Good News

For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord.  Thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.  Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you.  (Jeremiah 28:11,12)

It’s been a while since I’ve written I know, but last week we got the results from Pat’s tests.  I sent most of you an email when she had her “episode” that the oncologist felt was a form of seizure.  He prescribed an anti-seizure medication which she took for about 10 days during which she had more side effects than the benefits of the medication was worth.  So she made the decision to stop taking it, after conferring with the pharmacist.  The problems cleared up in a few days.  She feels that the side effects are just not worth the benefit of the medication and it just made her “not herself”.

You may remember she had a Power-port put in back in November to help with the problems of her veins.  Well the first trip to the infusion room after the “seizure incident” the infusion nurse had to give her a chemical to dissolve a suspected clot so that they could draw blood.  The port was fine to infuse but would not let them draw blood, so we had to wait for about 40 – 50 minutes for the medicine to work.  Oh, and did I forget to mention that the hospital’s computer system was down and everyone was trying to find the “back-up protocol”?  It seems that the ATT system was down at several facilities and only the laptop computers were able to access the web (they use Verizon) but the problem was finding who had the laptops for each department.  That went on for about 3 hours until about the time the written protocols were found (remember no computers to access it online) the system came back up.  That was insightful.  The lab was able to process the blood-work and “fax” the information to the infusion area, but the chemist/pharmacists aren’t able to mix the chemo without the computers, hmm!

As to the test results; at this time last year you may remember, our oncologist was saying “take her home and make her comfortable as I don’t think there is much I can do to help her”.  Pat had just come off the combo chemo that, although it had been shrinking the lung tumor, it had also almost taken her out.  She had lost over 50 lbs., had stopped eating and was suffering severe malnutrition, was barely able to walk and suffered from numerous other maladies.  Even with all that Pat said “That’s not going to happen” and made the decision that she wanted to try the next phase of chemo.  Well, she will have been on this second phase for a year as of July 12th and has regained a significant amount of weight, regained her appetite, is getting around without her cane most of the time and just is doing well, all things considered.  I’ve mentioned before that our nickname for our Dr. is Dr. Gloom  because he always seems to give worst case scenario news, but when he opened the door and walked in this time he was almost “giggling” so we knew there was going to be good news.  Here’s what the Dr. said.  Her tests show the MRI of her brain is clear, no problems what so ever.  The CT scan of her lungs show her condition as “stable” the tumor is not growing, but is not shrinking.  Her blood work shows improvement and though not “completely normal”, it is better than he expected. He suggested that if she was still willing, he would prescribe another three months of treatment,  repeat the MRI and CT scans and then reassess at that time.

They talked about whether she should take a break in treatment but he said he was afraid that if she did, the tumor would start growing again and then he wouldn’t be able to give her the same medication.  I asked if there were any new treatment options coming through the research pipeline and he said as far as research goes there wasn’t really anything for her condition because most of the funding was now being spent on prevention.

Then he said “In my 11 years of treating patients, there haven’t been any that have lasted this long on this treatment”.  He said you don’t fit in my bell curve, you are way on the outside edge.  Remember this is the same guy that a year ago was ready to concede defeat.  To God goes the victory!  Thank all of you for your continued prayers and we are continuing to pray for a complete healing.

Of course the first thing Pat asked me when we left the office was “Can you do this another 3 months?”  (Sometimes she makes me want to smack her!!!)  I just told her I can do this as long as it’s necessary, I’ve been doing it for 2 years now (yes, it has been two years) and I’m not going through all the things she’s been through, so if she can do it, why can’t I?

But those who wait on the Lord shall  renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.  (Isaiah 40:41)

So we soldier on as I marvel at the strength she demonstrates as she goes through this journey.  Again we ask and thank you for your prayers for us, our vehicle and the medical staff that treat her.  I’m sure there were other things I should mention here but the most important thing has been said.  God bless all of you.

Floyd

P.S.  now that I am using this new site it allows you to “suscribe” and will send you a notification automatically when I post.