Growing in Grace

An old one from December 2010. . . Part of our cancer journey story. . .  The holidays have taken on a new light for me this year. With Dennis being diagnosed with cancer, my perspective has been greatly changed. Some days it's easy to fall prey to discouragement over our circumstances. I've been learning to counter those times with a "gratitude adjustment." In spite of the difficult times, there are in fact many blessings in my life. As they have been rolling around in my head this week, I decided to write them down to look back on. My husband is sick; but I am so very grateful to have a husband to share my life with. He is my best friend; the one I want to share my love, life, heart, and dreams with. I am fortunate to be married to a man who follows after God with his whole heart. Dennis has been the spiritual leader of our relationship from the beginning. Not that he is perfect; but even when he has made mistakes, he has been humble enough to allow ...

Here’s our news for 2013. . . The best news is that Dennis’ regular blood work and “anniversary” CT-scan show he continues to be cancer free. We are not without regular reminders that he has walked the cancer road, but we are grateful for his continued health, ability to work, and the time we have to enjoy him. This year we celebrated Dennis’ 50th birthday weekend with a Beatles themed party at Carolyn’s parents’ house, a Quakes baseball game and dinner at Red Robin. Dennis continues to teach at ACA in Redlands and was pleased to be given the same classes as last year - Economics, US History, Government and AP Government. Carolyn is in her 4th year of homeschooling the kids, It remains a challenge and a joy. She was a first time team mom for Ellie’s basketball team. Once again she coordinated the crafts for summer VBS and has started helping out with special children’s ministry events at church. Carolyn is also very happy to be back in a women’s Bible study after having been away f...

I have been meaning to sit down and write an update on Dennis for a while now, but I feel like things have been so busy since August that I haven't had a chance to even catch my breath! But this week the Lord has been refining and encouraging me with some great things related to our cancer journey, so I felt I "needed" to sit down and organize my thoughts. April was the two year anniversary of Dennis' surgery and the news that he was cancer free. August was the three year anniversary of his diagnosis and the two year anniversary of the end of his treatment. September 2nd was Dennis 50th birthday and we celebrated the weekend before with a Beatles-themed party. You can read about it here and his birthday day activities here . Dennis' regular blood work and CT-scan in the spring show he is still cancer free. We are so thankful! He continues to have regular check ups with his radiology doctor and oncologist, but is finished following up with his surgeon. Our fami...

John 11 opens with Jesus being informed that his dear friend, Lazarus, is sick. Jesus sends word to Mary and Martha, the sisters of Lazarus, that “this sickness will not end in death.” (v.4) While the messenger is traveling back and forth, however, Lazarus dies. After two days, Jesus tells His disciples they will now travel to Bethany to the home of Mary, Martha and Lazarus. The disciples are concerned and remind Jesus that the Jews there wanted to kill Him. Jesus tells them that “Lazarus has fallen asleep” (v. 11) and He is going there to wake him up. The disciples mistakenly think that Lazarus is only sleeping and will get better. Then Jesus informs them that Lazarus has, in fact, died; but that his death will be an opportunity for the disciples to believe in who Jesus was. Thomas, who is known for his doubting, showed great courage and faith by saying that they should “also go” and die with Jesus. So our first thought might be why didn’t Jesus keep Lazarus from becoming sick in th...

After spending much of last year ensconced in all things medical either at home or UCI, 2012 has been a  time of enjoyment for our family as Dennis’ progressive recovery has allowed us to get out more and do things together. We began the year with both kids playing soccer with CYAA (Christian Youth Athletic Association). This was a first for both of them and they managed to do fairly well out on the field. It was a very positive experience for all of us. In March we celebrated Josh’s 7th birthday. He continues to keep us entertained with his constant chatter - telling jokes, commenting on all that is going on around him, and sharing things he has read about or from his favorite Phineas and Ferb episodes. He loves all things Lego and seems to build something new daily. He is an electronic enthusiast and wants to play on the Wii, computer, iPad or iPod - whatever is currently available to him. Thankfully he is an avid reader as well, and can often be found engrossed ...

