Angels In Voice

The weather here has been cooler with gray skies and rain, the holiday season is definitely upon us.  We have our Christmas music playing as we prepare for Thanksgiving tomorrow.  Mom and Dad have roasted the Turkey and it looks and smells delicious!  There will be 17 of us all together, 15 adults and 2 babies.  We're excited about seeing our great niece and nephew, Leah and Austin.  We are also looking forward to spending the day with our family, celebrating the wonderful blessings that God has given us.    

My tests went well on Monday, it was a very long morning.  We sat there for almost six hours waiting for me to get all three tests completed.  The horrible part about it was that I could not eat until I was finished.  I had not eaten since seven o'clock the night before and we didn't leave the Mayo clinic until one o'clock.  While we were there, I got a call from Dr. Mulligan's secretary Marie, telling me that he was canceling my appointment that afternoon.  He had an emergency transplant surgery come up.  I was a bit disappointed but I can understand that things like that happen.  After we left the clinic,  our family headed over to In-N-Out Burger for lunch.  We made a stop by one of our favorite stores "Fashion Q" before heading home.  

I apologize it has taken us a while to get an update to you.  I woke up sick yesterday morning.  I had a fever, and my head and chest were very congested.  My first thought was that I don't have time to be sick.  Then I was concerned about being sick for thanksgiving.  I had mom make an appointment with the PCP, but I wasn't able to get an appointment with Dr. Berger until this morning.  He listened to my lungs and said they sounded clear.  I have been coughing a lot, especially since I've been struggling with my asthma for over two weeks now.  Dr. Berger told me I have a viral infection, but prescribed  the five day Zithromax.  I started taking it today so I really do hope I'll feel better in a couple of days.  

Yesterday I called Dr. Mulligans office and spoke with Marie.  She pulled up my reports, went to talk to Dr. Mulligan about them and called me back.  She told me everything looked good.  No changes!  My Alpha Fetoprotein Tumor Marker was 6.3.  Right in the normal range.  The same number it was back in July.  I thought that was interesting.  Dr. Mulligan was very satisified with the results.  He did mention that I need to have the CT scan done again in three months.  He didn't see anything that alarmed him, but he just wanted to follow-up with it it be sure there isn't anything new on my lungs.  I am so thrilled with my APF tumor marker.  This is the longest that it has stayed in the normal range.  Back in November of 06, it was up in the 40's.  I just thank the Lord for sustaining my health.  Everytime I go for a follow-up I feel at peace with everything.  Our family has so much to be thankful for.  Dad and I have been free of cancer for two years now.  It is truly amazing to see the Lord at work in our lives and our ministry. Thank you for your continued prayers and support.  We wish you all a Happy and blessed Thanksgiving day!! 

Psalm 92:1,2 NIV

 1 It is good to praise the LORD
       and make music to your name, O Most High,

 2 to proclaim your love in the morning
       and your faithfulness at night,

We wanted to let you know that I will be going for my four month follow up at the Mayo Clinic tomorrow morning.  Please be in prayer for a good report.  I have fasting lab work scheduled for 7:35am followed by CT scan of my lungs and an MRI of my liver and abdomen.  So it'll be a long morning of tests for sure.  I'll see doctor Mulligan at 4:00pm and he should have my results.  By the grace of God I have been doing relatively well the past few months and my weight is staying consistent as well.  I have been struggling with allergies and asthma and have had to use my inhaler everyday for the past couple of weeks.  I made an appointment on Thursday to see the primary care doctor because the left side of my mouth was swollen and sore.  The doctor told me I had little sores in my mouth caused from a viral infection and prescribed me an antibiotic as well as a mouth wash to use to help with the pain.  Hopefully by the middle of the week, the sores should be healed.

This week was another busy practice week.  Wednesday we ministered at the Boys Juvenile Detention Center for the other three units.  We shared our testimony and sang a few songs.  Our dad also gave his testimony and we pray that the three of us were a blessing to these boys as they truly need the love of Jesus in their lives.  On Thursday we had our voice lessons, and we're continuing to work on our classical pieces as well as a trio with our voice teacher for the recital in January.  The song is called "Suscepit Israel" from the Bach Magnificat.  It's a beautiful but challenging song.  We're really hoping to have it learned and ready by January.  We've also been practicing for a couple of singing engagements that are coming up in December. 

We hope to update and let you know how things go tomorrow.  The Lord is good and we just continue thanking HIM for the wonderful 2008 we have had.  

These past two weeks have flown by and we are quickly approaching the holiday season.  There are less than seven weeks left of 2008 and a new year will begin.  I think the older we get the faster the years go.  We're both feeling well health wise despite struggling with allergies and asthma this week.  It's that time of the year when the cold and flu are going around.  We got our flu shot last month, so we're good for another year.  We have been busy practicing and preparing Christmas music for the two bookings we have in December.  Our church choir is presenting a Christmas cantata called "The Spirit of Christmas" on December 14th.  Candice and I spent yesterday evening singing through each song, working on getting our parts perfected.  It's a beautiful cantata with some really nice songs.  

We're also preparing for our yearly student voice recital in January with our voice teacher Karen which is being held at St. Thomas Aquinas.  We're both planning two solo pieces and we've already decided on one piece.  Candice is going to be singing her French piece "Adieu" by Grandmougin and I chose German, "Ach Ich Fuhl's" by Mozart.  We've spent a lot of time practicing these pieces and it's definitely a challenge learning a new song.  Right now I am working on two pieces.  One by Bach, "Jouchzet Gott In Allen Landen" and the other is "Let the Bright Seraphim" by Handel.   I've sang "Let the Bright Seraphim" before back in 2001 when we were voice majors at Glendale Community College.  So now I'm trying to relearn it, hoping I will be able to perform either that or the Bach song in January.

Monday afternoon we saw the movie "Fireproof" with our family.  It's a Christian movie with a powerful message about love, hope and salvation.  It's an excellent movie, life changing and thought provoking.  It's one of the best movies we've seen and I highly recommend it to everyone.

Romans 5:8 NLT

But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.