Hi everyone,
Just for any one who is still reading this: I have not had a chemo treatment since October, and my last PET scan showed a very slight increase in activity since then, but nothing to be concerned about. I have no symptoms, and only check with the Dr. every other month now. God has blessed us with some more time, and I seek Him and to do His will with what I have been given. Thanks to all for your continued prayers.
Chuck
Saturday, June 6, 2009
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
God's blessing
We went to the doctor today to get the results of my last PET/CT scan and the news was very good: I can take some time off of chemo. I still need to go back every 4 or 5 weeks for a check, but for the near future at least, no more chemo. Penny put together the following which I can't top:
"My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest." (Deuteronomy 33:14) We are celebrating today God's presence with us over these last 5-1/2 months and the rest (peace) He has provided during the treatments. Now Chuck can enjoy some rest from the all chemo medication and treatments for awhile. He's so happy about that. The recent scans showed a slight improvement over the last scans, but the major work on the cancer occurred during the first cycle of treatments. He responded very well. The doctor would like for Chuck to take a break, hopefully a long one, and to check in every 4-6 weeks to keep tabs on his condition. Chuck feels good and is looking forward to feeling back to normal soon. We praise and thank God who is faithful to His promises to care for His children in every detail of their need. We are so thankful to belong to Him and experience His love. Again, thank you for your prayers and loving support. Penny
"My Presence will go with you, and I will give you rest." (Deuteronomy 33:14) We are celebrating today God's presence with us over these last 5-1/2 months and the rest (peace) He has provided during the treatments. Now Chuck can enjoy some rest from the all chemo medication and treatments for awhile. He's so happy about that. The recent scans showed a slight improvement over the last scans, but the major work on the cancer occurred during the first cycle of treatments. He responded very well. The doctor would like for Chuck to take a break, hopefully a long one, and to check in every 4-6 weeks to keep tabs on his condition. Chuck feels good and is looking forward to feeling back to normal soon. We praise and thank God who is faithful to His promises to care for His children in every detail of their need. We are so thankful to belong to Him and experience His love. Again, thank you for your prayers and loving support. Penny
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Another zap...
Well yesterday's chemo was pretty uneventful. I felt a little tired and woozy afterward and went home and layed around in the recliner and bed, but this morning I was feeling ok. After the work day I am tired but not much more than usual. It doesn't usually kick in until the 2nd day after so tomorrow I expect to spend a lot more time napping.
I found the following in one of Penny's catalogs that came on the weekend:
What Cancer Cannot Do
Cancer is so limited...
It cannot cripple love
It cannot shatter hope
It cannot corrode faith
It cannot destroy peace
It cannot kill friendship
It cannot suppress memories
It cannot silence courage
It cannot invade the soul
It cannot steal eternal life
It cannot conquer the spirit.
Next step is a PET/CT scan in a couple of weeks, then a Dr. appt. to find out the results.
Thanks for all the prayers--keep it up.
I found the following in one of Penny's catalogs that came on the weekend:
What Cancer Cannot Do
Cancer is so limited...
It cannot cripple love
It cannot shatter hope
It cannot corrode faith
It cannot destroy peace
It cannot kill friendship
It cannot suppress memories
It cannot silence courage
It cannot invade the soul
It cannot steal eternal life
It cannot conquer the spirit.
Next step is a PET/CT scan in a couple of weeks, then a Dr. appt. to find out the results.
Thanks for all the prayers--keep it up.
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Same old....
For those three of you still watching the blog, I had a Dr. appointment today and everything looks fine. Blood levels are almost normal and everything else is doing fine. I still get a little tired at the end of the work day--but, hey, it's work right? Next time I get zapped is Oct. 14, so there won't be much to report until then.
It has been great the way the Lord has carried us through this so far, and we appreciate all the prayer support and well wishes we have gotten from so many of you.
It has been great the way the Lord has carried us through this so far, and we appreciate all the prayer support and well wishes we have gotten from so many of you.
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
The Future?
As we said in the last blog, we had some time with the Dr. today and got to ask a lot of questions. He got even by okaying my chemo today, but did decrease the dose by 25%. This should help with the effect on my white cells. My white cell count is still low but in line with previous tests.
After questioning the Dr. about how much of the cancer is killed by the chemo as determined by the CT and PET scans, how one can use that to predict the amount left in the body after 6 cycles (I just got cycle 5), and how fast the cancer cells grow, I got many facts that boil down to: "it depends".
The effect of the chemo on the tumor is not linear, being more effective in the first few cycles and less effective as time and usage go on. (A demonstration of the well known natural selection principle). An attempt to counter this is why I have three different kinds of chemo treatments. Also, the growth rate of esophogeal cancer can vary from 30 day to 120 day doubling rate. The Dr. was very clear that because of the non-linearities and the varied growth rate, even in the same patient, it is difficult to predict the future course of the disease.
