Our First 2010 Miracle! First Breakthrough!

"He moves in ways we cannot see, He will make a way for me..."

There is truly sunshine after the rain. If you've read my previous posts, you'd know what my wife and our entire family went through this November-December of 2009. The biggest blow was the diagnosis of my wife with breast cancer.

After my wife's surgery, histopath biopsy results was read as Invasive Ductal Cancer, associated with extensive Ductal Carcinoma In Situ. In fact,the pathologist commented that 80-90% of the 5x5cm mass was Carcinoma In Situ, and that only a small portion was invasive. As such, the stage was stage IIa. If it was purely In Situ, it would be stage 0.

Now, for non-medical peeps, when we say "IN SITU" it means the cancer is CONTAINED and carries a better prognosis than INVASIVE cancer. After surgery, invasive cancer needs chemotherapy, In Situ does not.

So after a lot of tears shed, Joann and I have submitted to the will of God and had peace and joy in our hearts. We prepared for her chemotherapy, which was supposed to be started today, January 8. Part of the preparation entailed sending out the histopath slides for receptor testing (estrogen ER, progesterone PR and HER2) receptors that would influence what type of chemo drugs would be used. We consulted with an oncologist already and prepared ourselves for the possible side effects, such as hair loss, etc.

What would be better was to have ER positive PR positive and HER2 negative results, which is relatively easier and cheaper to treat.
As such, as I called up the lab for results, it came out exactly the opposite/ ER and PR negative, and HER2 positive. This would require a more toxic chemotherapy regimen, and an extra drug, Herceptin, which would cost around Php 90,000.00 per vial. It would have to be given every week for 1 year.

Still, in all things we praised God, and gave thanks to Him, and committed to Him our future.

I went to the lab to get the official result, As I read the result, it stated ER negative, PR negative and HER2 positive. But after HER2 positive, this was written...(IN SITU). I was a little baffled. What we needed was the HER2 status of the invasive part, not the In Situ part.

So I called up the pathologist, who, i didn't know at the time, was a previous president of the society of pathologists. I asked him what was the HER2 status of the invasive cancer was. He told me "I didn't see any invasive portion. It was all In Situ."

My ears popped up. Long story short, I sent him additional slides for review, and still he gave an official report )just this wednesday) DUCTAL CARCINOMA IN SITU.

Joann and I were stirred up. Could this be true? If this was true, she WOULDN'T NEED CHEMO TX at all.

To settle our anxiety, we sent the slides to a 3rd pathologist, also a senior and respected doctor in the medical community. As I drove to the pathologist today, I prayed to God "Lord, let it be that whatever reading this 3rd pathologist says, be the true reading. Whether it be invasive or In Situ. But our hearts desire o Father, let it be In SItu!"

Long story short, I gave the slides (all 25 of them) to the pathologist this morning. I saw him browse through the slides. One by one he looked at them. He looked at me. He told me, "all I see is In Situ. I'll give you an official result tomorrow but to me it's In Situ."

Hallelujah! Praise God! Praise Him! Praise His most holy Name!

I'll be talking to the oncologist later, but all medical guideline show there is no need for chemotherapy for Carcinoma In Situ. The surgery done was enough management. All we need to do is close monitoring.

God STILL answers prayers. He STILL moves mountains. He STILL parts the waters of the seas. He STILL does the impossible.

This is our first miracle for the year. This is our first breakthrough. And we are expecting more from our Great and Almighty God!

Healing Has Come

I can't explain it.

Last friday, i cried in anguish, despair, desolation. It's like heaven and earth came tumbling down on me and my family. It's like the world stopped moving. Like the sun stopped shining. Like all the colors in the things i see have faded away. As I was driving home, i had to pull over 2 times at the side of the road because i was crying and shouting out to God..."AMA, AMA, AMA KO!!!.....AMA KO, AMA KO, .....MAHABAG KA!!! MAHABAG KA!!!" I didn't have any more words to say. It's all i could say really...

