7 down…

So mom just had her 7th chemo treatment this week and is now “unplugged” (she goes in on the Tuesday of treatment week for a few hours of treatment there and then goes home for 46 hours with a pump that infuses 5-FU continuously). It always feels good to get her unhooked from the chemo. I hate it!!!

Her CEA is holding steady, so that is good, as for her it is a fairly reliable indicator of tumor activity. The oncologist said that in a few more weeks (probably 3-4, I believe) they will do another CT scan to see how this new cocktail of Folfiri is working out for her. I am continuing to believe in the MIGHTY GOD for good results and for her overall healing. He is the same yesterday, today and forever, and I know that His desire is to see my mom well and whole. He desires health and life for us, not sickness.

Mom has been keeping busy quilting up a storm! She just finished a beautiful quilt for John & Charity that she’d been working on for awhile and is working on a beautiful lap-size quilt that is really vintagey-looking. I love it! She has a real gift for quilting, that is for sure.

Mom & Dad stopped by for lunch a little bit ago and that was nice to spend some time with them on this cold & rainy day. They are good company

Anyway, that’s about all for now. Thank you for your continued prayers, and please keep two other people in your prayers:

1) My mom’s dear friend Deanna is dealing with a very invasive breast cancer right now. She will be having surgery sometime in the next few months and is currently on chemo and weak. We need to see Deanna healed completely in Jesus’ name!!

2) My parents’ pastor friend Pete is battling bronchial cancer that is in one bronchial tube and his lung. He still manages to preach every Sunday, praise God! Lord, please touch Pete and heal him totally, by your stripes.

6th session done

Last Tuesday mom had her 6th session of chemo, with the continued Folfiri cocktail. She seems to do better overall on this than she did with the Folfox, but bottom line any time you’re doing chemo, there are some awful side effects. We want to see her blood counts stay nice and high so that she has more of an immune system, as this is an awful time to be prone to infection (ie. swine flu <— which my little family had about 2 weeks ago).

Anyway, we continue to approach Jesus every day, thanking Him for His healing power, and thanking Him for the good that He is doing and will continue to do in my mom's body to heal her.

We can't give up.

We can't get discouraged.

We must believe the report of our KING over the report of man.

Thanks again for your continued prayers!! He is Mighty to Save!

Week Break

Mom went in to the oncologist yesterday and was scheduled for chemo, but after looking at her blood counts and her side effects, the dr decided (to mom’s relief) to wait a week before doing another treatment. Her mouth & throat has been really sore and her white blood count is down. So please pray that her immune system and white blood cell count will get back up nice and high.

Here is a picture from last week. Mom took me out to tea & scones I thank God for my sweet Mama!

Mom & I went out to tea at Ruthie B's last week

Thanks again for all of your prayers. We continue to seek God and trust in Him for total healing.

Chemo Take 5

So mom had her 5th session of chemo this past Tuesday, although this was her first on the new Folfiri regime. I would say that so far, her body seemed to handle this one better. She seemed to have more energy even during the days that are usually her “very bad” days, so I was thrilled about that.

With all of our emotions, there are up days, there are down days, and there are days where we just get tired of talking/thinking/living cancer, but all in all, we are continuing to trust in the Living God, who I know is holding my mom in the shelter of His wings.

My sis came down to visit mom & dad this weekend, so that is nice for them and it was fun for me to visit with her for a little while today, too.

Anyway, that’s all for now… I will leave you with this statement – We choose to believe the report of GOD, not the report of man!!

P.S. One more thing I forgot to mention – mom’s latest CEA blood test showed her CEA was down to 1.83, which is another great drop and keeps her in the “normal” range for her tumor activity. I am believing that the tumors that are showing up in her body still on the scans are DEAD, and we are going to see them disappear in some point at the future!

CT Scan results

So mom’s oncologist called them today with the results of her CT scan last Tuesday.

The good news is that things have not gotten worse in general.

The bad news is that things have not gotten any better.

The liver tumors have remained just about exactly the same size as before, so the chemo regime she has been on is not working well enough. They are switching her to a Folfiri regime, which has an active drug that works differently than the one we’re switching her from.

We are disappointed, of course, as we were hoping to hear great news, but we are continuing to press forward and trust in our Healer to complete His healing for my mom. Sometimes the healing we want doesn’t happen in the TIMING we want, so we refuse to get discouraged. We are pressing forward in Jesus’ name.

“We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed.” 2 Cor. 4:8-9

Please continue to pray for my parents – for strength and encouragement through this journey. And above all else, for total healing by His stripes!

Chemo Round 4

So mom had her 4th round of Folfox this past Tuesday, and they reduced the numbers (amounts) of her drugs, as her side effects were too extreme. The reduced dosage seems to have helped somewhat, so we are thankful for that.

Also, they took her off of the Avastin, as her blood pressure was still too high and that drug can cause high blood pressure. Mom was glad to be on one less drug.

Her CT scan is on this upcoming Tuesday. Please pray that God’s mighty healing would be present in that scan, that we would see great and miraculous results, and that above all else the healing power of God would be evident to all! We are trusting in the Almighty God to have His hand upon mom.

Thanks for all your prayers and support. We love you all!

Chemo Session 4 Postponed

A quick update here – this past Tuesday mom was supposed to have her 4th chemo session, but because of some side effects that were still pretty bothersome, the Dr decided to give her an extra week off to allow her body to heal.

