Midway again..

Just a quick update in the midst of the Christmas rush! I am almost 1/2 way through the fourth cycle of Sutent. Midway of the last round my feet were starting to get sore and then suddenly improved. This time they are getting worse yesterday and today. I am having a hard time walking and it is painful even when I am not walking. Please pray that this side effect would not last too long this cycle! I still have a LOT of finishing up to do before Christmas and it's a bit discouraging to be doing everything with such sore feet! I have been burning the candle at both ends and not getting enough sleep which is catching up to me and I was completely exhausted by bedtime last night. So, please pray I will be able to prioritize all the things that need to be done and get enough rest. I have had some waves of fear "what if this is my last Christmas with my family?" which I need to overcome. Thank you so much for praying for me in my weakness. I want to face each day with JOY. If God gives me 30 more years on earth, I don't want to regret having sulked around now for no reason!!! :-)

We spoke to our attorney this week and our insurance company has replied to his letter. They said NOTHING. Just sent back a copy of the exact same low offer that they had given at least 2 months ago. Basically they are stonewalling us, and not only that, with ATTITUDE! ARGH! And as for our appeal on the trucking case, the judge has acknowledged our filing the appeal, but now has some number of weeks (months?) to reply with her reasons for denying our request to overturn the unfair settlement. So, we are in limbo on both aspects of the truck accident. We are so TIRED of this. And I am anxious about how we will make it through the lean winter months of our business year... All we have is the LORD. I suppose that is what He wants us to learn.

Charles' back injury is improving via physical therapy and for that we are both very grateful. He is still uncomfortable and his leg has a lot of numbness and weakness. But the pain is much decreased, so that is a relief. He is able to do more to help around the house and concentrate better at work, thankfully. Please pray that the ibuprofen does not give him a lot of GI trouble as has happened in the past when he took it for his various arm injuries over the years.

Ethan is a trooper! He has been to the hand specialist twice, had a CT scan and now an MRI to evaluate his wrist fracture. We will be taking him for a second opinion at the Phila Hand Center on Jan 3rd. (wow are we thankful for our medical insurance!) Then, more than likely he will have a very extensive 2-3 hour surgery to repair his wrist in mid January. There is some concern about ligament damage, and the small, soft bone graft may not be enough so they might have to take a small portion of bone from his hip instead :-( We will know more after the MRI results come back. He will be in a splint then a cast for a total of at least 6-8 weeks post-op. He has a great attitude even though he has to drop out of archery, can't be on the volleyball team this winter, etc. I bet he thinks he won't have to do his schoolwork but he is wrong on that one! :-)

We have been blessed by so much tender loving CARE these last few weeks from so many people. THANK YOU all for carrying us through each step of this journey. I cannot IMAGINE doing this ALONE! God is our ever present helpin time of trouble, but HE has sent so many people to be His hands and feet - and that tangible care is what gets us through each day.

MERRY CHRISTMAS! May you all know the JOY and PEACE that comes only from God, through His precious son, born in that manger to die for our sins.

Love,
Karen

Wrist Trouble

Sorry I might not have replied to some emails and maybe even calls - I am a bit snowed under lately with so much to do....started chemo Monday and was making hay while the sun shined with every minute booked for the last 2 weeks.

Took Ethan to a hand specialist today for a nagging sore wrist. He fell on it in late August and about every 3 weeks or so he would mention that it bothered him. In all the hubbub around here I finally realized it wasn't getting better and went to the pediatrician who said it was probably a sprain, then hand doc was out of town for a few weeks, and now we finally went to our appt and ...

IT IS BROKEN!!!! ARGGHHHHHH!!!!!!

And since we didn't catch it early when a cast might have worked he is likely now going to need a bone graft / screw / and pins. ARGH ARGH ARGH. In my defense the doc said they see this a LOT with this type of fracture as they are barely noticable sometimes, and then they do not heal right, etc. I looked up lots of articles on line (scaphoid nonunion fracture) and the surgery suggested, etc, is right down the line exactly what the doc said. We might get a second opinion but this doc is highly recommended and all that he said makes perfect sense. He was not pushy, offered that we get a second opinion from a pediatric hand specialist and such. But the xray shows clearly even to my inexperienced eye that the break is not healing and the edges are calcifying without knitting together. The danger in "letting it go" is that the detached bone could die off from lack of blood flow or the fracture could displace and so on.

Ethan has a CAT scan of the wrist tomorrow to evaluate the damage to the blood flow to the broken piece, etc. Not sure if we can get the surgery in before Christmas but I sure would like him healed up as soon as possible - and recovery sounds like 2-3 months at least. :-( He will have a screw and probably two pins. A splint and then a cast post-op and a short surgery to remove the pins after the cast is off. He was to join a homeschool volleyball team in January and that is shot for this year, and he will have to stop archery too. :-(

Thanks all, for listening to my tale of woe...... I feel SO BAD about my son needing surgery for something possibly because I didn't act on it for him sooner. There is a chance that even with casting it might not have healed, but I still feel bad.

I am dreading Christmas on chemo and pushing myself hard to get ahead of it all so if you could pray for me on that too I would really appreciate it. Charles' back is slowly improving and boy do we need him better asap so please pray for him too. He is in PT three times a week.

Thank you!
Karen

ps - Bet every family doesn't have their own personal hand / arm surgery specialist like we do... this is our FOURTH kid - if you count Charles as a kid..... to use this doctor in the last 5 years or so... ?????? What is THAT about ????

Not too bad

Ok I finished round 3 of chemo. It was better than the prior round but still not a walk in the park! The last post to the blog I had shared that I was feeling remarkably well at the end of wk 2. It did start backsliding again for wk 3 and 4 but definitely did not get as bad as the prior month. Saw Dr Flaherty at Penn and he said to expect that this is now the level of side effects that will remain, he doubts it will improve much. He was surprised at that mid-cycle improvement. I told him it must have been the yummy, healthy birthday meal that my kids made for me, from a "chemotherapy foods" cookbook. The carrot ginger soup was delicious as was everything else. I had carrot soup leftovers for several days - my theory is that is was "healing food!" But, by the end of wk 4 I was exhausted by 7 pm each evening and my feet were calloused and peeling in several spots but not painful like they had been the prior cycle. So I consider that an improvement! My joints ached a bit but were not as incapacitating as the prior cycle - I was able to drive the kids to activities, cook, etc till the very end.

As the chemo ended I was thrust into high gear because Charles injured his lower back pretty badly and began to have a lot of pain down his leg and in this thigh and hip, numbness down his leg, difficulty walking etc. He has not had a good night sleep in about 2 weeks as he is up and down all night, trying to walk, sit, toss or turn. He has seen the doctor twice now and tried 2 different courses of meds - the first round last week did nothing and he just got worse. This round seems to be helping a little and he starts Physical Therapy this evening.

Our attorney sent a new letter to our insurance company with all the clarifications of the policy and basically TOLD them they don't have a leg to stand on. We are waiting for a reply which I am SURE will be at least 30 days away as they always stall as long as they possibly can. We also appealed the trucking company verdict as we feel it is totally unfair but mostly because this is the only way to get the judge to put her reasons in writing so that we know how to proceed. Please pray that we soon see action on both this issues.

We are entering this Christmas season trying to keep our "chins up". Please pray with us that we could continue to do and be all that God would want of us in spite of the ongoing trials of life. We are so so TIRED. Our kids need us and we have to keep going no matter how we feel. We are trying to prep for Christmas as much as we can in advance. We got the tree up last weekend - maybe the earliest ever!

I start my next round of chemo on Dec 10th and so will be in the "lousy" weeks for Christmas Week and New Years Week, when we have to do our store inventory and the fiscal year bookkeeping corrections and balancing which is always an exhausting process. Please pray I will manage my time well and protect my health by getting enough rest etc during this very busy time. I am feeling pretty pressured right now with Charles not feeling well and so much to do before the chemo hits me over the head again!

My rib area which I injured in mid November is finally getting a lot better. I can move and breath deeply again without pain, although the area is still tender. My oncologist was not concerned but I will still be relieved to get the "all clear" on my next CAT scan, which will be around January 8th or 9th. I still do have waves of fear that the cancer is coming back and that is why I had the rib pain... or that I might not be here for next Christmas..... :-( Please pray that I can allow myself to trust the Lord completely with my life. After all, my worrying isn't going to change anything!

Thank you all so much,
Karen

PRAISE!

I am excited! About Tuesday of this week the usual med side effects started to reverse themselves, even though I am in week three of chemo and they usually would have continued to build up through the end of next week! My feet feel a lot better, my mouth feels a lot better, my joints are working a lot better! I still have some soreness from the rib injury thing I had last week so that is a bit achy, but much improved. And I just generally FEEL better, instead of that flu-like thing I was putting up with! I am hopeful that this marks the beginning of my body adjusting to the medication, and learning to tolerate it better from now on.

Praise God with me, please! And ask the Lord to allow this trend to continue. :-) I would be so grateful to feel this well for the remainder of the treatment. Charles tells me still not to overdo, so I guess pray that I would do better with that too :-/ Resting is not my gift......

Thank you all,
Karen

Round 3 Week 3:

Ok. I am into week three the third time around now. Guess that makes me some sort of expert on Sutent therapy now! Haha. I still can't completely predict how I will feel but have a better idea of what to expect. It seems the side effects roll on and off. What happened the first month seems to phase out a bit, then a new fun side effect kicks in. The third month seems to be doing that same pattern. GI upset is a little better and my mouth hasn't been as sore yet. I am getting the flu-like aching muscles and joints, especially my hip joints but I am managing ok so far. The swelling of the soles of my feet was the worst side effect last round and it is starting to get me this time around too, but mostly on only one foot so far. Last month's swelling caused thick callouses, which then fell off, leaving raw areas, one of which, about the size of a nickel, is now swelling and getting very sore. I can still drive but walking is pretty uncomfortable. They say too much walking will make it worse so I am trying not to do marathon grocery shopping for the rest of this cycle!

