Choice of Antique Spoon Bracelet or SWORD OF FORGIVNESS ends June 22

I'm excited to be FINALLY doing my bracelet giveaway! And I owe you all an apology and an explanation for disappearing for five weeks. As for the reason:

Right about the time of my last post we received some unexpected news. My husband went to the doctor for a check up and the doctor discovered a lump near his collarbone. Well, Joe knew it was there and had ignored it, thinking it was nothing. The doctor sent us to another doctor. 

Joe and me. Isn't he handsome!

This doctor thought it was a fatty tumor. Nothing to worry about. But at the last minute (and I'm sure the looks of concern on our face played a part) he said, "Well, there is no way to know for sure without a biopsy. So I'll send you to a surgeon to have it biopsied."

Two days later we are sitting in the surgeon's office and he is telling us it is in the wrong spot to be a lymph node. He thinks it is a benign fatty tumor, come back on Friday and he will remove it. So we returned on Friday. Half way through the surgery he says, I'm beginning to think this is a lymph node. Several minutes later he reaches the lump and confirms it is a node. He sends it off and tells us it isn't big and he isn't real concerned that it is cancer.

A week passes while we wait and pray. We return to the office to find out Joe has a rare form of Non Hodgkins Lymphoma called Mantle Cell. Suddenly our lives are turned upside down! 

Next week we are in the Oncologists office scared to death.  He's telling us how we will put this into remission with some very tough chemo and then a stem cell transplant, but it isn't curable. It will come back, the question is when. Wow!!! These things happen to other people right?

After several more tests we were to start the next week. However our daughter who is a PA and a dear friend who is a NP talked us into going to MD Anderson and getting a second opinion. Three weeks later we are in Houston at MD Anderson and they are telling us about a clinical trial they'd like to see Joe in. They ran more tests and repeated some that had already been done. What they discovered in the CT scan was that in a month Joe's lymph nodes that were swollen throughout his body hadn't grown. And though there are a lot of them, they aren't large like a lot of Mantle Cell (MCL) patients.

God is so good! Had Joe taken just one treatment of Chemo he wouldn't have qualified for the clinical trial which will eliminate the stem cell transplant! Dr. Wang at MD Anderson is the top MCL doctor in the nation. He said since Joe's nodes hadn't grown they would take the 'watch and wait' approach. We will return every 3 months for another CT scan to see if anything is changing.

The 3 month reprieve is an answer to prayer. We are now juicing and eating fresh fruit and vegetables trying to get Joe's immune system up along with lots of vitamins! Everything we read tells us that building his immune system is the key to beating this 'so-called' incurable disease. 

But I know God is bigger than MCL and I truly believe God is going to heal Joe. Now whether it is through divine healing, healthy eating, or the wisdom God has given doctors, I don't know. But I do know Joe will beat this!

Have you or a loved one had to battle cancer? Did you do it naturally? I'd love to hear your stories!

Leave a comment and your email address to be entered in the drawing. You can choose between a bracelet made from an antique spoon (and you get to choose your own charms) or a copy of SWORD OF FORGIVENESS (your choice of paperback or ebook). And don't forget to let me know if you are a follower for an extra entry. AND if you share a tweet and/or FB about this post let me know for another entry!! 

If you are the winner, here are your choices of charms from your suggestions that remind you of Sword of Forgiveness. 
 

When her father died, she had promised herself no man would own her again, yet who could defy an edict of the king?
After the death of her cruel father, Brithwin is determined never again to live under the harsh rule of any man. Independent and resourceful, she longs to be left alone to manage her father's estate. But she soon discovers a woman has few choices when the king decrees she is to marry Royce, the Lord of Rosencraig. As if the unwelcome marriage isn't enough, her new husband accuses her of murdering his family, and she is faced with a challenge of either proving her innocence or facing possible execution.
Royce of Hawkwood returns home after setting down a rebellion to find his family brutally murdered. When all fingers point to his betrothed and attempts are made on his life, Royce must wade through murky waters to uncover the truth. Yet Brithwin's wise and kind nature begin to break down the walls of his heart, and he soon finds himself in a race to discover who is behind the evil plot before Brithwin is the next victim.

 Debbie Lynne Costello has enjoyed writing stories since she was about eight years old. She raised her family and then embarked on her own career of writing the stories that had been begging to be told. She and her husband have four children and live in upstate South Carolina. She has worked in many capacities in her church and is currently the Children's Director. Debbie Lynne has shown and raised Shetland Sheepdogs for eighteen years and still enjoys litters now and then. In their spare time, she and her husband take pleasure in camping and riding their Arabian and Tennessee Walking horses.