Mama Bear | Update 14

"Let us lift up endless praises,

Let us sing Him endless song."

It's been about 15 months since we discovered and announced that Mama Bear's breast cancer had returned.  The past year-and-then-some I've slacked a bit on updating this blog.

But here the scoop:

We found out at the end of the summer that her cancer appeared to be gone (at least her cancer number had gone from 54 to somewhere between 0 and 5.  Truly a miracle! And better than the doctors were expecting!)

Her chemo was done and they set to work on the condition of her lungs.  The surgery and recovery for that, in early fall, was rough but it appears to have been profitable.  Her x-ray this past was still very positive (the left lower lobe is still in bad shape, there is scarring, etc... but all in all everyone is pleased.)

Sadly, we found out a few months ago that her cancer that we had hoped was gone or at least dormant was growing/living again.  It had popped back up in her liver and bones.  Certainly disappointing news... especially so quickly :-/

Her wonderful wonderful doctor put her on a plan to have chemo just about every week for 12 treatments.  The chemo "recipe" was going to be a little different than her past ones.  It wouldn't cause her hair to fall out, and shouldn't make her feel sick.   Currently she's about 75% through that plan.  On Monday she had a PET scan to check the status and to see if the chemo was helping.

She got called in this morning, and she and my dad went to meet with the doctor and to hear the results (which we all assumed wasn't going to be 'happy news'...).  Dr. Raj let them know that the chemo wasn't working like they had hoped and the cancer seems to be growing still.

SO. She has a new plan, and will be visiting another more "specialized" doctor, and trying a new medicine (including oral chemo.)  They'll be stopping the 12-week-chemo-plan altogether since it's not working.

Thank you for praying for her and us, and thank you for asking about how she's doing!  We're currently keeping busy with lots of house projects and making room for Baby Boris Morris (just his nickname, don't worry ;).  Grandma Bear is as tough as ever, and never makes a "big deal" about any of this.  But she is tired and "feels weak."  Pray for strength and energy and lots and lots of joy.

And the Lord will guide you continually

and satisfy your desire in scorched places

and make your bones strong;

and you shall be like a watered garden,

like a spring of water,

whose waters do not fail.

Mama Bear Update 13

Hello hello!  Time is moving and life is pressing on and mama is done with her 6th (and hopefullyhopefullyhopefully final!) chemo treatment!

- She has a PET scan on Monday and we'll have results on Thursday.  This scan is huge.  It's the big "What did the last five or so months of treatment do? Is there any cancer left?  What's the deal?" scan.  We're praying for nothin-notta-squat!

- They're coming back to Maryland next weekend!  Dad, Mama, Katie, Kevs, Dude, Shannon and Lou-Lee will be moving back into the house they left.  The truck and boys are arriving on June 30.

* If you are interested in helping un-load the truck, feel free to come!  My dad is trying to organize the troops, so you can email him at: a snyder at caci dot com.*

- My mom, myself and the rest of the girls will arrive within two days (we're bringing all the cars with us.  It's going to be an adventure.)

*If you are interested in helping my mom unpack the boxes starting July 2, you can e-mail Tracy at: t branchaw at gmail dot com*


- Mama is very worn out.  Moving is not usually one of these rejuvenating, restful activities.  Pray for her rest, energy and strength!

- THEY ARE COMING HOME! :D :D :D :D

Mama Bear Update 12

Hello everyone!

It's been a little while - which is often good news in the medical world!  Here is the latest with sweet mama mom.

- A few weeks ago she attended "Relay for Life" with her sister Pam and a handful of kiddos (Kevin, Dude, Shannon, Lauren and family-friend Grace.)  She was the "survivor" and they were the "care-givers."   She said it was a lovely evening complete with nice dinner and a couple of laps around the Steinbrenner Field.

- Last Wednesday mom has her fifth chemotherapy (one more to go!)  Her wonderful and lively friend Sandy flew all the way from Arizona to go to chemo with here this week.  On good days they pack and work on wedding crafts! (Seriously, she's the best.)  I think the three women of the house (mom, Sandy and Pam) are going on a Segway Tour of Saint Petersburg Beach today.  That will be an absolute riot ;)  I wish I could be there!

- Five more days of school for the little kidlets! And Katie graduates highschool on Friday.  We are all so proud of her!  And I'm very excited to be able to go down and watch my first sister at her graduation and to see mom again.  But three cheers for mom and the kids getting through this school year in the middle of so much craziness!  They're just incredible.

