Faith in Fire

This is the Truth Network. Well, what time is it?

It's Joy Tom. Hello, friends. I am so glad to be back filling in today for Truth Talk Love, and we have a great show for you today. Let me tell you what you are going to feel encouraged about by the end of today's time together. You're going to feel encouraged about whatever fire you're going through to remember that God may not take away from you.

He may not take away the fire in your life, but you can be sure that He will be with you in the fire. Amen, Sandy. Amen. And so you may remember a few weeks ago, I invited my sweet friend Sandy, Dr. Robertson, to be a part of our time here together with our Truth Talk family. And she shared about her cancer journey. Yeah, she shared about a special day. Remember that day? It was a special day. It was your birthday. No, it was my birthday.

Your birthday. That's right. Yes.

That's right. And I'm just curious, do you remember what maybe yesterday was? Yesterday? Oh, yes, that was my birthday. It was your birthday.

Yes, your happy birthday. Well, we are getting old, Sandy. We are getting old. Oh, my goodness. But listen, I have a sweet friend who I worked with. Her name is Comfort. So we are Comfort and Joy.

And she always says that every day is a blessing. So we can really rest in that, can't we? Yes.

Yes. It is a privilege to get old. And to be able to see our wrinkles.

Don't you think? It is a privilege. It is a privilege. It really is.

Not everybody gets the opportunity. Okay, I like that. That's right. I really would like for you just to stop with it's a privilege to get old. But let's leave off the wrinkles.

Because I look in the mirror and I think if I could just, you know, do this, I would be a lot in a lot better shape. Yes. Yeah.

Okay. Well, we're so happy that all of our listeners have tuned in, we want to remind you that this is a call in show. So we want to give you the number to call in. The number is 866-34-TRUTH.

Or that's 866-348-7884. And so we want you to feel comfortable calling in saying hello to us and sharing in with this message today about faith in the fire. So, Sandy, let's catch up a little bit from where we left off a few weeks ago back in May. Yes. That's right.

So where where we left off was the next week, I was going to do my first round of chemo. Is that right? I think that's right. Yes. You had your surgery had happened. Yes.

Recovery and then chemo was starting. Yes. Okay. And I want to just to say on the front end of this section, that you we did talk about the fit and the flabby. But you are the fit. And I am the flabby. Because you go work out five days a week.

I try to five days a week. Yes. Okay.

And when you when we say workout, what we don't mean is that you walk leisurely on a treadmill. Yeah. It would be considered high intensity. Yes. Yes.

I definition like the medical term would be a high intensity workout. Yeah. I just want to say to our listeners that I went with you one time and thought I was going to die. But you didn't.

I did not die. And here you are like the star of the class doing all of these things called like burpees and kettlebells lifting. And you're looking back at me saying you're doing great. You're doing great. Keep going girl. You're doing great. And I'm thinking I'm gonna die.

Like somebody's gonna have to call 911. It's how I really relieve my stress. And I really enjoy it.

Yes. That doesn't mean it has to be everybody's journey. Moderate intensity exercise is just fine. What about those of us who like low intensity? How does that feel? I would challenge yourself a little. Okay. Well, thanks for that encouragement. Truth network. We're going to be truthful.

Yes, the fit and the flabby. Okay, here's my point for you to go into chemo. I was thinking, oh, man, she's gonna just, you know, sail through because you have such physical fitness. But but cancer is not discriminatory in any way at all. And you really didn't know what to expect.

But I'd love for you to share about that experience. Sure. And and certainly neither is chemo. I mean, if you think that you're going to sell through chemo with with no side effects, then that's a little naive.

Sure. I really tried to be very hopeful and very positive. And but set my expectations. You know, I have this thing, right?

I set my expectations. And I would say overall, I have so I've had one round of chemo. And my, you know, chemo, even within breast cancer is so different.

So I don't even want to try to act like I know what every person is going through. But mine is called TC therapy. So it's taxotere and cytoxin.

That's the brand name. And so all the oncology world, they talk about TC therapy. So it's just two drugs that it takes, you know, somewhere between two to four hours in total when you're there. And my first round went, I think, exceptionally well, the actual chemo itself, I didn't have a reaction, it was a piece of cake, it was easy. And of course, things don't hit you until later.

