HELP!

It may have been a long time since we talked but that doesn't mean you are not dear to my heart. Today I’m writing you to give up an update and ask you a small favor. I am at the halfway mark of my chemotherapy for Stage 4 metastatic breast cancer. What is that you ask?

Metastatic breast cancer is a complex multi-step process involving the expansion of cancerous cells from the breast to other areas of the body [in my case the lymph nodes and T-3 vertebrae in my back]. It is a serious complication of breast cancer, as metastatic disease in breast cancer is often fatal [ I refuse to be a statistic]… Breast cancer primarily metastasizes to the bone, lungs, regional lymph nodes, liver and to the brain, with the most common site being the bone[ mine has remained centralized right now to a small spot focalized in my T-3 only- Praise God!]. 

Enough mumbo-jumbo! I allowing God to do all the fighting, sitting back and letting Him do HIS will of healing and living every moment to the fullest for His glory and honor! Today I’m inviting you to join my Relay For Life® team, Butterflies of Hope and/or make a donation.

What is Relay for Life?

At Relay, teams of people  camp out at a local high school- Melbourne High School Baseball Field- take turns walking or running around a track or path. Each team is asked to have a representative on the track at all times during the event. Because cancer never sleeps, Relays are overnight events up to 24 hours in length.

Each year, more than 3.5 million people in 5,000 communities in the United States, along with additional communities in 20 other countries, gather to take part in this global phenomenon and raise much-needed funds and awareness to save lives from cancer – LIKE ME! Thanks to Relay participants, the American Cancer Society continues to save lives.

Where do you come in?

I’m asking you to give up your Starbucks, McDonald’s, Coke, etc. for one week. That’s it! Instead put that money away in a jar or whatever and make a single donation by clicking the link on the side bar.

Every dollar helps me reach my personal goal of $500

 and team goal of $2,500.

Please, Please, Please make a small effort to contribute. I know times are hard. Believe me, I KNOW! I’ve lost my home, declared bankruptcy, and am living with my parents…I know. I’m BEGGING you, do this for me. The American Cancer Society has done so much for me and this is my way of giving back .

Your small donation helps in creating a world where cancer never steals another year from anyone’s life, yes, that includes mine. I want to live and the efforts of this organization is making huge advances toward the future and my Emma.  

I love you guys and am thankful to have you in my life.

Adrienne Conde

Butterflies of Hope, Team Captain

An Important Lesson Learned

Time has gone on since my last entry, as if it would stand still because I have cancer. The LORD has been teaching me so much along the way. Most importantly is to stop, something I've struggled with my entire life.

"Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the heathen, I will be exalted in the earth."- Psalm 46:10

There are so many things I can't do right now, I'm forced to contemplate many hours as I try to get rest.

For one thing I was struck by the fact I've never personally carried a friend through a serious illness. I've known people who have been sick but I've never taken it upon myself to encourage them through this event: sending a card, visiting, calling, making meals, cleaning, and offering my whole self. It is so easy to demonstrate compassion at the moment someone is diagnosed but to be a Good Samaritan we've learned of in Sunday School and seeing someone through is difficult. You have your own life and concerns. Struggles another is going through quickly vanish in the sea of self. I confess this to you because I'm on the receiving end and wonder sometimes why I was so self-consumed and how these people do it to keep measly old me at the top of their list of priorities. I've always thought of myself as thoughtful. HAH! What a joke! It is so easy for me to come up with 10 people I've let down, it pierces my heart with guilt and shame.

Why would God give me what I haven't given to others? To have "a friend that sticks closer than a brother" is something real. It's something I've never been. Despite my shortcomings though, God blesses me with them. Thank you, Jesus.

I also have a family: a mother, a father, a sister, a husband, a daughter and so many more members that love me in ways I never realized. Every day is like an earthquake that shakes my very core and being. Again, why me? Why am I so blessed?

Some may think I'm crazy. How can she feel so blessed in the midst of this? It's incomprehensible but the Holy Spirit fills you in these times- if you would just let Him work in you. He gives you reasons to praise Him when on the outside, you may ask "Why do bad things happen to good people?" The answer is not hard to find, I am a child of the King. I've given myself to do whatever He pleases because the Father really does know best. God loves me intimately in every cell that makes up my being. How do I know, that I know, that I know? Because of YOU. My friends. My family.

Experiencing the Comforter calm my fears. The Healer touch my body and give me rest. The Deliver taking words I cannot utter to the very throne of God.

Have I changed? Yes. Has it been hard? Yes. Do I want to continue? That's hard to say. I don't wish upon myself cancer but through it I can see the makings of God so much clearer. I'm being still. I'm knowing God. My prayer is that you too would see Him more clearly as well and make decisive changes to be HIS face in the lives of others who so desperately need Him. I cry for those who do not know HIM and cannot fathom how they face every day. Send them a note, call, visit, clean their house, hug them, and show them God's face.

I would like to say a special thank you to Rachel (my baby sister) who has become my official secretary and driver. It never crossed my mind you'd ever have to take care of me, I could never ask for a better sister. I love you.