The Lord is risen! He is risen indeed!
As we continue to celebrate this Easter season I have to confess that Easter has felt a bit elusive for me! We had a wonderful Easter Sunday, and then the last 13 days I’ve been a bit self-focused on recovering from surgery! I want to say thanks to all of you for your cards and support and especially to some of you who took extra duty. I won’t name everyone here but I appreciative so much your efforts on behalf of the church and of me personally.
Just a quick update on my health: I’m recovering as expected; my post-op appointments were very positive.There was no cancer in the lymph nodes. It will take several weeks for full recovery but I’ll get there!
I also met with the medical oncologist this week — the doctor in charge of chemotherapy. As we knew, this type of breast cancer has a bad habit of leaving some microcells floating around even when the tumor is gone, and we don’t want those cells to get a new start. (That’s my non-scientific description!) So as expected, chemotherapy is needed. My first chemotherapy treatment will be May 9. I’ll continue to have chemotherapy treatments every 2 weeks for 16 weeks. I expect it will seem like a long summer but we’ll get through it!
I’m told by the doctor that this kind of chemo is ‘well tolerated” and I plan to continue to work in ministry with you until my retirement at the end of June. I will focus on worship and preaching, leaving good notes and tending to transitional issues to help provide a good beginning for Pastor Roy, and, of course, I will address pastoral care needs as they arise. I will continue to be in the office most mornings, head for home by mid-afternoon for a rest and be available by phone as needed. I will also have some Work-from-home days as I have always done. We will be moving May 16/17 to allow the Trustees time to address parsonage updates and repairs so I will commute from Columbus after that. My phone number will remain the same: 317-340-1717.
I hope this information is helpful; if you have questions, feel free to ask.
Just a note that I’ve thinking about often: One in seven women living in the U.S. will have breast cancer. It’s very common. When the question was asked at a recent UMW meeting of those who had had breast cancer, we bore out those statistics almost exactly. Many other people will have other kinds of cancers, and life is full of other health challenges that we face. They’re not fun; they can be a little scary but still we experience the goodness and sweetness of life.
But Illness and injury are much easier to tolerate with good heath care, and I’m very aware of the privilege that I have of insurance and a good medical team. That is not true for everyone — especially not for younger people and people of color. Let us not be self-satisfied with what we have but always be on the lookout for ways to advocate for good affordable health care for all and not just for some. It would be worth making some sacrifices for.
Again, I appreciate so much you affection and concern.
Grace and peace,
Pastor Mary