So I went home and I probably what I thought you were referring to was I get home from my first round of chemo, it's 330. You know, it's this monumentous monumentous day, you don't know really what to do. And I was like, well, I have all this energy. I think I'll just go to kettlebell class, right?

You told me that right. So I just show up for kettlebell class. And they're like, what are you doing? I'm like, well, it hasn't hit me yet. Right? You just go.

Well, just go and do it. It was a really nice stress reliever. And then of course, the day after chemo, you're kind of on this steroid high.

So you feel like a million bucks. And so I went to spin class and worked all day and, and, and then the next day was when I thought it was going to hit me and it didn't hit me. And so I did have a little moment of, you know, naiveness. Thank you.

Or maybe, you know, maybe it's not going to. It was really the fourth day that the exhaustion came in the fatigue, the bone pain. I didn't have any nausea or vomiting. The Zofran worked fantastic for that.

But I would say that the other side effects really caught me off guard a little bit. And I had to really pump myself up and do a little bit of extra praying and just say, it's okay to just, you know, literally lie on the sofa. And I felt like a 100 year old woman like going to the kitchen to get some water because I felt like my knees were going to buckle like for just for a day.

My bones hurt so badly. But but then by Monday, it was like, turned off. It was great. So now I've had, you know, a solid, you know, two weeks. And the other big thing that's happened, I felt great worked, you know, my normal schedule, my exercise, I'm still going to the classes, I can tell I fatigue easier, but I can still get through the classes. But Sunday was a big day because so I got, you know, I got my hair cut short. Yes, I want to talk about the whole hair loss. Do you want to save that for later?

I want to save that for our next time. Yes. Okay.

So all in all, I'm going to give it like, you know, B plus. Okay, so round one. Yeah, second round is Tuesday.

Okay. I want to go back though, to day four, five, and six. Yeah, right.

Because when Thursday hit, so you had the chemo on Monday, when Thursday hit, that's when you had all this. I remember talking about this bone pain. Yes. And you felt exhausted. Yes. And it hit you like a Mack truck.

Kind of Yes. So even though you weren't, like physically ill, you felt terrible. And I remember you saying you felt really bad on Thursday. And it seems like you had one day you thought it was getting better, but then it came back and you felt worse over the weekend. Saturday, I had a little reprieve.

Okay. And it was okay. And then Sunday, I was I was gonna go to church Sunday morning.

And, you know, surprise everybody and then I could not hardly get off the sofa. Right. And, and you didn't feel very joyful during that time. No, it's not like you're sitting here saying, Oh, yeah, I got through that so easy. And I had no moments of crying, or sadness, or pain or despair where my heart was aching from this terrible feeling. You you were in the fire.

Right. And, and just to be clear, I'm kind of talking about the things that kind of kept me on the sofa, but the classic, metallic taste, mouth dryness, some mouth sores, you know, you know how much I love coffee. I mean, you're a sweet tea girl, but I'm a coffee girl.

And I love my coffee black. And it tasted like I was drinking steel, which is the big disappointment. Little things like that, like, you wouldn't think that would get me so down.

But it really did. Yeah. And then this rare skin reaction that I had, which is, we're now handling, right, that caught me off guard. We're going to talk more about that when we come back. Listen, friends, stay with us. We're going to talk today about facing the fire, but how God is with us. You're going to be so encouraged.

So don't go anywhere. We'll be right back. Welcome back, friends. I'm so happy that you've chosen to spend part of your day with us here on Truth Talk Love. I'm Dr. Joy with Joy Tom, and my friend Sandy is with us.

Dr. Robertson, hello. We're talking about her cancer journey. She's had her first round of chemotherapy a couple of weeks ago.

We were talking about just those hard moments during that week. But we have a couple of callers that we want to invite into our show. We have Cindy from Greensboro, so we're going to bring Cindy in to say hello. Hey, Cindy, how are you doing today? I'm doing great.

How are you? Good. Thank you so much for listening to our show.

We're so glad. We hope that you'll find some encouragement today. Let us know what your question is. Well, I would just be curious to know from Sandy what kind of advice she has on really how to be a good friend to someone walking through a fire like this. I like to be very personal with my closest friends, and I have a friend that's going through something and I want to lean in. I want to be a good friend. I want to know everything, but I also want to respect privacy and not bring up things that are too sensitive to talk about yet and just to kind of help. I want to be there and be helpful, but I also don't want to smother. I don't know how to balance that when it's somebody I'm really close with.

