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July 29, 2007
Update on my Oncologist
Dave and I were able to see Dr. P (my oncologist) briefly this evening. He was moved from ICU to a normal room this afternoon. The surgery lasted six hours instead of eight and the skin and tissue seem to be connecting as they are supposed to. He has a monitor that allows him to listen to the blood going through the reconnected vessels, so he is monitoring his condition himself! He lost about 1 ½ units of blood during the surgery so is feeling weak, but his leg is less painful than before the surgery. I realize that many of you won’t remember that all of these surgeries have been necessary because he has multiple myeloma, a type of blood cancer. The malignant cells congregated in the bone marrow of his femur (the large bone between hip and knee) and broke it about ten months ago. They needed to put in a metal pin, then do chemo and radiation, but the area behind his right knee never healed. He has had various treatments over the months, but nothing brought healing. Hopefully now that leg can heal and he can regain strength and mobility. He is hoping to be released from the hospital on Tuesday. It was such a joy and relief to see him looking as well as he does right now. Thank you so much for praying for him. When I visited him last week, after a friend and I prayed for him, he asked if he could pray for me in Russian, his heart language. What a blessing it is to be cared for by a brother in Christ.
I’ll stop in again to see him tomorrow with some flowers from our garden, and check on what level of medication he thinks I should try this coming week (when I start on the Xeloda again on Friday). I needed to take Imodium once today, but have felt reasonably well all week. Just as well since we have quite a few visitors coming this week. Char and Beth Kennicutt will be with us from Tuesday til Sat., Pam a mutual friend comes overnight on Wed., and some other friends will be with us for the afternoon on Thursday. Then we are off to Central Oregon for the weekend with friends from church.
Wil has been busy painting our deck at the back of the house. It was badly in need of a coat of paint, and he’s done a really good job. Looks like we may have our first ripe tomato by the end of the week, and I’ve already frozen 7 quarts of green beans. I’ve learned that when faced with ill health, I don’t like seeing unhealthy plants. Now too it is a special joy to be surrounded by beautiful flowers and plants. Each seed turning into a new plant is a miracle. And each of several daily visits from a pair of hummingbirds to our fuchsias is a special gift from the Lord. May He give you special glimpses of His goodness today.
Posted by David at 10:11 PM
July 25, 2007
Prayer Answers and More Prayer Needed
Thank you for praying for me, and for my oncologist. From taking Tykerb alone, I learned that those 5 tablets daily weren’t causing diarrhea. And when I added a lower dose of Xeloda (6 tablets a day instead of 10) I had almost no side effects. Today and tomorrow I’ll increase the dose to 8 tablets a day, then have a week off Xeloda. My body may be able to tolerate the original dosage if I build up to it gradually.
Dr. P. was in the hospital for two days last week, but he needs to go back for a much more major surgery this Friday. There is no healthy tissue left behind his right knee, so his doctor has decided to do a very complex skin graft, taking skin and soft tissue from his back and connecting the blood vessels in it to the sides of the hole (he said it looks like a crater!) behind his knee. The surgery will take about 8 hours, which in itself will cause a lot of stress on his body. Pray for the surgeon, and that this graft will heal. Dr. P will be in ICU for at least two days after the operation.
Wil has been working hard since his return from camp. He has worked for two different neighbors, as well as helping with chores at home. But he returned from camp with a back cough and ‘swimmers ear.’ The pain in his ear hasn’t stopped yet, but it didn’t prevent him from playing in an indoor soccer game on Sunday afternoon! We are enjoying having him home and hearing more about his summer.
Posted by David at 8:32 AM
July 18, 2007
Going back onto the chemo
Could you please pray for my oncologist, Dr. P. as he has surgery today to remove scar tissue behind his knee that hasn’t healed in the many months since a rod was inserted. He has tried all sorts of unsuccessful treatments. Pray that this will lead to new skin growing, the wound closing, and eventually to greater mobility in that leg.
I phoned him Sat. night because I just kept getting weaker. He said to stop taking the Tykerb for a few days to let the diarrhea stop. Also, a friend brought me some oral rehydration packets on Sunday afternoon, and replacing the electrolytes I’d been losing helped a lot in making me feel better. I was ready to go for a short walk by Sunday evening and feeling like myself again by Monday. Praise God!
But this morning I started taking the Tykerb again, and am scheduled to add the Xeloda on Friday. Pray I’ll be able to tolerate it better this time and not get so weak. I’m pouring in Ambrotose, an immune system booster, while I’m able to swallow it to strengthen my system to better fight the chemo side effects. Thank you for fighting with me in prayer.
Posted by David at 9:14 AM
July 14, 2007
Denver Trip and New Chemo
Thank you for your prayers. Even though our flight into Portland from Denver was a half hour late, we got to Wil’s gate about five minutes before he got off the plane! We were all tired, but grateful to be together again and to get home safely. A thunderstorm had delayed a lot of flights on Thursday evening, so the airport was the busiest I’ve ever seen it. And even though I have had severe diarrhea since the second day on my new medicines, I was able to manage the flights and to attend all of the training sessions. But with trips to the bathroom at least a dozen times a day, I’m feeling awfully weak now. We had hoped to go on a hike this morning with a group from church, but now I can’t handle more than a very a short walk. It’s hard to believe that in one week I’ve gone from feeling fit to feeling very ill. After seven days on the Xeloda, I’m to have seven days off, so am hoping that cutting out those 10 tablets a day will help me regain some strength. Haven’t seen any change so far. I need your prayers to keep going and not get discouraged. At the moment I can’t imagine being on these drugs for even one month. But maybe God will turn things around in the next few days.
