Good news!

Thank you for all your prayers. I just talked to my mom and she said that the appointment went very well. The doctor told my grandma that he would typically not treat an 85 year old for cancer, but she is in such good shape that he would let her do chemo if she wanted to. However, there is no cure for Stage 4 lung cancer so it would only prolong her life by a few months. She will not be putting herself through the sickness chemo causes.

Here is the encouraging news...the doctor said that she has 9 months to a year. Initially when I did some Internet searching on lung cancer I found cases where people were given as little as a month to live. I was crushed that Great Grandma Shank wasn't going to get to meet her first great grandson. We rejoice that we have Jack's birth to look forward to, Russell and Beth's wedding, Christmas, and more. God is good to give us this time with our beloved Grandmother.

She is very cute about the situation. She said from now on she's not going to do anything she doesn't want to do. :) From this point forward she's really going to get the most out of life. Personally, I thought she was doing a good job of it (touring Europe this past year, going to Disney), but apparently she's going to live it up even more. Way to go Grandma! Now I need to find out what she has always wanted because she's got her big 85th birthday coming up on the 30th.

It has to be strange having a ballpark idea of when your time on earth is done. However, we never know from day to day if it's our last. It chastens me to keep my eyes focused on the Lord because eternity is what counts. What a gift my grandmother has to be ready to meet our Lord. More ready than most of us would be if we didn't know when it was our time to go home.

Thank you for all your prayers. We will now pray for God's perfect timing in this next year as well as a good quality of life for my grandma.