Thank you, Cindy. That that is a hard, hard question. I think it's one that a lot of people would would like some advice on.

And I don't know it. It's so hard because it changes all the time. It kind of depends on where like for me personally, it depends on where my mental state is that day. Some days I am just all about talking about it. I'm in a great place and I love to be chatty with people. And then other days when maybe I'm worried or I'm down a little bit or I don't feel well, I just really don't want to talk. So I guess just practical things because I know that's what you want.

Practical things is it's always great via text or via voiced text, whatever, just to say, I love you. I'm thinking about you and just be honest. I want to lean in. I want to be there for you, but I also want to give you that space just giving permission to say the ball's really in your court.

I'm going to be sensitive to it. But if and you have permission just to say back off today and but I will also say that that then sometimes when I want to talk and I want to be chatty, I almost feel like I don't want it to always be about me. So I don't want to reach out like I'm like, this is it does get exhausting for all my friends to have to constantly like think about cancer.

That's exhausting. And so that I think about how do I be a good friend and I want to reach out and say, no, let's talk about you. And so it is complicated, but I would say honesty and texting, saying being honest, like, but I'll back off. Do you want me to come? If you don't just say no, I give you permission to change your mind. I mean, I think maybe that's about the best advice.

I don't know. That is great advice. Okay, because what it leans on is your relationship with that friend. Yes, right. You have different relationships with all of your friends.

So to give them the permission to say, Hey, not today, everything not to be offended by that. That's great advice. Thank you so much, Cindy for calling in. You're welcome. Thank you with your friend.

Yes. Well, thank you. All right. Thank you.

Bye bye. Okay, we also have Betsy, who's calling in from Virginia. Hey, Betsy, how are you doing?

Hey, I'm so good. And it's just lovely to be here with both of you today. Thank you so much, Joy for this amazing show that you're doing.

And I really have enjoyed listening to it. And Sandy, I've been keeping you in my prayers since I first heard the first episode that I did with you. So well, my question is kind of similar to the last caller I, I was actually wondering too about, like meals specifically, because when I have had friends who have been going through something similar, you know, we've had like a meal train, maybe that we put together for them. But sometimes I just felt like maybe I should just run over, you know, like half of the meal that I made tonight for dinner, or what are your thoughts about things?

Yeah, what are your thoughts about that? And then also, something if you could just tell me a little bit about, you know, when people are asking you questions about, you know, what you're going through? How do you, you know, what's the best way for a friend or even somebody who you don't know very well to maybe approach the subject? And okay, just how to support you? Yes.

Excellent questions. Okay, food is always a good idea. Okay, especially milkshake. So I know my friend Joy brought over a strawberry milkshake, and it actually tasted like a strawberry milkshake. The hard thing about cancer and chemo, I guess, specifically, is your taste buds change. And I am really struggling with what tastes good. It's kind of like pregnancy, like what tastes good at the moment. And so I feel badly when somebody asked me like, what are you in the mood for?

I'm like, I don't know. I mean, yesterday, this tasted good, but I'm not really sure. So so I guess just being okay with the indecisiveness, because certainly I know what my husband likes. And it brings me joy to know that even if I like, I thought I was gonna like spaghetti, but then, like the tomato base didn't taste as good the acidity.

I didn't like it, but Brian loved it. And that brought me joy. You know, I had one friend just to bring chicken salad and pimento cheese with some wheat thins.

And man, yeah, it's just such a great southern thing. But I ate it for breakfast this morning, I felt like chicken salad. So just bringing those simple things, maybe not planning this whole huge meal that you have to keep warm and has to be eaten right away. But maybe snacky foods.

I had one just go to Aldi's and buy all the kind of cheese and like charcuterie kind of stuff in case I felt like fixing that one day. Maybe that would be a good suggestion. But I know that it's so appreciated. So I hope that you know, you feel like when you feel like doing it, do it.

I think at the last episode, I said my one friend that just left literally left me quesadillas from a Mexican restaurant on the front porch. Now the other question, the other question about, you know, how do you talk about it with someone? I think again, pure honesty.

