Ryan update

Thanks for all of you who prayed and have shown such love and support.

I am going to make this a quick update because I am writing from my IPad--my old IPad.

Ryan was a champ.  He was so brave.  He did not show any anxiety until the put the mask on his face to put him to sleep. He did everything that was ask of him by the nurses and doctors.  He was truly excited to get this done.
The doctor checked him today and said his eye looks great. He could see 20/80 out of the eye he had done yesterday and 20/20 out of the one he had done 3 weeks ago!   Such a miracle from God!

We are GODSTRONG!

1/2 of us from the beach!

And the other 1/2 from MUSC!

Poor Ryan, while he was getting his eye cut on, his siblings were playing in the sand with their Aunt! HEHEHEHE

2 Corinthians 12:9 "...my power is made perfect in weakness"

Hello all.

Thanks to all of you for your prayers and support.  God has been so good!  Let me share with you what He has been teaching me.

After the surgery I was struggling with fear.  Fear that something was going to hit Ryan's eye, fear that the blood spot on the white of his eye was bleeding instead of "bruising", fear that he really still couldn't see, and on and on.  LOTS OF FEAR.  So much so that I would wake up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat in what felt like a panic attack.  I would start researching on the internet at 2, 3, 4 AM all these things I was fearful of.  So after about a week of this, I was messaging with a friend.  And I told her I was feeling so weak.  And I needed to be Godstrong.  I was struggling to find the strength to be strong in the Lord, instead I was letting Satan creep in.  I went to bed that night and everytime I woke up worried about Ryan, I would pray.  I felt such a peace.  I woke up feeling so much more rested.  Later in the day I was doing my Bible Study.  And of course God was speaking RIGHT TO ME!  I was studying 2 Corinthians 12.  In it, Paul talks about an affliction he was having. He does not state exactly what he was going through but I was reading my commentary and some scholars believe it could have been eye disease (amongst other suggestions)!  So Paul asked God to take away his affliction, and God's response was:  "my grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness."  Paul goes on to say he will v.10..."delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties.  FOR WHEN I AM WEAK, THEN I AM STRONG!"

Clearly, this had my name written ALL OVER IT!  God was talking right to me!  His power is made PERFECT in WEAKNESS.  He wants us to experience "weakness" so we can be strong in Him.  I knew that I had to start running to God instead of the computer, not letting Satan get a strong hold in this area.  I'm sorry for all the CAPS.  I am not yelling at you, haha.  I just want to highlight exactly what God was speaking to me about.

I have had such a peaceful week.  I really feel like God has given me a peace.  I have not woke up worrying as much.  And if I do, I PRAY!  That is what I should have been doing from the beginning! I'm clearly a very slow learner.

So the good news is we went to the eye doctor at MUSC this past Monday and Ryan was seeing very well at 20/40.  He even could see some things at 20/30.  Amazing.  God has performed a miracle and he can see!

Now, this is my test.  Ryan has his next surgery this coming Tuesday (May 5th).  Please pray for Jon and I.  We know this has to be done.  It is just not fun watching your child be put under.  But Ryan is actually excited to get his next eye fixed so that he can see clearly out of both eyes.  He tells us he can see the difference and things are not blurry anymore when he looks out of his one corrected eye.

I was teaching Luke the other day and Ryan came in and asked why his eyes were like this.  And my little preacher Luke spoke up immediately and said "Because God wants to show you His power in your life."  Ryan said, "well, what is wrong with my eyes?"  I explained to him that everyone has a lens behind their eye and that his got cloudy and gray like a cloud on a rainy day and it made him not be able to see through them.  He said, "ok!"  and kept playing!

I truly believe God is teaching ALL of us through this and again it is a time our family can come together and see the spiritual growth God is allowing all of us!

We WILL be GODSTRONG!

Soccer fun!  They are all on the same team and Jon is the coach!  Special moments!

Below is date night.  Mom/Son Date KNIGHT  and Jon and Emma Kate on a high maintenance date!

Ryan did not want to put his eye patch on at the doctor so the other 2 showed their support!

