Cancer anniversary

Hello! I hope everyone is having a swell day! These past 2 weeks have been really special weeks to me because these weeks are the weeks when my journey as a cancer patient started. Last week I posted saying it has been a year since I found my tumor but today is the day that the doctor informed me and my family that I indeed had cancer. Wow what a year it has been!! It is so crazy to think that a year from today around this time I heard the news that would change my life. After finding my tumor in church, the very next day we went to the doctor to have my tumor biopsied and get blood work done to see what the deal was. On Friday of that week after the tests the doctor called and shared the results with us. He told us that it was a 5% chance that my tumor was cancerous and not to worry but to schedule a surgery as soon as possible so that the tumor would not have time to develop into cancer. My family and I celebrated when we heard the great news after having a very emotionally draining week of waiting. My parents scheduled the surgery for the following Wednesday and because my tumor was not cancerous the surgery would consist of the removal of my tumor but I would be able to keep my thyroid. The day before surgery we went into a surgery consult where they would explain the surgery to me and my parents. I walked into the door of the doctor's office thanking the LORD for revealing the tumor to my mother at an early time before it had time to develop to anything more serious. I was so thankful and so excited that this tumor on my thyroid was nothing significant and I thought to myself that this would just be a bump in the road and before I knew it I would be back on my feet doing the things again that made up my daily routines. But as soon as I walked into the consult room I heard news that made me sick to my stomach. I was informed that I was that 5% and my tumor was cancerous. I cannot even begin to explain the rush of emotions that came over me after hearing that I had cancer. One of the main emotions was confusion. I was confused on how the doctor could tell us that everything was all right but just in a matter of seconds our excitement could be taken away. Nobody ever wants to hear that they have cancer but the LORD used this trial in my life to glorify Him and he is still continuing to do so. I have always been at peace with my situation because I knew from the beginning that the LORD would be faithful and walk alongside me the whole entire time. In the midst of these emotions of confusion and sadness the LORD settled my heart. It was like he was whispering to me "McKendree, I will never leave or forsake you." and my troubled heart was settled in an instant. My life was changed completely and one of the things that stayed the same was the LORD and his faithfulness. I want to thank everyone who was there for me this year. The people coming to my house to bring me milkshakes after surgery, the people who came to school wearing a bandana to make me feel better about my scar, the people who came over and watched movies with me when I didn't have energy, the people who came to St. Jude on those really scary appointment days, the people who came and visited me in treatment, and most importantly the people prayed for me. Your acts of kindness mean a lot to me but your prayers mean so much more. I believe in the power of prayer and after seeing our prayers answered how could I not? I cannot even begin to express how blessed I am to have the family and friends that I have because they were there for me every step of the way. It was so crazy how a text or message of encouragement could turn my day around so thank you everyone who kept up with me! I have the best friends and family! Wow, what a year it has been but I know that it will only continue to get better and I know the the LORD will continue to use me to glorify him with my story. Have a blessed night! :)