All that said, the fact of my engineering background and present occupation as statistician make it almost impossible for me to avoid making some kind of estimate, even one with wide limits. So I read over the CT and PET scan reports, took into account the non-linear nature of the process and the wide limits on the growth rate and (leaving out the numbers for all those bored by such things) my prediction is that I MAY be able to take a 3 to 6 month time out from chemo after cycle 6, depending on the results of the next scan. Funny that this is exactly what the Dr. said about 2 visits ago. I like it when the math works out like that.
Our next chemo is scheduled at four weeks from today, Oct. 14th.
Spiritual status: Through adversity God has been teaching us a lot about His nature and how He thinks about us: you get a lot more serious about faith in times like this. And we have taken solace in the fact of God's great love for us and His sovereignty. Because of that we are convinced that our situation has been tailor-made to fit our particular lives at this particular time. We see this in His timing of every detail along the way, in how He has prepared us, in His provision of help from family and friends and prayer partners, in financial provision, and in encouragement through scriptures, sermons, books and radio programs. In all of those ways He has uniquely designed and fine-tuned this experience for His glory and our good. We marvel that even a few years ago we doubt we could have withstood this experience, and we are so glad we can now put our trust in Him and the unique hope He provides.
One of the breakthrough threads Penny and I discussed today started with Rom 8:28 (And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose) went on to the assurance of what "good" means (Rom 8:29 ...to be conformed to the likeness of his Son) and ended with the really neat thought of how God views us as "in Christ". Since we are in Christ, when God acts to glorify Himself, He cannot help but act for our good. The promise therefore is one of assurance that whatever happens to us, it will end in God's glory and our betterment--those two are inextricably combined by our position in Christ
After questioning the Dr. about how much of the cancer is killed by the chemo as determined by the CT and PET scans, how one can use that to predict the amount left in the body after 6 cycles (I just got cycle 5), and how fast the cancer cells grow, I got many facts that boil down to: "it depends".
The effect of the chemo on the tumor is not linear, being more effective in the first few cycles and less effective as time and usage go on. (A demonstration of the well known natural selection principle). An attempt to counter this is why I have three different kinds of chemo treatments. Also, the growth rate of esophogeal cancer can vary from 30 day to 120 day doubling rate. The Dr. was very clear that because of the non-linearities and the varied growth rate, even in the same patient, it is difficult to predict the future course of the disease.
All that said, the fact of my engineering background and present occupation as statistician make it almost impossible for me to avoid making some kind of estimate, even one with wide limits. So I read over the CT and PET scan reports, took into account the non-linear nature of the process and the wide limits on the growth rate and (leaving out the numbers for all those bored by such things) my prediction is that I MAY be able to take a 3 to 6 month time out from chemo after cycle 6, depending on the results of the next scan. Funny that this is exactly what the Dr. said about 2 visits ago. I like it when the math works out like that.
Our next chemo is scheduled at four weeks from today, Oct. 14th.
Spiritual status: Through adversity God has been teaching us a lot about His nature and how He thinks about us: you get a lot more serious about faith in times like this. And we have taken solace in the fact of God's great love for us and His sovereignty. Because of that we are convinced that our situation has been tailor-made to fit our particular lives at this particular time. We see this in His timing of every detail along the way, in how He has prepared us, in His provision of help from family and friends and prayer partners, in financial provision, and in encouragement through scriptures, sermons, books and radio programs. In all of those ways He has uniquely designed and fine-tuned this experience for His glory and our good. We marvel that even a few years ago we doubt we could have withstood this experience, and we are so glad we can now put our trust in Him and the unique hope He provides.
One of the breakthrough threads Penny and I discussed today started with Rom 8:28 (And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose) went on to the assurance of what "good" means (Rom 8:29 ...to be conformed to the likeness of his Son) and ended with the really neat thought of how God views us as "in Christ". Since we are in Christ, when God acts to glorify Himself, He cannot help but act for our good. The promise therefore is one of assurance that whatever happens to us, it will end in God's glory and our betterment--those two are inextricably combined by our position in Christ
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
What Now?
I would expect that most people have stopped looking at this blog by now, since I have gotten so lax in updating it. In a way, that is a good thing. My health has improved so much, there just doesn't seem to be much to say anymore. At least up 'til yesterday. I went in for my chemo and when they did the blood test my white cell count was too low. They put it off for a week to give my body more time to recover. Once the white cell count is back up we will go ahead as before. The only thing I have to do differently is to be careful of bacteria for a few days.
I told the Dr. he was really screwing up my schedule, but he claimed that screwing up schedules was his specialty. The chemo effect on my body apparently builds up over time and this kind of thing is not really unexpected--or at least it was not unexpected to the Dr. I will make sure to post next week when we find out whether we have the chemo treatment.
Although this looks like it is messing up my schedule, the Lord has the schedule all planned out so we are not really concerned. Penny and I constantly marvel at how the Lord has carried us through this trial so far. We have been upheld in prayer from friends, relatives and Samaritan Ministries partners from all over the country, and many have written with uplifting cards and letters. We have had wonderful care from doctors and nurses. I have had minimal bad effects from the chemo and it has worked to reduce the cancer and get me feeling better. I wonder if continued chemo treatments could keep the cancer at bay for years. Our medical bills have all been taken care of. Although we have been in a trial, we have felt so close to the Lord that we are not emotionally downcast, in fact we have felt closer to the Lord and each other than at any time in our marriage. How much more could He do? Ah, I suppose we could see complete healing, but even if that is not His will we have been geatly blessed at going through this experience. We have truly been blessed to have you along with us on this journey. Thanks for your prayers and love.