Now, okay, you know what, I'm gonna give you some practical. Don't talk, don't try to talk about it if you don't have the time to listen. Okay, if you don't, that's okay, if you don't have the time, but if you don't have the time, or you're going to be interrupted, and someone's going to be vulnerable and talk about how they're feeling about something about cancer, try to have the time to listen. My next suggestion, which is hard, but my next suggestion is, if you're going to ask, and that person is now comfortable opening up to you, don't turn the conversation in to an example or a situation in your life, necessarily, because that little, do you know, I'm trying to say like, Well, yeah, my friend who went through this she, or when I went through this, it just makes it a little awkward when you're trying to open up. And then somebody says, Well, let me tell you about what happened when I went through this.

It's just a it's a tightrope. I'm a big fan of just active listening, listening, repeating, you know, trying not to solve a problem. Not many people like you to try to solve their problems. But I guess the most important thing is, even if you say, I have seven minutes, because I have to go into an appointment, a dentist appointment in seven minutes, I would love to hear how you're doing. And I'm sorry that I only have seven minutes.

I mean, that to me is perfect. But if I start saying something about how I cried last night, because my hair started falling out, and so sorry, I gotta go. Oh, I just got a text. Oh, hold on one second.

Can you hold on? Then I'm just gonna shut down. I'll say, you know, you go, you're busy. And then I'm probably not going to open up again.

That's great advice. Hey, Betsy, thank you so much for calling in. We're so happy that you've been listening. And we're just so great to so great to talk to you today. Thank you, Betsy.

Yes, thank you so much. Thanks for your prayers. Yeah, we will continue. Thank you. Take care. Bye bye. We have just another minute, but we have another caller. Oh, great.

Yes. And we're gonna bring in Judy from Summer, North Carolina. Hey, Judy, welcome to the show. How are you doing? Well, hello, I'm good. Thank you for for putting this on.

It's so great. Oh, thank you. I have a question. I have a question for Sandy.

Great. I know that your faith is major in your life. So what advice would you give someone who is going through this that isn't as spiritually grounded? And in just relating your, your own experience? How much have you relied on the Lord through this? I'm going to be honest, Judy, I'm not sure that I could go through this without my relationship with Christ. That that that kind of gets me upset when I think about somebody who doesn't know that feeling of being held by their Savior, like, like, I literally felt like he saved my life.

And I felt like he was touching me with his hands. And so I'm just that I'm going to struggle with that. Or do we have time to answer? Yeah, we're gonna have to go to a quick break. Come back.

Stay on the line if you can, and we'll come right back. Let me think about that. Right. Okay, thank you. Sure, sure.

You're listening to the Truth Network and truthnetwork.com. Okay, welcome back, friends. Hey, we are so thankful that you are spending a little time with us today. I am Dr. Joy with Joy Time Ministries and my wonderful, amazing friend Sandy, Dr. Robertson is here. And we're talking about her cancer journey. She's had one round of chemo a couple of weeks ago, and we have Judy on the phone. We're so thankful Judy's with us. And Judy, would you mind repeating part of your question for our listeners who just now tuned in?

And we'll let Sandy respond to your question. Yes, my question was that through this process, I know your faith is paramount in your life. And I was wondering what advice you would give to people who are going through these experiences like you are, as far as how they need to rely on God to see them through this and how much you did that and are doing that in your own experience. It sounds like you have absolutely been the victor and not the victim. But I just want to hear from you.

What would you tell people about that? There have been other times in my life, Judy, that I didn't really feel like the victor. So I don't want anybody to think that I haven't gone through times where I have really struggled with my relationship with the Lord. And there have been times in my life where I've really been very distant from the Lord. So I know that feeling.

And I know that it's much better to be to be close to him. But we owe how we like to wonder, right? We're just humans and we're sinful creatures. I would again, I love the very honest, humble approach. And when you have someone that you care about that's going through this, maybe they're not saved at all. You know, they don't know the Lord.

Or maybe they're just very distant. I would just be honest and say, you know, can I pray for you? I am praying for you.

What can I do to help you? Is there a devotional that I can send you that literally it's one Bible verse a day that you can just cling to? If you know, you know, tell me how you're feeling about the Lord. Are you angry at the Lord? It's okay to feel that way and just be wrong with your emotions. And it's okay to ask the Lord you don't understand why these things are happening.