Last week I still had a little of the congestion left from that respiratory infection and coughed a bit, not real hard, but I must have been twisting or something at the time and I felt something pop in my rib cage - OUCH. It created a sharp pain within a few minutes that remained fairly painful for most of last week. I felt like I was 6 weeks post-op again. At first I thought I cracked a rib or pulled a hole in my lung or something. I couldn't draw a deep breath in to cough anymore, or breathe deeply, or lie on my back in bed without extreme pain. I was tempted to dig out the narcotics from my first days post-op! I saw my family doctor after a few days and she felt it could be a broken rib or a strain of the muscles that are still fragile connecting that space where my 9th rib was removed. If it wasn't better by today (Monday) she wanted me to have an xray. I was glad I had recently had a negative CAT scan (Hope I reported that on the blog?), because that helped me not to get too nutty with worry. It has finally eased up though, and I feel a lot better today. It is still sore but I can breathe deeply and move around almost normally again. Praise God! I still do not like the feeling of being "fragile". I had been trying to do all I could to care for all my normal responsibilities but I can see that I need to be a little bit more careful. My kids love to help - I will have to let them!

So, I guess I am in this chemo /targeted therapy routine now. I can start to predict when I will feel lousy and schedule things around that. One friend asked me how many rounds I have LEFT. WOW what a great way to look at it. I have to do 8 or 9 rounds. I am in round 3. So maybe I should start to count DOWN - only 5 or 6 rounds left! :-) CAT scans are every 3 months for the first year, which give me some reassurance that no cancer is coming back .... at least not yet. Please continue to PRAY that the Lord would completely heal me, and allow me more years on this earth. I just had my 50th birthday - most women might try to ignore that but I am happy to get this far, and praying that I get to see a few more decades on earth. Getting old is seeming like a great idea lately! :-)

If you read the last blog entry I hope you saw the mode we are in, the place God seems to have us in.... WAIT.... wow is this biggest my weakness. I never have been good at waiting, and even worse at not knowing what will happen next. I am a planner! Well all of that has been changed in my life without my consent, and I do NOT like it! I am trying to learn my lessons though, and wait on the Lord. We were very sad that the judge ruled that we have to accept that low settlement from the trucking company that our former lawyer agreed to without our ok. We had to just emotionally detach from that for a week or so lest we really loose all hope. But, we are moving forward with this new information and trying to figure out what to do next. We are going to appeal as that is the only way to get an explanation from the judge as to the reasons for her decision. Then we will see if there is more that we can do on the trucking company case.

The other issue is the business insurance settlement, which is still not happening either. We have 4 experts on our side now (accountant, insurance agent, 2 attorneys). We are trying to arrange a meeting with all of these godly and concerned men, to help us sort this out and decide what we can do to reach a fair settlement. Please pray that we can find a time SOON when all 4 can meet, and that the Lord will show us the best way to proceed.

We have been blessed in so many ways these last few weeks. We were really to a point of utter despair for a while and I feared we would not survive financially or emotionally, but we were lifted up by the kindness of so many people, with cards and groceries and loving care. God knows who you are even though in some cases WE don't even know! THANK YOU ALL SO VERY MUCH for lifting us up from the pit. HE has provided a ray of hope. More than anything, I thank you for remembering us in prayer, and coming back to read my LONG entries!

Last but not least, a friend who has been so kind and loving and caring to me since I got sick is now, herself, facing major surgery on Wednesday for probable ovarian cancer. Please pray for Deborah, her husband and two sons (the ages of my boys) and her extended family, many of whom do not know the Lord. Thank you so much.

Karen

WAIT

Desperately, helplessly, longingly, I cried;
Quietly, patiently, lovingly, God replied.
I pled and I wept for a clue to my fate . . .
And the Master so gently said, "Wait."

"Wait? you say wait?" my indignant reply.
"Lord, I need answers, I need to know why!
Is your hand shortened? Or have you not heard?
By faith I have asked, and I'm claiming your Word.

"My future and all to which I relate
Hangs in the balance, and you tell me to wait?
I'm needing a 'yes', a go-ahead sign,
Or even a 'no' to which I can resign.

"You promised, dear Lord, that if we believe,
We need but to ask, and we shall receive.
And Lord I've been asking, and this is my cry:
I'm weary of asking! I need a reply."

Then quietly, softly, I learned of my fate,
As my Master replied again, "Wait."
So I slumped in my chair, defeated and taut,
And grumbled to God, "So, I'm waiting for what?"

He seemed then to kneel, and His eyes met with mine . . .
and He tenderly said, "I could give you a sign.
I could shake the heavens and darken the sun.
I could raise the dead and cause mountains to run.

"I could give all you seek and pleased you would be.
You'd have what you want, but you wouldn't know Me.
You'd not know the depth of my love for each saint.
You'd not know the power that I give to the faint.

"You'd not learn to see through clouds of despair;
You'd not learn to trust just by knowing I'm there.
You'd not know the joy of resting in Me
When darkness and silence are all you can see.

"You'd never experience the fullness of love
When the peace of My spirit descends like a dove.
You would know that I give, and I save, for a start,
But you'd not know the depth of the beat of My heart.

"The glow of my comfort late into the night,
The faith that I give when you walk without sight.
The depth that's beyond getting just what you ask
From an infinite God who makes what you have last.

"You'd never know, should your pain quickly flee,
What it means that My grace is sufficient for thee.
Yes, your dearest dreams overnight would come true,
But, oh, the loss, if you missed what I'm doing in you.

"So, be silent, my child, and in time you will see
That the greatest of gifts is to truly know Me.
And though oft My answers seem terribly late,
My most precious answer of all is still . . . Wait."

by Russell Kelfer

We Lost

In May we had a hearing in Phila court to try to stop our former attorney's agreement with the trucking company. Our complaint was that he agreed to the very low amount without our OK. In fact we were not even THERE - we had left and he was instructed to call us - he didn't call until AFTER he accepted the offer. Well the judge finally ruled against us. So now we are stuck taking this low amount or we have to appeal in order to get the judges reasons in writing, and to have a leg to stand on to go after our former attorney for all the money he lost us by doing such a rotten job. The wheels of justice turn VERY slowly and we think they are rusted in place actually. Right now we don't have a lot of hope that we will ever see justice this side of heaven.

Please pray for us as we are very discouraged. We have to find a way to keep our business afloat until either the insurance or the trucking company pays us for our losses. We are not expecting anyone to pay without a fight.

Signing off for the weekend.... thank you all for holding us up in prayer. We need it.

Karen

Glimmers of Hope

#1 - Got a call from our attorney Friday (yes that in itself is some sort of miracle!), and he reported that Judge Allen in Phila court called him to say she was making her ruling "momentarily".... so it is on its way to our attorney now by mail, we assume he will get it by Wednesday. She had been holding our case since May, deciding if we could refuse to accept a low settlement offer from the trucking company that our prior attorney accepted without our consent last October!!! If she rules for us, we get a new trial. If she rules against us we get the low settlement or have to appeal. Either way it is better than NOTHING happening for a year!

#2 - My family doctor called me today to say that she got my CAT scan report and it was all clear again! I had called the oncologist on Friday for the results and they said that they never give those out over the phone, incase it is bad news or incase the doctor sees something on the films that the radiologist did not see. :-/ I can understand what they mean, and I was ok with waiting until I see the doctor tomorrow to find out the results. If it was bad news not knowing for a few more days was worth the wait. But since my family doctor took it upon herself to call me I was happy to hear at least those preliminary results.

PLEASE KEEP PRAYING for the insurance company to do the right thing and pay us for our financial / business losses from the long ago truck accident. What a relief that would be!

Karen

Still Plodding

Hi everyone,

I just finished the second 4 week chemo cycle. Did a lot better overall since this was the lower dose, but still by the end of it I am pretty wiped out. My mouth got very sore the last few days, stomach issues got more uncomfortable, and this time around I got the "hand and foot" side effect - only the foot part - which I didn't get last round. It's a strange thing - soles of feet get very sore and tender, a bit swollen, and then start to crack and peel. I could barely walk a few days. Ouch.

Please pray for me as I have started to develop a respiratory infection on top of everything. My chest is very congested and I feel pretty weak today. I was hoping to come out of the chemo and have a few good strong weeks but this virus kicked in right as the chemo was ending. I had my labs drawn today (Monday) and so we will see if my white count is low, which would make it harder to fight off this infection, of course. I have my every 3 month CAT scan on Wednesday. I dread it a bit since the contrast stuff made me kind of sick last time and now my stomach is more sensitive, but also because of the underlying fear that it will find more cancer. Of course, in a few days, when the chemo wears off and the CAT scan is fine, I will be in a whole different frame of mind! Please pray for me to hang onto that hope for the next few days, looking forward to better things at the end of the week!

Thankfully, I was able to homeschool the kids through most of the round of meds, with assistance from my mom (a retired teacher) for the last week or so. That was a big help as my energy only goes so far and she was able to help some kids while I helped the others. I was thankful to be able to keep them on track and not let them fall behind even when I wasn't feeling great. Funny to watch her say the SAME things to them that I say all the time. "did you read the directions", and "look it up in the dictionary" , "let's check that again for errors" and "I know you can figure this out"... Gee Whiz, I went to school to be a nurse not a teacher, but apparently I picked up a lot from my mom by osmosis!

A few of the kids are voicing some fears about the cancer returning, the medicine making mommy sick etc, so please do keep praying for them.

Charles and I are still pretty overwhelmed by the financial stresses but God has provided help in the last few weeks through the generosity of some friends and family to encourage us. We are trying to hang on until the Lord answers our prayers! We had not gotten any replies from our lawyer for WEEKS and it was so discouraging. Last week Charles finally got a short reply from him, which basically sounded like he has made no progress on our behalf. :-( Since then our former insurance agent has reached our attorney and together they came up with another way to approach this which they are trying next. ARGH!!!!