- Mom's (hopefully!) last chemo is in about three weeks.  She is also moving back to Maryland that week.  Yes, that's right folks, the Snyder's are coming back north!  Hold onto your hats!  ;)  They will be here the last weekend in June, and will be moving back into the house they left.  Please pray that this move goes as joyfully and peacefully as possible.  Moving is always particularly tiring and hard.  But moving ten people? 18 hours away? In the middle of summer?  While on chemo?  We're all going to do our very best to get everything taken care of for mom (thank the Lord for Aunt Pam!  She's been a packing/helping hero! And for dad!  He's ever impressive and hard-working.)

- After the big move the next event is the wedding!  Just about two months away.  It's unreal how fast time flies.  Please pray for health for mom during all "this."  Pray that when she gets her pet scan in July they find NO cancer!  Pray she re-gains strength and energy!  Pray that she will sleep well and restfully when she sleeps!  We love mama so much!

Mama and her prayer warriors in Florida!  (These lady are from her bible study and have been the sweetest gift to mom.)

Mama Bear | Update 11

"The Lord grant that you may find rest."

Ruth 1:9

Update

- Mama had her fourth round of chemotherapy.  Two more to go! (And she is still dazzling!)

- Her incredible friend, Tracy Branchaw, came to spend a few days with her.  Tracy brought gifts and notes from many of you: THANK YOU!  Mama loved every single thing.  And she also loved eating and talking and enjoying the company of her friend.

- The whole Snyder clan is moving back to Maryland on July 1!  Just six weeks away.  My heart is glad.  So so glad. I haven't been to Florida in over two weeks.  And I miss mama and the crew so badly.

Prayer Requests

- Continue to pray that the treatment is working.  It might seem like a "no-duh" thing to pray.  But from the little we know, it truly seems like God is using this to heal her.  We've had nothing but positive reports so far.  We believe God mysteriously works through prayer, and we KNOW you've been praying.  Please keep praying.  

- Pray for their hearts of the people in our family: Alan, Sue, Kristen, Caleb (almost!), Tim, Katie, Kevin, Dude, Shannon and Lauren.  There has been some neat things God is doing in drawing us closer and knitting us together.  Pray for that to continue! Even "little" but extremely meaningful things like sweet Katie shaving all the boys heads' for mom has become treasure to us.

- Mama has had low blood counts since the beginning of this ordeal, but they continue to drop.  She will begin taking a medicine for anemia.  Pray that it works and boosts her counts!  Low counts mean low energy.

- Pray for her energy!  She has so much coming up in the next weeks.  Two more chemo treatments, a big move, and a wedding.  She's a fighter, but she will need some extra doses of might to make it through all this!

"Better is a handful of quietness than two hands full of toil and a striving after wind." "Return, O my soul, to your rest." "For the righteous man enters into peace; they rest on their beds." ""Mary, who sat at the Lord's feet and listened to his teaching. But Martha was distracted with much serving."

 “In...rest you shall be saved; in quietness and in trust shall be your strength.”

I've recently been learning so much.  God has brought me a people and times, and He is teaching me.  I'm praying daily for my mother's health and strength.  For energy.  For rest.  She's teaching me about resting in God.  

While we were in the hospital together in February, I read to her this blog post. It encouraged our hearts and began to change me forever.  

"Rest at essence is God-entranced, God-magnifying, and God-satisfied.  Rest is a bold declaration of the over-sufficiency of the goodness and grace of God.  It is treating God's promises as rock-solid and unquestionable.  Rest is a conscious relishing of God's gushing generosity and a relinquishment of our own self-sufficiency.  

In short, rest is the only human response to God's engagement that honors and satisfies Him.  All else is both deplorable and unacceptable.

Rest is the garden, the Sabbath, the feasts, the land, the worship of God's people in the Old Testament.  Rest is the promise of the Gospel and the only path to life.  'Come unto me all you who labor and are heavy-laden,' says the Savior, 'And I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you and learn of me, for my yoke is easy and my burden is light."

Paul in the apostle sums up the Gospel simply, 'Rest your hope fully upon the grace that is brought to you in revelation of Jesus Christ.' 

There were two lost sons in the story of the Prodigals, one who offered to work his way back into his Father's favor, and one who reminded the Father of the favor he deserved for the work he had already done.  Both offered work as a payment for the gift of the Father's fellowship, forgiveness and feast.  And to both He said, 'No.'

'Come in!' was the only offer of the Father. 'Cease from your work and celebrate my lavish extravagance and prodigal generosity and you will have Me and everything that is mine.'

