Prayer and fasting

A dear friend emailed us and told us that this Saturday 4/16 that she was going to be be fasting and praying on my behalf .   What a blessing!   She asked us to put a note here in the blog welcoming any others who might possibly like to join her (no pressure, just wanting to pass this along in case others are interested).  Thank you from the bottom of my heart, everyone for your prayers and encouragement.  I am so thankful for each of you and that our great God is ALWAYS up to something good in each of our lives and that He never, ever makes any mistakes.

Oh Father, how I need You!  Please, please help me to trust You and keep my eyes on YOU no matter what lies ahead.

Honestly, I have been going through a really, really hard time and crying out to the Lord with my whole heart.  I have been chewing on the below verse the last couple days and praying for complete healing, according to His will, using whatever tools He deems best,  and in His  time table.  I am specifically asking HIM to be my personal Great Physican and for HIM to do the surgery and remove every last cancer cell in my body for good.   There is NOTHING too hard for our God…NOTHING!  Let’s watch His answers to our prayers.   However He answers is right and best.  God can use the skill of doctors and their methods to deal with cancer if He chooses but He is fully capable of healing me without them if He so desires.

Ephesians 3:20

²⁰ Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us  (NKJV)

²⁰ Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us (NIV)

²⁰Now to Him Who, by (in consequence of) the [action of His] power that is at work within us, is able to [carry out His purpose and] do superabundantly, far over and above all that we [dare] ask or think [infinitely beyond our highest prayers, desires, thoughts, hopes, or dreams]– (Amplified)

²⁰ Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think. (NLT)

^20-21God can do anything, you know—far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams! He does it not by pushing us around but by working within us, his Spirit deeply and gently within us. (The Message)

²⁰ To him who by means of his power working in us is able to do so much more than we can ever ask for, or even think of: (Good News)

In His love and mine too,

Paula

Praise Report!

Greetings!  In the midst of dealing with Paula’s breast cancer, we had some good news  that we wanted to share with you.

In our last Paula Health Update (on 4/2) we shared the good news that Paula did not have a new 6 cm tumor (as the ultrasound report had initially indicated), but that apparently it was only 6 mm and a typo had been made.  So that has given us a bit of a reprieve to see if God will be pleased to use the Gerson therapy to help Paula’s immune system defeat this cancer.

Our good news today does not relate directly to Paula’s breast cancer, but it is encouraging nonetheless.

First, some Background:

You may recall that Paula has had problems with excessive uterine bleeding in November 2009 (which resulted in a D&C) and October 2010; these were apparently due to her uterine lining becoming excessively thick, perhaps due to a hormone imbalance.  As a result, her gynecologist prescribed  progesterone for Paula to avoid continued problems in this area.

In January of this year, however, when the breast cancer was biopsied and analyzed, we learned that progesterone feeds this particular cancer, so progesterone is no longer an option; in fact, the progesterone (that Paula was on) very likely contributed to the growth of the breast cancer.

So, Paula and her doctors realized that, since (due to the breast cancer) she could no longer be on progesterone, her thickened uterine lining may again lead to excessive bleeding and thus possibly necessitate a hysterectomy.

In late 2009, a medium-sized complex cyst (with a solid component) was also discovered on Paula’s right ovary.  Although surgery was an option, the doctor indicated that it was very unlikely that it was cancerous and so Paula elected to instead have it monitored periodically (via ultrasound) to keep an eye on it.

OK, now onto the good news!

As Paula had been preparing for a possible mastectomy, she wanted to know how her uterine lining and the ovarian cyst were doing (in case she would need to consider a hysterectomy or ovariectomy as well).  So last week she had an pelvic ultrasound done – and the report came back normal – with no mention of a thick uterine lining nor a complex ovarian cyst!

Now that kind of surprised us (but who ever heard of a radiology report being in error), so Paula spoke with the radiologist, who offered to repeat the ultrasound for free.  We received the official ultrasound report and it was in agreement with the first ultrasound.  Her uterine lining has decreased in thickness from 2.1 cm (in Oct. 2010) down to 3 mm, and there is no longer any cyst showing on her right ovary!

For this, we praise and thank the Lord!  It could be that He’s using the Gerson therapy to get Paula’s body back into normal functioning, and we hope and pray He will help her body fight off the breast cancer as well.

We appreciate your continued prayers for Paula’s healing, and we also thank everyone who has or is continuing to help us with juicing, produce washing, coffee brewing, etc.  Our Paula’s Partners volunteer calendar is active again, so we would invite you to visit our Paula’s Partners site (by visiting www.JPOliver.com and clicking Paula’s Partners on the left-side menu).

Thanks again for your prayers, help, and encouragement!

By His Grace, John & Paula 🙂

04/02 Paula Health Update

Greetings!  In our last Paula Health Update on 3/25, we shared that, as a result of a “bad news” ultrasound report, Paula had decided to abandon the Gerson cancer therapy and resort to Plan B (Breast removal) and possibly Plan C (Chemotherapy, radiation, and/or other drugs) as well.

It was Paula’s original intent to implement the Gerson therapy for 8 weeks and then evaluate to see if it appeared to be effective in her situation, but this mid-point ultrasound had shown a large new breast tumor (6 cm in length), which was of sufficient import for Paula to change plans half-way through her Gerson trial.

This past week, as Paula was starting down this new dreaded path (of breast removal and chemo, etc.), we saw Paula’s oncologist on Monday and then went to the breast surgeon on Tuesday, prepared to sign the consent form for the mastectomy.

An interesting thing happened, though, on the way to Plan B.  Upon examining Paula and using her own ultrasound equipment, the breast surgeon indicated that she could not see any new 6 cm tumor.  In looking through the ultrasound photos that had been taken of that area, she concluded that there had been a (typo or transcription) error in the radiology report, as she could see a tumor that was 6 mm in size, not 6 cm.

With this new information, Paula has thus spent the last several days re-thinking her decision, trying to decide whether she should continue to proceed down the Plan B/C path (that she had just resigned herself to) or resume the Gerson therapy (to give it the fair trial, that she had originally intended).  During the week, Paula also had some additional testing done.

After much prayer and agonizing, Paula has decided to continue with the Gerson therapy for at least four additional weeks, hoping that it will indeed be effective (by God’s grace), and trusting the Lord either way.

Since we (Paula specifically, but it involves our whole family) are now back on the Gerson therapy (hourly juicing, five-times daily detoxifying, etc.), we could again use (and would appreciate) some help. 

We have re-activated the volunteer opportunities (to help with juicing, produce washing, coffee brewing, providing an occasional meal, etc.) on our Paula’s Partners LotsaHelpingHands site and appreciate the continued assistance that our friends and co-workers are able to provide.

If you would be interested in helping, you can join Paula’s Partners by visiting our website, www.JPOliver.com, and clicking on the link (on the left-side menu) to Paula’s Partners. 

Thanks again for your continued help and prayers!

By His Grace, John & Paula  🙂