We walked over to church with Wil at 4:30 this morning, but didn’t wait to see what time they actually left for the high school water ski camp at Dworshak Reservoir in Idaho. Wil got to demonstrate wakeboarding on a new board at the camp in Maine (to his delight) so he’s more in practice for this week when he will probably be in the water more of the time than he’s on land.
The volunteer training was excellent (we’ll say more about that in our next prayer letter) and we got the new computer with Lotus Notes from OMF while we were in Denver. This morning I’ve been doing some weeding. Friends watered the garden while we were away (not an easy task!) but the weeds flourished during the hot weather, as did the broccoli and corn.
Posted by David at 10:38 AM
July 6, 2007
Picnic, Fireworks and Chemo
Dave’s talk on Freedom at the Filipino Church picnic went really well. People moved closer to hear him and he shouted, so was heard even though there was no amplification equipment. Thanks for praying. It was a very warm day, but our picnic site was under large shade trees. Most of the group had left by 5 pm when we decided it was time to head home. After a couple of quiet hours watching Wimbledon and other sports on TV we went to the bank of the Wilamette River in downtown Portland to see the evening fireworks. We had a great viewing spot and the fireworks were impressive.
On July 5th we saw Dr. P who recommended switching to two different medications. Both are ones I can take orally, so I won’t have to spend a day a week at the clinic. Instead, I’ll be downing 15 large tablets a day. One, called Xeloda or Capecitabine is to kill the cancer cells. The other Tykerb is similar to Herceptin, which I’d been taking for more than two years. Herceptin is supposed to stop the cancer cells from growing back. It works on the outside of the cells. Tykerb has just been released to the public after going through various trials. It works on the inside of the cancer cells. 65% of patients on this combination of drugs have problems with diarrhea, 44% with nausea, and 26% vomiting. Also 53% have “palmar-plantar erythrodysesthesia.” How’s that for a mouth-full?! It means redness and hot, itchy palms and feet. The other drugs I was on caused fairly severe diarrhea, so I’m hoping this won’t be a lot worse. But we fly to Denver tomorrow on a very early flight, so I’d appreciate your prayers that I figure out how to take the meds (one has to be taken an hour before food, the other with food, both with lots of water and you can’t take water through the security check!). Also that I don’t need the bathroom at times I can’t get to one (like during takeoff and landing, etc.) and that the side effects won’t be too bad while I’m in meetings Monday-Thursday. I started taking the meds today and haven’t felt too bad so far.
We’ve heard from Wil more this week. I don’t think it’s because he misses us as much as because he has free time before he is in charge of airsoft games, so uses that time to phone. His cabin got the award for the neatest room the first day, but they haven’t managed to do it a second time. Wil says they are good about going to bed and getting up at the right times, but not very good at cleaning. But he sounds pretty tired, so maybe he isn’t getting as much sleep as the campers. Tomorrow the first group leaves, and on Sunday the next group arrives.
Posted by David at 4:16 PM
July 3, 2007
July Prayer Bulletin
Dear Team,
July started with our church’s annual Freedom Celebration, a time to recognize and remember those who have served or are serving in the armed forces. As our band played the march for each branch, those who had served stood up. One of the speakers had recently returned from his 65th class reunion at the Naval Academy. His presence and clear Christian testimony were the most impacting part of the service for me, though I love having a chance to play the piccolo! Afterwards we all enjoyed a picnic lunch followed by games (sack races, water balloon fights, etc.) for all ages. We were pleased that three neighbors accepted our invitation to come.
July 1st was also the first day of camp at New England Frontier Camp in Maine, so Wil shifted from raking and other maintenance jobs, to being a counselor. He and another counselor are in a cabin with eight 10-12 year old boys. Wil says they are a good bunch, going to sleep and getting up when they are supposed to! He called this morning to report in. We hadn’t heard from him for a week. The last call was when he was standing in the Atlantic Ocean! He seems to be having a good time, but doesn’t want us to send him letters, because he has to sing to get them!
I emailed to give him the results of my CAT scan when we heard from Dr. P last week. Wil said he was discouraged when he got the news, but went to his cabin, and “it was as if the Holy Spirit opened my Bible to Psalm 20. After I’d read that, I was OK again.”
We praise God for helping all of us handle the unwanted news that the tumors are getting larger again. I see Dr. P on Thursday to discuss further treatment options. He suggested two possible drugs and I read up on those. Basically, it’s a matter of choosing which side effects I think I can handle. The pattern seems to be that each drug initially causes the tumors to shrink, then they become resistant to it, and the next scan shows they’ve grown again. So I’ll continue trying different things, hopefully finding one which will work a bit longer without too many debilitating side effects. We’re all disappointed, “perplexed, but not in despair” as Paul said in 2 Cor. 4:9. God is in control and we continue to trust Him to do what He knows is best.
Those of you who get this via email may be able to pray for Dave as he shares tomorrow at the Filipino-American picnic. His topic is Freedom and he plans to look at what it has cost this country and the Philippines to gain freedom during different wars, and then look at what it cost God to give us freedom from Satan through the death of His son. Pray for a sound system that will help him be heard. We’ve no idea how many Filipinos will be at the park tomorrow, but it’s supposed to be one of the hottest days of the year!
On Saturday we fly to Denver for training in handling the Volunteer Network OMF is starting. While there we hope to get a new computer with Lotus Notes software so that we can access the US HQ database and have contact information for those who have shown and interest in OMF in our region. Pray we will learn how to use Lotus Notes and to initiate the volunteer network quickly. And pray our flight back on Thursday will be on time. We are scheduled to arrive twenty minutes before Wil flies in from Maine!
This comes with our love and continued gratitude for your prayer support,
Dave and Karen
Posted by David at 2:20 PM