Everything good starts with rest, grows through rest, and is sweetly tasted in the feast of rest.  And then comes Heaven." Don Shorey

During busy, physically weary, emotionally heavy days may we find our hands full of quietness.  May we sit, and not be distracted by things like serving - which hardly makes sense.  May we celebrate and feast and receive God.  May God continue to use Mama's trust and therefore Mama's strength to do mighty things.  May we treat God's promises as rock-solid.  May we (especially Mama) actually rest when she lays down in bed - may her sleep be sweet and refreshing, may her mind be calmed and still.

Thank you, thank you, thank you for being people who rally around ones you love.  You are making our burden so light.   

Mama Bear Update | 10

 “The kings came, and they fought...

From heaven the stars fought...

March on, my soul, with might!" 

judges 5

On Easter I flew down to Florida for 10 days.  I had just hit moms' "good week," so we had lots of fun running errands, eating out, shopping for wedding crafts, making wedding crafts, finalizing the invitation ideas, styling mom's fancy new wig, and staying in our PJ's with Aunt Pam (who moved to Florida to help mom and the family! Incredible.).  It was so encouraging to me to see her so "herself."  It's been quite a while since she's looked and felt "that" way to me.  Mom amazes me.  While I was there she took an afternoon to take a young girl (she hardly knows) who is walking through a divorce out for lunch and to get job applications.   I think it made that girls' month.  God has proven Himself strong yet again!  I love that we have a King who comes and fights with us - even the stars from Heaven fight! - which builds up my (and my mama's) soul to "March on!"  He has given might and strength, as well as fun and play. We are grateful

PRAYER REQUESTS

- Mom is half-way through her chemo treatments.  On Wednesday she had her third one! (She still has to go back next Wednesday to administer the chemo for her bones. So she's almost half-way done!) Pray that the chemo is working!

- Despite being on the Super Hero Trio of anti-nasuea medicine, she still feels nauseous (which makes her not want to eat... and she needs the food for weight and nutrition!).  Pray that the nasty nausea goes away.

- The medical staff is trying to figure out why she's still feeling that way.  A possibility could be something to do with her brain and an imbalance of hormones.  A nurse started zeroing in on the issue, asking my mom about her memory and her balance.  That discussion led to a decision to scan her brain on Monday to see if there is cancer there, as well.  (I don't understand why they didn't check that at the beginning of this buuuut God over all forever reigns.)  We should get results from that on Wednesday.  Please pray that there is no cancer in her brain.

- Mom being sick always affects our family (duh.)  God has been clearly joining us together through little things - like flower girl dress shopping, games of foursquare and a Red Lobster birthday dinner for Kevs.  In many ways our family is getting along better than we have in years.  But there are still young hearts, unsaved children and very big issues on the table.  Please pray for much laughter, fun, care, unity and joy amongst us nine Snyders.

--

Last little thought to adhere the tape on this post: Mom and I had some wonderful conversations about God's goodness while I was there.  Does God plan the "bad things" and say they are good? Or does He use the "bad things" and make them good?  Is a "bad thing" like sin different than a "bad thing" like a tornado or tsunami?  Can sin and consequences of sin BE good things? Or are they REDEEMED to become good things?

The conversation, in my head, was prompted when we found out that mom's lungs were hurting (so much so that she had to sleep sitting up in a chair.)  She went to the doctor and they told her she had bronchitis.  I would typically put bronchitis on the "bad things" list.  Incredibly, however, the sickness seems to have actually helped her lungs.  Every time she coughed (with great pain) her lungs were forced up higher.  She was essentially forced to cough by bronchitis, all the while she was filling that lung up further and further.  

God works in obscure ways!  But I'll tell you what: God is good.

I've spent more time laughing, talking and just being with my mom now that she's sick than I would have otherwise.  That is so good.  Mom has time to, and is therefore reading, more books (and is especially in love with Kevin Hartnett's The Heavens book.) That is so good.  Like I mentioned earlier, my mom's sister Pam moved to Florida to help out.  After years of not living near family, we've been so blessed to have Pam (and grandma!) in our lives and home.  It's so good!  Katie has taken the kids multiple times to Disney - just for fun and a distraction.  So good.  We've eaten a chocolate cake brought by a church friend that we wouldn't have otherwise eaten. SO GOOD.  We've hugged more, sat by the pool and ocean more, met the kindest nurses, been fascinated with the human body, and watched Caine's Arcade over and over which sparked conversation about our childhood memories.

"This world is already more wonderful than we can imagine. Heaven will be better still. I do not doubt that whatever gates there may be, they will be pearly. But I know how pearls are made. Do you? 

In Heaven, the gates will be made of oyster spit. 

