Unfortunately, not all the chemo side-effects are different with the miracle pills. Seems like same as with the treatment John received several years ago, it really kicks his tail and he is pretty pooped for quite a few days after the pump comes off. Sleeping so much and being confined are what really get to him. He had hoped to work a bit today but it was apparent this morning that if eating scrambled eggs and sitting in his recliner made him tired, he probably wasn't going anywhere.
Thankfully, his appetite is fairly good so Audrey and I are working hard to build him up with really nutritious meals, protein shakes, whole food supplements, and today, we are going to add back in some juicing although will probably wait until tomorrow for the dreaded "green juice."
Audrey is working on a green juice video, by-the-way. Hopefully we'll be able to get that up and running sometime this week for your viewing pleasure. Speaking of viewing pleasure...seems like "some people" (a.k.a. our son) just can't give up the shenanigans. One of John's friends gave him a bow, with no bowstring or arrows, but that did not stop him and his roomie (an intern at the newspaper he sublets to) from shooting flaming arrows. What the video does not show are the cops showing up, John sweet talking his way out of any trouble, and the cop radioing dispatch to cancel the firetruck. BUT, you can still hear the sirens in the video!
http://www.tgomilk.blogspot.com/
God is faithful.
Monday, June 30, 2008
Saturday, June 28, 2008
Totally Different
We are happy to report that the "miracle" pills have really worked and he hasn't suffered from nausea since Thursday! Hasn't even needed the extra nausea meds to help the expensive one out. We are really grateful for the improvements. As for work, he started out Friday with the idea to drive himself to the office and make some other job stops, then decided to have Audrey drive him, but in the end, he changed his mind and took a nap instead. :o) Was able to make it to two short appointments in our neighborhood in the late afternoon yesterday. Praises for this improvement.
As for fatigue, he isn't as fatigued as the last treatment. Hoping that continues but I think he is bracing himself for it over the next few days. Chemo pump comes off at 12:00 noon today but we hardly notice that anymore.
Here are some cool things:
Dave (a cancer survivor with mental health issues and John's project the last few years) has asked to go to church with us tonight (we're praying John has the energy to go). We have asked Dave to church countless times and he always has an excuse.
Pray for energy and that Dave doesn't chicken out.
Also, we met a woman in the chemo chairs who is about our age, a dentist and who has been told she has about 18 months to live due to metastatic breast cancer in her pelvic bone. Her name is Josie. John is always great about talking to people, but not me. I got up enough nerve to ask if she had a church home, which she didn't. I just happened to have a really old and dirty business card from one of the pastors at our Vineyard Church to pass along and invited her to come. She seemed really grateful and we're praying she might show up some Saturday evening.
If you are new to blogging, I set it up so that you don't have to sign in to leave a comment. You can click that the comment is "anonymous" but can sign your name in the body of the message instead. Signing in is a pain.
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, present your requests to God.
Philippians 4:6
As for fatigue, he isn't as fatigued as the last treatment. Hoping that continues but I think he is bracing himself for it over the next few days. Chemo pump comes off at 12:00 noon today but we hardly notice that anymore.
Here are some cool things:
Dave (a cancer survivor with mental health issues and John's project the last few years) has asked to go to church with us tonight (we're praying John has the energy to go). We have asked Dave to church countless times and he always has an excuse.
Pray for energy and that Dave doesn't chicken out.
Also, we met a woman in the chemo chairs who is about our age, a dentist and who has been told she has about 18 months to live due to metastatic breast cancer in her pelvic bone. Her name is Josie. John is always great about talking to people, but not me. I got up enough nerve to ask if she had a church home, which she didn't. I just happened to have a really old and dirty business card from one of the pastors at our Vineyard Church to pass along and invited her to come. She seemed really grateful and we're praying she might show up some Saturday evening.
If you are new to blogging, I set it up so that you don't have to sign in to leave a comment. You can click that the comment is "anonymous" but can sign your name in the body of the message instead. Signing in is a pain.
Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, present your requests to God.
Philippians 4:6
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Chemo Today
Second chemo today. The Dr. cut out Atropine in his IV at the office and that helped cut down on his dizziness and wooziness which John appreciated. Atropine was supposed to help with nausea but it wasn't working out. He also told us to discontinue use of the Phenergan and Compazine for nausea and put him on Dexamethasone which seems to be working better. The $100 pill (Emend) has cut down on nausea about 25-30%. We were hoping for more but he is definitely better and perhaps when he takes the Emend tomorrow and Saturday he will notice a big difference.