Basically we had a policy that would pay someone to replace Charles if he was disabled in a business truck accident, which he was. We have been paying the replacement worker for 2.5 years with no reimbursement and it has drained us dry. The insurance company continues to stall and fight and double talk. Their latest argument was that we are not really self employed!!!!! ARGH ARGH ARGH!!!! Then why did they sell us a policy for self employed only???? They have had 15 other stall tactics too. Of course if we sue them that will stall it another 2 years, but it seems every other action we take is powerless to push them into paying.

Please plead with the Lord on our behalf to get this burden off us and to have the insurance company do the right thing and pay the claim. We know that the Lord must have some reason for allowing this to drag out so long but we are so weary of it.

Thank you all for checking the blog and not forgetting about us. Keep it up, and hopefully my next update will have some answers to your prayers!

Karen

Plodding along...through the mud.

Hello dear faithful friends,

I am finished 2 weeks of chemo this round, on the 25% lower dose. I have been tolerating it better so far. My mouth is sore and most things taste funny or metallic but not like acid at least - so that is an improvement! Still some GI issues but I can function ok in spite of them so far. I have not been too tired to manage things at home yet although around early evening I am pretty burnt out some days. We have some meals coming this week and next which will be a blessing as I really don't have much reserve energy but I am thankful to have been able to care for my family so far this round. It is really important for our kids to see me seeming as healthy as possible. They need to be kids and not be thinking about mommy being sick any more than necessary.

As soon as I finish this round of chemo (Oct 14) I will have another CAT scan to make sure no cancer is returning. I am not too worried about the results at this point but probably closer to that time I will be nervous. The test itself is a little bit unpleasant too- last time they gave me what seemed like a gallon of barium to drink, the IV leaked after several attempts to start it etc. oi vey!

I have an underlying notion (or is it God's peace?) that during this year on the chemo I will not see a reoccurance of the cancer, but that it is being held off at least for now. I have not yet convinced myself (or let the Holy Spirit convince me?) that it is never coming back. I have hope, but that is as far as my heart will allow me to go right now. I am putting some pressure on myself to make this year count for eternity as if it might be my last. Or maybe I should have been living that way all along and it's a lesson God is trying to teach me. Please pray I would have more peace, more joy and more grace in the months ahead. I know God is not finished teaching me yet. I am doing pretty well over all, but waves of fear do still hit me from time to time.

The cancer is becoming a "minor" issue these days compared to the insurance settlement delay. We are really so very, very discouraged about this and it drains both Charles and I emotionally. We were promised a written offer of settlement would be in our hands by 2 weeks ago OR we would be in non-binding mediation. No offer came, no mediation news, no answer from our lawyer even to two emails and a phone message that week and last week. Please PRAY that the agony of this wait to be reimbursed will soon come to an end. We are having a very hard time keeping our heads above water here, and it is really exhausting. We are really between a rock and a hard place and so need God to intervene on our behalf. This settlement will not be enough to dig us out of all the losses from the accident, most likely, but it will help. We still have the trucking company case locked up in Philadelphia court too - Judge Allen told us she would rule by the end of May..... it's now October.

Our kids are showing some signs of the stress. More meltdowns and fears coming to the surface for a few of them. Remember, these are kids who had their share of trauma prior to being adopted, and although we are trying very hard to protect them from the stress, and keep life as normal as possible for them, it is hard on all of us. Charles and I don' t have a lot of reserve emotional or physical energy to pour on them and they need all we have plus more. We are concerned about them.

Thank you so much for standing with us in the battle!! PLEASE KEEP PRAYING!

Hangin' onto hope,

Karen for all of us

White Count

Just a little addendum to the "Rest Sweet Rest" update. The nurse called me today to say that my white cell count is a little bit below the normal limits. Not dangerously low, but still low. I need to be a little bit careful not to expose myself to a lot of germs - HELLO? I have FIVE kids at home!!! Not going to happen! :-)

But, seriously I do need to be a little more careful than I would have been if not on chemo, wash hands a lot (I already do that), not hang out with people who are coughing and sneezing, and probably not volunteer to teacher aide at our homeschool co-op. :-( It's not anywhere near a dangerous level but it would not add to my comfort on the chemo to have head colds and flus and stuff all winter. Also they had already told me that my white counts would likely slowly decline over the next year and since they are already low, I am guessing they will probably stay low.

My hemoglobin is in the normal range but near the low limit too. I have been on iron suppliments since surgery but my family doctor says it takes up to six months to regain iron stores.

Goin' to bed on the early side if I can tonight!

Karen

Rest Sweet Rest!

Well I am nearing the end of my 2 week rest period off the Sutent and savoring every minute of it. I feel pretty good. My mouth is almost all better - milk still tastes weird but I guess that will be the case for the rest of this year. I can eat yogurt and other dairy ok though. Otherwise I feel pretty good and am taking advantage of it while getting the homeschool year started and trying to iron out any wrinkles in that routine so that I am all set for the weeks on the med. I asked that the meals be postponed while I am feeling well so that I can get back to a bit of taking care of my family. It makes me feel "well" to try to make things as normal as possible. We still have had a few meals during this rest period and they were very helpful because as much as I want to feel like my old (new) self again, I am just not completely strong yet and I do tire more easily than I want to. Meals will return on wk 2 of the chemo a bit, and more will come on weeks 3 and 4 when I will be in hardest part of the chemo which will be wonderful!

I saw Dr Flaherty yesterday. He wants to try me next round on the lower dose. If I tolerate it very very well, he will raise it again. If I am nearly bedridden as happened on wk 3 last time, they will lower the dose. If I am only moderately ill they will leave it alone I guess! FUN! I was under the impression that the first month would be hard but not as bad as it turned out to be, and that the months after that would be much more tolerable as my body adjusted to the med. Now they are sounding more like the way my body reacts to it is the way it will continue to react, and will get a little better each round, but will not get suddenly a lot better. And as the year wears on, my body will get tired of the stuff - that is when the white blood counts and things might start to decline. So it all is a more gradual process than I was expecting. Ok - whatever it takes we are doin' it!

Thank you for hanging on with us as we adjust to living on chemo - its a bit different than my life was before June 2nd but I am thankful for the blessing of each and every day that God gives me, and hopeful that He will allow me a few thousand more days on this earth!

The insurance mess DRAGS ON but we have heard a little progress in the last week or so. Our lawyer is told we will have a written offer from the business insurance company by next week and he made it very clear to them that it better be a REAL offer and not something no where CLOSE to our losses or we will end up in non-binding mediation or filling a lawsuit before the ink is dry on the offer. :-/ PLEASE pray that this would end soon. We are so stressed with the costs of the kids curriculum (and I kept is as cheap as I could) and some classes for the kids and new sneakers for a few .... we just really really need this reimbursement asap.

Rested up and almost ready for the next round!

Karen

Almost Done First Round

Ok cheerleaders.... we are almost there. I had three days off the med (Fri, Sat, Sun) instead of two. They gave me the choice to take it that third day or wait one more day and I still felt pretty awful on Sunday so I waited till Monday. I actually continued to improve through Wednesday though, my mouth feeling almost normal on Tues and Wed. I had energy on Wednesday and just felt good. It was wonderful.

Today is Thursday and I have now had 4 doses again so it is starting to build up in my system and bring back the queeziness, diarrhea, sore mouth etc. FUN! It's ok, I only have 3 more pills after today. I can do that no matter how sick I get. Depending on how this week finishes out, we will determine whether or not to drop my dose to start the next round.

Thank you for continuing to cheer me on. I have gotten such wonderful notes and calls and emails lately, just when I needed them. I am trying to keep a determined spirit, to fight this cancer with all I have and yet do it with a yieldedness to God's will for my life and my family. As I have said before, I KNOW He can heal me, and I pray that He will use this medicine to do so. But I also know that myself and my family have lessons to learn through this experience too, and I want to allow Him to teach me through it.

The business insurance issue continues to drag on..... we reached the christian agent who sold us the policy way back when. He left the insurance business to go into full time ministry a few years ago. He completely understands what is going on as a stall tactic from the company and he is willing to testify or write letters or whatever is needed to back us up that the policy is what we believe it to be and says what we understood it to say, that the intent of that policy is as we have documented, etc. Hopefully this will help as the insurance company itself has been trying to wangle every way they can to say it doesn't really mean this and doesn't really pay that etc. ARGH.

Please pray I will get through the last of this round with a proper attitude and with JOY, for all the blessings I have, and with HOPE for the future!

Karen

Rough Week

Well week 3 of the Sutent really threw me for a loop. I was very sick on Mon, Tues, Wed and Thurs. Every joint and muscle in my body ached, even my rib area started hurting pretty badly again. I could barely turn in bed or get up from a chair. And a splitting headache from the back of my neck up to my eyes. Sore mouth, no appetite, a little nausea, chills and hot/cold sweats alternating... it was lovely. By Thursday evening it finally started to ease up a bit. It's Friday now and I don't have the muscle pain or headache (much) anymore but my mouth is so very sore and I still have no appetite (not a great crash diet plan), nausea, etc. I am very weak and a bit dizzy.

The doctor decided to stop the med for 2 days to let my body rest and try to get my mouth to heal, then try to finish the round next week. Next time we do the cycle (after a 2 week rest) they will lower my dose to 37.5 mg instead of the 50 mg I was started on.

I am discouraged. I want to fight and fight hard. I feel like I wimped out here. I really didn't expect it to hit me this hard and I don't think the doctors did either.

Please pray that my mouth would heal up and I would gain some strength so that I can finish out this cycle next week. And that the med I had so far will already be finding and killing any cancer cells floating around... seems like it HAS to do something!

