Kellybridge: July 2012

Saturday, July 21, 2012

MD Anderson and TK vacations...

Hi TK! Kelly's trip to MD Anderson was overall really good. Her scans show significant shrinkage on the pancreas and tumors on the liver are microscopic!! Dr. Javle recommended staying on this same chemo while her body is responding so well. There is another chemo she can try if her body builds resistance to this one. The yucky part of this news is she was hoping for a less toxic treatment. But the great news is Dr. Javle told her the scan is remarkable! The chemo is working! Translation: God is answering our prayers for shrinking tumors. And another huge answered prayer was not having to drink that awful barium prior to the scan. This may sound small to you, but it was a HUGE to Kelly. She said she has never experienced answered prayer in that way before. It brought a flood of tears. Dreading that drink...knowing specific prayers from so many of you to be able to get it down...He blessed her greatly in that moment. She also was in the scan room without Jason. Only technicians and other patients were in there with her. An older man noticed her tears and held her hand. He was so worried about her. God gave Kelly a hand to hold onto.

Returning from Houston, she had mixed emotions. Seeing such positive scan results was encouraging, but being told to stay with the chemo indefinitely was disheartening. Lots of feelings stirring in her. We all have these feelings of fear, sadness, anxiety, anger, etc. We often don't know what to do with them. But we have to express them, but don't always know how. Some sweet friends helped her get some of those emotions out. She was able to slam a few dishes into the pavement so she can now focus on the blessings. Here is what our devotion read that day...

--Bring me all your feelings, even the ones you wish you didn't have. Fear and anxiety still plague you. Feelings per se are not sinful, but they can be temptations to sin. Blazing missiles of fear fly at you day and night; these attacks from the evil one come to you relentlessly. Use your shield of Faith to extinguish those flaming arrows. Affirm your trust in Me, regardless of how you feel. If you persist, your feelings will eventually fall in line with your faith. Do not hide from your fear or pretend it isn't there...bring your fears and anxieties out into the Light of My Presence, where we can deal with them together. Concentrate on trusting Me, and fearfulness will gradually lose its foothold within you.--

Now here are some of our TEAM KELLY supporters...

she definitely felt your prayers from

all over the world this past week :)

Shannon and Connie in Padre

The Moore and Hoster families found their way to the top of Sulphur Mountain in the Canadian Rocky Mountains overlooking the city of Banff, Alberta! @ elevation 7600 feet...we felt closer to God and prayed for a miracle for Kelly!

Shelby in Missouri

William, Caryn, Jonathan and Chris in Gulf Shores, Alabama

Commissioner Staples, along with the officers of the Vocational Ag Teachers Association with their Team Kelly shirts at the Texas Agricultural Science Leadership Institute

Russell Thomas, Ag Commissioner Todd Staples, Sandra Choate, David Reiley

Kristi and Christina in Hilton Head, South Carolina

Dr. Bobo's clinic supporting TK :)

Lauren and Katelyn at YoungLife camp

Parker's new customized TK kicks!

Olivia, Tara and Preston in Padre

Kel caught this rainbow reminding her of God's promise!

Meredith and Kristal in Port Aransas

Cole and Shannon in Anguilla in the Caribbean

On Tuesday, during her MDA appointment, all these TK supporters covered Kelly in prayer...LOVE!

Jill in Chicago at the famous Sears Tower

Melissa's fortune cookie sent the night Kelly left for Houston

Cameron and Dylan in San Antonio

Reagan, Noah and Brandi river rafting in Colorado

And the latest incredible new member of Team Kelly...

drum roll please...

the.

pioneer.

woman.

If you don't know who Ree Drummond is...she is a blogger, photographer, cook, writer, mom and wife. She now has her own TV show on the Food Network. Check her out here.

Sunday, July 15, 2012

MD Anderson tomorrow...

Hi Team Kelly :) Just a quick update...Kelly was able to get her last treatment this past week. The fog is slowly lifting and she is feeling better. She and Jason head to Houston tomorrow to do scans and tests at MD Anderson. She will see Dr. Javle Tuesday to discuss what is next.

A book was given to Kelly last week...'Circle Maker' by Mark Batterson. She had it with her in the chemo lounge and I started reading it to her. We are not but a couple chapters in, but would like to share a piece of it that grabbed us...
--In the grand scheme of God's story, there is a footnote behind every headline. The footnote is prayer. And if you focus on the footnotes, God will write the headlines. It's your prayers that change the eternal plotline...your prayers can change the course of His-story...Most of us don't get what we want because we quit circling (praying). We give up too easily. We give up too soon. We quit praying right before the miracle happens.--
We will never give up! We are all circling around Kelly with prayers for complete healing! Please continue to pray for Kelly and expect a miracle! Thank you Nana #2 (Nana Gains) for this book!

Prayers for this week:
1. For her anxiety over the scans...she is still not wanting to drink anything and she will have a whole lot of yucky fluids to choke down prior to the scans.
2. For the scans to show shirkage and dissapearing tumors
3. For options in treatment plans
4. For the appointment with Dr. Javle
5. Thank Him for allowing Kelly to finish this treatment plan
6. For jason, will, ben, sam and ella...always!

Monday, July 9, 2012

summer with TEAM KELLY...

Summer with Team Kelly...

More lemonade stands!! Meg, Crisslynn, Blayne, Tea and Carly :)

Kelly and Will on his 14th birthday at Top Golf

Sam and Parker

Cate, Ben, Sam and the birthday boy :)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, WILL!!!!!

