Chemo-HAIR-apy

Years ago, my grandparents were in a local musical group called the Grandmas & Grandpas, and their motto was "we'd rather wear out than rust out".  That phrase came to my mind this past Friday night, when my brother Don threw a head shaving party in preparation for his upcoming cancer treatments.  About 100 family and friends gathered to show love and support. The event, dubbed "Chemo-HAIR-apy" was held at the Emerge Ministries location where Don is Vice President and a practicing Christian psychologist.  He turned it into a fund-raiser to benefit the Children's Center at Emerge.

 Don has been pushing through this cancer battle ever since his Multiple Myeloma diagnosis came last November.  To say he has been an inspiration is way understating the impact his positive attitude and unwavering faith in God has been on a myriad of people around the world.  (Our local newspaper ran a front page article with his story on February 17, 2012 and it has continued to be picked up by papers as far away as China and Australia. He is still receiving personal notes from strangers from all over the place!)

In about a week, Don is scheduled to be admitted to University Hospital in Cleveland, Ohio to undergo the greatest challenge yet in his journey.  The day before his autologous stem cell transplant, a very strong and toxic chemotherapy drug will be administered in hopes of killing off any remaining cancer cells.  Don has an amazing head of thick hair for a 59 year old man, so the head shaving party as an alternative to losing it in clumps from the drug's side effects was an effort to put a positive spin on a dreaded reality.

Don invited folks to do something silly with their hair.  Our brother Bob was quick to oblige:

Hubby and I wore hair bows:

And my mom did THIS:

We all ate some pizza, salad, and cookies and there were pens and papers on the tables for attendees to write personal notes to Don.  For a small price, folks could throw a whipped cream pie at a volunteer from the Emerge staff.

Most people know that Don detests men's pink shirts, but just for fun he was willing to wear one!

Here I am with Don and John Palmer, President of Emerge Ministries




Some of the family right before the shave

Marcie, Don's wife, looks on as the head shaving begins...

Don is saying something like "I think you are cutting a little shorter than usual"

Now that wasn't so bad, was it?

The evening ended with John Palmer leading us in prayer, asking God to do what the doctors aren't able to...

Don being pushed by one of his grandchildren..



and loving on two of mine.

"I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me."
Philippians 4:13

Life Interrupted...

My world has been knocked off its axis.  No, it isn't about the ongoing unemployment.  That's just been a little bump in the road.  We've been down that road before, and eventually it will smooth out.  There are options we haven't even begun to explore.  Something will come together and we will survive unemployment one way or another.

A few weeks ago Bob and I were enjoying dinner at Olive Garden with my brother and his wife.  They were treating us in celebration of our 35th wedding anniversary.  Don winced every now and then...his back was still bothering him and physical therapy wasn't helping.  He was disappointed because he had hoped to be training for his 12th marathon. At age 59, he was the picture of health and vitality.  He had been running for fitness and stress relief  for decades.  But this new pain in his back was bringing all that to a screeching halt, and he was having all kinds of scans and tests run to see what was going on.

One night he ended up having to go to the ER, the pain was so great he felt he couldn't move.  He was admitted to the hospital for more tests and morphine.  A few days later he sent us a text message late at night.  "got the test results.  news not so good."  As my husband read the details to me, I was at first stunned and then angry.  I wanted to start throwing things.  I felt sick to my stomach.  I thought I was having a nightmare and I just wanted to wake up to my normal life again...life as it had been before this news.

I'd heard of multiple myeloma before. Our grandmother died from it 40 years ago.  It is an incurable blood cancer that settles in the bones.  It is very rare, representing only about 1% of all cancers.  And just a few years ago I had done a little research on the internet when I had a small tumor removed from my inner elbow area.  Mine was not malignant but I was curious as to the symptoms of multiple myeloma.  That was when I found out that in spite of many new experimental drugs, radiation and chemotherapy, not much progress has been made in finding a cure or in survival rates. Still, the doctors are saying this cancer is "very treatable".  So we hope.

