In the Book of Mormon, there is a record of a family who traveled from the Tower of Babel to the American continent. The family of Jared soon received their first glimpse of a vast, stormy ocean, having been required of the Lord to crawl into some mysterious air-tight vessels they were promised would carry them safely to a better place. As they gazed into the deep, moving water, they breathed the unfamiliar sea salt and felt the ice cold water lap at their feet. "What will become of our family?" "Can we do this thing that God requires of us?"

These were the questions we asked as our family stood on the edge of a new journey in February 2011. Before Cathi was diagnosed with aggressive breast cancer, we saw the waves of an unfamiliar storm brewing and felt the fear of anticipation. When the cancer was certain, our family was required to wade into the cold water, crawl into a mysterious vessel and trust the Lord would be in charge.

The family of Jared was given stones touched by the finger of the Lord that provided light inside their vessels "that they might not cross the great waters in darkness......and it came to pass that...(they) set forth into the sea, commending themselves unto the Lord their God. And it came to pass that the Lord God caused that there should be a furious wind blow upon the face of the waters, towards the promised land; and thus they were tossed upon the waves of the sea before the wind. And it came to pass that they were many times buried in the depths of the sea, because of the mountain waves which broke upon them, and also the great and terrible tempests which were caused by the fierceness of the wind. And it came to pass that when they were buried in the deep there was no water that could hurt them, their vessels being tight like unto a dish, and also they were tight like unto the ark of Noah; therefore when they were encompassed about by many waters they did cry unto the Lord, and he did bring them forth again upon the top of the waters. And it came to pass that the wind did never cease to blow towards the promised land while they were upon the waters; and thus they were driven forth before the wind. And they did sing praises unto the Lord; yea, the brother of Jared did sing praises unto the Lord, and he did thank and praise the Lord all the day long; and when the night came, they did not cease to praise the Lord. And thus they were driven forth; and no monster of the sea could break them, neither whale that could mar them; and they did have light continually, whether it was above the water or under the water." Read the rest: http://lds.org/scriptures/bofm/ether/6?lang=eng

This blog is the captain's log of our family's journey. It will serve to keep all of you updated on Cathi's condition but also be a place where I can express the lessons we are learning so that it might be a source of strength for others who are going through difficult challenges. We are certainly not unique in this regard. I hope to continue trusting in the light we have been given and to lead our family when we are encompassed by the dark ocean or tossed by its waves. We sincerely seek for your faith in asking the Lord to calm the water, give strength beyond our own and lead all of us of us to a better place.

Monday, March 7, 2011

Cathi Update

This picture was taken this morning...here is the strongest, most beautiful woman a guy could ever hope to be married to.


We just heard from the surgeon and here are the results of Cathi's pathology report:

- there was NO cancer in the left breast

- there were small tumors in the lymphatic channels

- The surgeon took out 17 lymph nodes and out of these 17, Cathi only had cancer in the original two lymph nodes that were removed

The surgeon said that Cathi will probably be facing six rounds (12-15 weeks) of chemo therapy and around five rounds of radiation after that. Our next step is for her to have a PET scan that will help determine if there is any cancer in any other part of her body at this point. I am trying to get that scheduled for next week.

Needless to say, we've had tears of joy this afternoon and a very humble family prayer to thank the Lord for these results. The surgeon told me that she could not have given any better results than this based on what she knew of Cathi after her surgery last week...it could have been much worse. We conclude that the Lord accepted all the prayer and fasting in Cathi's behalf and has blessed us with a tender mercy...something else we can hold onto.

After gathering the three kids and announcing this good news, Cathi broke down and cried. She (and I) were expecting cancer in several more lymph nodes. The first words out of her mouth were, "...then we can do this!" And we CAN!!
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