One complete round of phase 3 chemo complete. My hair is falling out. My energy is decreasing. My mouth is becoming sensitive. My eyes are burning. I don’t have to spend nights in the hospital with these treatments though, so life is good!
I went to my hairdresser today to have it shaved off…for the 3rd time. We are both believing this is the last time, and from here on out, she’ll be helping me figure out how to wear my hair at every stage of growth. Growth=to increase in size or substance. That has definitely happened. At each loss of hair there has been more growth. Of faith. Of hope. Of holding onto something that can not die or be taken away. “The grass withers, the flower fades, But the word of our God stands forever.” Isaiah 40:8 Growth is always happening. Because if growth is not happening, then death is occurring in it’s place. The question then is…what is growing? Or what are you allowing to die?
It hurt more this time. Maybe because it was the 3rd time. Maybe because I had started to look like Gollum (no really). Maybe because it was the ripping off of a bandaid from a wound that hadn’t yet healed.
A smile here, because I know that growth is happening, even in the dying of the hair follicles on my head, growth is happening. Clara (my oldest) told me today that back when I had hair, her hair wasn’t curly yet. We both have brown hair, so she said that I lost my hair and gave her my curls, and so now her hair is curly. That’s a pretty worthy cause I think.
Chemo attacks the cells that are most rapidly growing. That’s why hair almost always goes. They are rapidly growing cells within the body. As is cancer. When cancer cells start replicating, they don’t follow the rules that God created all of our other cells to follow. Healthy cells know when their work is done and go through a process of programmed cell death, allowing new cells to take their place and continue the purpose they were created for. Healthy cells also stick together. They know which cells to cling to in order for their purpose to be fulfilled and for the advancement of the body. Cancer cells don’t follow the same checks and balances system. They divide uncontrollably, spreading and damaging surrounding tissues. They do not know when to stop replicating and often break off and start growing somewhere else in the body. Independent.
As I read in “The Broken Way” by Ann Voskamp recently…“in our human bodies, the cells that only benefit themselves are known as cancer. Cancer is what refuses to die to self.”
BOOM! I don’t know if that truth bomb hit you as hard as it hit me. So if the ground didn’t shake beneath you, read it again.
Cancer refuses to die to self. It also refuses to stick together, to link up with other “cells” for the betterment of the body. When we refuse to die to self, we are being a cancer within the body of Christ. Within our families. Within our selves.
Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain. He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. -John12:24-25-
Life comes through the process of dying. So if we are constantly trying to avoid dying to ourselves, in reality we are killing ourselves with a slow and painful death. Be life. Give your life to see other’s lives flourish and abound. He gave His life for us. The only adequate response is for us to give ours in return.
The girls are in swimming lessons, John Mark is about to turn 2, Robby is crushing it in school, and daily I am seeking to die more to myself….so that we can all GROW.
Ferris Fights 
You amaze me. Your faith, strength and grace bless me. Thank you for sharing your journey with all of us. Praying for your total healing!
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Praying for you and your family Ferris!!
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Ferris!!! These blog posts are so powerful!! I am so stirred & challenged as I read them. Love you my dear & believing that #3 will definitely be the final round unto complete healing & restoration! ❤️
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Your are an amazing wife and mother. To have your faith goes beyond me.This is the first time I read your account of cancer and will look forward for more to come. I know that you will help me along my journey. Please give your husband and your children all my love. You are special to them and they will become better Christians because of you.
Kathryn Lowder
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Wow! This is really powerful and I am praying for our Amazing, Awesome and Powerful God to heal you completely!!! Thank you for blogging Ferris.
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What a wonderful word to live. This is so encouraging, Ferris. I read The Broken Way back in January of this year. I chose a passage of Scripture to meditate on and always return to throughout this year as a result of the message in Ann Voskamps book. It is Philippians 3:7-17
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Hi Ferris! I’m your mother-in-law’s best friend living in SC. As we’ve talked, I’ve been praying for you, but recently have started reading your blogs and following your story more closely. I am praying and claiming in Jesus’ Name complete healing and restoration. God has already done a beautiful work and transformation in your life and I know He will see it through to completion. What a powerful and profound word you shared in your last blog, one that certainly convicted and challenged me in my personal walk with Christ. You are certainly an inspiration to me and I know many others, namely my husband who also battles cancer (leukemia). We thank God every time we remember you and will continue to keep you and your beautiful family in our prayers.
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Ferris
What a powerful post! Thank you for sharing your journey with us so that from it we can continue to learn and grow in Christ as well as you share the transformational truths Of His Word and power!
Love you
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Ferris, thank you so much for sharing these words — so instructive and encouraging. We will be lifting you up steadily in the days to come.
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Precious one, I am standing with you daily. I represent the Body, His Body, His Bride. You are an integral part of that Bride. You are a lovely fragrance, an exquisite gem-studded part of her stunning bridal garment.
He is preparing us for the wedding feast! How grateful I am for you. How apt, how fitting, how true are your words of faith. They are words only a real Princess can pen. Your Father, The King of the universe, smiles upon His Princess fair this day! He delights in your musings. He weighs the innermost ponderings of the heart, and in yours, in the quiet recesses at the core of your being, He rests, well pleased.
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Thinking about you today. Just thought I’d stop by for an update. We don’t know each other, but we do have a few things in common – mostly wonderful things…we both are following hard after God, and we both have incredible family and church support. But we do have one horrible thing in common – choriocarcinoma. You are still in the midst of the fight, and mine was 7 years ago. May God continue to hold you close through this journey. My prayers are with you today. –Connie Snodgrass
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