In my brother's case, a tumor was found on his L5 vertebrae, and had in fact crushed it, causing the severe pain he is experiencing.  More scans, more tests...  The good news so far being the cancer has not metastasized in any other bones.   Chemotherapy begins in just a few days.

As I sat before my brother yesterday while he rested on the hospital bed that has been set up in their family room, he held both of my hands for a long time.  He is taking a liquid morphine every 2 hours so he faded in and out as we talked.  He wanted to tell me about the good things he sees happening already as a result of his suffering.  "God stories" as he calls them.  His faith is strong.  He is determined not to "waste his cancer".

We don't know where this road is leading.  It's not a journey any of us would choose to travel.  Only God knows the end from the beginning and the number of our days.  In spite of the shock, the pain, and the uncertainty, as individuals and as a family we will choose to say "Blessed be the name of the Lord."  And we would so appreciate your prayers for healing, for strength, for faith to remain strong through the storm.  Thank you friends.  I know you will.

 Don Lichi 

Sept. 2011

Please meet Anne Beiler, Founder of Auntie Anne's Pretzels

photo from Auntie Anne's website

Have you ever enjoyed one of those amazing cinnamon sugar pretzels from Auntie Anne's while browsing through your favorite mall? I love the one with the raisins and I always get the sugar frosting "dip" to go with it, find a bench and eat my pretzel with a cup of coffee and sit and "people watch" for a while. YUM!

For 17 years, from 1988, when Anne first started selling soft pretzels at a local farmer's market, until 2005 when the Beilers decided to sell the Company, the business grew and grew beyond all imaginable expectations. Today there are 300 franchises in 20 countries, and over 950 locations worldwide.

I'd actually met Anne two other times before hearing her tell her life story last Friday night. Once was about 10 years ago when she spoke at a women's event at our church. That time she talked about how God had blessed her business. Then a year ago I met her at the annual Emerge Ministries Banquet. She has been on their Board for years, and my brother, a Christian psychologist at Emerge, introduced me to her. But until the other night I had no knowledge of her personal life~~all I knew was that she was "famous" and I sure liked Auntie Anne's pretzels. I also never knew Anne's connection with Emerge Ministries, other than that she served on the Board. I had no idea that she feels the counseling she received there saved her sanity, her marriage, her family, and her very life.

Nothing could have prepared me for the story I was about to hear. Talk about a "twisted" life~~that was Anne Beiler's. Anne and her seven siblings grew up in the Amish/Mennonite community in Lancaster County, PA. Her formal education was complete with the 8th grade. She married young, and lost her first child in a tragic farm accident. Her life then went into a tailspin that was out of control for years.

At her most vulnerable moment, she fell victim to the paralyzing abuse of spiritual power perpetrated by one who should have been the hands, feet, and voice of God's comfort and healing. Instead, she stayed in the clutches of that evil one for six long years. Many other personal issues surfaced and things just kept going from bad to worse.

Through it all, her husband Jonas stayed with her and miraculously they eventually found solid Christian counseling. In her book, Twist of Faith, Anne tells the whole story~~many things she kept secret for too many long years. She learned that the key to healing was in confession, forgiveness, and in the undeserved grace of God.

Today, Anne and Jonas Beiler are in a position to "give back" and that is exactly what they do. They have several companies and organizations which you can read about by clicking the tabs at their website. And they go around the country telling their story, firmly believing they can do no less after they have been blessed so much, both in their personal lives and with the business.

I feel so blessed to have heard this story from Anne personally. It is a testimony of the power of the love of God. I spent the past weekend reading her book, and you can buy it from Amazon.com if you are interested. When she autographed my copy, she wrote the words that have become her motto: "free indeed". The Scripture verse she shared that has stuck with me is this one:

"...confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed" James 5:16

My hubby Bob and me with Anne Beiler, and our good friends Dick and Carol Heasley in the background

November 5, 2010