Emma at Stone Mountain

One of God's miracles in Maui is the rainbow eucalyptus tree. Look at the color of that bark! We are thinking of you today as we were reminded that God is Sovereign and can do ALL things.

Love, The McAfees

Jena in Florida

We went to New York for mygrandfather's 85th b-day celebration and ventured into the city for one day.The kids wanted to see the Statue of Liberty and I wanted to see the 9/11Memorial... we were able to do both. As the five of us walked into thebeautiful Memorial in our Team Kelly shirts, all the security guards andstaff that worked at the Memorial were high-fiving us and kept saying "Yes!!We have hope!!" - Of course, my heart was filled! What I didn't know is that"We have Hope" is the motto for the re-build of the current tower and thetheme of the Memorial. So, when we walked through, the staff, etc askedwhat the "Team Kelly" meant. We all explained and the immediate responsewas " we are praying for your friend!!" I thought it was powerful that in aplace where such heartache and fear reigned, that HOPE was the lastingeffect, the lasting feeling. We are given HOPE for a reason - God wants usto always hope for better, for His mercy and His healing effect. You havethat, Kelly - we all have that for you!!!After we left the Memorial, we walked through Battery Park and a homelessguy asked me what our shirts meant - I explained and then he said he wasgoing to pray for you, too!!!!! Of course, my New York cousin that was withus explained to me that I shouldn't talk with random people in New York, but it was definitely worth it!!! :) HA!!!So - the point of this LOOOONGGG story is to let you know that you have somefans and prayer warriors in New York now. :) Love you and hope to see youvery soon!!!

xxoo..... Jennifer & Eckert family.....

Jennifer and Valerie in the Dominican Republic

Dan and Jack in New Jersey

the Owen family at the Grand Canyon

It is so fun seeing all of your TK shirts on your vacations! Thank you for multiplying the prayer warriors for Kelly all over the world. If you sent a picture to us and haven't seen it on the blog yet...resend it! Between texts, emails, and facebook...we may have missed it!

She is scheduled for her 6th and final round of chemo for this treatment plan tomorrow. She also has a trip to MD Anderson set for July 16th.

Specific prayers for the week...
1. Pray for her to be thirsty! She has such a hard time drinking anything once the chemo begins. Then dehydration occurs and makes her feel even worse.
2. Pray her numbers have climbed back up enough for treatment
3. For her nurses to be accurate and for her doctor visit tomorrow
4. For the tumor marker to keep going down
5. For her spirit to stay up and anxiety to stay at bay
6. Pray for the trip to MD Anderson coming up
7. Thank Him for taking care of her...she feels great and is having a really good summer
8. Thank Him for all of TEAM KELLY

Thursday, July 5, 2012

WOW!!!!!

Wow is the only word I can think of to describe the last few weeks. It all started with vacation bible school at Prestonwood Baptist. Pastor Marc Rylander asked me if he could share my story in one of his sermons. Of course I said yes. However, I really didn't expect to be there at all because my treatment was scheduled for that week. It had already been 5 weeks of no chemo. I just KNEW after receiving 5 booster shots, I would be in the chemo lounge all day and yucky all week. I guess God had a big reason for putting off chemo for one more week. I was able to see how God is using me to reach lots of kiddos and create new believers. That Wedensday I walked into the church and there were Team Kelly shirts everywhere! It's always overwhelming to see how many people are supporting me. People I don't even know. Pastor Marc shared my story with the 4th, 5th and 6th graders. He wore his shirt and asked the question, "Got Hope?". He told all those kids about my friend who has been with me all my life, Jesus. He is my hope! I just love that word...hope!! Pastor Marc invited them to have the same hope that I have. One hundred and eight decisions were made that day. WOW! What an incredible experience. It brought so many tears to my eyes to see kids asking for hope and praying not only for themselves but for me as well. Kids are so full of love and compassion and are truly a gift from God. While great things were happening at VBS, I had a tugging at my heart. I was struggling with feelings of not wanting to be the center of attention or to take credit for all these new believers. It was just too much. I can't understand why people want to hear my story and pray for me when there are so many others with so much more pain and suffering. What makes me different? I was trying to explain my crazy feelings to Carol (my scribe who is making me write this ;)) and she asked me if I had read our devotion for that day. Here is what it said...

I am creating something new in you; a bubbling spring of Joy that spills over into others' lives. Do not mistake this Joy for your own or try to take credit for it in any way. Instead, watch in delight as My Spirit flows through you to bless others. Let yourself become a reservoir of the Spirit's fruit.

I love how this devotional speaks to me everyday! Did God write this just for me??!!

108 new believers

Now for more WOW moments. All my kids, my nephew plus a couple other close buddies went to Camp Wow in Oklahoma. I was feeling good enough to join them and so happy I did. My old college roomies and I bunked together. Funny how you just pick up right where you left off. Angela is still LOUD and Julie is still sweet. Love these girls. Loved my time with all of us together. Pastor Marc, again, shared my story. The theme of the week was built around the Olympics. He spoke about life being a race and the endurance you need to run the race. He shared how I am running a really hard race but I have Jesus as my endurance. I have to agree with Pastor Marc, this is the hardest race I've ever had to run. But even though it is hard, Jesus gives me endurance with every little blessing and miracle I see in all of you. I feel blessed that I get to be God's tool to work in so many young people. All of my own kids were touched in a big way. My nephew and ben's close buddy both asked Jesus into their hearts that night. It was amazing to be there with Julie and Angela and my kids praying with their cousin, Cole. A moment I will never forget and will cherish always. As much as I hate having to run this hard race, it makes it worth it when I see lives (especially kids) changed because of my story! WOW!!