Strawberry picking with friends!

Ryan is home! To his "normal" home

The surgeon said the surgery went great!  He came out and talked to us mid-way after he examed his eyes.  Dr. Wilson does not believe that he was born with cataracts.  He believed he developed them later and they have been there a while after examining them closely.  (he said at least a year).

When we went for the pre-op he was seeing about 20/350 and that was "being generous."  Today at post-op he was seeing about 20/70.  WAHOO!

Ryan says he can see everything "a lot more clear."  He had one goal in mind this morning!  That was to get his patch off!  He wouldn't eat or drink until we left that office with no patch on!

Some stories:

**Ryan took the "silly meds" soon after we got settled in the pre-op area.  They did NOT make him silly.  He was still super anxious and after he screamed his head off about the eye drops, the medical team knew what was coming.  So they told me to suit up, I was going in the operating room with him!.  I was prepared for a lot of things, but NOT this.  So I suited up, got up on the bed, put Ryan on top of me and they took us into the operating room.  The operating room is just scary no matter how old you are.  It took me back to my c-sections b/c those are the surgeries I completely remember, obviously.  I layed Ryan beside me, I cradled him like a baby, sucked up my emotions and had to be strong for my baby boy.  They had to hold him down, put a mask over his face and I had to listen to him scream "MOMMA" through the mask.  It was one of the hardest things I have ever had to do!  I had to watch him fall asleep while they explained everything that was happening with his breathing so I would not be freaked out.  WOW.  It was so hard to walk out of that OR.  I wish I could have done that surgery for him!  I held it in until I walked out and bawled my eyes out.

**A man that had seen us in the pre-op sign in waiting area ran into me CRYING back in the surgery waiting area. He asked me if I was Ok and what my son was having done.  He asked if he could pray with Jon and I!  He prayed a precious prayer!  And Jon prayed for his mom who was having should replacement.  GOD IS GOOD AND ALWAYS THERE FOR US!

**When Luke and Emma Kate saw Ryan on Facetime after he got his patch off, they said YEA, Ryan can see again!!

**The night before we left for Charleston, Ryan started crying in anticipation of his surgery.  Luke came running in his room telling him that God would use this in his life just like he had used in in the Blind man's life in the Bible and that God was going to heal Ryan!!  THAT BOY!

Please pray that Ryan will not get his eye hit especially in the next week!!  And that God will continue to heal his eye and prepare him for his next surgery May 5th!

**2 of my very dear Inheritance of Hope friends that are battling cancer, and I mean BATTLING  cancer were texting me yesterday, encouraging me and making sure everything was OK with Ryan!  WOW!!

THANKS SO MUCH TO OUR PRAYER WARRIORS!  We remain...


GODSTRONG!

Before:

After:

Ryan's surgery update

Hello to all of our prayer warriors!

We met with the surgeon, Dr. Wilson today.  He was FAB!  We have such a peace about his doctors and this great institution.  I told the doc a lot of people were praying for him!

Ryan is my most anxious child.  He is fearful and scared of this surgery.  We have been as honest and open as possible about what will happen tomorrow in a 4 year old appropriate way.  He has not taken it well.  He will just randomly start crying sometimes.  I have never seen him cry outside of being hurt or getting his feelings hurt.  He has cried several times in the last few days when we have started talking about his surgery (which we are just calling "the doctor will fix your eyes").

Today was such a GOD thing.  Ryan cried when we initially went to the exam room.  This team is so exceptional that they did not call us in the exam room until Dr. Wilson was ready because they knew how anxious Ryan was and didn't want him waiting for the doctor.  But Dr. Wilson walked in and it did not take Ryan 5 minutes to calm down.  There was something about this doctor that Ryan LOVED and connected with!  I can't explain it except to say it was just GOD placing that doctor there and giving Ryan a peace.  He even answered the doctors questions which was a miracle.  Dr. Wilson said his current vision is probably about 20/350 and "that is being generous."  He was trying to get somewhat of a baseline on Ryan just to have a starting point but it is very difficult to do with children especially like Ryan that will not answer questions and just crawl into their shell!

