This is the Journey of Pastor Rick Stratton's discovery of vocal cord cancer, treatment, recovery and on. My prayer for you today is that you will be blessed and victorious. Ye are of God, little children, and have overcome them: because, greater is He that is in you, then he that is in the world. 1 John 4:4
Tuesday, April 30, 2013
It has been a while since I have posted on here but I thought I would bring you up to date on my progress. It has not been quite two years since my surgery but I am doing well. I have had some difficulty in using the hands free device. It kept coming off. My main hope was to be able to use it on Sunday mornings when I preached.
It has been just this past month that I have been able to use it without it not working about half way through the message. I don't know if it is because I am using a good adhesive or I am learning how to speak without a lot of force or a combination of both. Either way it seems to be working. I use the hands free when I am at meetings as well.
I am so thankful for my family and my church family. They have all been so kind and patient as I learn this new way of talking.
I was going to have plastic surgery done on my stoma so that I would get a better fit for my hands free device but the cost was way out of reach.
I still get tired quicker then before surgery. I think it is the radiation (the gift that keeps on giving). There are other little things that I just have to get used to that will be just the "new normal".
All in all I think I am way ahead of the curve of recovery, to God be the glory.
Be Blessed.
Rick
Friday, August 3, 2012
One Year Later...It was one year ago that I was having surgery for cancer on my vocal cords.
It has been a long journey to this point and I am sure there will be other hurdles to cross as I move along.I continue to try and improve my ability to be understood when I speak.
During my prayer times I will read the bible out loud to be able to pronounce the words correctly. My last blood work showed that everything was fine.
I am so thankful for my wife and family and my church who have encouraged me to continue doing what God has called me to do.
Are there times that I want to quit? Of course. Each Sunday when I put the rubber hands free holder in my throat it is very painful. It takes a while for the pain to subside. It is in those times I want to quit, but it is also in those times I am reminded of the verse. Gal 6:9 And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.
This weekend, at church, is our annual Back To School Bash. Last year I had to miss it. This year I am thankful to be a part of it. If I could sing, I would sing, "To God Be the Glory". I can make a joyful sound and so I will say it the best I can, "To God Be the Glory".
Be encouraged today. Be patient. Hold fast to the profession of your faith.
Be Blessed,
Rick
I am putting a couple pictures on here that show a "then" and "now".
It has been a long journey to this point and I am sure there will be other hurdles to cross as I move along.I continue to try and improve my ability to be understood when I speak.
During my prayer times I will read the bible out loud to be able to pronounce the words correctly. My last blood work showed that everything was fine.
I am so thankful for my wife and family and my church who have encouraged me to continue doing what God has called me to do.
Are there times that I want to quit? Of course. Each Sunday when I put the rubber hands free holder in my throat it is very painful. It takes a while for the pain to subside. It is in those times I want to quit, but it is also in those times I am reminded of the verse. Gal 6:9 And let us not be weary in well doing: for in due season we shall reap, if we faint not.
This weekend, at church, is our annual Back To School Bash. Last year I had to miss it. This year I am thankful to be a part of it. If I could sing, I would sing, "To God Be the Glory". I can make a joyful sound and so I will say it the best I can, "To God Be the Glory".
Be encouraged today. Be patient. Hold fast to the profession of your faith.
Be Blessed,
Rick
I am putting a couple pictures on here that show a "then" and "now".
Saturday, January 28, 2012
The Journey continues……
Each day brings new challenges. I am finding that my voice is getting better but at times the device I use to hold the hands free device in does not want to stay in place.
I am looking into that to see if there is something that can be done or it may be that it is just going take more time for everything to continue to heal. It has been almost six months since I had surgery but less than two months since my last radiation treatment.
Time is a valuable healing agent no matter what kind of healing is taking place in our lives whether it is physical, emotional, mental, financial or anything else.
What is it that is healing or in need of healing in your life? Is there a relationship that has gone sour with a family member or friend? Is there a physical healing that needs to take place? Maybe it is something that you can hardly talk about, that hurts so much, but still needs healing. Whatever it is, Jesus and time can and will be your best friend.
I was looking at some pictures of me right after surgery that Jason, my oldest son, had taken. I had not seen them up until just this past week. I had him send them to me so I could see the difference of then and now. Let me say it here, “What a difference!” Time does make a difference.
I am not going to post those pictures; you will just have to take my word for it.
The Bible states, Psalms 139:14 Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it. NLT He made us to heal.
