Exploring the Jungle —Mary Lott

“Wake up! It’s Christmas morning!” I shook my sister awake and we made our way to the stairs. “Are Mom and Dad up yet?” My sister signaled no and we sat down to wait for their arrival, and for…

“It is good to give thanks to the Lord and to sing praises to thy name, … to declare your lovingkindness in the morning and your faithfulness by night.” — Psalms 92 I dance around my bedroom singing…

Carefully, I put my full glass of soda on the tray on my bed. Pokey, my companion and loyal canine, snuggled next to me. Sighing contentedly, he sensed that we’d be together for a while as I listened to…

Turning my head away from the fiend with the needle, I closed my eyes and began mentally walking down a path through a forest. I had only “taken” a few “steps” when the nurse called me back to reality:…

“Pokey, I’m back!” I called out as I returned from shopping. I staggered backward as Pokey assaulted me — slurp! slurp! slurp! — in an effort to jump on my shoulder and lick my face. Placing my shopping bags…

“You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you. Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord God is an everlasting rock.” — Isaiah 26:3-4 (ESV) “When you…

“But I’m leavin’ on a jet plane/ Don’t know when I’ll be back again.” — John Denver That song was running through my mind the other day. “Zip!” I jimmied open the zipper of my carry-on to throw in…

“I’m going to prescribe Rituxan [rituximab] for you,” the doctor said. I immediately envisioned myself losing all of my hair. I had no idea what to expect, nor did I understand anything about my diagnosis of cold…

In May 2018, I entered the unknown “jungle” of a cold agglutinin disease (CAD), accompanied by what my doctor calls chronic lymphocytic lymphoma. CAD is a rare disease, and in April 2018, I had no understanding of…

I carefully pulled myself out of the sunken bathtub and waited a moment before swinging around to stand up. I gripped the sink next to me, pulled up, and caught my breath. “Whoa!” I thought to myself. “That tired…