Thank you all,
Karen

Half-Way

Ok everyone. I made it through two weeks with relatively minor discomforts. If you call diarrhea and a sore mouth minor - haha! Really though it wasn't too bad. A bit tired a few days but mostly I could get some things done.

Yesterday it started to get a bit harder and today (Monday) I feel downright lousy. The docs told me week 2, 3 and 4 are the worst, and it will build up through the end of the 4th week so that by then I will be pretty exhausted. I can see now what they mean. It really does feel a lot like the flu, not that I have gotten the flu that often, thankfully. Today at 12 noon I just couldn't go on and had to lie down for over 2 hours. Even after getting up again I am dragging. The kids have been great, they took to cleaning their rooms (deep cleaning - sorting junk, dusting, vacuuming!) while I rested. How cool is THAT? I am so thankful for the other help we continue to get - dinner just arrived hot and ready to eat! Wow did I need that today.

I will keep this short - that tells you how I am feelin', huh? Just wanted to ask for prayer that over the next two weeks I can get the new homeschool year set up, get the kids books ordered etc while I am feeling lousy, and that I will not allow myself to become discouraged. I told the kids that if I feel this lousy, just imagine how lousy those cancer cells feel! haha! I keep telling those buggers "take that you nasty cancer cells, I am tougher than you are!.... and my God is tougher still." :-)

Thank you everyone,
Karen

One Week Down, Three To Go

Well everyone. One week down on SUTENT and I am still on top of things.. sorta. It does make me tired at the end of the day, and my stomach isn't feeling that great, but it's not too bad. They say week 2, 3 and 4 are the hardest so we shall see. I doubt it will be unbearable though, based on things so far. We are still having help with dinners several days a week, which really takes the pressure off me so I can use my energy and strength on all the other things of life here. For that we are so grateful.

Our insurance company finally admitted that they owe us some money (DUH) but made us such a rediculous offer that we have to press them harder to get even close to what is fair. I suppose it is a start. We don't understand why our policy can SAY that they owe us for A B and C, but when we give them all the documentation of those costs for A B and C, they can stall for months and then say, "how about we just pay you for A? WHY would we say OK to that? ARGH. Anyway please do keep praying about this as it is an extreme strain on Charles and I. The kids need dental checkups and stuff that we just hate to keep stalling any longer. I have taken to praising the Lord for keeping our car, washer, dryer, frig, dishwasher etc running all this time with no repairs. It's like the shoes that didn't wear out for the Israelites! And the meals coming is like our manna - only much tastier. :-)

We have been blessed in that we had that week at the shore for my parents anniversary and were able to go to their mountain home for a long weekend without any cost too. Friends recently gave us some money to do something fun as a family and we went to Cowtown Rodeo for Evan's 12th birthday - we all LOVED it. It was so fun seeing the different kids reactions. Ethan was confused as to why anyone would purposely get on a bull knowing full well they would be thrown off and get hurt. Evan laughed hard at each crash of course! Claudia wanted to volunteer to try the broncos herself! Anya just loved seeing real "cowboys" and bought herself a hat, and Kristina just adored the ladies in their fancy riding outfits. It was a lot of fun. I really enjoy these small pleasures of life so much and treasure each special moment with my family.

Thank you for continuing to check on us via this blog, and in other ways, through mutual friends or seeing us at church, etc. I still get some cards in the mail with encouraging scriptures on them, or see people who say they pray for us each day, or have my name on their desk to remember to pray for me. Thank you for staying with us for the long haul. We need you all.

Love,
Karen

Medication Approved!

After a few more faxes and calls I got the word today directly from the local pharmacist that my Sutent prescription has been received, the medication is on order (it is not a stock item which I knew), and the pre-approval process is complete so I will have the med on Monday afternoon. Not sure if I will have time to pick it up and start it on Monday or on Tuesday. Talked to the nurse practitioner at Dr Flaherty's office (Penn Oncology) about the side effects and she was pretty encouraging. I expect to be increasingly fatigued the first 4 weeks and then it should level off to more manageable levels. There are some other side effects, hopefully they will be relatively mild. Saw the kidney surgeon today - he is the one with the "colorful" manner but caring heart. His quote, "you look a h___ of a lot better than you did 8 weeks ago in that ICU bed" Now there's a compliment, huh?

We finally heard from our attorney who got a (no surprise) ridiculously low offer from our business insurance company. We told him we want what the policy says we are to be paid and nothing less. :-( So he is working on getting them closer to what is fair. We really need God to help us in this - it is so stressful to wait all this time for any reimbursement. Please pray that this situation would soon be resolved satisfactorily. I suppose it is progress that they made any offer at all after no response for 2 years............ Secondly, please pray that the judge would issue a favorable ruling on the other part of this, from the hearing in May (with the trucking company who hit Charles).

BTW I have been sleeping pretty well most nights now, and can even lay on my right side and move in my sleep without waking up much on most nights. This is a huge help to my general well-being. (Thank you Barbara for that memory foam mattress cover - FANTASTIC!) On the worrying issue - I have poured over the scriptures and cards that everyone has shared and they really encourage me. I am also feeling well enough to be busy with the kids and stuff which helps keep my mind occupied. Trying to take one day at a time and not project my worry too far into the future right now. If bad news comes someday, at least I will have tried to enjoy being healthy while I can!

Charles helped me finish the last of the pages in the homeschool portfolios late last night (I have to start getting to bed earlier now) and took them all to the school district this morning so that is DONE. HOORAH! Now its time to plan this coming year. I have some good leads on a few classes to help me with the teaching and also will consider some DVD supplementation and other helps. But it all costs money, so... back to the insurance settlement and judge ruling prayer requests!

Thank you everyone,
Karen and the gang

Med Approval!?! I think.....

Jumping through hoops was getting exhausting, so I went directly to the source. I called the Pfizer pharmaceutical company's "First Resource" Dept in California and asked them if I really needed to compile all this income verification information if there was a chance that my insurance would cover me for Sutent. After all, I reasoned to the nice lady on the phone, even though the doctor's secretary seemed quite concerned that I might not be covered and that the costs would be very very high, I do have good insurance w/ a prescription plan and this paperwork is really holding up my treatment and ______".

She said, "Well instead of you doing all this work how about I just CALL Blue Cross for you?" THANK YOU GOD!!!! She called me back in about FIVE MINUTES and said that they had already run a "test approval" and it had gone right through. BC even told her what the cost would be - only $25 for a 30 day supply, $50 for a 90 day supply by mail order!!! (this is the regular cost of my non-generic blood pressure medicine).

I was so happy I started to cry to this poor lady on the phone. I really thought all along that there was a good chance of it being covered but I have all these deadlines pressing on me this week with the homeschooling paperwork and appointments and stuff and I felt like the red tape was drowning me. I want to get the first month of side effects over with ASAP. There is still a minor step of "preapproval" which will be done by FAX to the doctor's office but I do not expect (??) that to be a problem.

So, here I am EXCITED to be starting to take anti-cancer medicine that might make me feel lousy. HMMM... a lot has changed in the last 8 weeks. :-/

Thank you for continuing to walk this road with us,
Karen

Short update (can that be?)

Just wanted to ask everyone to pray about my medication, Sutent. I am waiting now for special forms to arrive in the mail from Dr Flaherty's office to sign and return. Those will then be used by a third party company (forget the name of it) which will investigate my insurance coverage etc and assist us in getting the medication as soon as possible and for the lowest cost. I have been warned that although we have good insurance coverage with low co-pays for prescriptions, out of formulary and chemotherapy type drugs can be a whole different situation. Although some Personal Choice plans do cover it well, other patients have been shocked to learn that the cost is VERY VERY high.

So, please pray that this process would go smoothly and that the correct information will be found with a minimum of hassle and delay. They said it is possible for me to get the med by the end of next week if all goes well. If the cost is prohibitive I do not know what we will do.

I do not have to see Dr Flaherty until I complete one full cycle of the med, since I already got the CT scan and labs done in advance. ;-) and they say that I should only have to come in about every 6 weeks during treatment which is great - I was hoping not to have to drive to Penn 30 times in the next year!

On that note I did DRIVE for the first time last evening - just to CVS - but it showed me that I CAN do it. It was very uncomfortable though, I will admit. So I think I will keep on sticking around home as much as I can for another week or two and only drive if I have no other choice for now.

On a separate note, our lost income business insurance company told our lawyer yesterday that we would have an official response to our 2+ year old claim by today. We will believe that when we see it! Please pray that God would soon bring this insurance nightmare to an end...... we doubt though that the response today will be "sure we will pay you all that we owe you right away with no hassles"..... But GOD COULD DO THAT!

Love,
Karen

Back from Vacation!

We had a wonderful but not so relaxing time at the beach. :-) After all there were TWENTY-FIVE people there! Haha! It really was a nice time. The house was lovely, with a beautiful view of the ocean from the second and third floor balconies. I had a chance to walk almost everyday, and was very proud of myself for going more than a mile up the boardwalk the first night (the part without any stores started right near our house) and was still able to walk all the way back home! Other days I took evening or morning walks on the beach or on the boardwalk, sometimes twice a day. Plus usually a trip across the dunes to the beach to watch the kids play and swim. It was a busy time with something to do morning, afternoon and evening, and I was pretty exhausted once we got back home, but it felt good to "get away from it all".

Sunday I made it through two church services for the first time and what a blessing to see a wonderful presentation of the Lighthouse Project Orphan Hosting program. Thirteen precious kids ages 8 to 15 came for an 11 day visit with families from area churches. Many of the families are interested in adopting the children that they hosted. PRAISE GOD for each and every child's time here and for the hope of a family for them. Our Anya made us so proud by talking to the Russian government official who was here with the children, and also reaching out to the 15 and 13 year old girls who were visiting, trying to make them feel more comfortable and welcome.