Anyways, surgery will be about 8 or 8:30 in the morning at MUSC.  Ryan will get a new lens in one eye.  We are very excited for him!

Please pray for wisdom for the team of doctors.  Please pray in particular for Dr. Wilson and that God will just guide his hands as he makes the incision and removes the lens and placing an aritificial one in there.  Pray for Ryan to just have a peace and not be fearful.  Pray for Jon and I as we wait for our little boy while he is in surgery and then as we care for him afterwards.  This is outpatient surgery.

The Strebe's are...

GODSTRONG! 

We need your prayers!

I am SO sorry it has been so long since I have updated!.  Only good things have happened.  We celebrated a great Christmas with family.  Jon and I went on our 10th anniversary cruise at the beginning of February.  We celebrated Luke's 6th birthday and my 26th birthday.  And my mom and I took the kids to Orlando in March and Jon met us down there for the weekend.  We have had a great winter!

But last week we found out some disturbing news about our youngest son, Ryan (4).  I knew for some time he had trouble seeing.  It seemed to be at a distance and it seemed to be progressing.  So I took him in to a local optometrist.  He informed us Ryan had cataracts in both eyes.  He said it was rare in children and we needed to go to the experts to get our questions answered.  The office set us up an appointment with MUSC.  We went Wednesday and they confirmed that Ryan does indeed have cataracts in both eyes.  They are not the worst the doc has ever seen but they are visually restrictive for Ryan and need to be corrected.  Also, if they are not corrected he would not be able to see in the future.    We were praying the appointment would be very clear and we would be at peace.  It was CLEAR and we were at peace!  God has provided this amazing team of doctors to care for Ryan and fix his eyes!  Dr. Wilson will be doing the surgery and as they told us "you are in great hands with Dr. Wilson, he wrote the books on pediatric cataracts."  Once again, God has led us straight to the doctor he wants Ryan to be at!  Once again, He cares about every little detail of our lives!  And He is with us all the way!

Are we nervous?  ABSOLUTELY.  It is extremely frightening for your 4 year old to be having surgery.  It is extremely frightening to know that something could go wrong in the surgery and Ryan would not be able to see.  It is extremely frightening to not know the short and long term outcome of this surgery.  But we know God does know!  And He has a plan for Ryan and I strongly believe God will use this greatly in his life.  I truly believe God has been preparing Ryan's heart for this trial in his life.   Ryan is a VERY anxious little boy.  He feels the most safe with his momma and his twin sister! But recently Ryan has been asking me LOTS of questions about God and about why Jesus died on the cross.  He has been singing lots of little christian songs around the house.  He is just so adorable!  He is the sweetest thing ever.  He is very sensitive and is so giving and so serving to all of us.  I could go on and on but please pray for our little boy!  Please pray for Dr. Wilson and all the other doctors/residents, etc that will be in this surgery room.  Please pray for protection for Ryan.  Pray for wisdom and discernment for the doctors during surgery.

So the surgery is this coming Tuesday, April 14th.  Our lives are so dang complicated its ridiculous.  I got the phone call today from MUSC on my options for surgery for Ryan.  There were not many options.  So we wanted to get this done quickly and we chose starting the 1st eye this Tuesday although it interferes with Jon's check-up in Indianapolis that was supposed to be on Monday afternoon (13th).  So we got that moved to May 4th (Indy) only to find out that Ryan's 2nd surgery will be Tuesday, May 5th (Charleston).  So yes we will be hopping around the country from doctor to doctor.  The story of our lives.  Next Monday we will go to a consultation with Ryan's surgeon, Tuesday is surgery and Wednesday is post op.  We will drive home and Jon will get in the car again and drive to Atlanta because he has an appointment with his urologist on Thursday.  I'm exhausted thinking about all this.!

Please pray for us!  Just pray we will have PEACE.  I just want to have a "peace that passes all understanding" during this very stressful time.  I tend to get all worked up and start freaking out and let lots of fear creep in!

Once again, thanks for your prayers and I will update this regularly.

You will never know what your prayers mean to us!

We will remain GODSTRONG!

