Hello everyone! I hope that this finds you happy and well! We are doing so great here, praise God! As I am writing this I am at my treatment, and I am so thankful that I only have to come every three weeks now. They say I will need to do this forever but I do not believe that so if you could please pray with me that God allows them to see that in His time I really am healed and can stop this other medicine in the next few years that would be wonderful too! But it is so much better than weekly chemo, so for now I will take it! I do still need rides for my tri-weekly treatments so if you are able to sign up for driving me on a Tuesday I would greatly appreciate it from the bottom of my heart. The website is still here: lotsahelpinghands.com and you can add your name in to drive under that section or you can simply facebook message me and I will put your name down for the date you are able too. The dates from now through December are listed there.

We have been having such a beautiful summer; playing, swimming, spending time with family and friends, going away to different places and vacationing together. God has blessed us so abundantly it is incredible! My youngest two girls have never been on vacation and then this year we have been on three with another one in the fall! Amazing, just incredible how He lavishes His love upon us. We are so humbled and grateful. We have to keep reminding them though that this is not real life! They think we can just “go on vacation” every other week now!! I have about 10 million pictures I need to somehow look through and scrapbook now so that is my biggest challenge, but I will take it!

Thank you for the continued love, prayers and concern for us. Our fight is ongoing in the medical world, but I truly believe that through Jesus I am healed, so thank you for your prayers and belief with us on that. Many of you have contacted me asking if you can share my story or testimony that is online; please do not feel you have to ask me. If any of it can be used to help others or give hope or share the love and healing power of Jesus then just share it and pass it on. I believe that God uses “all things for good for those who love the Lord and are called according to His purpose” (Romans 8:28) So please share it and help others.
I have decided to join Chris, Steve, and my brother-in-law Dave in their now annual Smilow Cancer Center bike ride this year! Their team name is Team Hope, and I am happy to say that while one doctor diagnosed me almost 2 years ago now as having 6 months to 2 years to live, I will be riding 25 miles on September 12 to raise money for our hospital where 100% of the proceeds go right to Smilow for patient care, treatment, research, trials, etc. For my physician is the Great Healer, and He is showing us what He can do and has done. So I will be healthy and bike riding with them when some said I would not be here, but God had different plans, and we chose to believe His plans. So if you would like to support this amazing cause and sponsor any of us that would be wonderful. It is an amazing hospital-, the love, the care and concern of the nurses, the excellent doctors, all of it. It truly is a wonderful place to be while you are battling something like this and I am so grateful that I can be treated here. So this is just a small way that we can give back and keep supporting all that they do in helping those like myself and others. The website where you can make donations is: http://www.rideclosertofree.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=donorDrive.participant&participantID=4144

Thank you all again for your love, care, support and prayers for us. I pray that God is blessing you and allowing you to shine bright and be a light to others. This world is filled with a lot of darkness, but we can shine for Him and reflect His love, so keep on shining!

Love and blessings, April and Family (:

“I’ve seen dreams that move the mountains, faith that doesn’t ever end, even when the sky is falling.
I’ve seen miracles just happen, silent prayers get answered, broken hearts become brand new.
That’s what faith can do. That’s what faith can do. ” -Kutless

“How great is our God? Sing with me how great is our God and all will see, how great, how great, is our God?”

Thank you all for your love and prayers. From this early afternoon; “No evidence of metastatic disease. All clear.”

AMEN AMEN! I believed it in my heart but it is still so amazing to hear the doctors say it too. Let’s just rewind a moment to 18 months ago from Mass General (to sum it up)

• “You have metastatic breast cancer,stage 4 (terminal), the fastest growing and most aggressive type. We will try chemos until they do not work anymore and you have about 2 years to live.” or
• “We do not do mastectomies on metastatic patients.” or
• “You will have to be on hormone therapy for the next 10 years.”

Now-18 months later and different doctors but the ONE true doctor: ALL CLEAR- NO EVIDENCE OF DISEASE!! Amen amen!