He is a good sport about wearing the chemo pump for 48 hours - this gets hooked up by a home nurse after he leaves the oncologist's office - and he is always happy when she returns two days later to remove it.
So prayers for an easier time have been answered.
Audrey could use some prayerful encouragement. It's a bummer to be 19, bogged down with school work all summer and watching dad have a rough go of it
.
He is a good sport about wearing the chemo pump for 48 hours - this gets hooked up by a home nurse after he leaves the oncologist's office - and he is always happy when she returns two days later to remove it.
So prayers for an easier time have been answered.
Audrey could use some prayerful encouragement. It's a bummer to be 19, bogged down with school work all summer and watching dad have a rough go of it
.
Soaking Prayer
We received Soaking Prayer at our Vineyard Church on Sunday, June 22 at the suggestion of one of the pastors. This is a time of intensive prayer from a dedicated and gifted prayer team. The two ladies who prayed with us that day were Vickie and Leslie. Joel also left some written thoughts for us that he had prepared ahead of time but was schedule to pray for someone else.
I doubt I can do justice to the time we spent in Soaking Prayer but will try. You are asked only to receive what the Lord has to offer. It is suggested that you fast the day before, or if you are unable to fast for health reasons that you give up something else. We felt it was best for all of us to not fast but we gave up television and sweets from Friday evening until after the prayer time and tried to focus on scripture and prayer during this time as often as possible.
The prayer team had many scriptures, pictures, words, and encouragement for us. They asked questions as they prayed and used a tag-team method. In the interest of space, I will make a few lists.
Words
Shalom - Malachi 4:2 - Peace = sound mind, prosperity, wholeness, physical healing, divine health.
Belief, Deliverance, Breath of Life (filling us), Hope, Strength, Released, Restoration, Healing, Sound mind, Justice
Pictures
Healing bowls of prayer in heaven filled to over-flowing! Bowls flow out over their tops into the floor of the throne room. God hears a chorus of voices singing as the bowls are tipping, and what flows out is the living water of Christ's heart - his very blood - poured out for our family. We are transformed by the light of God and come to know the power of his love in the center of our heart. We will know, that we know, that we know.
God's angels descending down to protect us.
John's tumors in the hands of God, squeezing and shrinking them.
Word: Restored and transformed. Released and free from all doubt and fear. Living testimony to the power and glory of God. A testament to the power of prayer. A living stone infused with the power of God; able to withstand all forces set against it.
Verses:
In the interest of space, I will not type these out but encourage you to look them up on your own. All these were excellent verses for us.
I Peter 2:4-5; 9-10
Revelation 5:8; 13-14
Psalm 42:7
Ephesians 3:14-21
Also, some verses that were given to me the day before were:
Romans 15:13 May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Romans 12:12 Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.
We came away from our soaking prayer time with very full hearts, feeling drained but peaceful and hopeful. Although we have always been close, we feel like this experience has drawn us closer together as a family and that God has great things in store for us.
I really could ramble on but I’ll close by saying that all of you praying for us during that time made a significant impact on us and we deeply appreciate it.
P.
PS – We did tell our prayer team how many people were praying at that time and they prayed for blessings to pour out on all of you!
I doubt I can do justice to the time we spent in Soaking Prayer but will try. You are asked only to receive what the Lord has to offer. It is suggested that you fast the day before, or if you are unable to fast for health reasons that you give up something else. We felt it was best for all of us to not fast but we gave up television and sweets from Friday evening until after the prayer time and tried to focus on scripture and prayer during this time as often as possible.
The prayer team had many scriptures, pictures, words, and encouragement for us. They asked questions as they prayed and used a tag-team method. In the interest of space, I will make a few lists.
Words
Shalom - Malachi 4:2 - Peace = sound mind, prosperity, wholeness, physical healing, divine health.
Belief, Deliverance, Breath of Life (filling us), Hope, Strength, Released, Restoration, Healing, Sound mind, Justice
Pictures
Healing bowls of prayer in heaven filled to over-flowing! Bowls flow out over their tops into the floor of the throne room. God hears a chorus of voices singing as the bowls are tipping, and what flows out is the living water of Christ's heart - his very blood - poured out for our family. We are transformed by the light of God and come to know the power of his love in the center of our heart. We will know, that we know, that we know.
God's angels descending down to protect us.
