After having drains the majority of the last two weeks, all four of them were removed yesterday afternoon.  I was thrilled.  Below is a picture of the drains.  Although I understand the important function they served, boy, was I glad to see them go!

Abby, Will, and Nate are still in Charlotte, and so our holiday was much more low-key than normal.  We miss them so much!  They spent the day with my parents and Greg and Autumn’s family celebrating to the hilt.  Nate was so tuckered out after the morning, that he fell asleep on big cousin Ashley’s shoulder…in the pool!  Adorable.  Here in Raleigh, we enjoyed undivided time with Kai, a rare treat for us with our 4^th little one.  He is so close to walking.

Today, when our thoughts so naturally turn to the country where we live, my overwhelming feelings are of gratitude.  Certainly, I am thankful for the many men and women who have sacrificed for our freedom (especially for the St. George family!), and continue to do so.

This year, my gratefulness has taken on a different depth.  I am alive and on the road toward healing because God chose that I would be born into an American family.  I have been blessed by the opportunity to travel all over the world, so I have seen the unparalleled beauties and tragedies that exist in 3^rd world countries.

The most humbling moments of my life have been in the homes of African men and women.  With complete joy, and such tremendous sacrifice, they welcomed me into their homes for a meal.  Nothing was spared.  Whatever they have was shared – with joy!  Some homes I have visited are what many of us have only seen in documentaries: modest one room huts that the entire extended family shares.  Mud floors, earthen walls.  I’ve held and loved the beautiful children, witnessed a mama giving birth at a bare-bones health clinic with no pain relief, mourned as malaria and other preventable diseases ravage children and families.

During this journey of cancer, my thoughts have often returned to the men and women in other countries who have no access to the incredible health care that is only a few miles from my home.  Here’s the truth: chemo was a very unpleasant experience.  It was four months of sincere suffering.  The symptoms and severity of symptoms were always changing, so each day was full of unpleasant surprises.  With energy low and sick feelings high, the time passes so slowly.

But when I was tempted to complain during chemo, I simply could not.  My thoughts were often haunted by the mamas I’ve met overseas.  They are as young as me…or younger.  They have as many precious little ones as I have…or maybe even more.  And if they are diagnosed with stage 3b Her2+ breast cancer, they have very little chance for healing unless God chooses a miracle.

Within a few days of my diagnosis, I had a team of world-class physicians pooling their knowledge to direct a life-saving treatment plan.  The chemo that ravaged my body is part of what God is using to save my life.  My bilateral mastectomy was performed a mile from our home, at an excellent hospital (Rex).  I’ll be doing radiation treatments at a Duke clinic, a pinnacle of world-class health care.  Many women need to walk a few days to even see a physician, and certainly would not have the financial resources to pursue treatment.   Our stories are similar in so many regards (we are wives, moms, sisters, daughters), and yet, the outcome from a cancer diagnosis is worlds apart.  Ah, the world is not fair.  We who are blessed with so much have a tremendous God-given responsibility to find the place where we can alleviate the sufferings of those who are impoverished and oppressed.

Though the journey through cancer treatments certainly is suffering (I’m not trying to minimize that), my personal feelings today are of such deep gratefulness to live where I do.  God has given us the health, the wealth, and the access to fight the disease of cancer.  With all I am, I want to live many more years as Gabe’s wife and our kids’ mom.  And I believe I will.