Rounding 3rd Base, Heading for Home

It's an endearing scene. The baseball player has just rounded third base, high-fived the coach, and is headed toward a crowd of teammates clustered around home plate ready to welcome him.

Of course, baseball had not been invented when the New Testament was written, but its authors used imagery that was somewhat analogous...

• "Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us..." (Hebrews 12:1)
• "Therefore, my brothers and sisters, make every effort to confirm your calling and election. For if you do these things, you will never stumble, and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ." (2Peter 1:10f)

'A great cloud of witnesses...' 'A RICH welcome...'  I like that!

It would seem that Yvonne is "rounding the final bend" in her journey toward her heavenly home. A couple of weeks ago she started having difficulty standing or keeping her balance. The LHIN team brought in a "sit-to-stand lift" and provided training on it to various PSWs (Personal Support Workers) so they could manage the transfers and personal care Yvonne required. June 30 Yvonne seemed very much affected by the heat wave that lasted several days into the following week -- she was unable to stay sitting upright at the table, her pulse was rapid and her blood pressure elevated -- so we relocated to our basement until the oppressive heat lifted. Her vital signs seemed to return to nearer normal levels.

Yesterday something new happened on the way to church: I had been seating her in the rollator/walker for the transfer from our front door to the car, but this time she seemed unable to sit upright, instead becoming a sort of "floppy doll" requiring support. Plus she slept most of the day, even through the church service and its singing which she usually enjoys.
 
Today Yvonne had her next scheduled MRI and follow-up with her neuroncologist. It confirmed our suspicions from our previous meeting June 15: it would seem the chemotherapy is having negligible effect. The tumour on her left side (reversed in the picture, opposite the original right frontal lobectomy) has grown rather than shrunk. (see photo: today's scan on left, one from March on right)

Her bloodwork did not exactly portray a rosey picture, either. Her blood sugar was high, probably affected by the steroid she is taking (dexamethasone). Her liver seems affected: bilirubin and enzymes were both over normal limits. Plus it seems she is dehydrated.

Consequently Dr. Macdonald determined it would be best to stop the chemotherapy (temozolomide) as this may help the liver recover. He is also ramping down the steroid partly to address the blood sugar issue. "Comfort measures" from this point on.

After discussion with the family, last Tuesday when the nurse was here I had requested signing of the "Do Not Resuscitate" (DNR) paperwork in order that the EDITH (Expected Death In The Home) could be put in place, and it seemed the kinder and gentler approach to spare Yvonne extraordinary recovery-attempt measures (chest pumping, electric shock, intubation etc.) when probability of a satisfactory recovery seems minute.

I asked the neuroncologist and the resident what their 'best guess' in terms of time left for Yvonne would be -- knowing of course they can't tell for sure, but they have much experience with many other patients in similar condition. Dr. Macdonald estimated 'less than a month'; the resident was even less optimistic - 'days'.

Listening to a Ravi Zacharias podcast in the car, we were reminded of the four key areas any worldview has to address: questions of origin (how did we get here?), destiny (where are we going?), meaning (why am I here?), and morality (how do we determine what's right and wrong?). Yvonne & I stopped in to visit another parishioner at another hospital on the way home. He remarked concerning Yvonne, "At least we know where she's going." Thanks to Jesus' sacrifice at the cross so we can be forgiven, and God's gift of faith in Him, we have confidence concerning her destiny at least. While she is indeed rounding the last bend in her earthly journey, a warm welcome awaits her from a faithful cloud of witnesses -- and our Eternal Contemporary.