Finished! Hallelujah!

My last day of radiation treatment was yesterday (Friday--June 27). I'm so thankful that it is over. I really disliked having to go every day. The people there are wonderful, that wasn't the problem. It's just that I was reminded every day that I have cancer.

I saw the radiologist on Thursday. He was pleased with my progress and the lack of side effects. He thought I did very well. I won't see him again for six weeks. I will see my oncologist in July and get another PSA test. With the hormone therapy continuing and just coming off of radiation, I certainly expect it to be undetectable. You may pray for that.

There is no test to see how well the radiation did except to monitor my PSA. Remember, I have no prostate. So, any detectable PSA means that I have actively growing prostate cancer cells. I probably won't even get another bone scan until my PSA rises and can't be brought down.

My sincere thanks to all of you who have been praying for me. It meant so much to hear from you that you had prayed for me. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Dianne, Emily, and Gabi made it safely to Brazil. Thank you for praying for them too. They will return on July 4th. I sure do miss them. Gabi turned one-year old yesterday too.

Also yesterday, I attended the funeral of a 5-month old baby boy who died Tuesday, quite unexpectedly. They say it was SIDS. The parents are young. This was their first child. They aren't even married. The mother works for Diego in Dalton,GA. I had met her when she was pregnant and I met her son once after he was born. The funeral was sad. All I can remember is the look on the mother's face. The preacher admitted that he had only met the couple that day. As he began to speak, the lights suddenly went out due to a storm outside. In the darkened room, someone said, "Continue, we can hear you." So, he did. But, it had thrown him off. He couldn't read his notes and he stumbled through to an end. As we exited the chapel, it was raining hard. We ran to our cars and lined up to go to the grave site. The rain quit before we left the parking lot and it had not rained at the cemetery. But, a dark cloud was overhead and thunder in the background. The funeral director announced that the preacher couldn't make it to the cemetery, so the mother had asked to say a few words. She apologized for not being a preacher and for presuming she could speak. She broke down and all that we could hear was, "I love you, Zachery. I love you." With heavy sobs she sat down. The director asked them if they would like to put the first dirt in the grave. They did. I realized then that no one was going to pray for this child as he was lowered into his grave. God spoke to me and said, "You should pray!" I moved alongside the mother and asked if she would like me to pray. Of course, she did. So I asked everyone to bow their heads and I lead them in a prayer committing this child to the Father and reminding everyone that we can all be reunited with Zachery in Heaven and see him in all his glory and our Heavenly Father, in all His Glory, as well. The grave workers covered the casket. The director announced the conclusion and the sky opened up and rain began to fall. Everyone scattered to their cars and drove away.

Please pray for this couple. I'm sure they are not Christians. Their names are Amy and Virgil. These past 4 days have been more than they can handle. Without God, they don't stand a chance. If God wants to use me again, I'm willing.