Nothing changes (Chester goes to ER and we still go to Waterton)

We are learning bit by bit that nothing changes. St. Paul endured a lot. Torture. Prison. Martyrdom. He said, "I have learned the secret of being content in every situation," and our "lives are hidden with Christ," and "nothing can seperate us from the love of Christ." Essentially, no matter what hits us, nothing changes. Tuesday morning we were all packed to go on vacation when pain hit Chester suddenly, followed by nausea and other worrisome symptoms. We were headed to the ER for the second time in about a week, praying for mercy. Nothing changes? Truly. Whether Chester is in the emergency room for another post-surgical complication (like he was on Tuesday) or whether we are spending the day by a beautiful lake in Waterton national park like we did yesterday, "Nothing [important, eternal, with our relationship with God] changes." (We also were extremely blessed that he was only in the ER for 7 hours and we still went on that vacation.)

The whiplash is hard. But hopefully we will get better and better at living out the truth that "nothing changes." We expect a phone call with our oncologist tonight to hear the results of the tumor board discussion of Chester's case, and a start date for treatment...

We head to a new clinic tomorrow for a different kind of wellness assessment...

We are investigating other tests (microbiome, allergen) that we hope will give him the best chance to avoid toxic reactions to immunotherapy... We scheduled a physical therapy session for tomorrow to address some of Chester's surgical adhesions and the pain and danger they cause... We are still digesting and researching more from last week's medical conversations... And yet, whether we hear good news or bad news, have a good scan or a bad scan, a great day outdoors or an ER day, nothing [really] changes.

Ran into our dear friend from church who works at the hospital right before Chester was discharged from Rockyview (again).

At Waterton national park for some time with friends in ministry and family time.