After a catch up day on Sunday afternoon (wow were we tired - and Charles ended up at the doctor on Monday with a sinus infection - no wonder he had a headache for a week!).... anyway, after a catch up and laundry day on Sunday it was back to the routine on Monday.

Kristen took me for my CT scan and labwork on Monday. The CT scan was a little rough - didn't know I would have to drink a "gallon" of barium! They had some trouble starting the IV to give me the contrast, then it started leaking in the middle of the scan - tons of fun! Anyway I got the results today and all is well! This was meant to be just a baseline post-op CT scan to see what everything looks like in there now that the tumors are removed. It will be used to compare future CT scans to. Although I was not too worried that any reoccurrence of the cancer would show up this soon, it was certainly reassuring to see the words "no evidence of metastatic disease" on that report!

Today (Tuesday) I saw the lung surgeon Dr Carp, and my primary doctor, Dr Haab. Oh, I forgot to mention something about the vacation...... the doctors and nurses had told me still not to drive,
not to lift more than 5 lbs, not to stretch and bend too much etc.
But they forgot to tell me not to run from water balloon games when your 3 yr old nephew decides to turn the hose on you while videotaping from the second floor balcony at the shore house! (who would have thought of that?)...... so I DID run from the hose, trying to protect the video camera of course... and I fell FLAT and HARD right on my entire incision. WOW did that hurt. This was last Tuesday. I have been very sore ever since, having a hard time sleeping again, just aching a lot, especially toward the center of my rib cage (below and to the right of the sternum). The CT scan did not show any rib fractures but Dr Carp said that they cut the cartilage of the rib cage during surgery and I likely split / cracked that cartilage when I fell. So this was a bit of a setback as I was starting to be able to do more but now need to take it back a step and re-heal a little bit. My stamina is better and I am walking more and more though, so that really is an encouragement.

My primary doctor feels I am stablized now and I don't need to come back for 3 months unless there is a problem. My blood pressure (on half the prior dose of meds) and lab work is stable. Kidney function tests are good. Anemia is resolving slowly.

Charles and I have decided that I will go ahead and take the targeted therapy, Sutent. My preference is to use Dr Keith Flaherty at Univ of Penn. He was very thorough and knowledgable when I went there for a second opinion, giving us plenty of time and care, lots of very up to date information and data, logical comparisons of the pluses and minuses of being treated now rather than "watchful waiting" as Fox Chase was leaning. He gives us no false hope though - this medication has only been proven to be effective in slowing tumor growth in more advanced Renal Cell Carcinoma patients. It has not been proven or approved by the FDA for preventing a reoccurence of Renal Cell Carcinoma in cases exactly like mine. (it is in testing phase now on similar patients though) This is called adjuvent (sp?) therapy - a "just in case there are microscopic cells trying to rear their ugly heads" approach. Adjuvent therapy is used in many other types of cancer using various meds, but has not been fully studied yet for Renal Cell Carcinoma medications. Anyway, for many reasons, we have decided that this is the best route for me to take at this time.

So, I am waiting now for a repeat appt with Dr Flaherty, and hoping to start the medication ASAP. It is pills given on a 4 weeks on / 2 weeks off cycle. I will likely need to take it for a year. Side effects are fatigue, stomach upset and diarrhea, mouth sores, a few other lovely things but not as bad as "chemo". It usually hits the hardest in the first cycle and then after that is more tolerable. So I would like to get that first cycle overwith during August before school begins. That is an item for prayer.

PRAISE GOD for our excellent medical insurance. My initial hospital bill was astronomical as I expected, and my ongoing care will be costly, but we have invested in a great Blue Cross Personal Choice policy for about 8 years now and we have no concerns about the medical bills at this time. There could be some static about them paying for the Sutent since it is being prescribed "off label" for a slightly different purpose than the FDA approval, but we are hopeful that will not be a problem.

Lastly things are falling together for the kids schooling in the fall. I have some info now on some classes that I think will work for the kids to suppliment their homeschooling and take a little pressure off me. Some things still to be finalized but I can see that God will provide what we need (duh - I am a slow learner aren't I?)

Thank you so much for continuing to read this blog - so many people tell me they read it, even though there are not a lot of comments left these days I know you are "out there" checking on me. What a BLESSING to have so many people caring for us, and caring about me! PLEASE do not stop praying. This is a nasty cancer and although at the moment I am happy to be in action mode here trying to do something about it, I know that the bottom line is that my life is the Lord's to do with as He chooses. I pray that I will remain cancer free and be able to see my children grow up and my grandkids born (or adopted!) too. Please pray with me that God will grant me that privilege and that He will use this cancer and this difficult time to grow me and mature me and use our family journey as a blessing to others.

Love,
Karen

ps - Please pray that our attorney can get our insurance company to pay this claim that they have stalled on for 2+ years!!!!!!! ARGH!!

Busy Week

Well we are almost packed for the shore but have a lot of household stuff left to do - the lawn is cut but the water in our huge fish tank needs to be changed, vacuuming done, pool cleaned ETC ETC ETC... I am EXHAUSTED and have to tie up at least some of the loose ends on the homeschool portfolios tomorrow. I guess Anne will take them 90% finished and let me do my obsessive fixes after vacation ( will you Anne? ).

Visits at Fox Chase and Penn went well. Took 4+ hours each including travel, parking, waiting, registering .... but it was worth the time spent. Fox Chase/Dr Hudes was informative but slightly more conservative, Penn/Dr Flaherty much more technical and very "on the cutting edge", and a little more aggressive in his viewpoint on treatment. These were really only slight differences even so, as both Drs agree on Sutent as the most appropriate medication for me, and both agree that it is not proven yet to be a sure benefit. One leans a little more toward a "wait and see" approach, the other slightly toward a "treat incase it might help you" point of view. Both agree that it would be reasonable to lean either way, given the scientific data to date on this medication and it's success rate, since it is a very new mediation and still in clinical trials.

I will have a repeat round of CT scans the week after next to establish a baseline, and would start treatment in the next few weeks if we decide to go ahead at this time. Meanwhile I have a bit more healing to do, and I need to build up my stamina and strength.

I have been doing pretty well this week, most of my fear has been masked by the activity level and so much to do. Plus, I guess DOING something about my fear by finally getting these second opinions is comforting in a way. That WAITING thing is not my favorite game!

I have been able to sleep in my own bed all week, although I often do wake up at least once and have some trouble falling back to sleep, and I am a little stiff when I get up. My friend Barbara D brought me a "memory foam" mattress cover and it is WONDERFUL. When I lay down on it I feel so comfy and cozy I don't want to move, it just settles me right in. (THANK YOU Barbara!) The meals were a lifesaver this week. We never could have done all that needed to be done this week without them.

So, thank you all for praying for us and supporting us in all that is going on in our lives. Please pray that we do have a restful vacation, and that I am able to recouperate yet build my strength. I am looking forward to lots of walks in that wonderful ocean breeze! And pray for Charles and I as we pray about and discuss the treatment recommendations and come to a decision on it, that we have total peace and unity. Pray also for our discussions about how to approach the children's schooling this fall, as we have much to consider in that regard also.

Pray also for our children to have a wonderful time. We have not been able to do many special treats or any vacations in a few years because of Charles' truck accident and the insuing financial hit from that, so this trip is a real blessing for our children. We are so grateful to my mom and dad for giving all their kids and grandkids this wonderfully generous gift - after all it is THEIR anniversary and WE get the perks!

THE WEEK IN REVIEW

Dear friends,

It as been another week of recovery - nothing too exciting to report except a slow and steady climb. I have been able to sleep in our own bed for the last few nights. I am not quite as comfortable as in the lazy boy but I am HAPPIER to be in my own bed so it is worth it. I have still woken up at least once a night, sometimes several times, but I find it much easier to fall asleep again because I am not all alone in the living room. I still need rest times during the day in the lazy boy although I am trying not to nap so that I am tired enough to sleep all night. A few times I pushed myself a little too much and ended up having trouble falling asleep. The normalcy of doing things and having visitors is good for me emotionally so please pray I can find a balance in it all. I went to the July 4th parade and we enjoyed a nice visit with the Mitchell family afterwards, which was a blessing and a lot of fun, albeit mostly from a comfy lawn chair!

This coming week is very busy, with Fox Chase on Tuesday, Penn on Thursday, homeschool records to finish, and shore prep to do. Please pray that I can pace myself and be wise in the way I use my energy and time, that I would not overdo, that the information we get from these new doctors would be clear and understandable, and that we would have peace in the decisions we need to make about further treatment. I have still had waves of fear, which are very difficult. As I have said before, I know the God CAN heal me, but I have to also come to grips with the fact that He might not choose to do so for whatever His purposes might be. Pray that I would find comfort in knowing that the Lord knows the future even though I don't, and loves me and my family, no matter what the outcome. I think it's still OK that we ASK FOR HEALING though, don't you? :-)

Kristen helped the kids and I make a lot of progress on the homeschool records, Melissa having started getting some of the kids' reports edited the week before. Actually I didn't do that much yet personally, but once everything was gathered together and sorted I was able to help one notebook at a time from a comfy chair while the kids brought me stuff to do! We will work on this again M T W and hopefully wind it up before the end of the week. I am doing a lot of thinking (Ok worrying, I admit it!) about what we should do about the kids' schooling in the fall, whether we can or should suppliment their homeschooling with a few more outside the home classes this year, how I will be feeling, what we can afford as far as classes etc. Please pray for us in this decision making process, that the Lord will give us wisdom to do what is best for each child and for my own health.

Thank you all for standing with us - for the continued meals and help in so many ways, and mostly for PRAYING for us. We are going to keep needing prayer for a LONG time so please don't stop!

