Clean Scan

Tisha had a MRI of her liver yesterday and it came back clean! We are blessed once again with a cancer free scan!

This month we celebrated Metisha’s recovery in a very magical way. Metisha, her mom, sister and brother-in-law spent 5 days at Disney World! Tisha made pink t-shirts that said “Celebrating Surviving Cancer”. We were trying to play the cancer card to win a free night stay in Cinderella’s Castel but it didn’t work. Oh well. We had a blast and were very grateful to be celebrating Tisha!

Does anyone smell burnt liver?

I can not help but feel I smell like over cooked meat today? Eeewww! Anyone who likes that smell is welcome to come by, but I warn you that I am not looking my best today. I feel like an old lady walking hunched over with my oh so cute chemo curl bed head hair do. Mom would be so proud:) On the upside, I am really enjoying my "nurse." Why don't they make "nurse's" outfits for men?

I wanted to thank you all for you prayers these past couple days. I am amazed again by the power of prayer and I am so grateful God answers. Please continue to pray that I will be 100% cancer free. I would also like to ask that you join me in praying that I would be led to whatever it is God wants me to do with my experience. I just hope I don't end up in Africa living in a grass hut:)

God bless all of you and again know that I pray for you too!
Love,
Metisha

Out of Surgery

Metisha is out of surgery but Mark has not gotten to see her yet. The doctors said it went well and they feel confident. They used a bigger probe than they used last time.

Praise God that the surgery went well! Pray that it was successful and there is no remaining cancer. Pray that the recovery will be quick and easy.

Good News!

Metisha received the results of the PET scan today and they showed that the only spot is on the liver. While we would have been thrilled with a cancer free scan, this is very good news! The doctors feel confident they can get this spot with another liver procedure which will happen this Friday.

Thanks so much to everyone who prayed with us! God continues to teach us lessons through cancer and we continue to learn to trust him and to choose his peace.

Pray for the liver procedure on Friday. Pray that it will be 100% effective and pain free. Pray that this is Metisha’s last battle with cancer and she lives a long healthy life. Pray that her story will continue to positively impact people.

Oh, and for another VERY exciting update: her hair has gotten long enough to pull some of it back into a ponytail!

Waiting, waiting, and....waiting.

Metisha writes:
Well, I survived another day of being shoved in a huge coffin like tube and I truly believe I should glow in the freegin dark by now with all of the radioactive meds I have had put into my body! I also think that if there is a nuclear explosion that I will survive because nuclear medicine does not faze me. I am RADIOACTIVE GIRL! ...and I am sad to say that my drink of choice these days is barium. Yum! Berry flavor is Great!
I am so grateful for all of your prayers today. As I was laying in the scan tube, I was praying that God would allow my scans to come back clear or at least with just the one cancer spot on my liver. You would think that I would be praying for a calming of my nerves from being in the tube, but I REALLY like it now. Did you know you can nap in there? The only problem with that is I snored and woke myself up which caused me to jerk. STAY STILL! I think I might change my bed into a tube with banging noises and lasers. Apparently they lull me right to sleep.
I was given the impression while there today that no matter what the results were God is with me. I am beginning to have the feelings that God is preparing me for more. So, I am asking for your prayers of peace and faith and trust in God's plan for me and my family. I can't do it without all of you supporting me in prayer, so help me pray for a miracle again! Our God is an awesome God and He is a God who saves! So, now we wait. Again! Whoever prayed for me to have patience...THANKS ALOT:0)! I hope all of you are blessed this weekend and know that I am praying for you too!

Love,
Metisha

Liver Procedure Scheduled

Metisha is scheduled to have the liver procedure done on September 26th to burn off the cancer. She will have a PET scan done before that on September 19th. Tisha is doing great and is very upbeat! We are praying that this is the only reoccurrence and that the PET scan will show there is no additional cancer. We are praying that she will once again be cancer free soon and will remain cancer free from that point on. Thanks for all of your prayer and support!

Second Round :(

Metisha received the results back from an MRI of her abdomen today and the cancer is back. The spot on her liver which they burned about a year ago now had cancer back around the edges. Mark and Metisha are taking the news better than the rest of us and are upbeat! Always joking, Metisha says thanks to everyone who was sad there were no updates on the blog because we have an update now ;)

The doctors said this area of the liver was hard to burn because it is by a large blood vessel but they are optimistic it can be treated with the same procedure. Right now, the plan is to do another a burn procedure and no chemo. She will have the procedure done as soon as possible. She will also have a PET scan on the 19th to see if the reoccurrence is only in her liver.

So it’s time to hit our knees in prayer again. We know Metisha is God’s miracle. We know he healed her once and can do it again. We know he is more powerful than cancer.

Pray that:
The cancer has only reoccurred in this one spot.
The burn procedure can be done quickly.
The burn procedure will be easy on her body. The last treatment was very painful.
He will maintain Metisha’s high spirits.
Our family will be able to give Mark and Metisha the support they need.
God will once again cure her of all cancer.

It’s raining today in Fort Worth, and if you know Metisha’s story, you know that God has given us rain as a sign of his healing in her life.

One year ago our world shattered around us ( http://metishawelsh.blogspot.com/2007/08/urgent-prayer_08.html ). On that day our grandfather died, we were told Metisha had a mass on her brain and we thought the cancer had spread to her brain. It was the worst day of my life. Thankfully, and because God does still perform miracles, Metisha had a big fungus ball in her head and today she is cancer free.