I told the Dr. he was really screwing up my schedule, but he claimed that screwing up schedules was his specialty. The chemo effect on my body apparently builds up over time and this kind of thing is not really unexpected--or at least it was not unexpected to the Dr. I will make sure to post next week when we find out whether we have the chemo treatment.
Although this looks like it is messing up my schedule, the Lord has the schedule all planned out so we are not really concerned. Penny and I constantly marvel at how the Lord has carried us through this trial so far. We have been upheld in prayer from friends, relatives and Samaritan Ministries partners from all over the country, and many have written with uplifting cards and letters. We have had wonderful care from doctors and nurses. I have had minimal bad effects from the chemo and it has worked to reduce the cancer and get me feeling better. I wonder if continued chemo treatments could keep the cancer at bay for years. Our medical bills have all been taken care of. Although we have been in a trial, we have felt so close to the Lord that we are not emotionally downcast, in fact we have felt closer to the Lord and each other than at any time in our marriage. How much more could He do? Ah, I suppose we could see complete healing, but even if that is not His will we have been geatly blessed at going through this experience. We have truly been blessed to have you along with us on this journey. Thanks for your prayers and love.
Thursday, August 21, 2008
Heigh Ho, Heigh Ho,
It's back to work we go. I was feeling so well after the last Dr. visit that we made the decision to go back to work. Anyway, I worked Monday and Tuesday, got right back into the fray with a couple of items, and was definitely tired at the end of the day. Who would have thought a month ago that I'd be back to work so soon--an unexpected blessing arranged by God.
Something I had not mentioned as an outcome of the Dr. visit was that I got a port installed so that chemo treatments are easier. The port is a gadget that is surgically implanted just below the collar bone and has a tube that is inserted into a major vein. This morning (Wed) I had the first chemo through the port. It was a lot easier in respect to having an easy stick and no pain in the arm. My head is still kind of woozy, so if this post makes little sense, that is the reason: "blogging under the influence".
There were only a few people getting chemo, but we struck up a conversation with a Christian lady sitting next to me. It turned out to be an encouragement both medically and spiritually. She has been undergoing chemo off and on for four years for colon cancer. Early in her journey, she had been offered a complex surgery at Vanderbilt, but after much prayer and thinking about it, turned it down. After that, her oncologist came up with a different chemotherapy that has worked very well for her. It was clear that she was dependent on what God was telling her and it was the right thing to do. She seems to have done fine without the surgery. A good encouragement to us.
I am back to work today (Thurs) so a good nights sleep helped a lot. The woozy stuff was written yesterday.
We got a pointer to an excellent short article for Christians with cancer:
http://www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary/TasteAndSee/ByDate/2006/1776_Dont_Waste_Your_Cancer/
It is aimed at those in my situation and points to God's sovereignty as the only real thing on which to hang our faith. If you think about it, how could you really trust Him unless He was not only loving, but also totally omnipotent. How could you really trust Him unless you could be assured that He does everything for His glory AND our good, and is so wise that neither of those takes precedence, but that they are always perfectly entwined. God can be completely trusted with the lives of His people.
Thanks for all your prayers. Keep it up, we can feel the results daily.
Something I had not mentioned as an outcome of the Dr. visit was that I got a port installed so that chemo treatments are easier. The port is a gadget that is surgically implanted just below the collar bone and has a tube that is inserted into a major vein. This morning (Wed) I had the first chemo through the port. It was a lot easier in respect to having an easy stick and no pain in the arm. My head is still kind of woozy, so if this post makes little sense, that is the reason: "blogging under the influence".
There were only a few people getting chemo, but we struck up a conversation with a Christian lady sitting next to me. It turned out to be an encouragement both medically and spiritually. She has been undergoing chemo off and on for four years for colon cancer. Early in her journey, she had been offered a complex surgery at Vanderbilt, but after much prayer and thinking about it, turned it down. After that, her oncologist came up with a different chemotherapy that has worked very well for her. It was clear that she was dependent on what God was telling her and it was the right thing to do. She seems to have done fine without the surgery. A good encouragement to us.
I am back to work today (Thurs) so a good nights sleep helped a lot. The woozy stuff was written yesterday.
We got a pointer to an excellent short article for Christians with cancer:
http://www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary/TasteAndSee/ByDate/2006/1776_Dont_Waste_Your_Cancer/
It is aimed at those in my situation and points to God's sovereignty as the only real thing on which to hang our faith. If you think about it, how could you really trust Him unless He was not only loving, but also totally omnipotent. How could you really trust Him unless you could be assured that He does everything for His glory AND our good, and is so wise that neither of those takes precedence, but that they are always perfectly entwined. God can be completely trusted with the lives of His people.
Thanks for all your prayers. Keep it up, we can feel the results daily.
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