Love,
Karen

ps - We also continue to wait while our insurance company stalls and stalls on paying our loss of income claim from Charles' truck accident over 2 years ago (he was the passenger and hit from the rear by a tractor trailer). We are also waiting for Judge Allen in Phila. Court to rule on our hearing about this same accident (she said 5-7 days and its been 6-7 wks). These two financial stresses are very burdensome and we so wish we could be relieved of this. Thank you so much.

Church

Last week the visiting nurse said she strongly recommended I did not try to go to church yet, I would become too exhausted, my immunity was too low, my hemoglobin still low, my body too weak, I would risk catching a virus on top of the job of healing, etc. So when she came again on Tuesday I didn't ask her if THIS week would be ok to go to church - teehee. I just waited to see how I felt and I do feel stronger than a week ago, and I was really needing to get out of the house. Emotionally, I have not been able to do so many "normal" things, I just really miss it. And I hadn't been to church since May 27th! Charles and I decided my physical protection wasn't as important now as my emotional and spiritual well-being, and I was a week stronger, right?

So I got to go to the worship service today. Unfortunately the service wasn't the most cheerful since the sermon and music were on the minor prophet Amos and crying out to the Lord in repentance and such - OH BOY! Wish I had come on a "Daniel in the Lion's Den" week! But it was great to be there, to be out and about, to be hugged by some dear friends...... and church attendance was a bit low due to the holiday so my visiting nurse will be happy I was not attacked by 100 germ carrying huggers!

After church I rested at my brother and his wife's home until the rest of my family finished their classes, nursery helper jobs etc and then we had a nice lunch and quiet visit together. All my kids were there, even the married ones and their husbands. And my brother's lazy-boy is as comfy as mine but the change of scenery and all the wonderful kids playing and stuff was very therapeutic for me. We even brought two nieces home to sleepover. They are making my kids happy and playing so nicely together - it makes things seem almost "normal" again.

This week I hope to feel up to going to the famous downtown Broomall July 4th parade. I threatened to make Charles and the kids drive my lazy-boy up to West Chester Pike and plant me there. Now THAT's a way to embarrass your teenagers! No, a lawn chair will be fine for a few hours.

Please pray for me this week as I have still had some waves of fear about the future that really drag me down. I know this is a phase I am going through that I have to get past. I look forward to being back in the peaceful place of comfort and complete trust in God's care for me that I was in prior to surgery, so please pray that I would allow the Lord to give me that peace. My fleshly type A gotta be in control self is fighting valiantly against the peace that I need. And my "nurse lady, investigate all the options, get Penn to give me an appointment the day after the Fox Chase appointment" self is just adding to that stress. I need to let go and let God lead the way. Not that I will not still call for info and such. I just need to stop striving to fix this cancer myself and decide that I am in the Lord's hands. Easier said than done but I know HE can teach me to do it, even though I am a slow learner on this one! I am sure it will be an ongoing struggle that I have to repeatedly turn over to Him.

Otherwise, on a practical note, I want to get moving more. I have figured out that I have to walk around a lot more. Even though I am not supposed to lift and twist and bend or do any heavy things at all, I CAN WALK and really I am uncomfortable if I sit too long in many kinds of chairs anyway. So I think I need to try to move around a lot more each day to start building up my stamina again. I will feel better emotionally that way too, I am sure. Only one appt this week at my family doctor for a BP check and bloodwork. Next week I have Fox Chase and hopefully Penn appts which will give us a lot more info about what to do about treatment.

THANK YOU all for continuing to hold us together - the meals 5 days this week were a HUGE help. We really needed it. And the leftovers are almost gone - kept us fed for lunches and the weekend! Next week meals each day too, and then hopefully after that i will be a little more on top of things so we will be back to three a week.

I am starting a scripture journal for my journey - if you have ideas feel free to post on the blog or send to my regular email. I know they would be an encouragement to me.

Love,
Karen

Doctor Appointments

Dear friends,

Thank you so much for praying for us yesterday. The marathon of appts went well. Chest xray was good, visit to lung surgeon was good - he thinks I am progressing well. Got the copies of my records from Radiology pretty easily. Pathology was a little more complicated as it turns out they overnight the actual glass microscopic slides to the places we request, rather than sending copies of the records on CD. So those records will not be sent until I have a confirmed appt at Fox Chase or elsewhere. The secretary in the Pathology Dept was VERY sweet - taking lots of time with us, calling Fox Chase several times over the course of the morning to confirm details etc.

Last stop was the oncology dept, which I was dreading a bit. I have to admit the entire experience of signing in at the "cancer center" and walking past a room full of folks in recliners getting their IV chemo was a big unnerving. However, Dr Zeger was very attentive and took a lot of time with us, explaining his observations in a positive way, answering all our questions, being understanding of my fears and even a few tears, and giving us the hope that I was wishing for.

No one will make me promises (except the LORD!), but Dr Zeger did give us hope. We purposely did not ask for statistics or "my chances". I have already heard enough statistics, and know I have to face those along the way, but I am trying to approach this as I have been advised by several doctors, websites and fellow cancer patients: the statistics are not ME. They summarize what has happened to others with similar situations but the statistics don't have the dimension to tell the entire story. Averages are averages. They don't tell you how many people did GREAT, how many people will never have a reoccurence, how many people had only one lung metastasis or were 49 or had the same health as me, or the same will to live, or the same FAITH. My story is my story, no one else's. As my "rough around the edges but deeply caring under that exterior" kidney surgeon put it, "if you beat it, YOUR statistics are 100%, so the statistics don't really matter!" :-)

Anyway, Dr Zeger said YES you CAN beat this. YES, people DO beat this even with a lung metastasis. YES, the surgery might have already removed it all. YES these new drugs show much promise as compared with treatment that used to be available. MAYBE the drugs are unnecessary, since the cancer might never reappear. I might take the meds and never have a reoccurence and we will never know if the meds did it, or the surgery was enough. But I am not willing to wait and see! I would rather take the meds - that lung metastasis got there somehow and so whatever planted it there is likely still floating around in my bloodstream and I would like to try my best to get rid of it.

The med Dr. Zeger thinks is best for me is called Sutent. There is a very similar med called Nexavar. It would be taken 4 weeks on and 2 weeks off for an undetermined amount of time - maybe 6-8 months. I would start after mom and dad's 50th anniversary shore week they have given all of us in mid - July. It has side effects like fatigue, taste changes and nausea, skin rashes - it's basically chemo but supposedly with relatively mild side effects. Dr. Zeger is having a man around my age with a similar case of Renal Cell Carcinoma who has been on this med for a few months give me a call to talk more about it.

Meanwhile I started working on a second opinion at Penn as well as at Fox Chase. Still having a lot of hoops to jump through at Fox Chase - FAXes not getting there and so on. Penn Physician Referral, on the other hand, was super to deal with, to my surprise. They took my initial info and then put a nurse right on the line with me who was very compassionate and kind. Turns out she herself had colon cancer 6+ years ago which spread to her lung 4+ years ago and she is doing well so far. A different case than mine to be sure, but a real comfort and encouragement that the Lord provided her "accidentally" when I called Penn. So, I am now waiting for a call back about an appt with their top Renal Cell Carcinoma guy as well as the Fox Chase Renal Dept.

I continue to get so much encouragement from the help, calls, cards, notes..... gifts! A beautiful gift awaited me yesterday when I arrived home from that hard day of doctor appts - encouraging me with the names of God and HIS POWER to heal and sustain me (Thank you J+C - you made me cry - in a good way!). Others have sent me scriptures and devotional pages hand picked for me which have been such a blessing. I even have a few sweet friends who are sending me a card about once a week to let me know they are still out there - holding us up in prayer.

THANK YOU ALL SO VERY VERY MUCH. What a blessing to be part of the family of God, to know HIS love through each and every one of you.

Pressing on,
Karen - for all of us!

Info Request

Hi everyone,

I noticed my dear cousin Sheryl had posted a question and wanted to respond to that. She said many folks are asking how I came about going to the ER on June 2nd, if I had any prior symptoms, etc. Following is a rather "medical" explanation of what happened on that ER day - SKIP TO THE LAST PARAGRAPH if you prefer not to read such graphic stuff!

I woke up that day and passed many large clots with my urine. It was shocking and all very sudden. I called the doctor, he said that it could be a sign of an undetected infection and to either go to the ER or I could wait a short time and see if it continued but if anything worsened definitely go to the ER. Otherwise he wanted me to get a full urology workup first thing Monday. It happened twice more, and then I was unable to urinate at all, the clots causing blockage.

Needless to say we made arrangements for the children and got to the ER as soon as we could. I purposely went to the Lankenau ER instead of Bryn Mawr which is closer, since my family doctor is at Lankenau and I felt if it was something very serious Lankenau would have more capability to handle it. I had to be catheterized and then they did a CAT scan of my abdomen which revealed the mass on my kidney. I guess they called it a "spot" - well, bigger than a spot.... I forget the term they used.

They did not let on how HUGE it was though, and sort of stalled me with vague, "well sometimes areas like this on the kidney CAN be cysts or stones but this one is a bit more 'worrisome' is about all I could get them to say. As a nurse, I knew what they were NOT saying but was holding onto some hope that it was not the worst. They then did another CAT scan of my upper abdomen and brain, and then a bone scan (maybe the bone scan was on Sunday morning?).

All this, I learned later, was to determine if the cancer had spread and if so how far. If it had spread more than that one lung spot they might not have done surgery at all, or might only have removed the kidney and not touched the lungs, instead using a medication only route to try to shrink or slow the lung tumors. Or they might have considered chemo or other meds to try to shrink the kidney tumor before surgery. Anyway, once they determined that the tumor and lung spot could be removed my family doctor (the one on call not my personal doctor) came to Charles and I on Sunday morning and told us the plain truth, that I had a very large, aggressive, cancerous tumor in my kidney and a suspicious spot on my lung. They hoped right up until surgery that the lung spot would turn out to be nothing, but as you all know now that was not the case.