 Everything has its place in this frame. Everything has its position on the stage. The world is full of comfortable things. The world is full of soft beauty and gentle lapping waves. We would be fools to ignore the gentleness and get caught up in the grit, only able to tell dark stories. But a world of only gentle touches is no truer than a world gone black. Put the colors in their places. Paint the shadows and the darkness. Paint a true picture, with tension.

The movie isn’t over. The world will end happily. Sorrow goes down in a barrage of bullets, and Grief is executed after a fair trial. Do not fear the shadowy places. You will never be the first one there. Another went ahead and down until He came out the other side.

Heaven will be wonderful (understatement). It will be more wonderful than we can imagine, even if our imaginations weren’t so stunted by marshmallow visions. 

You will have a body more physical than this one. Heaven will be hard and bright, and the winds will be strong.

So do not imagine yourself elsewhere. Do not close your eyes and picture a world without thorns, without shadows, without hawks. Instead, use your body like a tool meant to be used up, discarded, and replaced. Better every life you touch.  Live now. Relish the tensions, the challenges, and laugh.

 We will reach the final chapter, 

and have eyes that can stare into the sun, 

eyes that only squint for the Shekinah, 

then we will see laughing children pulling cobras by their tails, 

and hawks and rabbits playing tag."

nd wilson

March on, my soul, with might!

Mama Bear Upate | 9

Happy Early Evening on this Wednesday!

A brief update:

- Mama is home safe and sound after her big trip to Maryland

- She received her second chemotherapy treatment on Thursday (6 days ago)

- With the help of her three medicines she has barely thrown up at all! Praise God!

- She also says she is in much less pain than the first treatment.

Prayer requests right now are: 

- That she stops losing weight :(

- And that she stops feeling nauseous.  Though she isn't throwing up, she still feels very sick to her stomach and doesn't want to eat much at all.  

Today (Wednesday April 4th) she had a port put in so she doesn't have to take her chemo through an IV, which will be a much less painful process.

Thank you for loving her hard! I'll be back in Florida on Easter Sunday.  I can't wait.

Mama Bear Upate | 8

"The lines have fallen for me in pleasant places, indeed."

psalm 16:6

I found this picture last night of mama in 2004 with her littlest girls (Man were they cute. And little!) (Oh! And the baby she is holding is our youngest cousin, "Alec-son!")

It brought back so many memories.  It was a hard year.  Mom had a miscarriage in the fall, but that miscarriage led to us discovering she had cancer.  We've reflected often how kind of God it was to let mom have that miscarriage: if she had never even been pregnant with that baby, she wouldn't have been in the doctor's office discovering a weird lump in her breast! If the baby hadn't miscarried, however, she would be facing months of no treatment, which would likely have let her cancer spread to the point where it was out of control (her cancer seems to spread fast and furious!)


"Your eyes saw his unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for" BabyBaby Snyder.


That little Snyder child saved mama's life.  It's days were numbered, before there was yet one of them.  The little life was not wasted or unimportant and we loved that baby.  We still do.

It's a sweet reminder to us as we face this again.  It's kind of God, for many reasons, to have us walk through this at this time.  Mom's life is valuable to God and her days are numbered.  Cancer will not shorten her life, cancer will not rob her of life, cancer will not win, cancer is not more powerful than God.

"In His book are written, every one of them, the days that were formed for Mama Bear, when as yet there was none of them."

Our Father has promised her eternal life, Jesus came to secure life, the King will and has won, and nothing, nothing, absolutely nothing is more good and simultaneously powerful than our God.

As mom's hair begins to fall out again, we treasure verses like these: "Even the hairs of your head are numbered." "You who have been borne by me from before your birth, carried from the womb; even to your old age I am He, and to gray hairs I will carry you. I have made, and I will bear and I will carry."

The lines (and hairs!) have fallen for us in pleasant places. Therefore my heart is glad and my whole being rejoices!

Prayer Requests
- Mom's bones in her legs hurt her the most these days.  May God relieve her of pain! May He strengthen her bones!
- We are on the hunt for a pretty wig and awesome hats.  Pray we find some good options, so mama feels like a lovely woman and not a mannequin ;)

Praise Report
- Mom is in Maryland with me for a week and she went to see her Maryland doctor.  The doctor (who we all love and worked with mom last time she had cancer) was very optimistic.  Her conversation with mom encouraged us all and we are thrilled to be able to have Dr. Raj involved again.  What a blessing!
- Mom is as beautiful as ever.  Seriously.  If you have a chance to see her in person you'll find it hard not to stare.  She's so lovely.