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February 26, 2008
Surprising News
I had a monthly appointment on Friday with an oncologist (not Dr. P who is off work until after his stem cell transplant, now scheduled for mid March). When I mentioned that I’d been having headaches, the doctor ordered an MRI…and I had it the same day! I saw the doctor at 12:30 and was in for the MRI at 5 pm. I am astonished by the speed with which things happen here compared with in England and extremely grateful for the excellent medical coverage we receive through Kaiser Permanente. The doctor tried to contact me with the results of the MRI on Monday, but we were at the missions conference and couldn’t connect. I spoke to him today and he explained the results show the cancer has spread to my brain, the one area that chemo can’t reach. So I will need to have radiation, and an appointment with a radiologist is scheduled for next Tuesday. On Monday I’ll have a CAT scan to check on my liver, and then will probably need to stop the oral chemo while I have radiation. That will probably be for three weeks straight, but I will know more after the Tuesday appointment. So, having thought there would be nothing to report until the end of March, suddenly quite a lot is happening. Please pray for skill and accuracy for those administering the radiation. Apart from tiredness, I don’t yet know what side effects to expect. I gather I’ll need to take dexamethasone (Decadron), a drug I don’t like and which effects my sleep. When I know more of what to expect, or what I’m actually experiencing, I’ll let you know more.
My life is in God’s hands and He is my source of strength. This week I’m especially grateful to have the joy of talking with students who really want to know God’s will for their lives. It helps me stay focused on Him and not on myself. Thanks for your prayers.
Posted by David at 10:36 PM
February 20, 2008
Plants and People
I’m sorry I’ve been so slow in getting out an update. The rain stopped, sun came out, and I headed for the garden!! Actually I only spent a day and a half in the garden, but it sure felt good to prune and weed so that we can see the snow drops and crocuses blooming and tulips and daffodils and anemones poking through the soil. Wil’s fund-raiser-for-Washington, DC-trip-plant-sale is ending and people are in the mood to think about spring and summer flowers!
Now let me turn from flowers to friends. Dr. P looked MUCH better during his second round of chemo than the month before. Once the level of M protein in his blood was lowered, he was able to eat and has gained 15 pounds. He says it’s from eating his mother’s homemade soup! He was able to go home last Sunday and yesterday his brother began donating stem cells. When they determine how many have been harvested from his blood, doctors can tell how long the procedure will take. These stem cells will be frozen and given to Dr. P as a transfusion next month after another round of chemo. Pray his white and red cell counts will come up during this month, that he won’t get an infection (a real danger with counts so low), and that the M protein won’t start to rise as well.
Aimee, the girl who needed to be airlifted to Doernbecher Children’s Hospital, is doing amazingly well considering how badly she was injured. Every step in her recovery is a miracle. She is now off the ventilator and able to breathe on her own and very gradually the level of sedation she receives is being lowered. Her parents Kelli and Jim haven’t left the hospital for two weeks. Matt is doing well physically (he’s back in school and was playing indoor soccer yesterday) but is still fragile emotionally. All the family continues to need our prayers.
Patty had her final round of chemo on Feb. 14 and is scheduled for surgery on March 6. Pray for all the medical appointments leading up to that surgery, and for her recovery afterwards.
This coming week we will be at Multnomah Bible College for their annual Global Ministries Conference. Loren Morrall, an OMF appointee leaving for Thailand in April, will be sharing his testimony on Tuesday morning and we will be there each day to interact with students and share the many opportunities for serving the Lord in East Asia.
Posted by David at 10:39 AM
February 7, 2008
Friends in need
A number of dear friends are struggling right now and my heart and prayers go out to them. The 18 year old son and 14 year old daughter of Kelli, one of the ladies in my Bible study, were involved in a car accident yesterday. A car running a stop sign plowed into the passenger side of the car as Matt and Aimee were on their way to school. Aimee was life-flighted to OHSU and is now in the Pediatric ICU at Doernbecher. The miracle is that with damage to her heart, spleen, liver, ribs, and skull, she is alive. It will be several days before they take her off sedation and see whether she can breathe without oxygen. The family is surrounded by relatives and friends who love them dearly, but as you can imagine, this is a very stressful time for all of them. Matt was released from hospital today and able to visit his sister. Please join us in praying for Aimee’s full recovery, and for all of the classmates at Matt and Aimee’s school who have been shaken by this event.
Patty was due to have her last round of chemo yesterday. Pray her body will be able to tolerate that, and that she will soon be strong enough for surgery to remove the tumor in her breast. Two of her sisters and other close friends have been able to spend time in California supporting Denny and Patty. Just wish we were closer.