I want to encourage you today to let His healing process take place in your life in whatever area needs to be healed.
Jesus is “The Healer”. Isaiah 53:5 But he was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins. He was beaten so we could be whole. He was whipped so we could be healed. NLT
What Journey are you on? Whatever it is, if healing is needed in that Journey, it can take place.
Be Blessed,
Rick
Each day brings new challenges. I am finding that my voice is getting better but at times the device I use to hold the hands free device in does not want to stay in place.
I am looking into that to see if there is something that can be done or it may be that it is just going take more time for everything to continue to heal. It has been almost six months since I had surgery but less than two months since my last radiation treatment.
Time is a valuable healing agent no matter what kind of healing is taking place in our lives whether it is physical, emotional, mental, financial or anything else.
What is it that is healing or in need of healing in your life? Is there a relationship that has gone sour with a family member or friend? Is there a physical healing that needs to take place? Maybe it is something that you can hardly talk about, that hurts so much, but still needs healing. Whatever it is, Jesus and time can and will be your best friend.
I was looking at some pictures of me right after surgery that Jason, my oldest son, had taken. I had not seen them up until just this past week. I had him send them to me so I could see the difference of then and now. Let me say it here, “What a difference!” Time does make a difference.
I am not going to post those pictures; you will just have to take my word for it.
The Bible states, Psalms 139:14 Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it. NLT He made us to heal.
I want to encourage you today to let His healing process take place in your life in whatever area needs to be healed.
Jesus is “The Healer”. Isaiah 53:5 But he was pierced for our rebellion, crushed for our sins. He was beaten so we could be whole. He was whipped so we could be healed. NLT
What Journey are you on? Whatever it is, if healing is needed in that Journey, it can take place.
Be Blessed,
Rick
Friday, January 6, 2012
It is going to be a very good year.......
It is hard to believe that 2011 has ended and we have started a New Year. Last year brought some major changes in my life and I found God to be faithful in them all.
I am thrilled to be able to say, "To God be the glory, great things He has done".
I am now able to use my hands free device for speaking all day long. That, of course, would mean that my "stoma" (hole in my neck) has healed up.
I have found that I do have some inflection in my voice and I am sure that will only get better as time goes along.
I have had several opportunities to minister to other cancer patients that were undergoing some of the similar treatments that I have gone through. Some have visited the church and we have had opportunity to anoint them with oil and pray for them.
I am back to speaking on Sunday mornings and will speak on Sunday nights as well whenever we don't have a guest speaker. I am so grateful for all the ministers that filled in for me during my surgery and recovery. My brother Don filled in for almost three months on Sunday morning while I was recovering.
The first Sunday morning of the New Year before I went to speak, I felt the Lord, by His Spirit, speak to me and say, "This will be a year of recovery for Salem Assembly of God".
I am excited to see all the recovery that will take place in the lives of those in the church.
Perhaps there is something in your life that needs recovered. Begin now to trust God to recover what has seemed to be lost.
It is going to be a very good year!
Be Blessed,
Rick
It is hard to believe that 2011 has ended and we have started a New Year. Last year brought some major changes in my life and I found God to be faithful in them all.
I am thrilled to be able to say, "To God be the glory, great things He has done".
I am now able to use my hands free device for speaking all day long. That, of course, would mean that my "stoma" (hole in my neck) has healed up.
I have found that I do have some inflection in my voice and I am sure that will only get better as time goes along.
I have had several opportunities to minister to other cancer patients that were undergoing some of the similar treatments that I have gone through. Some have visited the church and we have had opportunity to anoint them with oil and pray for them.
I am back to speaking on Sunday mornings and will speak on Sunday nights as well whenever we don't have a guest speaker. I am so grateful for all the ministers that filled in for me during my surgery and recovery. My brother Don filled in for almost three months on Sunday morning while I was recovering.
The first Sunday morning of the New Year before I went to speak, I felt the Lord, by His Spirit, speak to me and say, "This will be a year of recovery for Salem Assembly of God".
I am excited to see all the recovery that will take place in the lives of those in the church.
Perhaps there is something in your life that needs recovered. Begin now to trust God to recover what has seemed to be lost.
It is going to be a very good year!
Be Blessed,
Rick
Thursday, December 1, 2011
Loose him and let him go……
John 11:43-44 And when he thus had spoken, he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth. And he that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with graveclothes: and his face was bound about with a napkin. Jesus saith unto them, Loose him, and let him go.