That was welcome news to mom and to us around her. She does start back the 4th session on Tue Sept 15th and then has a CT scan a week after that.

Please continue to pray for good results and pray for God’s hand to continue the healing in mom’s body. Also please pray for mom’s blood pressure, which has been much higher than normal lately. It probably has something to do with one of her treatment drugs, but we want to see those numbers come down.

Just some little stuff

Hello dear readers & prayer warriors! Not much new to report here – this is mom’s “good week” where she is not on chemo, so that is always nice. She has been able to get out & about running some errands with dad, and little by little they are getting settled into their new home. The boxes in their garage are slowly but surely going away!

It is a beautiful time of year right now and Liam & I love going over there during the week and spending time at their lovely house and also in their huge back yard. The previous owners had planted a huge raised bed garden before they sold, so my parents are INUNDATED with about 20 tomato plants that are of course ALL blooming at the same time, some sunflowers, green beans, and a little mini pumpkin plant that mom planted this summer for the grandkids This house is truly a blessing to them and to all of us – God has provided in a great way and will continue to care for every aspect of their lives, including the healing of my mom.

Speaking of which, here are some specific ways that you can pray for my mom and us:

- For the upcoming CT scan in a few weeks, that we would see miraculous results!

- For an increased appetite and weight gain for mom

- For my dad, as he is the “rock” right now, being the primary caregiver. Please pray for strength for him as well as that he would stay healthy

- For overall protection from any side effects from chemo. These drugs are strong, but He is so Mighty to Save! We are trusting Jesus to keep His mighty hand on mom and protect her

Anyway, these are just a few specifics that came to mind. I thank you again so much for all of the prayers being directed towards my mom and our family. Mom’s brothers are down from Alaska today and tomorrow so they are going to come by for a quick visit while they are in the States. That should be fun!

Chemo Round 3… and a great update!

Mom started round 3 of chemo yesterday and is currently on the pump. She’ll go in tomorrow afternoon to get “unplugged”. We’re seeing that she usually feels pretty good the first 2 days of chemo, and apparently that has a lot to do with the steroids they give you during the infusion. As they wear off, she tends to have her worst days, which are usually 3,4, and 5.

Anyway, we keep believing for great success and minimal side effects for each and every session of chemo. Our God is so mighty, I know that he hears every little prayer that we are lifting up to him in regards to my mom.

AND NOW FOR SOME GOOD NEWS!!!!

Mom had her CEA level taken yesterday. CEA levels are a fairly accurate indicator of tumor activity. For her, a “normal” amount of CEA is anything from 0-7.2. When mom was first diagnosed, her CEA was at 86 (quite elevated). After her colonectomy, it went down to 7.8, and after only TWO sessions of chemo, it has come down to the normal range and came in at only 3.26!!

We are taking this as a great sign that God is doing a mighty work of healing in her body. For the levels to come down so substantially so quickly is definitely a testament to some supernatural intervention here!

While we don’t want to base our feelings on mom’s healing on the report of man, this was still an encouraging thing to hear. We look forward with great anticipation to mom’s first followup CT scan in a few weeks. Our “faith picture” is that we will see NO more liver tumors.

Every day, we see again and again how this is such a spiritual battle as well as a natural battle. It’s so easy to let doubt and worry creep in to our hearts and minds, but we continue to rebuke it in Jesus’ name and to hold tight to His promises.

He is Mighty to Save!

Psalm 103:2-3 “Praise the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits — [3] who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases.”

Chemo Round 2

Let me start by thanking all of you SO MUCH who have been following my mom’s situation and have been praying for her so diligently. The Bible tells us that “the prayer of a righteous man [or woman!] is powerful and effective.” James 5:16. We are leaning on your powerful & effective prayers to pray mom through this and to a full healing in Jesus’ name!

So in the recent news with mom is that Tuesday she began her second chemo round, although this time they added the Avastin to her treatment. They said that most likely she wouldn’t FEEL any new side effects, although it does have a few very serious side effects that are quite rare. Obviously, we are praying against any of those! She was in for treatment at the clinic most of Tuesday and then came home with her pump for 46 hours, which she will have removed today around 1:00 PST.

The good news is that mom is actually feeling a lot better this round than she did the first time! PRAISE GOD! Of course she is still very, very fatigued, but other than that so far her side effects have been fairly minimal. She does have a sensitivity to cold with this FOLFOX regime, so she has to be very careful not to eat or drink cold things and can’t even touch cold things like in the refrigerator. Those of you that know mom know she is a very can-do type, so it has been a different change of pace for her, not being able to do everything she would like to do. But overall, I am amazed and humbled by how my mom has and is handling this whole situation.

Her faith amazes me!

Of course, it is normal to all have our times of fear and anxiety, but overall mom has chosen to just say, “Lord, I trust you! You promised you have given me healing and I am taking hold of it!” She spends a lot of her time reading God’s Word and doesn’t even really like to talk about the actual cancer that much. She chooses to focus on the TRUTH that she knows for sure – which is that Jesus died on the cross and part of that sacrifice was that we are able to be healed!

Anyway, I know a lot of people prayed for this SPECIFIC chemo round, so I just wanted you all to know that your prayers are definitely being answered. I am so thankful to you all for your concern and love. My mom is such a special woman and a true woman of God. I am honored to be able to spend so much time with her while she gets over this “hurdle” in her life. She has approached this all with strength and dignity.