Small Gains

No, I'm not talking about your stock portfolio, although I suspect everyone would be happy just to have some small gains at this point!

The small gains we are seeing relate to John. They are frustratingly slow (mostly for him, but fercryinoutloud it has only been a little over seven weeks since chemo ended. Today he saw an orthopedist to get some help with strengthening his back and shoulder. He'll begin physical therapy on Friday. We felt it was best to have a specialist analyze the situation before humping into a PT regimen.

Unfortunately, we still haven't made it to a regular church service as John had a cold and painful cough last week, but hopefully this will be our week. I can't wait! We have been going to bible study on Monday's but John has to miss this past week as he just didn't feel very well.

My study is pretty awesome and I'm really enjoying getting to know the ladies at my table. I will share the following verses with you that have meant a great deal to me the past few weeks.

You cannot drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons too; you cannot have a part in both the Lord's table and the table of demons. 1 Corinthians 10:21

For the eyes of the Lord range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him. 2 Chronicles 16:9

The Lord will fight for you; you need only be still. Exodus 14:14

Just One Word

Today, we went for the oncology follow-up to John's PET scan on Friday. We really did pretty well getting through the several days of waiting. John always does well, but all-in-all, Pam did well with the wait too. God is working.

Your mama used to tell you the magic word was "please" or "thank you." Maybe you like to hear those magic words, "I love you." For us, the magic word is REMISSION! We give God all the glory and praise that that is the word we heard today!

The Dr. said the PET scan did not reveal any cancerous areas and the spots on the CT scan were likely either the dead tissue or lymph nodes that are shrinking. We will see the Dr. again in two months and he said we need to stay healthy for two years. Guess that is the magic number to improve our chances for more REMISSION.

John is still quite tired with little energy. He would like to begin work soon but his days will be short for a good while. We are trying to get PT set up again so that he can get his back muscles strengthened without blowing out all the hernias on his tummy. That is a little beyond our scope. He also needs to be continuing work on his shoulder from the surgery in September.

So, there are things to do. Pam has many verses to share with you but that will have to be saved for another day.

With tears of great joy!

John and Pam

Oncology Appt.

Wanted to let everyone know that we saw the oncologist this morning. We did not hear the word "remission" unfortunately, but we are trying not to get worked up about anything until we get a PET scan next week.

If I understand things correctly, they are watching two small areas that the radiologist did not mention to us from the CT scan he had last week. The PET scan will give us more information about what the areas are. They can either be dead tumor that the body has not absorbed, small tumors, or enlarged lymph nodes as that is how they feel the cancer likely spread from the colon in the first place - through the lymphatic system.

The outcome will help the Dr. decide if we do nothing, get maintenance chemo (every three weeks with supposedly minor side effects), or do more chemo. Additional, regular chemo is the last choice according to the Dr.

This was a bit discouraging, although John takes everything with his usual good humor while I invariably have a panic attack. My panic attacks are physically like riding a roller coaster and coming to the part where the coaster car has a long and abrupt vertical drop at a high rate of speed. If panic attacks burned calories, I'd be Twiggy.

Please pray about the upcoming PET scan. Also, we should be getting the tumor marker test results in the next day or so. Last one had gone from .5 to 1.5 which is still below normal and they say it can fluctuate, but we sure don't want to see it going up.

On a positive note, we have been attending men's and women's bible studies at our church and really enjoying them. John did not feel well this last Monday so we did not go, but Pam was able to download the video from hers and keep up. John's study is "The Quest for Authentic Manhood." Mine is Beth Moore's "A Woman's Heart." This is a great study on the tabernacle and the symbolism is pretty amazing. It is really challenging me spiritually and God has something to say to me weekly. He is powerful!

We are still trying to get somewhat back to normal at home and some days are better than others. Cancer recovery is sort of like the wintry days we're having. Some days the sun is shining and you hear a few birds singing even though it is really cold outside. Other days, the roads refreeze and are filled with bumpy ruts and there is ice on the sidewalk. In other words, recovery ranges somewhere between tolerable and yuck!

We pray for you and covet your prayers for us.

Pam