Home, Home at Last!

We are back home. It is so good to be in the good ole USA. It is great to be back in good ole Texas! It is fantastic to be back at Content!! When we got home, everything was so dry. We didn't get any of the recent rains that were in Taylor and northern counties. Yesterday evening, we were so blessed by a wonderful downpour. The Lord sent 2.2" to us, and we got to experience it. What more could we ask for?

I want to thank you all for your prayers and your continued prayers. The stem cell treatments' effects are gradual which can take 6-9 months. At that time, we can choose to go back for more treatment. When they performed the mini-liposuction, they harvested enough adipose tissue for another treatment. As bruised and sore as I have been, I would think that they got enough for two more treatments!

We had a good trip back, with much kind assistance at the airports. We flew from Panama to Miami to DFW to Abilene. Surprisingly, all of the flights were 10-20 minutes early. On Saturday morning, I rose at 3:00 to board the airplane at 6:30 and take off at 7:15. We landed at Abilene at 6:20. Brent and Megan picked us up with Sharon's BBQ to eat when we got home. Yummy! Sunday, I could hardly get out of bed after such a good night's sleep. Sunday was a day of recuperation. Leland went to work today. We are quickly getting into our routine.

We are anxious to see all of you. Hopefully, we can tell you about some of the people that the Lord sent across our path. May God bless you as you bless others!

Panama City

Yesterday we went on a short tour to Ancon Peak,the highest peak in Panama, 199 meters high (not quite Pikes Peak). You can see a beautiful view of Panama City.

In the taxi

Pictures at The Market.

Our taxi.

Trees outside of Canal Adminiistration Building. The distance between them is the same as the width of the canal.





Panama Flag at the top of Ancon Peak can be seen from anywhere in Panama City.

View of Old Panama City from Ancon Peak.

View of Panama City from Ancon Peak.

 

View of Canal area.

Bridge of the Americas. Entry into Panama Canal.

These pictures were taken from Ancon Peak on a hazy evening. That's why the pictures were hazy. It seems as though the clouds build up in the afternoon bringing a shower. This is a Rainforest, so I guess we can expect some rain.

Freight Area of canal.

More of the same.

PRAISE BE TO GOD!

This morning has been such a blessing. As we were waiting for time to go to the clinic, I was doing exercises, and walking with a walker in the room. The Lord is doing a work in me physically. I am able to lift my foot and do some exercises with it that I was not able to do before. Praise be to Him!

While we were at the clinic, we discussed how God works through medicine. The reason I am showing improvement is that God has willed it so. It is only through Him that medicine or therapy helps. They agreed and both told us their testimonies. We spoke of our love for the Lord, what He has done for us, and is doing for us. We stayed there just visiting for about 30 minutes. Dr. Barnett, the female doctor, said that she asked God to give her something to make her smile today.  "This is it," she said, smiling her beautiful smile. Dr. Fernandez, the male doctor administering the treatment, said that this is what makes his work worthwhile. Both of these doctors are strong believers who seemed to be encouraged as our conversation progressed. To God be the glory!

Pictures in our room



We are glad to have a WiFi hookup and a MajicJack phone which keep us connected with home. 

The housekeeping is immaculate! We are really impressed.

Buenos Dios

This morning, an unusual thing happened. Our air conditioner went out. They moved us to a new room. We got to the new room in over an hour from the time we reported it.  When we got in the new room, workers were in the restroom. I hope they get this fixed soon. It is 10:20 now. We leave the hotel at 10:45 for my 2^nd stem cell treatment. The first stem cell treatment went smoothly.  First they flush my vein with a saline solution. Then they inject the stem cells and finish it up with saline solution. It takes a total of about 10 or 15 minutes.

The second stem cell procedure went well. I am back in the room now, ready for a nap. It has been very rainy here. That makes the humidity seem even higher. Everything sticks.

Many of you have sent notes of encouragement. They have been such a blessing. Some of the scriptures that have been sent with the notes are very special. I thought I would share some of them with you.

Philippians 4: 6 & 7 – “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.....and the peace of God which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

Zeph. 3:17 - "The LORD your God in your midst, The Mighty One, will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing."

