Owens' Family Blog

Do you remember Billy Crystal’s famous, heavily-accented line from Saturday Night Live, “It doesn’t matter if you feel good, as long as you look good”? (I'm sure that reference dates me!)Some of you may have been fortunate enough to have a chance to catch up with Rachel at the BCS Back to School Picnic. I’m sure you’ll all agree with me, she looks terrific and it was great to see her! Unfortunately, feeling good actually does matter more than looking good, and Rachel’s recent experience with her chemo has contributed to her not feeling so good. A few weeks ago, Rachel made a switch to a new chemo drug called Taxol. While her spirits have been relatively good, she has been suffering from several side effects including: finger tip blisters, nerve pain, vision impairment (quite often taking away her ability to safely drive) and depression. Recently, Rachel has started a regimen of Cymbalta which seems to be helping with the nerve pain and depression. Rachel is also experiencing a rapid heart-rate and underwent some testing to identify if there is anything, in addition to stress, that needs to be addressed to get this under control. The possibility of a thyroid or kidney problem have been eliminated through some of the testing. And, just today results from a recent echo show no heart problems.

While it’s been a tough go of things these past several weeks, the Owens did receive some good news – there is no sign of infection at the port site and it doesn’t look like the port will need to be replaced. And, they should be able to start using the port for her chemo treatments again. (Rachel has had to receive her past few treatments through her arm since the port has been causing trouble for her.)

Throughout the month of August, in addition to encouraging and caring for Rachel, the Owens had the chance to spend a lot of time making summertime memories. Some of those memories are very fun, like camping in the backyard for a week (with s’mores every night over the campfire!) and lots of fishing. But, some of those memories they all might like to forget, like the shed fire they experienced after that week-long campout. Mark credits the protection of the Lord with keeping that fire contained. You can see how close the FULL gas can came to igniting! Mark will never dump hot ashes into a plastic bucket and proceed to leave the bucket adjacent to a shed, or any other building, again!










Despite the difficulties Rachel is experiencing, she continues to impress everyone who sees her with her mental toughness and positive attitude. Rachel is disappointed to have missed out on doing many of the things she would have liked to have done with her kids this past summer; however, while she has been forced to miss out on some of the fun of summer, she was able to deliver her kids to school for the first day on Tuesday (photo).

I know the Owens continue to cherish your prayers. We can all pray for healing, for relief from the pain and discomfort that Rachel is experiencing, for encouragement and for a positive attitude. We can also pray that the entire Owens family can rest in the assurance that Rachel is in the hands of the Lord. Mark shared this link with me to a song by Sara Groves that captures the spirit of that prayer.
http://www.lyricsmania.com/jeremiah_lyrics_sara_groves.html

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your paths.” Proverbs 3:5-6