Steadfast Love Endures

"Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures for ever!" 

Psalm 107:1

I read this verse on January 11, 2014.  It dawned on me at that moment that the Lord kept repeating the words "steadfast love" through the scriptures I was reading for many days in a row.  Five days later I was diagnosed with a papillary carcinoma of the thyroid, also known as thyroid cancer.

This blog is to share my journey with family and friends, as my husband and I navigate the road that the Lord has prepared for us.  He is steadfast and constant in all He does.  Love is an action that God repeatedly calls us to commit, and His love is the ultimate standard of what it means to be unconditional and steadfast.  I am so thankful!

This particular adventure began for us when I went from losing all the weight I gained while pregnant with Sam, to losing more than double that amount.  I went to see my nurse practitioner on December 26th to make sure that there wasn't anything glaringly obvious with my health.  I have nursed Sam since he was born, and he has some food allergies so that meant some big adjustments to my diet.  Well, the weight loss has been attributed to only those things... diet & nursing!  I am thankful for that, but I am also thankful that it made me get checked out.

The only abnormal lab values were the thyroid antibodies that the Nurse Practitioner ordered.  This prompted her to order an ultrasound of my thyroid as a precaution in which a nodule measuring 1.4 centimeters was found on the upper left part of my thyroid gland.  Most nodules on the thyroid are harmless, but again, as a precaution, she ordered a fine needle aspiration biopsy (basically a simple procedure to test some of the cells in the nodule to see if it was cancerous).  I received a phone call on January 16th that the biopsy came back positive for papillary carcinoma of the thyroid.  While the prognosis is good for this type of cancer, a diagnosis of the "big C" is scary. Always.

My Nurse Practitioner called me immediately after hanging up with the pathologist because she knew that I often have my results sent to my office so that I can view them.  Thankfully I hadn't done that this time, because it would have been difficult knowing that my co-workers found out before I did.  She informed me that the type of thyroid cancer I have is not aggressive, and that it should be cured by removal of the tumor and part of my thyroid gland.  I should not need to go through radiation or chemotherapy, and I may need to go on a thyroid medication afterward.  She submitted my referral to the surgeon as "urgent" and explained to me that it was not necessarily urgent in the sense that it needed to be done tomorrow, but she did not want me to have to wait six months to be seen.  I will have a consultation with the surgeon on February 5th.

I will try to update this blog as Nate and I get information, process through the diagnosis and potential fears, and as we prepare for surgery and what that will look like for our family.  Please pray that we will not be anxious, and that we will continue to trust the Lord in His provision!

Thank you for joining us in this journey.  We know that God is already at the end of the road, waiting with His gracious arms open wide to receive us weary, but hopefully stronger, at the end!

Trusting in His steadfast love,

Beth