Breath

"It's in Him that we live and breathe and have our existence"

Tomorrow will be my third thoracentesis in a month!

(Note: A thoracentesis is the draining of fluid from one of the lungs)

The realization that a thoracentesis is needed

Begins with

Feeling pressure in my chest

Increasing shortness of breath

As the fluid builds up in my right lung

Making it difficult to lie on my back

Put on my socks

Take a shower

Without having to pause

To catch my breath

To breathe normally.

It is scary...

Something those of you with

Asthma

Emphysema

Chronic Bronchitis

Understand much better than me.

Feeling like you are breathing through a straw

Fighting to catch your breath

When others around you have no difficulty breathing.

I think it's the closest I come to panicking

In this unpredictable cancer journey

That I embarked upon over two years ago

As I struggle to breath

Wondering if my next breath

Will be a breath

Or blocked

By the fluid building up in my lung!

Then it dawned on me

A couple of days ago

As I was gasping for air

That the Spirit of God

Is called the Breath of God!

The One I need to really live

And breathe

And spiritually thrive!

How desperate I am to physically breathe

Yet how easy it is for me to live 

Without His breath

Breathing spiritual life into me

Spiritually sustaining and enabling me

To be all that God has made me to be!

My doctor isn't certain what is causing the fluid 

To build up in my right lung

Part of the ongoing uncertainty

That has plagued this cancer journey

Though probably in some way the result of 

The enemy cancer lurking in my chest cavity.

The plan is to begin again soon

Immunotherapy 

With the hope that it will slow or stop

The growth of the mesothelioma

Tumor and nodules in my lungs

As well as proton radiation

To reduce the size of the tumor

Hovering above my heart.

The challenge and uncertainty

Of these treatments

Being the toll they will take upon my body

And its ability to handle them...

More on those treatments

As they become solidified.

My ERCP surgical procedure this past Monday

Was successful

In removing the stent

That had been placed in my bile duct 

To reduce the inflammation

That had been causing 

A sludge blockage

And extreme pain!

Yay!

That's it for now...

Thanks again for following my journey

And providing such incredible encouragement

To me

Along the way!

Blessings,

Dave