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November 28, 2007
Check up results
We're just back from a monthly checkup and Dr. P was there to do it! It was his first day back in the office, and apparently he had phoned to see when my appointment was so that he could be there. Bless his heart. He had finished another of the books I'd given him to read. I was his first patient and he was looking well, though I'm not sure he will look quite so well by the end of the day after seeing more patients and having another radiation treatment himself. I learned that scans showed two new lesions, the one that broke his right femur, and a second in his lower left leg. Both are receiving radiation. He is a fighter!
My blood tests results are all in the normal range and I'll have routine Muga and CT scans towards the end of December, before my next check up.
We have sent our Christmas letter to those on our email distribution lists. If you normally check this website but didn't receive one, and would like to, we can send you the pdf file. Please let us know. It has been a long time since those distribution lists were updated and we realize that needs to happen.
It's raining hard right now, which means snow on Mt. Hood! Wil's youth group has a retreat there this weekend but Wil says they will be inside most of the time. He would rather be snowboarding! We may have a wet reception for our Scottish friend Gordon who will be with us for the weekend.
Posted by David at 2:36 PM
November 23, 2007
Lots of Thanksgiving
I remember that my mother would spend the Thanksgiving holiday writing Christmas cards. We have been working on a Christmas letter, but were slowed down by having to copy all of our email addresses back into a new computer. Nothing could be retrieved from the old one, even by a fellow who specializes in retrievals. But because we had had trouble with Juno about two months ago, Dave had backed up the address lists. We still had to reload each one and redo the distribution lists, but at least not all of that vital information was lost. It made me realize just how much all of you mean to us. The prospect of losing touch with friends around the world was not a happy one. Most of our photos were also backed up, but each day we discover information that has been lost.
Dr. P came through his surgery well and got home the following Thursday. He is in much less pain now that a new pin has been added to his leg. He's getting around with a walker again, and will be starting radiation. I'm not sure when he will be well enough to see patients in clinic. Thank you for your prayers for him. Patty has felt well over Thanksgiving, but will have her second round of chemo soon.
Wil's vacation started on Wednesday and we took him and a friend up to Mt. Hood snowboarding. It was a beautiful day and Dave and I hiked in the snow for about an hour. That was all our pounding hearts could take! Then we had time to sit and read while the boys got their snowboarding leg muscles back in shape. Now Wil is praying for rain down here that will settle as snow on the mountain.
On Thanksgiving day, after watching the Green Bay Packers defeat the Detroit Lions, we went to our friend Alice's for dinner. A Thai exchange student Wil's age was there as well. We enjoyed introducing her to a very American meal and explaining it's history. Then we played a geography trivia game and Scrabble. Good fun. Dave has been fighting a cold, but apart from that we're all well with much for which to thank God every day.
Posted by David at 8:05 PM
November 12, 2007
Prayer needed for Dr. P and Computer
Help! Our Toshiba computer has crashed. We can’t open it to get email addresses or read emails or any other material saved there. At this point I can’t even do an update on the website because I don’t know the address for putting in updates. When you read this, we will have figured out a way to at least access the website.
We have an appointment with friends in Vancouver on Saturday, but don’t know their phone number and now their email is lost so we can’t reply to it. We’ve been working on a newsletter, but don’t have the distribution lists. And on it goes.. Pray we'll be able to get the computer repaired quickly.
But an even bigger concern right now is getting word to you to ask you to pray for my oncologist, Dr. P. Another lesion has appeared on his right leg and from the level of pain he is experiencing, the leg has probably broken. He’s having surgery Monday morning. In case you’ve forgotten, he has multiple myeloma, a type of blood cancer that can cause breaks like this even in large bones like the femur. He was still doing exercises to strengthen that leg after skin grafts were done to help in recovery from surgery for a break nearer to the knee of that right femur almost a year ago. Dave and I were able to visit him and his wife at their home yesterday and pray for them. Because they hadn’t become connected with a local church after moving to Portland before all of his health issues started, they have not been getting the support of a local church. This has been a very lonely time for them. They have done so much to help me and many others, and I feel helpless right now in knowing how to support them.
My friend Patty had a rough time after her first round of chemo. Low blood counts put her in the hospital for several days, but she’s now been able to return home. Pray she will be able to eat (without nausea) and regain strength before she has another round of chemo. Another friend here in Damascus is scheduled to have quite radical surgery for breast cancer on the 16th. These days of waiting aren’t easy for her.
Posted by David at 11:12 AM
November 2, 2007
November Prayer Bulletin
Dear Team,
We last wrote just before leaving for a missions conference in Southern Oregon. We were immensely encouraged by the pastor and congregation of that church and have had four letters from them since we returned home. There was a very strong sense of affinity with a number of families there, a hard-to-describe but very real oneness in Christ. It’s a long time since we have been in such a missions minded church and the experience was faith-building for us. Thank you for praying. It looks as though God answered prayer for our message to be clearly presented and received. We would love to see another new OMF prayer group start in Shan Creek, but the Lord will have to guide in that. One lady in the church has already been praying for Dave for more than twenty years!
Last Saturday we were at Multnomah Bible College for a one-day conference for people who had done short-term missions trips. The focus was on how to keep moving forward with the Lord and very helpful suggestions were given, the key one being that when we keep going into risky situations, outside our ‘comfort zone,’ we continue to see our faith built, and that’s exactly what happens during short term missions trips. So to reach out to the poor and needy in our own community can keep us on fire for the Lord right where we are. This conference was the first of its kind, and not too well attended. Pray that in future more will take advantage of such opportunities. We have a number of missions conferences coming up in January, but none on the calendar between now and then. Please pray that God will lead us to people with a heart for missions, both those He is calling to go to Asia, and those who will get involved here at home.
Wil has applied to go with a group from our church here to Mexico during his spring break. He hasn’t heard yet whether he’s accepted, but sees it as a good learning, growing experience. At this point, he sees missions in his future, so we’ll see if that strengthens his resolve. He’s just finished another fund-raiser: selling wreaths and poinsettias to help pay for his class trip to Washington, DC next June. Last year it was mainly Mom selling. This year he took a lot more initiative. And now that soccer season is over, he’s applying for a part time job. He’d love to be able to get his driver’s license, but needs to save up money to pay for the insurance first.
My last CT scan results were good. The tumors haven’t grown in the last two months and I’m to continue on Tykerb alone for another three months, then have another scan. Pray that this treatment plan will prove effective in keeping the cancer in check. My friend Patty started chemo yesterday, and more friends at church have been diagnosed with cancer. Pray that what we have learned and experienced of God through these past few years will enable us to help others facing similar situations in life.
Your fellow servants, Dave & Karen
Posted by David at 1:43 PM