ANYWAY. I did not have any other symptoms that I knew of. Often kidney cancer is found accidently when xrays are done for other reasons or for vague abdominal complaints and such. The common symptoms are flank pain and blood in urine - I did get flank pain AFTER the bleeding started, but not before. Not that I noticed, anyway!

I did have some weird "dizziness" about a month before this which I went to the doctor about. They sent me for an echocardiogram which turned out just fine, so I was hoping it would resolve or I would have some other tests for inner ear problems or something. Looking back now I suspect that the dizziness, which is now gone by the way, was related to moving fast or lying down/sitting up fast might have been due to that huge tumor pressing on my vena cava (large blood vessel) in my abdomen, and basically interfering with my blood flow. Can't get any doctor to agree to this yet but that's my theory anyhow! And I did tell Charles and the kids a few times in the last few months that I was more tired than I felt was reasonable even with my zany life - I had some afternoons that I wanted a NAP SO BADLY but I didn't give in! I also told Charles a few times recently that I just didn't FEEL WELL but couldn't put my fingr on it. Wouldn't surprise me if the tumor on my kidney was draining my energy, but it wasn't obvious enough to make my pay attention. I had blood work and a urinalysis several times since January for my regular blood pressure checkup as well as for the dizziness but all my kidney levels, etc were fine. Even when I went to the ER my kidney blood studies (creatinine etc) were fine. Told you I was a tough woman - haha!

Anyway, here we are. I tell the kids I am trying to look at it this way. I AM WAY HEALTHIER NOW THAN I WAS A MONTH AGO! I didn't know I was getting sicker and sicker for months now. So, that nasty tumor is out of me now, and I am healthier than I was! :-)

Thank you all for your continued interest and prayers. I have been sleeping better - two or three nights I slept through so far. Tuesday is the big doctor appt day. I am dreading the oncology appt a bit so please pray for that. I would like to hear what I have to hear about treatment, but I hope it is presented to me in a positive light. I want to know that I CAN beat this, that the medications available CAN work for me, that others HAVE BEAT THIS in similar situations to mine. I know everyone doesn't beat it. But, then again, I know that if my GOD wills it to be so, it will be so, regardless of all the probablilities and statistics they can find!

My wonderful sister-in-law Mariellen just sent me this verse:

Mark 5:34
Jesus said to the woman, ”Dear Woman, you are made well because you believed!. Go in Peace. You will have no more suffering.”


Good night dear friends,
Karen

Weekend Update 6/23/07

Hello everyone. Our continued thanks for such love and care. I must have 150 get well cards here at home! Kristen hung them all along the mantle in my "recovery room" and the string is FULL - we have to start another string! So many people have told me that they have their Bible Study or entire churches all over the US as well as folks in many other countries praying for me. It is so omforting to be upheld in the hands of so many people this way.

I have continued to feel better each day - skipped my nap two days this week! The visiting nurse came on Thursday and when I told her I could reach my right foot I got a little lecture about stretching the incision too much, continuing to rest and take it slow etc.... so I am trying to be good!!!!

I do have one special prayer request. I am not in pain anymore and rarely need advil or tylenol. Doctors want me to avoid advil if I can as it can be hard on my remaining kidney. So, although I am not in pain I am always a little uncomfortable from the incision and rib removal. I am still most comfortable in the recliner and can't sleep in our bed yet. I have not been sleeping through the night ever since surgery. I wake up between 2 and 4 am and it's hard to fall back asleep sometimes. Yesterday I asked one friend to pray that I would sleep through the night and I DID! It was a wonderful feeling to wake up and realize it wasn't 4 am! So if you could pray specifically that I would be able to sleep through the night, and that soon I would be able to sleep in my own bed, I would really appreciate that.

All the help with rides and playdates for the kids, and the meals for all of us have been a huge blessing. We had meals scheduled into AUGUST already!!! They were coming 3 days a week which was great while I was in the hospital but I realized this week that we were juggling a bit to pull together something on the other days, since Charles has had to return to work full time (it's FLAG season and he is working short staffed as it is). I also have at least 2 doctors appts a week right now that Charles has to take off work to go to, and we have the Fox Chase trips to do soon. It is just a really busy time!! Plus, with my teenagers are out everyday w/ VBS and several nights a week have to be places at 6:00 or 6:30 -----so I realized all this the other day (DUH) and I asked that a few of the late July or August meals be switched to now, when we need it most and I really am useless! :-P After all, I plan to be almost all better by August! :-) Within HOURS the schedule was adjusted and folks jumped right into the need and we have meals lined up 5 days a week for the next 2 weeks at least, while we need it most. What a blessing!

Next week Tuesday is my long day - I have a chest xray, then appt with the lung surgeon, then have to work on getting my pathology data copied onto CD at the hospital so that I can take it to Fox Chase, and then we have an appt with the Dr Zeger, in the Oncology Dept at Lankenau. I started the process to get the second opinion at Fox Chase and am waiting for them to receive the written pathology reports and then schedule my appts there too. Please pray for that process to go smoothly as the phone calls and followups to my messages are about all I have the brainpower and energy to do right now.

Lastly, I have to write a letter this weekend which we will send on Monday to notify the school district that our homeschool documentation will not be in by the June 30th deadline. I do not expect any trouble from the school district under the circumstances, but if you could pray that they are gracious about the extension that would be a help too. Thanks so much.

I continue to feel in the Lord's hands, although I admit that I have had a few waves of fear this week as reality sets in. So, if you could pray that the Lord would continue to give myself, Charles and our whole family grace and courage to face the days ahead with JOY and PEACE in our spirit, that would be great. I want to LIVE to see my kids grow up :-) And I intend to do so. Please pray that our gracious God grants me that privilege. I really need to learn to live one day at a time through this experience. Those of you who know me well know that this will be a hard lesson for me to learn.

Have a wonderful weekend - it is absolutely FANTASTIC weather here in PA - hope it is for you too.

Love,
Karen

Check-up

Hi everyone,

Just a short update to keep my "prayer team" updated. Everyone continues to bless us so much with cards and calls and visits too now that I am a little stronger each day. THANK YOU so much for all your help and love.

Today I saw my family Dr for BP check (it's stable), general bloodwork etc. She thinks I am doing great for only 2 weeks after surgery. Charles took me from there to Kohl's (in a wheelchair) to get a few clothing items that I need now that I have this huge crazy incision as it's hard to wear some of my normal clothes right now. Then we stopped at the deli for a cup of chicken noodle soup and a chicken salad club. I couldn't eat it all - had more for dinner and still some left, but it was SO GOOD to be out a little bit in the "real world", and to have a little date with my hubby. I was tired when I got back and needed my nap, but I did feel great be out and about a little bit.

Tomorrow I see the kidney surgeon and get the staples removed - it might be a little uncomfortable but I will be glad to be rid of them! :-) Next week a chest x-ray and the lung surgeon and hopefully the Lankenau Oncologist. I also hope to be calling this week to start the process of setting up a second opinion at Fox Chase and to consider if there are any other options I should pursue. I don't have full "brain power" yet so each of these things is a bit of a project for me.

The kids are into their normal activities this week and next - the older three are counselors at our church preschool "camp" (VBS) and the younger two have had some outings with cousins and are hoping for a few playdates. Anya started her worship dance summer classes, the youth group activities have begun... it's life as usual in a lot of ways which makes me happy. We have had help with rides for the kids which is a big help but Charles is also trying to do some of the driving himself to give the kids some one on one attention. He is juggling work as best he can but some of that has to be second to the children's and my needs.

We had previously offered our pool for the middle school summer swim parties the first of which is this Friday night so we decided to go ahead and host after all. My dad and the kids will help get the yard and pool ready and it will be great therapy for me to look out over the fun from my screen porch!

We are so appreciative of each and every one of our dear friends and family for getting us through this valley. You have held us up when we didn't have the strength to do it alone. We are so thankful to the Lord for each of you and for His care for us.

Love,
Karen

Weekend Update

Thank you everyone for continuing to "check-in" with me via the blog. Each comment is such an encouragement to me! I know that many people are checking in and not leaving comments too. Sorry we haven't updated in a few days. Life is busy here and I am taking up a lot of everyone's time!

I continue to get stronger each day. Wednesday I could only get to the bathroom and needed a rest again. Thursday Charles helped me walk outside about 20 ft to see my flower beds and then I was back inside for a rest. Friday my walk took me all the way to the back patio for a 15 min rest and then back to my "chair", and on Saturday I was strong enough to walk down to the pool and sit for a whole HOUR at least before coming back into the house. I still tire easily and need about a 2 hour nap each day. This is all a big change for me - I am not used to sitting still and letting others do everything but I am trying very hard to allow God to heal me in His time and be at peace with this phase of my recovery.

The kids are happy to have me home. My sister Lauren returned to Colorado yesterday. She was a HUGE help this week with the children - keeping them happy and busy. Her being here allowed Charles the freedom to come to the hospital when he could, instead of only when someone could watch the children, and to stay later at night with me there, as well as to start getting back into his work which has had to be somewhat neglected the last 2 weeks.

Some of our normal routines provide security for the kids and we are hopeful to get back to normal bedtimes and some of the structure that they are used to. Saturday was a normal "cut the grass, vacuum, clean the bathrooms" day and the kids were happy to help catch up on such chores that they are used to doing. We left lots of time for them to relax afterwards, don't worry!

My mom and dad have been a huge help too, my dad finding chores to do around our house while my mom waits on me hand and foot. I hope soon I will be able to be "left alone" once in a while although the pampering has been much appreciated.

Wanted to clarify the surgery a bit - some folks have asked. The kidney tumor, although very large, was totally encapsulated inside the kidney. My adrenal gland was removed because it is attached to the kidney but it was unaffected. The tumor was pressing on my liver but the liver was clean. And my gall bladder was a bonus! No cancer there either but I had a stone in it and the surgeons decided it was best to take it out rather than deal with gall bladder problems later on. All lymph nodes in the kidney area were negative.