Eternal Things

Hello everyone! I hope that this week has been extremely spectacular and you have learned to find joy in the little things. This last week at school I only had to leave early to go home and rest one time which is such a great improvement from last year! I get better each day but I still have my bad days. Recovering from cancer is a huge process and I have to not only recover from my treatment but also from the alterations of my thyroid supplement. My medicine is always changing because of the absence of my thyroid (the energy source of your body) and as a result I get extremely tired and weak. Thankfully I am at the point where I don't have to take a nap everyday but now it is now just a couple times a week. This morning I read Romans 8:18-39 and I wanted to share this extremely promising passage with everyone and share how this passage has provided so much encouragement for me as someone who is recovering from cancer "I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed to us." Romans 18:1. Wow, what a promise! This year has been such a difficult year but as I have said a hundred times and I will continue to say it, I would not take back this journey for anything in the world. I am at a great point right now because in June they told me that there were no cancer cells in my body but there still was thyroid tissue left over. Because my tumor was on my thyroid and my entire thyroid was removed there should be absolutely no thyroid tissue left over. Thankfully the tissue that is left is not cancer but we still have to get rid of it because it has the ability to turn into cancer. Now everything is just a waiting game as we are waiting for my tissue to see if it is going to decrease on its own or if we are going to need to do more treatment. Some days I find myself getting impatient and it is so easy to become consumed in my situation. The whole passage of Romans 8:18-39 is such a wonderful reminder to focus myself not on earthly things but to focus on eternal things. This journey has been difficult but with the strength of my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ I have been able to face my daily health challenges. I would be lying if I said I am completely fine and that is the beauty of this blog because it is so raw and real. Honestly everyday is a struggle for me energy wise and emotionally but my daily struggles are NOTHING compared to the eternal life I am going to spend with my Father in heaven! Later on in the passage it continues on to say "...the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us, with groans that words cannot express." Romans 8:26. Some days I am just so worn out and my heart is troubled with the emotional healing I am dealing with so sometimes I run out of words to say when I am spending time with God. Romans is my favorite book of the Bible and I love it so much because no matter what I am feeling or struggling with there is always a passage in Romans to lift me up and provide encouragement. This week Romans 8 has been my rock because it is such a wonderful reminder that we don't need to get caught up in our struggles because there is so much more to come but even when we get so caught up and run out of words to say the LORD works in us and provides us words to say. I want to encourage each and everyone of y'all read this passage and try to focus on eternal things! It is so easy to get trapped in our trials but we need to remember that there are much, much greater things in store for us. :) Thanks for the prayers and a friend of mine sent me a message the other day asking for specifics to pray for. Personally when I pray for someone I like to be as specific as I can be and I have noticed how I have failed to be really specific on this blog. I am really good at being honest and true but it might be easier if I named some of the things I am struggling with right now so y'all can be specifically praying for me. 1. Please pray that the treatment that is still in my body is fighting off my thyroid cells so that this winter I will not have to endure another round of radioactive treatment. 2. Pray for my patience with my energy levels. Some days I get super frustrated because I know what I used to be able to do before I got sick and some of those things I am still not able to do. (Side note I have had enough energy to go on walks around the neighborhood and sometimes even a small jog which is a huge step for me!) Pray that I will be able to focus on eternal things and not get caught up in my sufferings! :) 3. Pray for my emotions. From the beginning my doctors and nurses have told me that fighting cancer is also an emotional struggle and I never truly understood that until the beginning of the school year. Yes I am still recovering health wise but I am also recovering emotionally because I am having to slowly back away from my St. Jude world which has been my life for the past year. I am being put back into my world of school and friends and that is very difficult to go back to normal since I am so used to being not normal! This is all a healing process so please not only pray for my physical healing but also pray for my emotional healing. 4. Lastly pray for all of the kids at St. Jude. I think that my next post will be a huge post full of prayer requests from all of my friends at the hospital but for now pray that they will be healed and through their healing God's name will be glorified. Thank you everyone for your positive words and bottomless encouragement. Have a blessed way and don't forget to focus on eternal things! :)

A year ago today.

Hey everyone! I hope y'all have had a wonderful week! I am so sorry for not updating after my last post saying I was on the way to St. Jude. My day was super busy and it consisted of meeting with some of my doctors, blood work, and an ultrasound on my neck. The ultrasound was to look at my lymph nodes and they looked normal (yayy!). The reason we had to check my lymph nodes is because my cancer was not only limited to my thyroid but it also had spread to my lymph nodes. The blood work came back great and so did my ultrasound! God is so great and He is so faithful! Thank you everyone for all of the prayers and for checking in on me. Today is a very special day for me because a year ago today I was sitting in Sunday school looking up at my mom when she noticed a lump on the side of my neck. I was 14 years old and just staring my first year of high school oblivious to the fact that my life was about to change forever. I went to the sermon but I could not even pay attention because I was so worried and scared. So many thoughts were swimming around in my head and I could not even focus on what the preacher was saying. I remember sitting in church so concerned and confused but all of a sudden a peace came over me. I can't even begin to explain it because I do not even understand myself but I know that the LORD calmed my heart. In an instant my thoughts of doubt were changed to thoughts of the LORD's faithfulness and love for His children. I realized that no matter what this lump on the side of my neck was the LORD would be there walking alongside me the whole journey and providing me strength on the days that I had none. What a blessing that I found my tumor in church and because of that my first instinct was to pray and talk with my heavenly Father. I have been at peace with my situation from the beginning because the LORD truly worked in my heart and settled it. I knew that if the lump was nothing or if it was serious he would be there every step of the way. Today is  a very happy day because looking back on this year and thinking of all that I have been through it is so cool to see how the LORD has worked in my body to heal it. I am still recovering but I am so much better than I was and that is so encouraging to see that huge contrast. Thank you everyone for your continuous prayers and encouragement. When someone gets sick it not only effects the person who is sick but it effects everyone around them so thank you everyone for you persistance of support. I have no words to express how truly thankful I am! "I am the LORD who heals you." Exodus 15:26

Long day ahead!