The Strebe's are

GODSTRONG!

Positive results from the latest scan!

SO SORRY I"M JUST SENDING THIS OUT!!!

Jon had his chest x-ray yesterday (last MONDAY) and it was CLEAR!  And his blood work was normal!  HALLELUJAH!  We are rejoicing.  You know God has performed a miracle in Jon's life.  A great reminder at this Christmas season what God did for us by sending His Son.  He loves us so much and He still performs miracles today!!

You know, this process is such a grueling process.  It is such an up and down process.  We are very grateful we have gotten to the point of having scans every 4 months.  And it is nice not to be living day by day wondering what news we would receive.  But there is part of us that lives 4 months to 4 months.  Because I can promise you, sitting in that patient room, waiting for the doctor to come in and announce "your body is free of cancer OR your cancer has come back" is the most excruciating experience.  Jon and I literally sat there on Monday in that IU patient room waiting for Dr. Einhorn to come in and thought, we could either walk out of here jumping for joy OR we could walk out of here with our world rocked once again.  We could walk out of that office and continue life as usual, or we could be making the next plan to kill cancer that had returned.  We could walk out smiling OR crying!  Thank goodness we walked out jumping for joy and Praising God for the great news. And praising God for Dr. Einhorn!  He is the BOMB!

God gave us a great weekend and gave our children a great weekend with Jon's parents.  When Jon and I go to Indy, we try to make the most of our stay in the city.  We love shopping, eating dinner at places we don't normally get to eat at, and just enjoying each other's company (since there is not a whole lot of time for that in our everyday lives).  So this weekend was especially special, thanks to several of our friends.  Saturday, we got picked up by a friend  and headed over to the Butler game.  Now this friend has the HOOK UP.  I will keep it a secret who they are--but if you are reading this, you know who you are!!:o)  She not only picked us up, but we got prime parking.  We had access to the hospitality room where all the big wigs mingle:o)  And then our seats were incredible.  Jon and I LOVE to go to sporting events and because of where we live do not have many opportunities to do that.  Jon and I were in heaven.  It was a great game AND Butler won!  And NO I did not let Jon wear his Duke gear to the game like he threatened!

So then on Sunday, after attending our Indy church service, we enjoyed shopping together and having a dinner date.

Then Monday night we were invited to an event by our dear friend who is in leadership with Dream Alive at the Colts practice facility.  That was way cool because I personally have never been in an NFL practice facility.  I am not going to take time to explain Dream Alive but here is a link

It is a great organization!  Please read about it.

http://dreamaliveinc.org

Anyways, some of you may remember that Coach Pagano (Head Coach of the Indianapolis Colts) reached out to Jon at the very beginning of his treatment in Indy.  So they emailed back and forth and have kept up throughout the year.  Well, since we were at his practice facility and office, we were able to thank him face to face for the encouragement he was during that time.  We were able to spend time in his office sharing stories and seeing things that meant alot to him that people did during his battle.  He showed us how he has our picture in his office amongst others that he reaches out to and prays for.  You know, some people may look at this somewhat like meeting a celebrity, we saw it as meeting a friend that had helped us during a very difficult time and has walked the same road!  He just happens to be the coach of an NFL team and is SUPER BUSY!  I am not trying to put him on a pedestal, because he is just a man that cares about others, but in the middle of his season, he took the time to meet with us and allow us to thank him.  I think we can all learn from this.  He is definitely an inspiration to Jon and I as we too try to reach out to cancer patients but get caught up in the busyness of life.  NO EXCUSES!  Very happy for Jon as most of you know he is a HUGE sports fan!  Definitely a fun experience, not everyday do you get to sit in the office of an NFL coach and chit chat.

#CHUCKSTRONG
#COLTSTRONG
#JONSTRONG (as Coach Pagano always writes)

But we will always and forever be:

GODSTRONG!!!!

because without HIM we would be nowhere.

Mark Waghalter's Celebration Service.

Jon and I felt God leading us to go to Mark's funeral.  Not only did God allow us to attend but to also be a part of this celebration of Mark Waghalter's life.  Candace, his fiancee asked me to read what she wrote to Mark and Jon was asked to say a few words from someone that had "walked that road."