And just try to be, you know, no judgment. I'm here for you. I'm going to give you an ample amount of grace because that's what the Lord does for us. So when you're going through this, it is really scary. And I've had so much support and I have it to me, this has not been that difficult, but I have had other times in my life. You know, and Joy knows that part of my testimony where I literally said to the Lord, if, if, I mean, if you take if my son does not make it through the night, when he was two weeks old, and he was in the NICU, and he was two pounds and I it was not looking good.

I said, I said out loud to him, I'm not sure that I can continue to follow you. And I immediately regretted it. But it's it, it brings me to tears today because I said that to my Lord and Savior. And it humbled me.

And I remember it today, but that may be where somebody is when they're in that chemo room. And it's you just have to give them grace because it's a very raw emotion when you're dealing with grief and loss and when you're that afraid. So I don't know if that's helpful or not. That is so helpful because people are so when they're in a vulnerable state, you don't want to add a layer of spiritual awareness, but at least sometimes that's the best time but sometimes it's not. So it's, it's a delicate, delicate thing. But oh, that is a wonderful advice.

Thank you so much. Hold their hand. Give them a hug.

Tell them you understand, you know. Yes. Yeah.

Yeah. Thank you so much. You're welcome. Thanks so much. Great. Thanks for calling in Judy. Have a great day. Sure thing. Bye bye. Bye. Well, I titled this time together today as faith in the fire, right?

Because even though you have a great outlook on life, and you love the Lord, and you have amazing friendships and a wonderful marriage, you've still had dark times, right? And you have this is real. It's not and it's not. Yeah, it's been real fires for sure. For sure.

Worse than this. For sure. Yeah. Well, I love the the account in the Bible in the book of Daniel about Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. You know, that story such a great story, right? And just to give a little recap of it, we have this this king Nebuchadnezzar, who is so full of himself, right? And he's been convinced that everyone needs to bow down and worship this golden image that he has made. And so there's this plot against God's people. And so we have these three Jewish boys who are super smart, been chosen to come and learn in this environment. And they are not bowing down to this image, when they hear the sound of the horn and all the music that's played.

And so of course, they get told on, right. And so the king hears it. And so he is telling them that they are going to have to go into the fire, literally, right.

And so this is a really popular picture. Yes, it's a really popular Bible story that that we hear even songs sung about, right. But I wanted to read just a little bit of it, where it says that not there is no God that can deliver you out of my hands. And then in I'm in the book of Daniel, and I'm in chapter three, then verse 16 says, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to the king, Oh, Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to give you an answer concerning this matter. If it be so our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the furnace of blazing fire, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king, but even if he does not, and I want us to just grab a hold of that little line, let it be known to you, O king, that we are not going to serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up. And then we know, as we go through the rest of this story, they do get thrown into the fire, it's cranked up, you know, just so much hotter than normal.

And they just think as if fire is not hot enough. Yes. Right to bring home that point.

Yes, they tie them up and they throw them in. And then the king says, was it not just three men that were bound? Why do I see a fourth that looks like the Son of God? Right. So we know that God was with them in the fire. And then when they come out, nothing is even singed at all.

None of their clothing, nothing at all is that God displays his glory. Yes. So as your friend, as I remember the day that you called and said, Hey, I just I found this little spot, you know, I just was had a little itch right here. And I just scratched my breast and I found this little spot. I'm sure it's nothing. I feel sure it's nothing. But I think I'm just gonna go ahead and get it checked out.

And then the next step was we're going to a biopsy. But I'm, it's gonna be nothing. It's gonna be fine.

It's so tiny. And it's I think of this story, right? That you go into the things that the fire hoping that things aren't gonna be bad, right? But then when they don't come out the way you want it to come out, right?

The test doesn't come back the way you want it to come back. What do you do then? Right? How do you make it through that?

And how do you keep going in that? We have we have another caller. Okay, which let's bring in our caller. That would be great. Well, we will bring in our caller. Let's see.

I think Nick's working on that right now. Here we go. It's Mike. It's Mike from Dayton, Ohio. Awesome. Welcome, Mike. How are you doing? Well, you're my I got tears in my eyes that I hope I get through this.

I woke up this morning, like I always do and praising God. God led me to Daniel 316 this morning. That is amazing. Wow. I got I got tears in my eyes.