I am so humbled and grateful to our loving and merciful God, and to all you who have helped, loved, prayed and believed with us. I will never be told that I am in “remission” like a normal cancer patient because of my particular diagnosis, but I do not go by their reports anyway. Call it what you want, but for us it is simply our amazing miracle. There is so other explanation and we need no other one-we knew from the beginning who we were believing and calling upon when the doctors and world say it is not possible. With God all things are possible.

We do not always know why we go through things or even understand it, but we do not have too. From one of my favorite verses which is on my bracelet; Proverbs 3;5-6″Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding, In all your ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct your paths.” I do not understand always, but I do trust Him always. In our suffering we are often taught things we could not otherwise learn, and this is not a journey I certainly would have chosen. However, would I do it again to give Him all the praise and glory and draw others perhaps closer to Him? Absolutely. I am just so thankful that it is His will for me to be healed here and now, in this world we live in. We will all be healed one beautiful day in heaven if we believe in Him and call on Him, but I am so thankful that He has chosen to heal me here as well. Please do not stop praying, as I know this has made all the difference. We will forever be grateful to all of you for that. Our girls do not know the magnitude of the miracle that we have been granted, but one day they will. They will find out just what faith can do.

Love and God bless, April

Hello everyone! I hope this finds you all happy and well!

I am writing to ask for prayers for my upcoming scan; it is my first one in 6 months, this is the longest I have ever gone since I have been diagnosed. My scan is on next Tuesday, May 19th at 9 in the morning. I just ask for God’s amazing power to continue to be revealed that there are no tumors or cells of any type that indicate cancer. I am also asking for prayers for peace, as scan time is always a bit of a more anxious time. I am not sure when I will get the results but as soon as I do I will post and let you all know. Thank you, thank you from the bottom of my heart for this.

And I would just like to share another praise of God’s goodness and love! Last week out of the blue my doctor called on a Friday night and wanted to share some good news with me; she knew I was resistant to start all of the hormone therapies and shots I am scheduled to start at the end of May but also knew that I was going to hesitantly oblige. Well she called to apologize and explain that as she was double and triple checking my records that were originally sent over from Mass General back in 2013 that there had been a mistake on her part; my tumors were less than 1% positive for hormones. They only do this therapy if your tumors are more than 1% positive, which most women are. I, however, fall into that tiny category that are not so the medicine would not benefit me at all. It would give me all of the negative side effects but have no benefit for what I have, and I would have been on it for 10 years. Therefore, now, I do not have to take it!! I have felt a hesitation to start this all along but did not say no completely, as I will do whatever I can to keep fighting and go on. However, God knew my heart, as He knows all of ours, and He took that difficult decision right out of my hands. On a random Friday night out of the blue He granted news to my ears that just elated me! I was happy and dancing like a young girl who had won homecoming queen all over again! Isn’t God incredible?! I looked up and said “now you’re just showing off!” and smiled and smiled! And then I thanked Him and praised Him for His undeserved blessings upon us.
So we are rejoicing and thanking Him, and in awe of His goodness and love for us. Thank you for continuing to believe in this amazing miracle with us and please keep praying.

Love and God bless, April (:

Hello everyone! I hope this all finds you happy and well! We are doing well over here, tired but well praise God! It has been 3 weeks of radiation so far, so that means that I am officially half way through!! I am feeling okay, very tired and a bit nauseous but that is okay. The kids are all re-cooperating from those terrible colds that have been going around so radiation or not Chris and I would be exhausted! The kids have been up a lot at night with not feeling well with the terrible coughs at nighttime so when I fall asleep on the radiation table they just laugh at me, and say only a mother with young children is one who falls asleep on that table with all the noise and beeping! I laugh and tell them I could sleep on a rock at this point!

