“So do not fear, for I am with you. Do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.” Isaiah 41:10 NIV
This is the Bible verse the Lord has brought to mind several times over the last couple of days. As I go through the aftermath of regular chemotherapy these are some very beautiful promises from the Lord that have given me great peace and calm in the middle of my storm. These promises are very much my daily reality, by Gods’ grace. It is amazing.
On Monday (August 17th) I had my part two of Round One of my chemotherapy treatment. The rest of my chemotherapy treatments are scheduled as follows:
~~Round 2 Friday August 28th (2 types of chemotherapy) +
Friday September 4th (1 type of chemotherapy).
~~Round 3 Friday September 18th (2 types of chemotherapy) +
Friday September 25 (1 type of chemotherapy).
~~Round 4 Friday October 2nd (2 types of chemotherapy) +
Friday October 9th (1 type of chemotherapy).
End of treatment.
I am praising the Lord for His strength, for His help, and for upholding me. I praise Him for peace and for His presence in real and tangible ways through out the day and night. I sleep very well and when I am a wake I am surrounded by His love and calm. I praise Him for my platelet count that is holding its own. I praise Him for stable blood work. I praise Him that I even gained a couple of pounds over the past few weeks. I praise God for a wonderful medical team that is very sensitive to and on top of pain management. I praise Him for medicine that works and that I have noticed some changes in how my body is responding to this new treatment. (We will not know how the chemotherapy is working until we have more scans – – scheduled for mid-October.)
Thank you for walking this journey with me. I am very much encouraged and hopeful at the way the Lord is leading me through each day and each step of the treatment. I continue to walk and live by faith one step at a time. I hope that you are feeling blessed and encouraged in your daily walk.
Love and blessings in the Lord,
Debbie (and Patrick too!)
Debbie O'Connor's Journey 
We are praying for you daily Debbie. Susanna and I love and admire you and Patrick so much. Keep running the “race laid out for you.”
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So glad to hear you are encouraged and that you have gained weight. I will pray these verses every day for you and will make sure i write down the dates of chemo to pray especially for that on that day. I hope that when i come to Seattle I will be able to see you. I love you and miss you so much!
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Praying for you every day. Your post is very encouraging and an inspiration I am sure, do you everyone who reads it.
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So good to get another update, Debbie!
We will be praying for Rounds 2, 3, and 4. It’s so encouraging that you are sensing some changes as the treatments happen…will continue to pray for the positive outcomes from each of the treatments.
You are such a testimony to all with your confidence in and reliance on the Lord. What a God we serve! My prayers continue daily through the treatment period. May God continue to meet your every need and do His work of healing you through the chemo treatments. I’m so grateful that you are sleeping well – so important! – and being able to eat sufficiently to gain a few pounds!
Know that you are much loved by so many!
Kathy
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Debbie! What an encouraging and uplifting update! It is evident that God is by your side and keeping you safe in his care while you are on this journey! We are praying daily and know He will sustain you! Much love E and M!
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I/we are praying for you! That is great about your weight gain. I’m glad you are tolerating the chemo. “As they began to sing and praise, the Lord set ambushes against the men of Ammon and Moab and Mount Seir who were invading Judah, and they were defeated.” 2 Chronicles 20:22 Keep a song in your heart!
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Love you Puc! Praying for you. Love to the bestest MBI roomie!!!!
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Praying daily for you. Glad for the peace you are experiencing.
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Amen! So happy to hear.
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So happy to read these news! We keep praying for you my dear friend Debbie and family. Que Dios siga derramando de su paz que sobrepasa todo entendimiento y le de fortaleza! God blesses you!
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GOD IS WITH YOU, AND MANY FRIENDS PRAYING FOR YOU
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Thank you, God, for Your comfort and control! We praise You for peace given in Your Word. I pray Your healing hand will hold fast to Debbie! And we trust You for the future!
Love you, Debbie!
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Hi Debbie…
I wanted to tell you that my Debbie and I pray for you and we love you! Your walk with Jesus is so powerful and personal making you able to suffer with a soul at rest…just like Psalm 62 reports!
Prayed for you just a few moments ago…
Pastor Steve
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Dear Debbie & Patrick, Your last blog post update was SO GOOD to read, Debbie, and we gave heart-felt Thanks to our gracious Lord for ALL the praises you shared!! 😊🙌 SO thankful you are feeling encouraged at how your chemo treatments are going and seem to be working for you!! And esp. thankful you are getting adequate pain management (and I hope the same for your nausea), and that you can sleep well, and have gained some pounds, yay!!! We feel more Hope for you too, and continue praying for His merciful Healing!! Thank you for sharing your schedule so we can pray for & on those dates, and for good management of side effects. And for some good days in between when you can do more. 🙏 Oh yes, you have family getaways planned so I pray you ARE able to do those and feel WELL for them!! 🙏 And I Love Isaiah 41:10, it has been a favorite of mine since Bible college days, and I learned then a chorus for the verse so I sing it to myself often :). I need to remember to share that one with my grandkids. I’ve been reading thru Isaiah so am in those good chapters now :). Praying you have some good days this week before Friday’s treatment. Is your September getaway for before your treatments on the 18th & 25th? I see you have 2 wks between the treatment pairs. We are well and have a getaway this coming Saturday to Sunday for a wedding in the Tri-Cities. God Bless You both and your girls, and we send our Hugs!! 🤗 Much Love ❤️❤️!, Vicky & Gary
>
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Praising and praying with you!! Praying He strengthens you for Round 2 on Friday! The Lord takes me to the image of a battlefield as I pray for you and as I sing songs like, “The Battle Belongs to the Lord” and others that describe Him a Conqueror and Victor, I pray that He defeats this enemy of cancer! I am praying He stops the onslaught and if He so chooses to use the chemo as one of His weapons, so be it. May He fill you ( and Patrick and the girls) with hope and courage!!! John and I love you so much!!!!
Georgie
Sent from my iPhone
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Thank you for your update. Continually in my prayers. I am so happy that you feel the presence and love of God.
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