If I can get through this phone call, I'm sorry. But how amazing that that's the scripture we're talking about today. And you had it this morning as you were reading. I love that.

Right. I read it four times today through the through the day. I had a little time. I read it. I read it again.

I read it again. And and what God gave to me is there was a fourth person, you know, and he's there with us, you know. Amen. You know, and, you know, and that he's always there with us. Yes. Even in the fire, you know me. And even we don't acknowledge him that day.

He's still exactly. Yeah. And then it's just it's just amazing to me that you guys are talking about this. And that's that's God, isn't it?

It's crazy. I'm telling you, God is awesome. He knows I listen to this show every day. He knows that I tune in. He knows I'm diligent.

He knows that I want to listen to it. And and and, you know, here we are. You know, I mean, doesn't it make you feel even extra special, though, Mike? Yes. Oh, I mean, he really took the time to point that out to you today.

I mean, he has a lot of things to do in a day. Right. I'm like, thank you so much. You didn't have to do this for me today. So it's a privilege for you today, Mike. Amen. Amen. And it humbles you.

You know, I mean, it really does. It just humbles you and say, God, I thank you for being in control of my life. And I'm allowing you to be in control of my life no matter what happens in the fire. You know, and I love this truth to I was thinking about this with this story that we would never choose the fire ever.

None of us would ever say, oh, yeah, give me that diagnosis or put me through this trial. But in the middle of it, what we can choose is to trust in the Lord, because the miracle is not the absence of the fire. The miracle is God's presence in the fire. And that's what I think we have to cling to that no matter what he allows us to go through. He promises to be right there, that fourth man with us in the fire.

Yes. Thank you, Mike, for calling in. We're so glad that you listen. And we're so happy that God just had a little what people will refer to as a God wink today for your life.

You be focused on this scripture. That's awesome. It is awesome. Thank you. Have a great day. Awesome. Yeah.

Bye bye. So, Sandy, when you think about Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, I can remember when you went in to have the biopsy. And even though you were hopeful that it was going to come back and it wasn't going to be cancer, I remember you saying to me, you know, even if it is God wants me to walk down this journey, I can walk down this journey.

I remember you saying that right. And you don't always have the answers as to why. But in my case, I'm already discovering the answers, which is a really like quick feedback. We don't always get it. We don't always know why.

But we do know that he does all things for good. We just can't always see them right away. Sometimes we have the privilege of that. But in my case, I'm already seeing exactly why. I mean, I have so many wonderful things going on in my life. And even with my work life, things are winding down to where I can now it's just it's like perfect timing. God's timing is perfect in every way. And, you know, he literally saved me by allowing me to to catch this diagnosis so early because he knew that I had much bigger fish to fry by the end of 2025. So I've just got to get through this. And it changes your whole perspective when you know that he cares that much. It's like Mike said, that much to literally down to the day to to point this out to me.

So this can be a part of my past. I think sometimes we're so busy with other things that we're not always paying attention to the Lord moving and subtle, but very real. Yes, he's moving. The Bible says he never sleeps or slumbers. He's always at work and he is active in our life.

We just need to pay better and closer attention to how he's speaking and working. Hey, friends, don't go away. We're going to take a quick break and we'll see you back here in just a little bit as we continue to talk to my good friend, Dr. Sandy Robertson.

You're listening to the Truth Network and truthnetwork.com. Welcome back, friends. I'm Dr. Joy with Joytime Ministries and my awesome friend, Dr. Sandy Robertson, has been sharing with us about her cancer journey. She had her first round of chemo a couple of weeks ago. And so, Sandy, I wanted you to give us the timeline of what's happening next and when you'll be through the fire. We've titled today Faith in the Fire. And so as you're going through chemotherapy and losing your hair and you'll have reconstructive surgery down the road, give us a little timeline.

Sure, sure. So, you know, again, my cancer journey is, I would say, easier than a lot of other people's because this is only four rounds of chemo. It's every 21 days. So my second round is on Tuesday. Then I'll have one the first week of July, then the third week of July, and then I'm done.

Okay. Right. So that is an obtainable goal.

Like it's so close. And then I will have a month to recover, get everything back to normal. And I already have my reconstruction surgery for September 4th. So then and that's just going to be a simple outpatient kind of stuff. And, and then other things will happen, then the estrogen blockers and other things. I mean, my oncologist is going to become, you know, kind of my primary care provider for a while right now because we do have to fight this, we do have to make sure that there's, you know, no estrogen in my body.