John's tumors in the hands of God, squeezing and shrinking them.
Word: Restored and transformed. Released and free from all doubt and fear. Living testimony to the power and glory of God. A testament to the power of prayer. A living stone infused with the power of God; able to withstand all forces set against it.
Verses:
In the interest of space, I will not type these out but encourage you to look them up on your own. All these were excellent verses for us.
I Peter 2:4-5; 9-10
Revelation 5:8; 13-14
Psalm 42:7
Ephesians 3:14-21
Also, some verses that were given to me the day before were:
Romans 15:13 May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Romans 12:12 Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer.
We came away from our soaking prayer time with very full hearts, feeling drained but peaceful and hopeful. Although we have always been close, we feel like this experience has drawn us closer together as a family and that God has great things in store for us.
I really could ramble on but I’ll close by saying that all of you praying for us during that time made a significant impact on us and we deeply appreciate it.
P.
PS – We did tell our prayer team how many people were praying at that time and they prayed for blessings to pour out on all of you!
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Dr. Visit Today
Back again. Just wanted to give an update on our visit with the oncologist today. We were originally scheduled for chemo today but asked that it be delayed until Thursday so my work week wouldn't be so disrupted with caring for John.
The last chemo (June 12) was pretty rough. John felt bad immediately upon its administration in the chemo chair and continued to feel miserable beyond the 48 hours he wore the chemo pump at home. He was nauseous for days after, very uncomfortable, exhausted and didn't feel well enough to work much until this week. In fact, yesterday was the first day he felt mostly back to "normal." Today hasn't been great as he has some "bathroom" issues and always feels bad on those days. However, the Dr. felt the Compazine and Phenergan we had been using for nausea probably contributed to his feeling so bad, so he is prescribing a new miracle drug (three magic pills at $100 a pop) which he feels will make a real difference. Also, they are skipping one anti-nausea drug that he receives in the chemo chair which the Dr. felt contributed to his wooziness.
So, we are grateful for these new drugs and hope you will pray that they make a real difference, that the chemo is exponentially effective, that our family would be protected and we would have strength and feel the fullness and presence of God.
Tomorrow, I will tell you about Soaking Prayer!
The last chemo (June 12) was pretty rough. John felt bad immediately upon its administration in the chemo chair and continued to feel miserable beyond the 48 hours he wore the chemo pump at home. He was nauseous for days after, very uncomfortable, exhausted and didn't feel well enough to work much until this week. In fact, yesterday was the first day he felt mostly back to "normal." Today hasn't been great as he has some "bathroom" issues and always feels bad on those days. However, the Dr. felt the Compazine and Phenergan we had been using for nausea probably contributed to his feeling so bad, so he is prescribing a new miracle drug (three magic pills at $100 a pop) which he feels will make a real difference. Also, they are skipping one anti-nausea drug that he receives in the chemo chair which the Dr. felt contributed to his wooziness.
So, we are grateful for these new drugs and hope you will pray that they make a real difference, that the chemo is exponentially effective, that our family would be protected and we would have strength and feel the fullness and presence of God.
Tomorrow, I will tell you about Soaking Prayer!
Why A Blog?
Hi, friends, family and kind people who don't really know us but are prayer warriors.
I'm creating this blog so that it is easier to keep folks updated throughout John's cancer process and also so that folks who are praying for us will know our specific prayer needs. John and I have surely been blessed by the many, many folks who have prayed for our family so far and we know we will be relying on prayer warriors throughout this process.
For those who might not know us, we are the Zambenini family, John, Pam, John R. (Zambo) and Audrey. John Sr. was diagnosed with colorectal cancer in Nov. 2003 and has unfortunately had a manifestation of colorectal in his lungs (metastatic lung cancer). This was quite a blow but John has had a great attitude and we are going for victory!
God bless!
Pam
I'm creating this blog so that it is easier to keep folks updated throughout John's cancer process and also so that folks who are praying for us will know our specific prayer needs. John and I have surely been blessed by the many, many folks who have prayed for our family so far and we know we will be relying on prayer warriors throughout this process.
For those who might not know us, we are the Zambenini family, John, Pam, John R. (Zambo) and Audrey. John Sr. was diagnosed with colorectal cancer in Nov. 2003 and has unfortunately had a manifestation of colorectal in his lungs (metastatic lung cancer). This was quite a blow but John has had a great attitude and we are going for victory!
God bless!
Pam
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