Dear faithful friend,

This is a very sad day for me, but also, strangely, a happy day. Tears and smiles!

 It's a sad day for me today because Val Hodgkin, who has been helping me since November, is going home to England and her family. Just a short while ago I took her to the airport. I'm going to miss her so very much.  Val has been with me in every one of my medical appointments and stayed in the hospital with me after surgery.  She has been my right hand, literally.  Among other things, Val kept the home going, made me eat regularly and, not least, answered the phone when I was too weary to raise my left hand to pick it up.  Most of all, I appreciate the way she has listened and prayed and helped me process things. Even as I speak, Val is typing this e-mail while I dictate it, as she has done with all my correspondence since I lost the use of my hand.  Many other friends have helped enormously, too, but I don't know how I would have managed without someone in the house.

Thanks a million, Val. It was wonderful to have Brian here, too, for seven weeks in the middle of Val's stay. Brian and Val have given me a great gift by their love and practical concern. Words cannot convey my feelings of gratitude. I would like to ask you to pray for Val and Brian, please.  After a week's holiday together they will continue speaking at meetings and spending time with their home churches.  Their service in Papua New Guinea is over and they are asking God to guide them into a new assignment with Wycliffe.  Several opportunities are opening up but which one should they choose? Deb and Esther, who stayed with me last year with their parents, are finding their feet as young adults in the world of work in their home town.  Their daughter, Becky, is married and lives in Texas, and their son, Tim, will marry in June and settle near them in Nottingham, England. This is a time of change for all the family.

It's also a happy day for me because I am now well enough to manage everyday life independently.  Yeah!!  It is not quite eight weeks from surgery. I am able to drive which is a big blessing. I have a little function in my right hand although it is still quite hard to type or to write even a little.  During the next weeks I'll carry on developing new skills to handle life. Hopefully I will persuade my computer to tolerate the Dragon Speech Recognition program so I can communicate more easily.  
 
I am not yet finished with the treatment necessary to rid my body of Sammy Sarcoma. I'm waiting to hear from the radiation oncologist when her department will be able to give three final doses of radiation to the operation site.  Please pray this will happen soon.  Now is the right "window" for the radiation. I learned today some CT scan films have gone astray between doctors' offices causing a delay. Fedex delivered the scans, so where are they? I am hoping everyone involved is scrambling to find them... Please pray those scans will turn up. After radiation is done, I'll have to keep an eye on my calendar for follow up appointments with my three doctors who have managed this illness so skillfully.  

Please keep praying. I'm reaching the wall in the marathon. The strength to complete the race is available from God, but I would like to ask you to pray it into me as I face more appointments, and the long uphill climb of adjustment to life in a slower lane. Every task is taking me two to three times longer than it used to, as I learn how to do things with a different hand, and often one-handed.  My mind still wants to go at the same speed as ever, while my physical skills need to catch up.  The first task to solve will be in the kitchen.  How do I open jars, spread butter on toast or slice a grapefruit while using just one hand? There are many wonderful aids available but I have to decide which ones will work best for me. By the way, I spend about an hour a day exercising my fingers and arm, and this will need to continue throughout life to retain the function I have.

There are a couple of immediate tasks for which I need prayer.  I must work on my taxes right away, a job which involves handling many large and small pieces of paper. I would like also to send out a printed prayer letter. Some of my friends don't have e-mail and may not know of the battle with cancer. And, I should look at some Wycliffe work projects waiting for me. Please ask God to give me patience and peace day by day and a heart that clings to God and rejoices in Him. Then, I will be able to live productively for Him and serve others.

Thank you for your encouragement and love and prayers. God has been very gracious to me in giving me you! If you have opportunity, please let me know how you are.

With much love and appreciation,

June