I wanted to write and give you, my dear readers of Hugh's News, an update report on Stephanie.
It was in May that a PET Scan revealed that there was cancer in her liver. However, it was not until September before the oncologist in Atlanta at Emory University Medical Clinic changed her medication. It was at that point that she began to experience a lot of pain.
Her oncologists, one in Athens and the other in Atlanta, have not agreed on the treatment protocol for Stephanie up until now. The pain in Stephanie's body has increasingly become more severe. Earlier in the week she told us that the sternum in her chest felt like a giant hammer had hit her with full force. She has had to double up on pain medications, and on Tuesday morning she was experiencing a lot of nausea. She has been suffering in her hips, back, shoulders, etc. This may be one of the side effects of cancer in her liver.
While at her work, a kindergarten teacher in her 21st year at Statham Elementary School, her doctor, Mark Vrana, called her. He finally called Dr. Ruth O'Regan at Emory University Hospital Clinic, and they have now agreed on the best treatment plan that is to begin shortly. She will be put on a powerful chemotherapy for three weeks and be off for a week and go at it again.
In the meantime, she will have all sorts of tests, like CAT scans, etc.
On Thursday, October 27, she will enter Athens Regional Medical Center to have a port imbedded in her left arm for the chemotherapy. In addition, she will have a CAT scan to see what is going on inside her body.
It is our understanding at this point in time, that Stephanie will have chemotherapy once a week for three weeks and then be off for a week. After a week off, it will start all over again for three weeks. They will only do it one day a week, and she is asking that she receive it on Friday afternoons so she can continue teaching her twenty-two (22) kindergarteners. She is blessed to have a wonderful para pro to assist her in her classroom, and her principal is a Christian.
Stephanie was very upset on Tuesday after her oncologist called her and was crying when she went to talk with her principal. He asked if she would like to go home, she consented to his suggestion, and he immediately called and was able to get a certified substitute teacher for Stephanie's classroom. Stephanie came immediately to our home and told us. We talked with her and prayed with her. Of course, I gave her hope through the Scriptures.
In the midst of it all, we are continuing to place our trust in God and His Word. We, by faith, are giving this problem to God. We know that this unexpected turn in Stephanie's health situation has not taken God by surprise.
We do not know what new possibilities may lie ahead for Stephanie in the providence of God, but we do know what He has done in the past.
In December 2001, the doctors at Emory University Medical Center gave us no hope for her life, and they never expected her to leave the hospital alive. But God . . . He performed a miracle.
As we move forward into the unknown with all of its challenges and potential problems we know we are not alone. Jesus is here even when we cannot see Him. That's the reason we live by faith in the God of all grace, love, and compassion, and Who sent His Son, Jesus Christ, not only to die for our sins, but with His stripes He provides for our healing. The Apostle Peter tells us this in his epistle: "Who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness— by whose stripes you were healed" (1 Peter 2:24-25, NKJV).
I am convinced and fully persuaded that what I have committed to God for my own life, and that of Melvine, Greg, and Stephanie He will surely take care of for us. As we trust in God I sense that the clouds of uncertainty are beginning to lift.
I believe that Stephanie's life and future are in the hands of God. Her future is as bright as the promises of God as she continues to place her trust in Him. In it all we will give glory to God (see 2 Corinthians 1:20).
Better yet, let me give the the context of this Scriptural reference in The Living Bible:
2 Corinthians 1:19-22
Timothy and Silvanus and I have been telling you about Jesus Christ the Son of God. He isn't One to say yes when He means no. He always does exactly what He says. He carries out and fulfills all of God's promises, no matter how many of them there are; and we have told everyone how faithful He is, giving glory to His name. It is this God Who has made you and me into faithful Christians and commissioned us apostles to preach the Good News. He has put His brand upon us--His mark of ownership--and given us His Holy Spirit in our hearts as guarantee that we belong to Him and as the first installment of all that He is going to give us.
The Living Bible
What Melvine and I are asking of you is for your prayers of believing faith on behalf of Stephanie Ellen Morgan, our precious daughter, who is suffering and needs God's healing touch. This latest battle has been tough on Stephanie. I can say with certainty that in it all she not lost her faith or trust in God. She is a radiate Christian young woman. We are grateful for her sterling faith and her life that reflects the character of Jesus even in her pain, disappointment, and struggles.
As I visited with Stephanie in her home Wednesday afternoon, she shared the following Scripture as her testimony of believing faith in God and His Word:
2 Corinthians 4:7-12
But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all--surpassing power is from God and not from us. We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry around in our body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. For we who are alive are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that his life may be revealed in our mortal body. So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you.
NIV
It seem apparent that the Kingdom of God is all about God's power made perfect in human weakness.
The Apostle Paul explains it this Biblical truth this way in 1 Corinthians 1:26-31:
"Brothers, think of what you were when you were called. Not many of you were wise by human standards; not many were influential; not many were of noble birth. But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things-and the things that are not--to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before Him. It is because of Him that you are in Christ Jesus, who has become for us wisdom from God--that is, our righteousness, holiness and redemption. Therefore, as it is written: "Let him who boasts boast in the Lord."
NIV
In all the trials I have been through in my lifetime, I can say I have never questioned God or blamed Him. I know He can do His children no harm. Satan has no right to touch Stephanie's body, not unless God allows it. But, I can say with Michael, the Archangel, "The Lord rebuke you, Satan."
Jude 8-9
9 Yet Michael, one of the mightiest of the angels, when he was arguing with Satan about Moses' body, did not dare to accuse even Satan, or jeer at him, but simply said, "The Lord rebuke you."
The Living Bible
Thank you for your friendship, prayers and love. We are going to make it. Our Lord is still Emmanuel, God with us. We are trusting God through it all.
My e-mail address is: hugh@hughsnews.com
Posted on
Thu, October 27, 2011
by Hugh Morgan