Psalm 121 - "I lift up my eyes to the hills -- where does my help come from?  My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth.  He will not let your foot slip -- He who watches over you will not slumber; indeed, He who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.  The LORD watches over you -- the LORD is your shade at your right hand; the sun will not harm you by day, nor the moon by night.  The LORD will keep you from all harm.  He will watch over your life; the LORD will watch over your coming and going both now and forevermore."

May these scripture bless you as they have me. What a great and mighty God we serve! He holds All in His hands. He will do as He pleases, and that pleases me.

Prayer Requests:

We have met a sweet couple from Grand Prairie. Justin and Laela have a little girl, Emma. She will turn 1 in July. She is a believer who is not going to church right now, but she sounds like she reads, or listens to, the Bible.  Justin, on the other hand, does not have a spiritual background. We need to be open to the leading of the Spirit in this situation.

I have a bruise in the bend of my left arm. It is the same place that I gave blood for tests on June 5th. The doctor said that I could have bruised it easily and to be careful not to even rub it on anything. Since he withdrew blood there, it is very tender and easily bruised.

Oops!

You wouldn’t believe what happened yesterday. Leland turned on the camera while we were in route to Panama Canal, and the camera said battery expired. Then, we went on a hot search for a disposable camera. After looking at a couple of places, we found a place that had some. Leland went into the store using his English and sign language. They told him “No, nada.” Marcus, our driver, couldn’t believe they didn’t have a disposable camera, so he went in and asked. Using his Spanish, he was able to come up with some cameras.  Now, we can’t find a place to develop the film. If we don’t do it here, we can at home. Friday, there was a small storm here. I don’t know how much rain there was though. It rained yesterday afternoon too. A pattern may be developing. This is the rainy season here. They say that May-August is rainy.

At the hotel, in the morning, when we go to breakfast, two waitresses walk up to us and one always says “Good morning, Senor Scott”, the other says “Good morning, Senor Hahstings”. They always say, “Good morning, Mrs. Sarah”, to me. They are very sweet and pretty girls.  I’ll always remember Alisa and Ruth.

Yesterday, as we were talking to Marcus, our driver, the conversation turned to my improvement. I told him that a lot of people were praying for me at home. He said, “Well, I’ll pray for you too. I pray.” I asked him who he prays to. He says, “To God. There is only one God”. I asked him if he was the God who sent his son to the earth to save His people from their sins? He said, “Yep, that’s the One.” Leland and I said good-bye as we entered the elevator.

I will post some pictures that show some of the crazy driving around here. There is lots of honking and defensive driving if you plan to be out without a wreck.

The drivers in all of these pictures seem to be going anywhere and everywhere. We found it very entertaining to see the cars work around each other. Notice the limousine in the last photo trying to park. He succeeded!

Leland and Sarah their best.

In The Groove

Leland was surprised by the size of the avocados and the bouganvilla tree above.

No. I haven't driven Leland crazy yet. This morning as I was in physical therapy, he went for a walk and took a few pictures. After physical therapy we came back to the hotel. While I took a nap, he went for another walk around the mall, scouting out a place to eat dinner. We have been eating about 3:30 and going to bed about 8:30. That tells how exciting we are. It has been good for both of us to have relaxation time. I am so thankful for the physical therapist I have. The excercises she has me to do are helping. Below are pictures of Paula, my physical therapist, and me.

Better day

This morning, at physical therapy, she pushed me to do more. Praise God, I was able to do more. Being tired when I got back to the room, I rested for a couple of hours.

I finally saw how to upload pictures, so I'm going to try a few. These have mostly been taken from our motel. The first two pictures are the view from our room. The traffic has not been bad, but the way they drive.... It seems as though they make the rules as they go along. It's funny to watch. We plan to do some sightseeing Saturday. That will bring more pictures.

Panama City from our window.

 Pacific Grill in our motel

Thank you, Lord!

