Back in second grade in Glenwood City, Wisconsin, with Mrs. Bonte as my teacher, our classroom library (that's all we had back then) contained some biographies of famous people. As I remember, they were "chapter books" which meant few pictures, lots of text, and I either chose to or was told to read a couple of them.
The first one was about George Washington and I think that was kind of a struggle because I don't remember much except the cherry tree...really, it was in there. Another one was about Civil War nurse Clara Barton and I must have been impressed, because I've been interested in her ever since. But one that really got my attention was about the Mayo Brothers who founded the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. I think I've been imprinted on that place and hearing about it as the go-to place for extreme medical situations since reading that book.
Well, now we are in the midst of some actual personal experience with Mayo Clinic. Recently I wrote about Leann's sister, Kristi, and the recurrence of her colon cancer. The three sisters--Kristi, Leann and Sandy--all went to Rochester for her diagnostic tests and consultation appointments with oncologists and surgeons. Who knew that there could be such highs and lows in a short 24-hour period of time?!
Without going into too much detail, there were immediately surprises that only showed up on Mayo's more sophisticated equipment (which brings up all kinds of questions about local medical care). The first consultation was with the oncologist and he filled them with all kinds of hope and possibilities; the second consultation was with the surgeon and...not so much. And as with all things human and choosing which extreme--positive or negative--gets our attention, the power right away went toward what the surgeon said. And I'm sure the oncologist would say his words and expertise should have some power, too.
And that brings me to the next phase of my ramble, to my friend, Rev. John-Robert McFarland, whom I will say more about in the future when I feature him in my "Spotlight on Blogs" for his Christ in Winter blog. For now I go to him once in a while for his thoughts as an almost 25-year colon cancer survivor--and survivor of spending a tumultuous year back in 1991 being in a chemo drug trial which he talks about in his book, Now that I Have Cancer, I Am Whole. (It's a great book whether one is experiencing cancer or not!)
When Kristi first had this setback a couple weeks ago, I emailed him and his thoughts back to me advised learning to take every day one-moment-at-a-time, which is not always easy when the stakes--and the hurdles--are so high. But today he said that even in the midst of chaos (like that which is going on in our heads right now), there is always a moment of grace, a chance to say thanks, like the encouragement of the oncologist with his knowledge and experience with chemo, the support of two caring sisters, and the smile of a little guy at home who thinks he has the best Mom in "the whole, entire world."
So my Miracle Mayo Brothers haven't giving us a cure just yet, but perhaps they have opened the door to a whole new way for all of us to look at how we spend our days, what we give our power to, and noticing our moments of grace.
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And now my promise of snow--not sure it's a moment of grace though. I'll have to get back to you on that, but here is my snow progress stick and the view in our front yard. They forecasted 6-12 inches today...maybe the good news here is that we only have about three inches so far...
That's down to 13 inches at the line.
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