When Jesus spoke these words I am sure they began to unwrap Lazarus from the graveclothes.
Perhaps there are some things that have you bound that need to be loosed. There are so many things that can bind us up. Fear, doubt, worry, sickness, heartache, etc.
When Jesus spoke things began to happen. Lazarus was made alive and then he began to be freed of the bondage.
That is how Christ works in our lives. He speaks life into us by salvation and then by His spirit He begins the process of freeing us from those things that have us bound.
I think the last thing to come off Lazarus was that napkin that was bound around his face. Many times that is the most difficult of all to be freed of. That napkin, if left on, can determine our speech and hinder our eyesight.
If left on, his speech would be filtered through the grave napkin and what he saw would be the same.
How many times have our words not reflected life but death in speaking negative things and our vision blurred to only see the negative?
Once we allow Him to remove the napkin on our face we then can begin to see clearly and speak correctly.
What is it that you have been seeing lately and what is it that you have been saying. Perhaps there are still remnants of the grave cloth on your face and today Christ wants to remove it all.
Maybe today you are only seeing life through your circumstances and not through His promises and that is causing you to speak defeat rather than victory. This could be the day your freedom comes.
John 8:36 If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.
Be Blessed,
Rick
John 11:43-44 And when he thus had spoken, he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth. And he that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with graveclothes: and his face was bound about with a napkin. Jesus saith unto them, Loose him, and let him go.
When Jesus spoke these words I am sure they began to unwrap Lazarus from the graveclothes.
Perhaps there are some things that have you bound that need to be loosed. There are so many things that can bind us up. Fear, doubt, worry, sickness, heartache, etc.
When Jesus spoke things began to happen. Lazarus was made alive and then he began to be freed of the bondage.
That is how Christ works in our lives. He speaks life into us by salvation and then by His spirit He begins the process of freeing us from those things that have us bound.
I think the last thing to come off Lazarus was that napkin that was bound around his face. Many times that is the most difficult of all to be freed of. That napkin, if left on, can determine our speech and hinder our eyesight.
If left on, his speech would be filtered through the grave napkin and what he saw would be the same.
How many times have our words not reflected life but death in speaking negative things and our vision blurred to only see the negative?
Once we allow Him to remove the napkin on our face we then can begin to see clearly and speak correctly.
What is it that you have been seeing lately and what is it that you have been saying. Perhaps there are still remnants of the grave cloth on your face and today Christ wants to remove it all.
Maybe today you are only seeing life through your circumstances and not through His promises and that is causing you to speak defeat rather than victory. This could be the day your freedom comes.
John 8:36 If the Son therefore shall make you free, ye shall be free indeed.
Be Blessed,
Rick
Friday, November 18, 2011
Go forward......
When Moses was facing the Red Sea the children of Israel were complaining about everything. Here was God's response to Moses:
Exodus 14:15 And the LORD said unto Moses, Wherefore criest thou unto me? speak unto the children of Israel, that they go forward:
Is there something that has you hitched to a post and you are going no where? A past hurt, an injustice, a sickness, a sorrow, a victory.
We can hitch to anything in life and stay there. I know men that are still talking about the touchdown they made in high school. That is where they are hitched.
Here is what Paul said: Philippians 3:12-14 I don't mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection. But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me. No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us. NLT
When Paul speaks of forgetting the past he does not just say the bad things in my past but he was forgetting his past. He could not depend on his successes or failures to help him press on or go forward.
What is it that identifies you? I don't want to be known as the pastor that had cancer but I want to be know as the pastor that loves Christ. Cancer is not my identity just as a hurt or sorrow or anything else should be yours.
Philippians 3:7-11 I once thought these things were valuable, but now I consider them worthless because of what Christ has done. Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ and become one with him. I no longer count on my own righteousness through obeying the law; rather, I become righteous through faith in Christ. For God's way of making us right with himself depends on faith. I want to know Christ and experience the mighty power that raised him from the dead. I want to suffer with him, sharing in his death, so that one way or another I will experience the resurrection from the dead! NLT
Are there things in your life that you have hitched yourself to? Perhaps today would be a good time to allow Christ to loose you and let you go. Just as He spoke when Lazarus was raised from the dead. All the old grave clothes had to go.
There is an old song we used to sing entitled The Move is On. Let its words inspire you today to "Go Forward".
The move is on, my Lord, the move is on;
The move is on, my Lord, the move is on.