I hate to countdown, as with counting down days are going by and time is going by; time where our girls are growing and changing so much each day, and yet I am counting down to when this radiation time is through. I want to hold on to all of the precious times and fast-forward through all of the hard, tired, yucky-feeling times, and yet I know we cannot. I know it is all part of His plan. God tells us in His word that “In this world you will have trouble, but fear not, for I have overcome the world.” (Johh 16;33 ) On the days when I get frustrated and impatient; on the days where my kids are whiny and sick and more clingy than I can handle; on the days where Chris and I don’t even have a second to look at each other before we collapse at night- I have to remind myself that I should not be surprised by these hard times but expect them, and then I can feel assured. I can remember that this too, is all part of God’s plan and that He hears my every prayer, my every cry out to Him for help, my every heavy sigh, and I know that He is with me. He has never left me, and He will not.

So I am counting down right now, and have looked back recently at what these past 17 months have brought us. My girls have grown and changed so much it is unreal! Time does that when they are so little and learning and changing so much! They are amazing and exhausting all in the same breath! And yet I am so blessed to have been able to stay home and raise them these past 7 years. I remember when I was pregnant with my first baby and had an emergency appendectomy when I was 7 months pregnant. We did not know if we were having a boy or a girl and the surgeon who performed my surgery said it was a miracle that I made it as well as our baby. I remember feeling so blessed and relieved, and again after having a pulmonary embolism a few days after my surgery we felt another wave of God’s pure love and mercy upon us. We chose then to name our baby Faith if it were a girl or Noah if it were a boy. Then two months later when our little Faith was born we rejoiced and I could not handle the thought of leaving this little blessing and going back to work! We had saved enough to stay home for what we thought would be one year, and yet here we are 7 years later only by God’s grace and I am still home! So I know I am blessed to be able to have this opportunity to be with them and raise them and see them each day as they grow. And I hate to count down for things because it means that this precious time we are granted is just going and going, and our girls are getting bigger and bigger and with that more independent. So on those nights where they just want us to cuddle with them until they fall asleep, or sing them just one more sing, or hold them a little longer, I try and remember that the days are going by and it will not always be like this. They will not always want mommy to hold them and cuddle them and be with them, so I am not counting down these days. These days I will play over and over in my mind, even though now I am exhausted and just want to rest my head on a pillow, I will try and remember that the days are long but the years are short, and God has blessed me with so much. But the radiation days I am counting down, and looking forward to some “normal” days ahead with Chris and my girls. I am rejoicing that by God’s grace I have made it through 15 months of chemotherapy, liver radiation, surgery and now 3 weeks of daily radiation, with only 3 more to go!

So thank you all for your love and prayers,and your care and concern. All of this help allowing us to get through this journey has made all of the difference. We could not be doing it without all of you and the laundry help, meals, babysitting help, rides and countless other ways so many are helping us. So thank you all, and I thank God that He has provided us the way to get though this. It is not easy, but again He did not promise us it would be. But it is possible with Him, and only with Him. May you feel His love and blessings as this Easter season is upon us. May you feel the hope and the joy that is ours because of the empty tomb, He is risen and we are rejoicing! And we are counting down the days to more beautiful days ahead.

Love and God bless, April, Chris, Faith, Savannah Grace, and Isabella Hope (:

