These are the Lenox Angels I got from Vince & Andrea for Christmas.

Listen to your angel

I would like to share a story about the importance of listening to your angel.  In mid-January of 2000, my angel started whispering "Go home. Go home now!" For several days the message kept bouncing around in my mind and finally, I decided that I needed to act on it even though I had a foster child who could not miss school and a heavy load at work.

I managed to work it all out finding a place for my child so she could stay in school, lining up vacation time and finding a good deal on airline tickets.  My mother thought I was nuts coming to Ohio in the dead of winter but with the way everything just fell into place, I knew I was supposed to go right then.

My father had been battling cancer for over a year but he was much more alert than he had been when I was home the previous August for a visit.  We had a lovely week together.  He had just been baptized and wanted to study and read scripture but his eyes weren't up to reading.  I spent many hours reading from his lesson book and the bible. It was truly a special time for both of us.

In the wee hours of the morning I was scheduled to fly home to Florida, Daddy died.  He was praying with my Mother and slipped away peacefully. I thank God every day for letting my angel warn me to go home so I could have those precious days with him!

I am a survivor...

Shortly after moving into my house, I thought I was trying to pass yet another kidney stone (I've had six of them).  After weeks of drinking enough water to float a battleship, I gave it up and called the urologist.  He sent me in for a CT scan when the x-ray didn't show a stone.  Turned out that there were 2 masses on my left kidney causing the pain.  One was clearly a cyst and the other looked solid to the radiologist.  After another CT, a Sonagram and an MRI, the urologist decided that surgery was necessary.

I had to undergo a complete physical including a nuclear stress test on my heart.  That lead to a heart cath test to rule out damage or blockage.  The good news was that my heart is beautiful (Dr. Litt's exact words).  I was finally scheduled for the kidney surgery, but my doctor was confident that the mass was not cancer.

My sisters from St. Catherine's organized a prayer service for the night before surgery.  It was wonderful and helped me find peace with my situation.  The surgery on the morning of September 17th went well and my hospital stay was blessedly short.  I didn't find out until the following Monday that it had been cancer.

I was so very lucky.  The tumor was large (the size of a hard baseball).  However, it had not ruptured and was barely attached to my kidney.  The surgeons only had to remove a small bite of the kidney.  I am cured.  No chemotherapy or radiation to endure.  I was only off work for four weeks and now feel just fine.  I surely know the power of all the prayers that went up to heaven for me!