May 2013

Good evening to my family and friends!

I hope this e-mail finds each of you well.  The past two months have been filled with an abundance of progress and therefore I am excited to send an update!

After receiving good news at my oncology appointment at the beginning of April, we wasted no time in putting together a plan to visit the south!  It did my heart such good to be able to arrive and depart from Columbia feeling physically strong and having had the opportunity to spend quality time (and a great quantity of laughs) with friends and new family! 

I was fortunate enough to spend a little over a week traveling between Hilton Head Island and Columbia.  One of the highlights of my Columbia visit was being able to attend the Student Personnel Association’s end-of-the-year banquet.  My classmates surprised me by voting me the “Most Outstanding First-Year of the Year”…let’s just say that resulted in a tearful and humbled “thank you" (see attached pictures).  Another Columbia highlight was having the opportunity to have lunch with the team of doctors that treated me at Palmetto-Richland hospital.  Having never seen me out of a hospital bed (or with freshly washed hair), it was certainly a pleasant reunion for everyone.  My mom and I also stopped by the floor I “lived” on for 2 ½ weeks with bagels for all of the wonderful nurses and patient care technicians who cared for me…and my parents!

After a great visit in Columbia and some island time in Hilton Head, Drew was able to fly into Augusta, GA where we spent 5 fun-filled days with the Gilchrist family (Drew’s sister’s family) – it was great to be “Uncle Drew & Aunt Sarah” – so sweet!  A visit to the Columbia zoo, a Blue-Grass festival, and genuine rodeo were just some of the highlights of our visit (see attached pictures).  Drew and I are so blessed with such fun, loving families, and are thrilled about bringing them together for our wedding next May.

After arriving home from our visit to SC and GA, it was time for some more change – on May 1 I was able to start a new job as the Interim Special Events Coordinator at Schreiber Pediatric Rehab Center of Lancaster County (www.schreiberpediatric.org).  Overall, May has brought a lot of excitement for Drew and I as I moved into an apartment in Lancaster City, we have started our pre-marital counseling, made additional wedding plans, and started to get more “connected” with our church, Calvary Church, in Lancaster.  We have been so blessed by all of these changes and not a day goes by when we are not thankful to be geographically close and both employed by great organizations.

So, that brings us to this past Friday where we traveled to NYC for another oncology appointment and this time an added pulmonologist (lung) appointment.  God is good and the power of prayer continues to overwhelm us as we received news that my blood work and CT scans showed that everything is stable.  This past Thursday marked four months since my lung collapsed, and to date my “images” are unchanged and therefore there is not a need for treatment at this time.  There will be some additional follow-up with the pulmonologist, as my doctors are not convinced that the “trouble” in my lungs is related to the Cancer (and thus the collapsed lung).  Additionally, I will have blood work in 6 weeks to check-in on everything, but Lord willing won’t need CT scans or an appointment in Manhattan until the end of August.   I remain without symptoms and am keeping as busy a schedule as ever – and for that, we are so thankful!

So, on that note – here is to a summer full of watching incredible friends tie the knot, spending time with family, and enjoying my engagement to the love of my life as we play our special day…May 25, 2014!

Thank you for all of your continued prayer.

Living today in His presence knowing that through Him I can face uncertainty with perfect peace –

Sarah

 

“Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope.  And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.”

~  Romans 5:3-5