I had my 9th rib removed for the lung surgery but it was not affected by the cancer. It has been the SORE though! Either all or a portion of the right lower lobe of my lung was removed (not quite clear on that). The metastatic tumor was embedded in this section and all margins removed were clear. Lymph nodes in the area of this small lung tumor were clear also but of course this was renal cell carcinoma so it was a spread from the kidney, likely via the bloodstream.

So, the surgery went as well as it possibly could have, and they "probably" got all the cancer out of me, BUT there is of course a nagging worry that perhaps something microscopic remains, So, our prayer is for ALL the cells to be GONE, every trace. I will meet with various doctors in 2-3 weeks and get more of a handle on further treatment options.

Meanwhile, please continue to pray for my surgery recouperation, for my children and their emotional well-being (Evan has asked some tough questions about whether the cancer could kill me - he is the deep one of the bunch - a few of the others "stuff" their worries which of course is not so good either). Please pray for Charles who has so much on his plate, plus has to continue to provide for us - it's "flag" season and our store is busy yet he has had to let a lot go the last 2 weeks. Our employees have been wonderful through this. We are so grateful for their loyalty. Even Charles' sister came back to us to fill in a bit after working for us a few years ago, which was a huge help. We also have this nagging lawsuit insurance problem from Charles' truck accident two years ago which still is hanging over us - some of you know about this - please continue to pray for a resolution for that too!

Thank you ALL so much for your continued prayer and help. We need it!

Love,
Karen

In My Room

Dear Friends,
Thank you so much for continuing to hold me up in prayer. I am so HAPPY to be home!!! My dear hubby set up a nice "recovery room" for me in the living room, with our comfy old lazy boy chair and all I need within my reach, flowers on the mantle, etc. Since we have a cape cod house, the kitchen, dining room, bathroom and my bedroom are all on this level, and right outside "my" door is the screened porch which overlooks the backyard so I can enjoy watching the kids playing or swimming. My sister came from Colorado for the whole week to help us and has been giving the kids wonderful attention and care - so they are here, around me, making me smile, but when I need a rest I just close my little curtain they hung for me in the doorway and they know it's mommy's rest time.

They let me come home with some strong pain meds which I was still needing but a few hours ago I tried Ibuprofen and it WORKS!!! I feel pretty good with just that! God has been so good to me, I really feel carried through this experience miraculously.

We did meet with the medical oncology dept today before my discharge. Seems like they are leaning toward recommending a "mild" medication which is not exactly chemotherapy but more like immunotherapy - there are several of these recently approved for renal cell carcinoma. I have lots to learn about these meds to understand them better. It would be more of a "just incase" choice of treatment. Surgically it appears they "got it all" but since it did metasticize to the lung, it could have "planted " something else that has yet to develop. Usually these drugs are used to treat inoperable kidney cancers and since mine was totally operable.....?? Or at least it seemed to be.... Anyway, these are the questions to be pondered in the weeks ahead. I will be busy recouperating. I am told that is my ONLY responsibility. :-) It's gonna be hard to let things happen around me - that's not my normal "style" :-0

Thank you all for praying as I gain strength, get my blood pressure / diuretic regulated, go to numerous doctor followups and such, in the next 2 weeks. I will have a visiting nurse checking on me too. Please keep praying for my kids, and for my dear hubby who has had a lot on his plate these last 11 or so days.

Love,
Karen

There's No Place Like Home

Mom is home! She arrived just a few hours ago. She looks great, although she is quite tired from the move. She will most likely need a nurse to come periodically to check on her, so the family will have help keeping Mom from over-exerting herself. As you can see from the previous blog entry, Mom is online and reading your comments. Even some of the doctors at the hospital were reading the blog, and were amazed by the number of people praying for Mom. The doctors continue to be impressed by Mom's complication-free surgery and quick progress with recovery.

Thank you again for your prayers, notes, food, flowers, and offers of help and support. You are all greatly appreciated and have been (and continue to be) a blessing to our family. Keep praying!

A Note from Karen

Hi Everyone! I am OVERWHELMED by having the chance to read this blog today. NO WONDER I have had such peace in my soul and spirit throughout this unbelievable last 10 days. ONLY the peace of God Himself could have done this for me and for my family. Your prayers have held be up and kept me going, giving me comfort and yes, even JOY in the midst of this trial. I heard people say that God gives you the grace to bear up under trial but only when you need it and not before. Last Friday in ICU was undoubtably the worst of days - many many discomforts and pain that just would not find a way to be controlled but still, even through that day I still had peace that I was in God's hands.

The doctors think I will be able to go home tomorrow although they are still giving me IV fluids today, still adjusting my blood pressure medication - which is at about 1/4th the dose I had been on for a few years now - interesting... huh? I have gotten very little information so far about further treatment - if it is needed, what kind is best etc, except that there are 3 new meds in the last 18 mos that have been successful with cancer like mine. The Lankenau Oncology team is having a conference on my case this Friday so I will likely learn more next week. Then we will take all the pathology reports etc for second opinion/s at Fox Chase etc and see what the Lord leads us to do.

I hope Tim and Kristen post this comment as an update too (such techno-marvels in my family, huh?) so that everyone will get this message. I am so grateful for EACH PRAYER on my behalf, each meal for my family, each ride for my kids.... it means more than you know. Please keep it UP!

Love, Karen

Progress Report

Over the next couple of days, Karen will be meeting with several doctors to determine post-surgery treatment options. Currently, we praise God that Karen is now taking longer walks and continues to recover relatively quickly. She is now eating solid foods which the doctors hadn't expected of her until the end of this week and it looks now like she'll be coming home from the hospital sooner than expected. Above all, we praise God that she is feeling so much peace about her situation right now. I am confident that this is a direct result of all of your prayers for her. We're still praying now for continued healing and strengthening as well as continued peace and comfort for the Hauber family. Thank you again for all your prayers.

Day by Day

I just got a call from Dad, prompted by Mom, for another update for all of the "Pray-ers" on this blog. Mom is feeling better today than yesterday (this could also have something to do with the fact that her medication seems to be working better). She had another tube removed and is now able to get up by herself in short bits and walk around. She is still hooked up to the IV, and will be for a few more days as her system works back up to being able to digest regular food.

Mom would like me to pass along her thanks to every one of you for your prayers and help over the last week. She is looking forward to looking at the blog in the near future, so keep your notes (and prayers) a'comin.

Moving day

Mom was moved out of the ICU into a regular ("step down recovery") room last evening. We were able to see her briefly, and she was happy to see us, along with three sisters (the boys and other sister will be visiting another day). Mom was quite tired from the move, but she is looking better by the day. She is still in pain, but thank the Lord it was less on Saturday than on Friday. The doctors are estimating that she will need to remain in the hospital for at least another week.

If you are local and waiting to visit Karen, thank you for your patience. Karen tires easily from visitors right now, so we're trying to spread out the family visits- especially since most of us have not seen her post-surgery yet. If you are wondering when would be a good time to visit, please email us (The.Mitchells2@verizon.net) and I will check with my dad to set aside a time for visitors.

Thank you again for your prayers! We have an awesome and merciful God. Continue to praise Him for the healing and protection He is giving to Karen. Please also pray that she will be kept free from infections or illnesses that might endanger her healing.

Lymph Nodes

I just got a call from my Dad, asking me to post the results of Mom's Lymph Node test. Her Lymph Nodes are clear! Praise the Lord! We weren't expecting to get these results back until Monday or Tuesday. Now they will be able to start considering what the next steps are in treatment.

Thank you so much for your prayers! God is honoring our requests, so keep it up!

Getting Stronger

Karen had the epidural removed this morning, as well as the nose tube. She is doing well today, although the pain continues. Praise God that the pain is lessening, and that the doctors have found a medication that helps decrease her pain. As soon as a regular room is available, they will be moving her out of ICU.

Keep praying! Our God is all-powerful and good. Thank you all for your prayers and kind offers to help. We are greatly blessed by your support during this time.

A Note on a Napkin

Karen wrote down a note on a napkin in the ICU for this blog which was then read to me over the phone by her husband. Being a RN (Registered Nurse), Karen gave an update that is somewhat technical in nature. I will be explaining it the best I can in parenthesis.

Here's her note (in the quotation marks):

"A chest tube was removed at 10 AM today (the chest tube keeps the lungs expanded). They started a Pick Line 11AM (this is a type of IV line). At 1PM I was moved to a chair, and they removed the central line (an IV feed that was going into her neck) and removed the IV from my right arm. My lungs are congested and it is very difficult to breathe deeply and cough without a lot of pain. The epidural has to come out tonight or tomorrow. I am still getting morphine."

We're encouraged that Karen's probably moving out of ICU later today. She is not really up to friends or visitors tonight. We're told by the hospital staff that the 2nd day post-op is typically a hard day. Hopefully we'll see things start to improve on the 3rd and 4th days. Thank you again for all your prayers.

Notes for Karen

I can't tell you how overwhelmed I am by the amazing response we've had to this blog. This site has now been up for only 4 days and we've already had 631 different visitors and the site's been viewed 3,059 times! If each of you prayed just once for each time you saw this site, then we've reached Evan's Goal! I told Karen's children yesterday when we had 2,951 hits that we'd be past 3000 soon and Evan said that if we can hit 3,000 now, we should be able to do 50,000 easily... To be perfectly honest, I'm so stunned by how quickly we reached 3,000, that I'm no longer so sure that 50,000 is that difficult of a number to get to.

As soon as Karen is out of the ICU, I am going to print off the entire blog and all of your comments for her to read while she recovers. I thought I'd use this particular post to open up the comment section for all of you to send a brief note to Karen. Please feel free to leave notes of encouragement for her to read during recovery. Thank you all again for all your loving support and prayer during this time.