On September 2nd we celebrated Dennis' 49th birthday. I wrote on Facebook, that for a cancer survivor and his family, birthdays are a treasured gift. On August 18, two years ago we received the news of Dennis' colon cancer diagnosis. It was a great shock and life as we knew it came to a screeching halt. Our lives have been filled with all things medical for the past two years. August 5 was the one year anniversary of Dennis' last chemotherapy infusion and August 17 was one year from his porta-cath removal. We thought this would be his last surgery and that life could begin to move forward - that we could get back to "normal". But as we've written before, we are now living a "new normal". Dennis is still dealing with affects from his treatment and surgery. He still has follow-up appointments. We still have medical bills. And he had to have another surgery which was related to his previous surgeries. Dennis developed a hernia at his ostomy site tha...

Hello, Family and Friends.  Just wanted to give you a brief update and share a prayer request for Dennis. I posted an update on my blog at the beginning of April. You can read it here if you like. I'll pick up from there. Dennis had a CT scan and colonoscopy at the beginning of May as this fell between the anniversaries of his two surgeries. The CT scan looked good, but revealed that he did have a small hernia above his ostomoy site. The colonoscopy went well. The doctor found a few small polyps which he removed. He said everything looked good, especially the surgery site; and he reminded us that Dr. Pigazzi is one of the top surgeons. We all looked forward to the end of school which for us was June 11. The summer has been good for Dennis. He has been able to both rest and exercise. These have worked together to increase his energy level. I wrote on my post in April that he was struggling with this as well as with digestive issues. Not only has his energy level inc...

When you are a cancer survivor, there are many milestones/anniversaries that are a reminder of how blessed you and your family are. Dennis was diagnosed with colon cancer a little over 1 ½ years ago. He completed his radiation treatment 15 months ago. His last chemotherapy treatment ended almost 8 months ago. Currently, we are coming up on the one year anniversary of his colon resection surgery. This first surgery took place on April 7, 2010. We received a call from the surgeon on April 12th (the day he came home from the hospital) letting us know the biopsies came back negative for cancer. Dennis has blood work done every three months which continues to show he remains cancer free. God is good! While this is the good news we desired and continue to hope for, it doesn’t mean that everything has gone back to normal. The fact is, Dennis is still recovering. He is recovering from radiation, chemotherapy and surgery. There are side effects that linger from each of these. In some ways, reco...

As we look back on 2011, we are reminded of the many ways the Lord has blessed us this year. January began with Dennis recovering from the radiation/chemotherapy treatment he had done through the months of November and December. We were overjoyed when the results of his ultrasound showed that his tumor had not simply shrunk, but was gone! During the month of February and the beginning of March, Dennis completed six weeks of chemotherapy. This was much less intense as it only involved two trips to UCI every-other-week instead of the five a week we previously did. Dennis tolerated the chemotherapy quite well; another of God‘s gifts. He experienced numbness in his fingers and toes, loss of appetite and fatigue; but his nausea was relieved with medication and he lost very little of his hair. We were able to enjoy a day at Legoland as a family several days before Dennis’ surgery in April. The surgery went well and biopsies revealed no cancer! We once again were so thankful for the Lord’s in...

"We were crushed and overwhelmed beyond our ability to endure, and we thought we would never live through it. In fact, we expected to die. But as a result, we stopped relying on ourselves and learned to rely only on God, who raises the dead. And He did rescue us from mortal danger, and he will rescue us again. We have placed our confidence in Him, and He will continue to rescue us. And you are helping us by praying for us. Then many people will give thanks because God has graciously answered so many prayers for our safety." 2 Corinthians 1:8b-11 (NLT) "I waited patiently for the Lord to help me, and He turned to me and heard my cry. He lifted me out of the pit of despair, out of the mud and the mire. He set my feet on solid ground and steadied me as I walked along. He has given me a new song to sing, a hymn of praise to God. Many will see what He has done and be amazed. They will put their trust in the Lord." Psalm 40:1-3 This time of year brings a lot of emo...

July 30, 2011 It’s been a while since I shared an update on Dennis. He has had three of his four chemotherapy treatments and is scheduled for his fourth and FINAL one next Wednesday, August 3. The following Tuesday, August 9, he will have his porta-cath removed (this is how they have administered his chemotherapy). "The light at the end of the tunnel" is getting brighter! Dennis has done okay with treatment. The first one was especially hard on him, he felt pretty bad for 5-6 days following the infusion. The next two were a bit easier. Dennis ended up feeling okay on Thursday and Friday after infusion, but by the weekend he felt pretty crummy. His symptoms included an upset stomach, no appetite, tingling in his fingers and toes, altered taste, and sensitivity to cold both in liquids and touch. It’s very hard to get up and go in the morning of treatment knowing he is going to feel bad for the next 5 days. Although he knows this is the last one, he is still not looking forw...