This was probably the most moving, touching funeral I have ever been to and it was truly a CELEBRATION of Mark's life.   I would love to take a little time to share some clips of the service.  It was truly life changing for me and my hope is that it was life-changing for many others.

Hundres of people heard the gospel (several times) at the celebration service a few weeks ago.  

Mark,

Your life made an impact, and in case you were wondering--you did make a difference in people's lives.  Your legacy will live on and many lives will be changed!

When your youth pastor, Mr. Dale shared that you affirmed your salvation in the hospital a few weeks before you passed it was very touching.   Touching to know that you vocalized being a sinner and knowing that God sent his Son to die for your sins and accepting Him as your Saviour so you could live forever with Him.  Thankful for Mr. Dale who told his wife he was going to let the Holy Spirit lead what he said to you in that hospital room. Thankful for a man who was willing to lay it all out and be bold in sharing God's salvation message with you and Candace, who later accepted Christ as her Savior.  We loved hearing how Mr. Dale continued to visit you in the coming weeks and how you had a deep desire for him to read the Bible to you so you can learn more about Jesus.

Then how touching it was to hear your brother talk about you holding his hand a few days before you passed and telling him that you wanted Him to know God so that you would see him again in heaven.  And then when your brother shared how you had not spoken for a couple of hours, but you lifted your hand to heaven right before you took your last breath and said "God, open the gates of heaven, Mark is coming through."  Some very powerful stuff!

Jon and I are so thankful to know you, Candace and your parents.  And we came to find out quickly you have an awesome extended family too!  You come from a great Christian heritage and people that care deeply for you.  Jon and I loved hearing the story of how you would wear your GODSTRONG bracelet everywhere and call Candace out when she didn't have hers on.  And by the way, she probably didn't have it on because it didn't match her outfit on that given day.  We were moved to know that Luke 1:37 meant so much to you, "For nothing is impossible with God."  We are touched that we could be a part of your life even if it was through the most difficult time.  We loved how up beat and positive you were through the most toughest time of your life, always saying how blessed you were.  And always telling us you were staying positive and keeping a good mindset.  Thank you for being willing to help out a fellow testicular cancer patient who was in a similiar situation with you.  You were so selfless, only worried about others even through your darkest days.  Jon was so moved and actually broke down when your grandfather told him what an awesome impact he had spiritually on your life.  Again, we are so humbled and honored to have been a small part of your life because you, Candace and your parents were such a huge incredible inspiration and encouragement to us during tough days.

\

I love this picture of you and Candace praying with your Godstrong bracelet.  I remember the day Candace texted this to me.  I had a happy heart!  I loved how we would trade pictures back and forth of being WAGSTRONG and GODSTRONG! 

It was painful to watch your family receive visitors at your funeral.  It was painful to know that Candace will be without you when her and I talked so many times about God healing you (on this earth) and ya'll have a future together.  It was painful to watch your parents, brother, sister, sister-in-law and extended family have to say good bye to you at way too young of an age.  

This is a conversation my twins had the other day.  It went something like this:

Emma Kate:  If you believe in Jesus, you will go to heaven.  If you don't believe in Jesus, you won't go to heaven.  Wyan, do you believe in Jesus?

Ryan:  No!  I don't want to go to heaven.  I just want to stay home!

Outside of this story being super precious, it is so true!  We don't want to leave this earth because we can't imagine what is being prepared for us in heaven.  We just want to stay "home" in our comfort zone.  But Mark, you accepted your fate.  You accepted that God would not heal your earthly body but that he would give you a brand new body in heaven.  So many people heard the gospel because you knew the Lord as your personal Savior and you were surrounded by many Godly people with your parents being at the top of the list! 

It was exciting to see you grow in the Lord through your cancer journey.  It was a GOD THING that we met you that November day almost exactly 1 year ago.  And we are thankful that you remained WAGSTRONG and GODSTRONG throughout your harrowing journey. 

Until we see you again...

Jon and Donna Strebe