So it doesn't end on September 4th. But then it just kind of becomes maintenance. And, you know, I had shared last time that by going through this, my 10 year risk of having a recurrent breast cancer at a distant site is only 3%. So and that's a low enough percentage that even myself, being a numbers person, that that's, that's within the realm of normal of life. I mean, that's such a small number that I can forget about it and just live my life. Right. And that's such great motivation to get you through the chemo.

And not everyone has that. So I don't want anyone to think this would maybe be hard, harder for me to even speak to you if my 10 year risk was 20% or 30%. That's, that's, that's a different story. So please understand that I know that this is easier for me than it is for a lot of people going through cancer. And you made this point when we had you on earlier, you made the point that everybody's journey is different. So if someone is listening who's been through this and their journey was much harder and painstaking, they shouldn't feel bad or feel that they're not strong in their faith or their bodies aren't strong. Everybody has a different situation. Your situation was you caught it so incredibly early.

And when you had your surgery, the lymph nodes were clear. And it was this was just your story, right? Their story is different for sure.

Yes. Yeah, I'm very respectful of that. You know, absolutely. Again, I'm not going to try to trump anybody with my cancer story. You know, it's just everybody's story is different. And we all have we all face the fire.

It might not be cancer. No, there are a lot bigger fires, right? We all have fires that we face. And so thinking about having faith in the fire, the trial is going to be different.

But our faith journey is the same because we serve the same amazing God. All right. So let's talk a little bit about your hair.

Let's do okay, you are blonde and cute as a button. And you've always had not like super long hair, but longer hair. The whole life, your whole life. Yep. And it's just always been a big part of who you are with your bouncy blonde hair. Yep.

And then you went and had a little short bob cut. How long ago was that? Just a couple weeks? Yeah, about three weeks ago. So yeah, let me let me back up a little bit.

Sure. Because hair loss with chemo is the most concerning thing for women when they go through chemo, when they're starting that journey. And I'm very respectful of that too. I chose to kind of take control of the situation where I wanted to cut my own hair off and try to enjoy a shorter cut and see how I was going to look. And so that it wouldn't be so traumatic, you know, like when you're pulling hair out that's 15 inches long is different than when it's a couple of inches. So had the first cut a few weeks ago, absolutely loved it. I can't believe it.

Yes. And and then I had my second cut was actually planned for today. But because I was told that most likely that my hair would fall out after the second round.

So and I was going to do the really short pixie like what you see now. But my sweet hairdresser on Sunday morning getting ready for church. I mean, like so much hair started coming out. I mean, it was it took me by surprise. And I did get a little teary. I tried to cry a couple times on Sunday. And I tried to cry when I was telling people about it. I didn't last long, thank goodness.

And so he was able to cut it very gently on Tuesday. But man, is it coming out? I mean, it is a hot mess. I mean, there's hair. You're telling me this morning.

I can't even touch it. Right. Right. I'm just laughing about it now.

For some reason, the tears have left and I'm and I'm over it. And if I can't have styled, you know, beautiful blonde hair, then I'd rather just have none. And you've bought these cute scarves that you're going to wear on Amazon, like a box arrives every day with a new scarf.

I can't even get to tell you. Yes. I'm learning about fake eyelashes.

Yes, I've never done that. And didn't someone tell you about like, tattooed? I had to do the eyebrow tattoo and I thought it was the permanent. I was like, oh, I would never and they said, Sandy, it's the temporary. And they like pulled it up on Amazon. And this is the younger crowd, of course, that I work with 20 year olds. And they were so helpful yesterday.

It was all these resident physicians. And they were showing me all these pictures and you could do this. It looks so chic and do this and tie your scarf this way. So I mean, I'm honestly like, Come on, let's just shave all that. Let's get all your ready. I'm done. It's itchy. It's coming out.

It's bothering me. Well, you look adorable. I think you're adorable with this. I love the pixie cut. And so this is going to be like my hairdresser said literally by January, you could have a cute little pixie cut again.

Oh, I can't wait. Maybe. I mean, I think so.

And my fake eyelashes. Yes. Oh, my gosh, it's gonna be so good.