Quick update! I am on my way to St. Jude for appointments. Please keep me in your prayers and that all of the results come back as they should. Pray for all of the kids at St. Jude and that the LORD will heal their bodies. I am very excited to see all of my friends and I will update y'all on how everyone is feeling. I'll be sending a lot of prayer requests :) thanks everyone for all of the encouragement and love!

my wonderful tee-pee

Brie!! Such a wonderful woman of God

Princess Sheyla

Rise up

Good afternoon. I hope everyone is having a great Tuesday morning! I know I am :) I got home from camp Saturday afternoon. I was super worn out so I took a big nap once I got home and it felt so good! Camp was so much fun and it was a much needed getaway. I got to see some of my old counselors and my old tee-pee mates from last year. It was so neat to see all of the people who kept up with me all throughout the year and encouraged me every step of the way. My camp friends hold a very special place in my heart and I am so thankful that I was able to go and see all of these lovely young ladies. It was very hot at camp. The temperature was in the 100's!  It was pretty brutal and it was very hard on my body. The heat wore me down so I was not able to participate in the activities. But looking on the bright side I got to spend a lot of time in the nurse station and make more friends. The nurses were like my second moms because they were so wonderful and caring and knew exactly how to take care of me. The tee-pees are not air conditioned but the nurses station is... just another reason to love the nurses office even more! My dear friend Brie who was in the tee-pee with me last year, (I could write a whole blog post about her because she is such a wonderful woman of God!) her mom was one of the nurses! It was so much fun and Ms. Penny (Brie's mom) is just as wonderful as Brie. Now I know where Brie gets it from! Ms. Penny is so great and she would take care of me and let me take a nap in her bed when I was tired and let me come in and hang out whenever the heat was too much on my little body. I am so thankful to have had Ms. Penny as my nurse because she let me come in and rest whenever that made the week a whole lot more enjoyable. I got pretty worn down at camp (I'm still recovering haha) but I grew so much spiritually! I needed this week so badly. I kept telling everyone that this week at camp was a positive distraction. It gave me a week to feel how I used to and feel like a normal 15 year old girl again instead of the St. Jude kid. At camp you are surrounded with encouraging Christians and their passion for Jesus is so contagious. I came to camp with a very strong walk with the LORD but I left camp with that walk amplified! All throughout the week there were wonderful talks and they were based on the phrase "Rise up".
R- renew
I- image
S- stand
E- encourage
U- unashamed
P- passion
These talks were so powerful and I learned how to renew myself, how to look at myself differently because I am God's creation, how to stand up for my faith, how to encourage my brothers and sisters in Christ, how to be unashamed of my faith and wanting to share it with everyone I meet, and finally how to have a passion for Jesus that makes everyone around me want to follow him as well. It feels weird back to be in the real world and it is a lot harder because I don't have people around me constantly encouraging me. I am having major camp withdrawls! At camp I was blessed with the opportunity to share my testimony with the whole senior camp. I shared it on Thursday night at Crosstalk which is a very serious night. We went station to station hearing stories from doubting Thomas, scribes who copied the Bible, the Roman soldier who crucified Jesus, and many more people. That was very powerful and really put the crucifixion into perspective for me. Crosstalk always teaches me something different every year and this year it reminded me that Jesus did not die just a little death for me. In fact he died the worst death possible so that I could spend eternal life in heaven with my Father. After we went through the stations everyone went down to the lake shore and then I began sharing my story. It was very dark outside and while I was sharing my testimony there was heat lightening behind me and after I was done sharing it started pouring down rain and lightening. Sharing my story with the whole camp was such a blessing because ever since I was diagnosed I have been praying for the LORD to bless me with an opportunity to share how faithful he has been to me this whole year. It was very cool to share with the camp and it made it so much cooler to have lightening behind me. It was like the LORD was reminding me of his presence and letting me know that he would supply me with the right words to say. The storm got very bad so everyone had to go up to their tee-pee's but thankfully I was done. Crosstalk is a very important night like I said because this is when most non-believers become Christians. I am very honored and blessed to be asked to talk on this special night. The next morning I had a lot of people come up and tell me how my story has touched them. People came up to me and told me what they had been struggling with that year and they said that they needed to be reminded to put things in perspective. There was one special boy who was about 16 or 17 and he told me that after hearing my story he accepted Jesus Christ as his LORD and savior. Wow!! I have no words to express how I felt after he told me this! The LORD is not selfish and he sometimes puts trials in our lives so that he can be glorified. Having cancer some people think is the worst thing that can happen to you but actually it was one of the best things that happened to me. I had to depend on the LORD for strength and I had to trust him because I had no idea what was going to happen to me but I knew who held my future. When that boy came up to me and said that because I shared my story his life is now changed forever I realized that me getting sick was not in vain and the LORD blessed me with that boy to remind me that he has more opportunities for me in store. This is just the beginning. While I was at camp one of my friends from St. Jude passed away. Her name was Sheyla and she was from Puerto Rico. She was such a sweet and beautiful young girl and everyone called her princess Sheyla. She holds a special place in my heart and will be missed. Please keep her family in your prayers during this difficult time. Hope everyone has a blessed day and don't forget to Rise up!