Pam visits, massages, encourages, is a great help to Nan

Dear Ones,
This evening we are settling in after a day of pain and rest. Pam came this morning and has been with Nan until about 9 this evening. Pam and Nan have been fast friends for many years and today was another revealing look at how friends operate. This has been an especially tough time for Nan with extreme pain and hardly any relief other than sleeping for 2 hour segments. Pam has made sure Nan was warm enough, comfortable with pillows, adequately medicated and comforted all day. Then this evening she discovered that Nan had a temp of 102.2 so we all switched gears and took away the comfy blanket replacing it with a cool sheet, added a cool cloth to the forehead and cool towels around each foot, a small dose of ibuprofen and within 2 hours the temp was much reduced. Now Nan sleeps with a small dose of Dilautid just injected 30 minutes ago.
We have enjoyed the cooler day today and what a beautiful full moon this evening. As Pam was driving away it was coming up over a house nearby, very nice. I am always concerned about Pam having to drive over the lousy levee roads to Stockton but she is a pretty smart cookie and knows when to slow down and be safe. nan and I both want to thank Pam for coming today, what a lift to our spirits as she is just a very special friend. This is the same girl who has spent many nights in a chair at Nan's side in hospitals over the years, has spent nights there, has done whatever was needed over and over again. If we seek to see the hands of Jesus we need look no further than our friends, so helpful each using their own skills, contributions to help us as we pass through this valley.
As I think back over the years of our family life I have so many places to pause and reflect. Due to the kindness of Dr. and Mrs Glover we got to see Israel and Jordan, to float in the Dead Sea, to motor boat across the Sea of Galilee, to walk where Jesus walked, to see the walls of Jericho, to step into the river Jordan. Due to the kindness of the Stockton Chorale we have traveled New Zealand, Australia, Europe singing in the beautiful cathedrals of Notre Dame, Saint Stephens and then Carnegie Hall in New York. We loved every exciting minute of the travel, the sightseeing, the choral concerts and being with such talented and lovely people. Thanks to Roger Peden and the chorale and then the Adoration Singers we had a place to minister several times a year joining fellow Christians in song and forming life long friendships. Thanks to Nan's going back to school to pursue her dream of being a travel agent we have been many places for very little money enjoying the beauty of Hawaii, Alaska, Mexico, Belize, Jamaica and a lot of other places. Thanks to the exciting lives our children have lived so far we have been to Portland, Santa Cruz, MBA. Thanks to our friends the Lammerdings we have parked our various motor homes at their Homewood cabin dozens of times to enjoy hiking in the wood, watching the beaver build their dams, enjoying boating on Lake Tahoe and quiet evenings by the fire playing Mexican Domino's. When one begins to ponder ones life the many blessings burst to mind. We have loved our precious Tracy SDA Church, first as the pastor for 10 years and then as friends for the next 18 or so years. It is with sadness that we observe the gradual decline of people who are so special to our family and have been our children's grandparents over the years. I know of no better group of people than those making up the Tracy SDA Church. What a genuine blessing these dear people have been to us in good times and now in hard times. I am thankful that I have reconnected with my brother Jerry and his family and Sibyl, my sister who lives in Ohio. How nice it is to have the phone ring and hear a sibling on the other end. At first I did not know what to do with nan's family, it seemed she was related to every third person in Texas and whenever we were there we visited yet another person and then another but as the years have passed I have come to love nan's family. What an interesting bunch of people who know how to love and have a good time too. Most are real characters and they have enhanced our lives so much.
Due to Nan's GIST cancer we have met yet another group of wonderful people, fellow GISTers. Of those Herb and Kathy were especially close to Nan and Norm has been such a help over and over again with advice of who to turn to for help. Irene is our precious soul mate and we feel like she is family. She has guided us with such deep spiritual comfort and given us courage over and over again. Over the years when Nan had enough strength she carefully followed the two web sites for GISTers and was able to connect with dozens of people to help and to learn from.
So in spite of the darkness we are making our way through now, the gripping hand of pain that holds Nan so tightly, yes in spite of this phase of our lives we have much to be thankful for.
I would not venture any guesses about tomorrow or the day after but I do know who holds tomorrow and I guess we just have to trust that He knows the way through. I don't believe for a minute that God caused the GIST but we live in enemy territory and Satan hates every good thing, every meaning filled life and will cause pain and suffering where ever he can.
Your prayers on many fronts have carried us this far. What I am seeing tonight is a break in the terrible pain Nan is enduring. I am asking that God lead us to someone who can help, or touch her body so the pain can be reduced, or help us know better how to manage it. I am almost frantic at times seeing her in so much pain and having such poor tools to cope with it. We are using what we have but it lasts such a short time.
Please join me in prayer seeing God's intervention once again. He has spared her life so many times, He has lifted her up from low times over and over again. We seek His will for now, this time.
Thank you for reading, responding, praying and reaching for the hand of someone in your family, walk in the park while you can, take a drive for pleasure when you still can, express your love now, not someday ahead.

love

tim and nan