June 21, 2011 Tomorrow is the beginning of the end of Dennis’ cancer treatment. He will begin chemotherapy in the morning. This will be four cycles that will include an infusion on Wednesday; coming home with a pump; and returning on Friday to have the pump removed; and then no chemo for 10 days. So again, it ends up being every other week. This will last for 6 ½ weeks; ending the first week of August. Because he has responded so well to all the treatment, the oncologist is reducing the chemo a bit to help minimize the side effects. (Dennis has been having numbness and tenderness in his feet from the previous chemo treatments.) While the numbness and tenderness are uncomfortable, overall Dennis is doing well. He is healing well and feeling stronger every day. He was able to attend Ellie’s last day of school Chapel last Thursday and even spoke briefly about his cancer journey. Friday night he was able to attend Josh’s kindergarten promotion and Sunday he went to church with us. Denn...

June 8, 2011 After nine days in the hospital, Dennis was released yesterday afternoon. He is still sore and about seven pounds lighter, but so glad to be home and doing okay. It is much easier for me to have my family all in one place! We are taking it much slower with the “regular diet” instructions and keeping things light and simple. We had to reschedule all of his appointments for this week, so next week in between end of the year activities we will be visiting UCI for follow up appointments. Dennis still has two months of chemotherapy ahead of him. Our oncologist was gracious enough to fit us in next week instead of waiting for the two-week appointment we had scheduled this morning. I had hoped he would call and do that since we are a bit anxious to get started on the last part of treatment. The later we start, the later into the next school year it will continue. But I keep reminding myself there is a purpose for everything and God knows what He is doing. I read s...

June 5, 2011 I’ve been posting on Facebook this week, but I know not everyone is on Facebook, so thought I’d give an update of where we are at this point. Dennis is still in the hospital. It’s been a long, rough week. He continued to experience pain early in the week. Pain medication was allowed, but the doctor said he should try to avoid it, as it would continue to slow down his system. He chose to go without it during the day, but asked for it before bed to help him sleep. He was also having throat pain due to the NG tube, so a throat spray was ordered to help with that. He was also encouraged to walk as much as possible. Early in the week he had a real hard time. He got winded very quickly and was exhausted after just a short walk. But I am proud of my husband, he presses on even when it is difficult. As the week went on he began to feel like he was healing as he was experiencing less pain when getting out of bed and walking. He was able to go for longer walks more o...

May 31, 2011 Just wanted to share a quick update and prayer request. Dennis was allowed some pain medication last night and a spray for his throat. His surgeon came to see him today to check in on him. Basically, he said the main culprit to all of this was the large amount of pain meds he was taking once he got home. He encouraged him to do with as little as possible and to walk as much as possible. This is a hard task as Dennis is very weak and weary. His incentive is that once his system begins working, he can have the NG tube removed. So my prayer request for him is to have the strength, energy and endurance to go without pain medication and to get up and walk and for his system to begin doing its thing! I also wanted to thank you so much for lifting Dennis up in prayer and for all the encouraging emails and comments on Facebook. I was overwhelmed this morning that so many of you took the time to write something to us. It really helps to know we have people supportin...

May 30, 2011 Dennis is in the hospital again. As we were sitting together holding hands in the ER last night, he said the words I was thinking, “This wasn’t what we expected.” That seems to be the theme of the last nine months for us. Last night we were both accepting that this was what the Lord put before us to handle. As Charles Swindoll wrote, “when we know Who, we can stop asking “Why?” By late morning, however, that positive attitude was beginning to waver and I found myself crying out for mercy on behalf of my husband and wondering how much he was going to be expected to handle. It feels like he has endured more than any one person should be asked to bear. But then I thought about Job. And like Job, in spite of all the pain and suffering and setbacks, we will not loose our faith in God and we will find ways to “praise Him in this storm.” Music ministers to me. As I was driving back and forth to UCI today, songs with very timely lyrics were on the radio: “Our God is G...