Okay. Well, we just have a few more minutes left in the show. So I want to get to some great news that I wanted you to share about you have one son. His name is Noah. He's your only child.

He's married to an amazing young lady. And you have a 15 month old granddaughter who's fabulous. And then tell us the news that you learned a couple of weeks ago. Yes.

Okay. So I would say over a month ago, we learned that Noah and Savannah were expecting again. And it was such a blessing. And they it was, I mean, it was fast, but they want a big family. Savannah is such a wonderful mother.

No, it's the best. Savannah had a very rough first pregnancy with Oakland. She was nauseated 24 seven. I think she Yeah, that first trimester nausea lasted until I think week 34. And then she delivered at week 37. So she had a solid three weeks of no nausea. Bless her heart. She was willing to do it again. Right. Right. And then a couple of weeks ago, they went in for their first very quick let's just find the heartbeat kind of thing.

And I really wasn't even telling people yet. And they heard two heartbeats. So she is pregnant with twins. And not only that is identical twins. And not only that, but it's called this special only 1% of identical twins are Momo twins where they share not only the placenta, but they share the amniotic sac. So that is high risk.

And I'm not going to focus on all the negatives with that. But it is the Lord answering her prayer. She won a large family. She is, of course, sick, sick, sick right now. And so now they're going to have three and so this very well may be, you know, family.

Yes, the family party. I know. But here's the thing. She is going to need so much even more help with Oakland because she is going to be on complete bed rest, you know, for a lot of this pregnancy. That is going to literally happen like the week after my reconstruction surgery. Like that is the timing. So when I say to you, like I just have to jump through these hoops so I can get to the more important thing, which is bringing two new lives into the world. I'm not even kidding. I sometimes kind of forget like oh, next week I've got this thing.

I've got this chemo thing. Okay, hold on. Let me just work this in while I'm like planning the nursery and planning to help Savannah. It's so exciting. Well, I love how the Lord brings us exactly what we need in different ways, because all of us have our own individual relationship with him. But he gives us what we need to make it through the fire.

Right. So Sandy, is there anything that you would like to share with our listeners about when you're in the fire? How can we keep our faith strong? What is it that we can do to keep our eyes on Jesus and not to get caught up with all the bad things that may be happening around us?

Is there anything you can say? I mean, obviously, I have a very nice routine where I get my coffee that now tastes like metal and I go out on the front porch and I have my devotion and I read. There's a scripture that kind of goes with the devotion that I have just found so helpful and kind of like Mike. There are times when I'm like, oh, my goodness, I cannot believe this is the day because it's like every day of the week. Yes.

It's just you know, it's it's not coincidence. And just be having daily conversations with the Lord about how you're feeling and praising him like doing the appropriate amount of praising of all the blessings and just it keeps you so humble. I'm journaling and my journals always go into blessings, even though I'm just trying to write down the facts, then I always kind of go into that is so, so helpful. But also surrounding yourself with family and friends who are a positive encouragement and who are going to to be there for you and that you know that they have your back.

I feel so supported. I mean, I just don't even feel worthy of the friends and the family that I have. And so but surrounding yourself, like if you're in a toxic relationship with a friend who's then maybe maybe when you're going through a fire, maybe that's not the best time to try to help them through that. Right.

Try to guard yourself from the negativity would be some advice that I would get. I love that. And speaking life over the situation. Right.

And thinking about what you have to look for. I'm so fortunate that I. Yeah. But I know that there are people that don't have that. Right.

But they always had the Lord with them. Right. To focus on him.

Read your Bible. Stay in the word. Well, as we get ready to close, I just want to say a prayer over you and a prayer over our listeners. And I'm so thankful for Truth Network and letting us come in today and just fill in. Oh, yeah.

And this is completely off the cuff. Absolutely. We're so happy for it. Let me pray for us. Lord, we are so thankful that you've made this way for us to share with these amazing listeners who are tuning in. Thank you for this radio network that lives and exists just to glorify your name. I pray over Sandy, her next rounds of chemo, that you would bless her, keep her. Lord, thank you for our friendship. Lord, I pray for our listeners. They would grow closer and closer to you and that they would know that whatever fire they face, they don't face it alone. You are with them in it. And I pray in Jesus name. Amen. Thanks for tuning in, friends. We can't wait to be back with you again. Hope you had a fantastic afternoon.