Maggie and I have arrived in Birmingham for her clinic appointment and infusion (if all blood counts look good). The past two weeks since her last infusion have been busy. You’ll remember she had a migraine on the day of her infusion that almost derailed the treatment (she was too nauseated to eat the minimum calorie requirement for taking her oral dose which comes before her infusion). She had another migraine at home the following Monday. Even though she has had several in the past, she has never had two in the same week (or even same month). We’re a bit concerned and hope to find the cause. One possible explanation is the fact we’ve delayed having her wisdom teeth extracted due to past concerns of infection potential (when her counts were depressed from chemo). The teeth were way past needing to be out of the mouth and had been causing increasingly troublesome jaw discomfort. We decided to start the process for having them removed with a consultation. Imagine our surprise when a friend in the right place arranged for same day surgery on Friday. I had a bit of work to do to have her UAB team approve the procedure but managed that after a quick trip to the clinic in Hattiesburg for a CBC to make sure her blood counts were solid enough (platelets, etc). No, nothing is as simple as it used to be. With approval email in hand, we proceeded to the oral surgeon’s office Friday for extraction. The procedure went off without a hitch (as we knew it would) and Maggie breezed through recovery. She did have another migraine yesterday which might point to another source. We’ll be discussing this with the UAB team.

Yesterday we made a quick trip to Jackson for Maggie to take part in Batson’s annual Radiothon. She gave two separate interviews LIVE on the radio – like a pro – which blows me away because I sink into the shadows praying I never have a microphone in front of me. She claims, “It’s only having a conversation with someone.” (With hundreds of people listening, I add). UAB has plans to continue work on the video profile of Maggie they started in November. We’ve scheduled an interview with them in our home next Wednesday, the 8th. We’re still not crystal clear on the purpose and audience for this. We do hope to have access to it once complete. If possible, we’ll share it. I’m thankful God has placed within Maggie a desire to use every chance she has to share her story. Our prayer is for as much good as possible  to come from her experience. I love the idea of “redeeming (making the most of) our time” (Eph 3:15-16), and I’m blessed to know Maggie does, too!

Thank you for walking this path with us. We are comforted and encouraged by your prayers and kind words. Prayers are answered moment by moment in small and big ways. I shared a quote on FB last week I want to repeat here:

“Faith is confidence in the kindness of God, no matter the confusion of circumstances” (Ann Voskamp in The Broken Way). More than any other thought we cling to the bedrock knowledge of God’s goodness. And the promise that all things work together for our good.