And today, she is 100% done with reconstruction! Yes, done with reconstruction! She had her last procedure today and the ta ta’s are fully restored! And for those curious readers, they look amazing! If it wasn’t for some very minor scars, you would not know they are manmade.

Thank you God for total healing of Metisha. Thank you God for giving Grandma strength and comfort as she adjusted to life without Grandpa. And thank you God for fully restored ta ta’s!

Happy Birthday!

Happy Birthday big sister! Last year you wanted cancer free scans for your birthday, this year you wanted a digital camera. I’m so glad all you could want this year is a digital camera!

We celebrate you today and the miracle you are. In some odd way, this is your first birthday. You have been given a new life, a better life. You are not the same person you were a year ago. You are stronger. You are more beautiful, inside and out. You have a deeper faith in God. You are forever changed, and I am forever changed by you. God has blessed you, and you are a blessing to everyone in your life.

I am so thankful you are alive today. I am so thankful we get to celebrate another year with you. I’m so thankful to have you as a sister. I love you! Celebrate today!

Another Cancer Free Scan!

Metisha had an MRI on Wednesday which came back CANCER FREE! We continue to be thankful for her complete healing and cherish every day!

Her hair is still growing and it has a fierce attitude! Metisha has decided the more she tries to style it the more she just angers the beast. The new Ta Ta’s will get their new headlights next month, so she is getting closer to the end of reconstruction.

I have asked you in the past to pray for our friend Jeff. Jeff and his family have courageously battled cancer for the last 10 months and Jeff received his heavenly reward last week. I cannot even begin to describe the love, faith and strength they have displayed over the last 10 months. They are truly an amazing family and have inspired countless people through their journey. Please continue to keep them in your prayers.

The Race is Back

Metisha is doing great! The new ta ta's look awesome! The scars are very small and she is very happy with the results. Mark likes them also! The headlights will be created in May.

This Saturday is Komen Race for the Cure in Fort Worth. So you can show your support for Metisha and help fight breast cancer by sponsoring Metisha.

http://race.komentarrant.org/site/TR/Race/General?px=1264502&pg=personal&fr_id=1060

Healing Up

Sorry for the long delay in updates after surgery! The new Ta Ta’s are in place and healing. The surgery was a little more difficult than anticipated so the recovery is longer than Tisha was planning. And as we all know, Tisha doesn’t like down time! But she is back at school and doing well.

So for now they will let the Ta Ta’s heal and settle. Tisha goes back to the oncologist in July and will have another set of scans at that time.

I wanted to post a picture of a very momentous event that happened a while back: Metisha’s first haircut since chemo!!! Mom trimmed up the back a bit. Metisha still hates her short hair, but its growing!

New Ta Ta’s!

Tomorrow is the big day! Tisha gets her new ta ta’s tomorrow morning! It is a fairly simple outpatient surgery and she will be back home tomorrow evening. Mark’s birthday is Tuesday, so I guess that is about the best birthday gift a guy can get!

We are so thankful to be at the final stages of reconstruction. A year ago when we knew it was stage four cancer, we weren’t sure we would make it to this point or if Metisha would be completely healed. But here we are completely healed. And we praise God for the miracle he has performed.

So for our family, life is moving on from cancer but we are forever changed. Changed for the better. We are stronger. We are more hopeful. We have a stronger faith. We have a stronger family. We have a tested faith and belief in God’s healing, protection and grace. We know that God is more powerful than anything Satan can throw at us. We have learned that love is the most important gift we have received and the most important gift we can give. Love can hurt. Love can disappoint. Love can be the most difficult thing in this world to give away. But love lifts us up. Love heals brokenness. Love forgives. Love supports and sustains us. Don’t be afraid to show love. We are called to love.

This has been another tough week for our family. We lost another Welsh warrior, Uncle Dennis, and we lost him too soon and unexpectedly. We wish we had an opportunity to show him love one more time. But in our hurt, we love those who were left behind. Ewbank family, we are called to surround, to support and to love just as we have done for Metisha for the last year.

So continue to pray with us. Pray for a quick and easy recovery for Metisha. Continue to pray for Metisha’s friend Jeff who is fighting a very though cancer battle. Pray for our Ewbank family. Pray for God to show you who needs your love.


“But for right now, until the completeness, we have three things to do to lead us toward that consummation: Trust steadily in God, hope unswervingly, love extravagantly. And the best of the three is love. “
1 Corinthians 13:13, The Message

Growing Out ...

I know its been a long time since our last update. Metisha’s Thanksgiving post was just so uplifting and inspirational that I wanted to leave at the top of this blog!

So for the past few months, everything has been growing out, literally. Metisha’s hair is continuing to grow out; curly, but out. And her new ta ta’s are growing out nicely also. She goes to the plastic surgeon every few weeks for expansion and has just one or two expansions left. The exciting news is she will get her permanent ta ta’s on March 17th! They will make for a nice birthday present for Mark :) After the implants are in they will get a chance to settle and then the plastic surgeon will give her new headlights. Mark and Tish are debating on high beams or low beams :)

Metisha had genetic testing done to determine if she carries a breast cancer gene. The test came back negative! This is great news because that means she is not at a higher risk for ovarian cancer.

Metisha also had her 6 month checkup with her oncologist last week and everything went great. He said because her genetic test was negative, she is not in immediate need of a hysterectomy. She also had a bone density scan to monitor for bone loss due to her currently menopausal state and she has her next CAT scan on the 31st. This will be the first full scan she has had since July. Keep this scan in your prayers. We continue to believe in and thank God for His healing of Metisha and praise him in anticipation of another clean scan!