Thank God for the internet, cellfones, facebook. We were able to ask for prayer support from a lot of friends, family, even those far away. And some committed not only to pray, but to ask their prayer groups, their family, their church to pray too. I have asked christian friends coming from no less than 7 different churches, and I know there are more, to join us in prayer. I believe that there is tremendous power in prayer. And even more, awesome power in the corporate prayer of many believers. "A thousand men praying at the same time is equivalent to a man praying a thousand times." This is the way to move the hand that moves the world.

As we continued to ask for prayer support, the word of God came pouring in...
Exodus 15:26 - " And said, If thou wilt diligently hearken to the voice of the LORD thy God, and wilt do that which is right in his sight, and wilt give ear to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, I will put none of these diseases upon thee, which I have brought upon the Egyptians: for I AM the LORD that healeth thee."

Hebrews 4:14-16 - " We have a great high priest who has gone through the heavens - Jesus Christ - so let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. We don't have a high priest that is unable to sympathize with our weakness, Approach then His throne of grace so we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need."

Romans 15:13 - "May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit."

John 14:1 - "Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, trust also in me."

1 Peter 5:7 - "Cast all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you."

1 Peter 5:10 - "And the God of all grace, who called you to his eternal glory in Christ, after you have suffered a little while, will himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast."

Jeremiah 29:11 - "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord. "Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future."

That same friday night, as I was continually praying while holding our 8 month old baby daryl, a rush of peace filled my heart. I don't know how, why, what, when... but somehow i was assured GOD HAS HEALED JOANN! I began to thank God! I don't know how He did it, and how He'll intend to manifest it, but I know he touched Joann and healed her completely.

The next day, saturday, one of our friends whom I asked for prayer support confirmed that this is God's promise. She said "Joann is healed, she is whole and her breast is in normal condition. She will continually see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living."

Messages from friends continued pouring in...in texts, in facebook messages, in posts...ever since I posted "please pray for Joann", the message has been the same. CLAIM GOD'S HEALING. HEALING HAS COME NOW. THANK GOD AND CELEBRATE GOD'S HEALING!!!" At this point, i stopped being pre-occupied about Joann's condition, and started thanking God for His healing!


Jesus said, "if you have faith even the size of a mustard seed, you can move this mountain." God has built up our faith through this. We asked God to increase our faith by His mercy and grace to overcome this disease. I know our faith still needs building up, but we believe it certainly is bigger now than a mustard seed. And to Jesus, a PUNY 2.5 x 2 x 1.5 cm breast mass is certainly NO MOUNTAIN!

As Joann and I were talking about the promises of God, she told me that earlier that day, as she was praying and crying out to God, she felt SOMETHING was being poured upon her...that God's healing was penetrating every inch of her body. We were amazed at the goodness of God.

As of last night, we were still able to feel the "lump". But we are walking BY FAITH now. We continue to THANK GOD AND PRAISE GOD because we know and we declare, GOD HAS HEALED HER ALREADY. We are now praying that GOD WILL DISSOLVE THIS MASS so that her surgery, scheduled on friday, will no longer be needed. And we believe, by faith, God is crushing this mass in His divine hands as of this writing.

Above and beyond us, we know that God's healing has come that His glory may be revealed. We are excited to see how God will use us to testify to His love, power, grace, mercy, goodness, kindness, tenderness and justice! We are humbled at how the God of the universe loves us and chose us to be His servants! We pray that lives will be turned to God and committed to Christ through our testimony.

So please, continue to pray for Joann and me and our entire family; that God's healing would be made manifest by the dissolution of the mass and that surgery will no longer be needed. But i also ask you to pray with thanksgiving in your heart for GOD HAS ANSWERED OUR PRAYERS!

Today, as I drove to work, i was in tears again. But these are not tears of sorrow anymore. These are tears of AMAZEMENT AND THANKFULLNESS FOR GOD'S OVERWHELMING LOVE AND POWER!!! So please join us in praising God and in giving Him glory, FOR WE BELIEVE, CLAIM AND DECLARE GOD'S HEALING HAS ALREADY COME!

P.S. Please join us, wherever you are, for a time of prayer and thanksgiving and worship this wednesday night, December 9, 2009, begining at around 7:30pm. For those of you who can come, we'll have this night of prayer and worship at our house in Marikina.