I can hear the rustle of the mulberry trees,
And I know, I know, I know the move is on.
Move on brother, move on sister,
This is the moving day,
Move a little closer,
Where the streams are flowing;
Move on, brother, move on.
Be Blessed,
Rick
When Moses was facing the Red Sea the children of Israel were complaining about everything. Here was God's response to Moses:
Exodus 14:15 And the LORD said unto Moses, Wherefore criest thou unto me? speak unto the children of Israel, that they go forward:
Is there something that has you hitched to a post and you are going no where? A past hurt, an injustice, a sickness, a sorrow, a victory.
We can hitch to anything in life and stay there. I know men that are still talking about the touchdown they made in high school. That is where they are hitched.
Here is what Paul said: Philippians 3:12-14 I don't mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection. But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me. No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it, but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead, I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us. NLT
When Paul speaks of forgetting the past he does not just say the bad things in my past but he was forgetting his past. He could not depend on his successes or failures to help him press on or go forward.
What is it that identifies you? I don't want to be known as the pastor that had cancer but I want to be know as the pastor that loves Christ. Cancer is not my identity just as a hurt or sorrow or anything else should be yours.
Philippians 3:7-11 I once thought these things were valuable, but now I consider them worthless because of what Christ has done. Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ and become one with him. I no longer count on my own righteousness through obeying the law; rather, I become righteous through faith in Christ. For God's way of making us right with himself depends on faith. I want to know Christ and experience the mighty power that raised him from the dead. I want to suffer with him, sharing in his death, so that one way or another I will experience the resurrection from the dead! NLT
Are there things in your life that you have hitched yourself to? Perhaps today would be a good time to allow Christ to loose you and let you go. Just as He spoke when Lazarus was raised from the dead. All the old grave clothes had to go.
There is an old song we used to sing entitled The Move is On. Let its words inspire you today to "Go Forward".
The move is on, my Lord, the move is on;
The move is on, my Lord, the move is on.
I can hear the rustle of the mulberry trees,
And I know, I know, I know the move is on.
Move on brother, move on sister,
This is the moving day,
Move a little closer,
Where the streams are flowing;
Move on, brother, move on.
Be Blessed,
Rick
Thursday, November 10, 2011
Let the healing begin......
Today I finished all of my radiation treatments and now my neck and throat can begin to heal.
Radiation does help to kill cancer cells but also burns the skin and tissue in the area it is used. There can be several side effects.
It keeps working for about two weeks after the last treatment but the healing process can and will get started.
So in a couple of weeks the swelling and redness and soreness should begin to go away. I should begin to be able to speak without a lot of discomfort and my hands free device should stay in place better.
Think with me for a moment on this. Many times we bombard our lives with things that keep the healing from starting.
Worry, doubt, fear, anger, resentment, grudges, mistrust, etc. (I think you get the idea). With all that being radiated in us, healing can not really start or at least won't be able to finish.
Today I laid on the table, put on the mask and took the last treatment. I am done being bombarded with radiation. Today the healing begins.
Perhaps today healing can begin in your life by not laying on the table and putting on the mask and bombarding yourself with all that stuff I listed above. In doing so healing can begin in your life. Healing from fear, doubt, worry, anger, mistrust and so on.
Let me shout it out. LET THE HEALING BEGIN IN YOUR LIFE TODAY!
Be Blessed,
Rick
Today I finished all of my radiation treatments and now my neck and throat can begin to heal.
Radiation does help to kill cancer cells but also burns the skin and tissue in the area it is used. There can be several side effects.
It keeps working for about two weeks after the last treatment but the healing process can and will get started.
So in a couple of weeks the swelling and redness and soreness should begin to go away. I should begin to be able to speak without a lot of discomfort and my hands free device should stay in place better.
Think with me for a moment on this. Many times we bombard our lives with things that keep the healing from starting.
Worry, doubt, fear, anger, resentment, grudges, mistrust, etc. (I think you get the idea). With all that being radiated in us, healing can not really start or at least won't be able to finish.
Today I laid on the table, put on the mask and took the last treatment. I am done being bombarded with radiation. Today the healing begins.
Perhaps today healing can begin in your life by not laying on the table and putting on the mask and bombarding yourself with all that stuff I listed above. In doing so healing can begin in your life. Healing from fear, doubt, worry, anger, mistrust and so on.
Let me shout it out. LET THE HEALING BEGIN IN YOUR LIFE TODAY!
Be Blessed,
Rick
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