Hello everyone! I wanted to give an update as we had my oncologist appointment today, my 3 week post-op appointment from my surgery, and my tri-weekly infusion treatment. I seem to be healing well, praise God! And Chris and I found out some more amazing news; my breast surgeon removed 11 lymph nodes which they suspected still had the cancer in them, as that is what is typical with the type of cancer I have. You usually have them removed with the mastectomy and then follow that with the chemo and radiation protocol which I was told about. Well when we met with all of our doctors they were so happy and shocked to report that NONE of the nodes had cancer in them any longer! They know they did at one point, as that is how my breast cancer spread from the breast to the lymph to the blood and to my liver. We knew the tumors on the breast and liver were gone, by the grace of God but they still had seen a “highlight” on my lymph nodes in my pet scan before the surgery so that was why they really wanted to remove them.
We also knew that there is no “cure” for the type of breast cancer that I have, that is why they give you about two years to live with this diagnosis; usually the medicines stop working after a few months and they move on to other medicines until they no longer work and it is usually within this time, as mine is again the most aggressive and fastest growing type. Well I have only ever had one type of treatment, and it has worked miraculously for me so they have never had to try a new chemo medicine. So the plan was after the surgery to do my 6 weeks of daily radiation and then two months of hard core AC chemotherapy, and then hopefully go from there. Well because they cannot detect or find any more active cancer at all my oncologist has said I do not need to do the final round of chemo! She said they have already gotten the best they could ask for; for no more cancer to be evident anywhere so they are choosing not to do the chemotherapy part and just keep my upcoming radiation as well as my tri-weekly infusion treatments for at least a year, along with the standard protocol for breast cancer, which is hormone therapy for 5 years. This has the bad side effects of placing my body into menopause but I was never on a “standard treatment” plan and today they started talking to me like I was! They said “five or ten years from now” where as before they never spoke of time or the future! It was so amazing to hear that from our doctors! We just kept saying “praise God! praise God!” There is no other way to explain any of this, it is only by the grace of God that any of this is happening. His healing power is so very real, and just so incredible. “I’ve seen miracles just happen, silent prayers get answered, broken hearts become brand new, that’s what faith can do. Overcome the odds “you don’t have a chance” , that’s what faith can do. I’ve seen dreams that move the mountains, hope that doesn’t ever end, even when the sky is falling. I’ve seen miracles just happen, silent prayers get answered, broken hearts become brand new, that’s what faith can do. That’s what faith can do. ” (Kutless, “That’s what faith can do)

I know the menopause piece is going to be difficult, as my oncologist is always upfront with me about things but I also know that the God who has healed me is also in charge of this, so He can make my side effects much more manageable. I also know that no day in the future is promised to us, but we are certainly rejoicing with the news we have been given for today and and praising Him for that. So I am asking that you please pray that it is that way, and that it is far better than I could have ever hoped for! It will be hard with these physical things and emotional and hormonal things with young children, but God has gotten us through so much that I know He will not leave me nor forsake me now. I also have to have a second surgery to re-construct my right breast in a few months so please keep praying if you don’t mind! I know that all of the prayer has carried us this far and I believe with all of my heart that it will continue to carry us, so thank you from the bottom of my heart for taking the time to remember me in your prayers now and in the future. Our God is an awesome God! Mighty in power and just so amazing! Never give up my friends! No matter what people tell you remember that you, too, “can do all things through Christ who strengthens you” (Philipians 4:13) .

And one of my favorite verses that is on my bracelet is Proverbs 3; 5-6:’ Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all of your ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct your paths.” We do not always understand the reasons why things happen in life or why we must go through certain things that are difficult and painful, but we do trust Him with all of it. We have always asked God to use us and though this is not a path I would have chosen, since God has allowed this to pass through His hands for me I say “amen.” because what satan intends for evil God uses for good.

I have always felt in my heart God was going to use Chris and I somehow, and never knew exactly how but just trusted Him with that. I still do not know exactly how, but in December Chris admitted to me that he has stopped fighting with God these past couple of years and has decided to give in! He is going back to school to get a degree in ministry, something he was trying to talk God out of but has now accepted the nudge. He applied and got accepted to Moody Bible Institute in Chicago and is going to start courses on-line in March. This is a huge step for us and it will no doubt be a long , hard road for Chris finding the extra time for him to do this online but we know if it is from God He will make provisions and allow it to be. So I am humbly asking for more prayer for us with this, and I thank you for that. It is just so truly amazing to see God’s work in our lives, and to know that He has chosen each one of us to spread His glory is humbling and amazing all at the same time.

Thank you for your love and your prayers; and please keep praying as we have a long road but a road that is centered on Him.

Love and God bless, April, Chris, Faith, Savannah Grace and Isabella Hope