Another friend Sandy had a stroke while driving just a few days ago. Mercifully she was able to pull the car over without hitting anyone or injuring herself. She will be hospitalized for 3-4 more days while doctors try to treat a clot in her heart with blood thinners. Please pray that she too will regain her strength.
Now for the good news! I phoned Dr. P today and hardly recognized his voice (he sounded so much better than during other phone visits recently). He told me they learned yesterday that his brother’s stem cells are a match and he can donate them to Dr. P! His mother and brother can stay in the country until the end of February, so there will be time to harvest the stem cells. His mother has adjusted to seeing her bald, skinny son, and isn’t crying all the time. Dr. P will go in for another four days of chemo next week Wed. or Thurs., so please pray on. His hemoglobin and white cell counts are still very low, the M protein in his blood (the indicator of how advanced the multiple myeloma is) dropped from 6.8 to 1. Lots to praise God for in that situation.
I’m doing well. The only side effect from the Tykerb is acid reflux and Pepcid does a pretty good job of controlling that. I’ll have a CT scan again at the end of March, and don’t anticipate having anything more to report before then. Dave saw a surgeon today about having another hernia repair, but the doctor doesn’t want to risk it when Dave has already had three surgeries to the same spot. We need to make sure he doesn’t try to do any lifting.
Lent has begun, and my friend Nancy and I have agreed to walk and pray for half an hour each morning. We’re both better at staying focused on prayer for others when we pray together.
Posted by David at 11:01 PM
February 1, 2008
After Hawaii Happenings
Dear Team,
January 18 & 19 –Mission Connexion Northwest, an annual city-wide conference focused this year on “What’s Next?” Many people came to the OMF booth looking for answers to that question. Students looking for short-term ministry opportunities, couples ready to serve God in Asia and others ready to take early retirement and find a second career in missions. Pray for those who are seriously seeking God’s direction and for us as we seek to give information, advice and guidance to them.
January 20-24 –OMF Mobilization Conference in Littleton, CO. This annual event is always a great time for us as we are challenged afresh with the needs of East Asia and the goals and mission of OMF to reach out to the unevangelized peoples there. Our stated mission is: to glorify God by the URGENT evangelization of East Asia’s peoples. I looked up urgent in the dictionary and found the following:
“a matter taking precedence over others.”
"too pressing to permit any longer delay."
“a need or demand whose fulfillment cannot be evaded or deferred.”
“compelling, or requiring immediate action or attention.”
“a sense of pressing importance.”
Pray that we might carry out our work here with this understanding of urgency. We realize that neither of us is terribly good at staying focused on a single target, and our energies can easily be deflected to other good, but less strategic things. Dave is better at staying on task when the task is clear. Karen tends to be so relational that she gets involved with the people around her and their immediate needs and can lose sight of the target and related tasks. So having had our focus re-sharpened and with a clearer idea of the steps we need to take towards that end, pray we will know how to continue to encourage and support each other in the task.
The only missions conference on our calendar this month is at Dave’s alma mater, Multnomah Bible College Feb. 24 – 29. We are trying to make contact with students who have been in touch with OMF before the conference starts to arrange appointments with them.
This month Lord of Life Christian Church (LOLCF) in Fairview, Metro Manila celebrates its 16th anniversary. We helped start this church and worked with it for 6 years. We asked one of the members to tell us what’s happening there now. Here are some of the main points for your prayers:
About 10 women attend a Bible study near the church. Two are elderly ladies in the community who love the Lord. “Though they are poor, their prayer requests are centered not on material things but on following and knowing the Lord.” A couple who now live a distance from the church, lead an outreach Bible study in a site far away from their house and office. It’s up in the hills and hard to reach when rain makes the road slippery. At first only women attended the Bible study and their husbands were antagonistic, but now two of the men are attending.
Another couple who teach at the University of the Philippines lead three weekly studies, one for researchers at the Marine Sciences Institute, one for caregivers and helpers in their neighborhood, and another for their neighbors that is now in its third year. One couple has been baptized and joined LOLCF. “Pray that there will be a harvest in these groups… I pray that God will find us faithful and obedient to His word. Do pray that we will all be God's witnesses and ambassadors.” The youth cell is going strong and another group is composed of 11 to 16 year old youth who work in a nearby market. LOLCF has its own building but still owes about two million pesos ($50,000) to the contractor. “I am not sure how we will be to pay him but we continue to trust our Jehovah Jireh.”
May we all continue to trust our Jehovah Jireh and be obedient to Him in sharing our faith,
Dave and Karen
Posted by David at 2:50 PM