right tools to help us evangelize.
Nancy Ward has created a DVD seminar on evangelization that’s designed to help those of us who feel we don’t know how to share our faith. Sharing YOUR Faith Story is a 3-part study on telling our story effectively. It includes
Sharing Your Conversion Story
Sharing Your Renewal Story (or healing, miracle or answered prayer)
10 Tips for Sharing Your Faith Story (in person, in writing, and on the Internet)
Nancy’s gentle presentation motivates viewers to persevere in prayer and to listen to the encouragement of the Holy Spirit to discover and share their faith.
My favorite section of Nancy’s DVD is Part 3: 10 Tips for Sharing Your Faith Story. (I’m all about tips!) She grounds these tips in Scripture:
But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect. (1 Peter 3:15)
I’m looking forward to sharing this DVD with the members of our Secular Franciscan fraternity. Each month, we make time for ongoing formation. The lessons in this DVD will help members of our group share our faith more effectively–both within the group and outside it.
Nancy Ward is a fellow member of the Catholic Writers Guild and contributor at CatholicMom.com. She shares her faith at JOYAlive.net.
Comments need to include ideas for using Sharing YOUR Faith Story, such as:
Sharing YOUR Faith Story seminar is ideal for Catholic groups such as . . ..
I will use Sharing YOUR Faith Story DVD to …..
Sharing YOUR Faith Story is effective for evangelization because…
What I like about Sharing YOUR Faith Story DVD is ….
Reviews would be 1-2 paragraphs encouraging ministry leaders to bring Nancy Ward to a Catholic group to present the seminar live.
At the end of this week the name of each supporter will be put in the drawing, once for each incidence listed in 1-8 and twice for 9, 10 – reviews. A DVD will be awarded to the person whose name is drawn. Drawings are held on October 25th and announced on Nancy HC Ward and JOYAlive.net. All entries from both week one and week two are put in the drawing for the $25.00 Amazon.com gift card, awarded Oct 25th.
Book Notes: Christine Marciniak’s Ali Series. I interviewed the author of a series of books for teen girls that doesn’t include vampires, the occult or a desolate post-apocalyptic future.
Roasted Asparagus. Cookie sheets are not just for cookies anymore! They’re just the right size to roast vegetables in the oven. Here’s an easy recipe for oven-roasted asparagus.
On the Grill: Greek-Seasoned Steak. One of the best steak marinades we’ve tried so far. This works in pita sandwiches or (if you’re not as lazy as I am) for shish kebabs.
THURSDAY: The dinner plan went right out the window when TheKid walked around the corner to get a haircut (we’re less than half a mile from a shopping center with Target, Panera, Taco Hell, cheap haircut place and more. I’ve hit on the important stuff.)–anyway, a little dog followed him home. We put him (the dog, not TheKid) in our yard and checked his license tag, which only had a license number, no phone number or anything else, and then called the township who forwarded the whole thing to animal control. Meanwhile TheKid called a friend who has a dog to get some kibble for him. And then we were afraid that the dog might just be put down, and he was a friendly little fellow, so I tied a rope to his collar and started walking down the street asking people if they knew the dog. One neighbor drove around the block to ask someone he thought might know who owned it. We finally tracked him down to the house right near where he’d joined TheKid on his way home from the haircut. Apparently they have a doggie door, and the dog knows how to open the gate. No one was home, so I left a note with my phone number and took Louie home with me again. By this time, there was no time to cook dinner before TheKid’s rehearsal, so I put him and the dog in the van, got Chick-Fil-A drive-thru for TheKid, and made the rehearsal run with a rather smelly dog panting behind me in the back seat. 5 minutes after I got back home, his owners called. They only live around the corner, but it took almost 15 minutes after that call before someone drove around to get him, and then all she did was talk to the dog, not to me. TheDad met Big Brother for wings, so that was his dinner, and I got mac & cheese from Panera and returned to rehearsal, where I ate my dinner behind the wheel, in the parking lot. Then I came home for some Benadryl for my itchy eye. There’s a reason we don’t have pets.
FRIDAY 10/23: Teriyaki salmon, fried rice, vegetables. We used the fried-rice recipe linked above with no added shrimp or vegetables, just onions and garlic, since we were having other vegetables on the side.
MONDAY 10/26: Beef fajitas, baked beans.