Good morning,

Jesus is my friend. I told a lady that this morning in physical therapy. She agreed with me. She is a lady from Oklahoma who has a daughter who had a vertebra crushed in a 4-wheeler accident. She was good to visit with. It is always good to hear some English. My physical therapist, surgeon, and driver all speak English. Otherwise I get a translation. So that is good. There was also a man who is in leg braces in physical therapy from Minnesota. He is here for the 4th time with much improvement. Going to the Stem Cell Clinic Monday, we met a lady with her husband and little girl here for her first time with MS. These people are all from the U.S. People want stem cell therapy, but pharmaceutical companies are fighting. They are sure not looking out for the good of the people, just their precious money.

I called on the Holy Spirit yesterday as I continued in very, very much discomfort. The doctor (Dr. Hernandez) came to our hotel room and gave me two shots, a sedative and inflammatory. He was here in thirty minutes and I was comfortable within 4 hours and slept almost all night. Leland had to help me out of bed, into the wheelchair yesterday. Today I can do that on my own. Thank You, Lord!

Today I will try to download and enter some photos.

We Are in Panama

Hola,
Yes, I'm feeling it! How can you not feel it? We're English speaking people in a Spanish speaking country, and we certainly feel that. Haha! I can laugh about it today.

Our story begins in Abilene when the announcement was heard over the P.A. system that our 11:30 flight would be 12:30 which was no big concern to us since our connection at DFW was 3:15. Then they announced at 12:30 that our flight had not left DFW yet. Anyway, long story short, our 11:30 flight left Abilene at 2:00, arrived at DFW at 2:45, we rode a tram almost the whole distance around a huge airport (all the while praying for God to intervene), and arrived at the terminal 10 minutes before boarding time, with enough time to spare to go to the restroom. The only reason we made it to the terminal 10 minutes before boarding time was because the flight was postponed (God's intervention).

Leland and I boarded the plane without a hitch. We were sitting across the aisle from each other breathing a sigh of relief and thanking God that He provided a way. We sat there a while before anyone came to fill the adjacent seats. There was one man who stepped into my row who sat next to the window leaving the middle seat vacant. He didn't seem to want to talk. A couple sat next to Leland. The girl talked and talked and like wouldn't stop. The woman who sat behind Leland entertained us as she talked to her male companion on her phone before the plane took off. Evidently during flight, she drank too much. Everybody on the plane knew her before we landed. They couldn't wait to get off. We thought we would never see her again, but we did. In the airport immigration area, we saw her as she was crying and confused. There was an employee trying to help her. We heard her explain that she lost her passport. The last time we saw her, she was hugging the man who helped her while he was looking sheepishly at his coworkers. We heard the man who met us and helped us through customs say to someone on his phone, "Loco Americano".

A van met us that had a ramp like mine. He drove us straight to the hotel. We checked in with no problems. We finally got into our room at 10:10. Needless to say, we were exhausted. The driver and van will be our means of transportation while we are here. The people who work here are very nice. They want to accomodate and make us feel at "home away from home".

Tomorrow morning our driver (can't remember his name) will pick us up at 9:30. My appointment with the doctor is at 10:00.

Right now we will go exploring. God bless you.

Taking Off!

Here we are, one day away from the beginning of our adventure to Panama. I was encouraged greatly at our prayer meeting last night. There is no doubt that going to Panama for stem cell treatment is the right thing to do.

We have plans to see Brent this evening. He will take us to Abilene Regional in time for us to take off at 11:30. We will fly to DFW and have about a 3 ½ hour layover there. We will take off from DFW at 3:50 and land at Panama by 8:15. Pray for no major delays and that we arrive in a timely manner. At least we have plenty of time for lunch and to get to our gate at DFW.

When we land at Panama at about 8:15, there should be a cab driver standing there with a sign that says “Sarah”. That will be our cue, and he will take us to the hotel from there. I just received my appointment schedule for next week from the Stem Cell Institute. Monday morning at 9:00 I will see the doctor and have my blood drawn. Tuesday morning, at 8:00, I will have a mini-lipo. Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday mornings, I will have 1 hour of physical therapy each morning. It sounds as if they have it lined out for me. I am really excited!