Recognizing Jesus
We began the New Year feeling good. We believe it is because we continue to rely on Him for all our needs that we have experienced such hope, peace and joy. Anything we do on our own is in vain. For us there is no other way to live than to recognize Jesus in the midst of all areas of our lives. . .
January 13, 2011
With the New Year comes the next phase of Dennis’ treatment. This is to let you know where we are at this time and what’s ahead.
Dennis finished his radiation/chemotherapy on December 17th. The last week was pretty rough on him. By Christmas Day, however, he was beginning to feel better. We enjoyed an incredible Christmas Day together at home as a family with our parents and my grandma. The week after Christmas, Dennis continued to feel better. By New Year’s Eve he felt great and we were able to go to Knott’s Berry Farm for the day and to celebrate the New Year with my parents and brother’s family that evening. Dennis has continued to feel well enough to mow the lawn, run errands, and go to church.
Dennis had a follow up with the radiation Dr. on January 4th. She said things looked good. On January 7th, he had an MRI. We met with the chemotherapy Dr. on January 11th to go over the results and plan the next phase of treatment. The MRI showed that the tumor has responded to the radiation and has decreased in size and the cancer has not spread. We were happy to have confirmation that we were doing the right thing. As part of the treatment protocol, Dennis will have another Endoscopic Ultrasound tomorrow morning (January 14th) to get a better look at the tumor and surrounding lymph nodes. We are curious to see how the results of this one will compare to the one he had in September.
Otherwise, Dennis is scheduled to begin the next phase of his treatment on January 19th. This will be four cycles of chemotherapy alone. This time he will go to the infusion lab on Wednesday mornings to have a one-hour infusion of one medicine followed by another that will only take a few minutes. Then he will be hooked up to the pump with the same medicine as before and go home with it. We will go back on Friday for him to be taken off the pump. He will not receive any other chemo for twelve days. In simpler terms, Dennis will have chemotherapy every-other-week for six and a half weeks. While this will be easier in that it’s less back-and-forth, it will be harder on Dennis as the medicine is stronger and he is likely to have more severe side effects. March 4th will be his last day of chemotherapy. Following a three to four week break he will have surgery.
We continue to focus on what is before us and not allow ourselves to get too far ahead. Dealing with one thing at a time is more productive than worrying about what is to come. God continues to remind us at every turn that He is our provider – of everything; we have all we need. We’ve been reminded by Oswald Chambers, “there is no circumstance of life in which we cannot abide in Jesus.” We are learning that “God engineers (our) circumstances. The things surrounding (us) are real, (and) if (we) look at them (we) are immediately overwhelmed, and even unable to recognize Jesus.” So we are to “let (our) actual circumstances be what they may, but (we are to) keep recognizing Jesus, maintaining complete reliance upon Him.” This is not always easy, but we continue to press on.
We would appreciate your continued prayers for Dennis. Specifically the following:
*That he will tolerate the treatment well and have minimal side effects
*That his blood counts will stay up and he will not become ill
*That the chemotherapy would be effective in treating the cancer
*That we would have continued safety in traveling to and from UCI
*That God would continue to supply all of our needs
*That the kids and I will be gracious and flexible in our schedules as needed
We are so very grateful for your continued prayers. We look forward to seeing how God will work “all things for good” in 2011.
Blessings,
Carolyn
January 13, 2011
With the New Year comes the next phase of Dennis’ treatment. This is to let you know where we are at this time and what’s ahead.
Dennis finished his radiation/chemotherapy on December 17th. The last week was pretty rough on him. By Christmas Day, however, he was beginning to feel better. We enjoyed an incredible Christmas Day together at home as a family with our parents and my grandma. The week after Christmas, Dennis continued to feel better. By New Year’s Eve he felt great and we were able to go to Knott’s Berry Farm for the day and to celebrate the New Year with my parents and brother’s family that evening. Dennis has continued to feel well enough to mow the lawn, run errands, and go to church.
Dennis had a follow up with the radiation Dr. on January 4th. She said things looked good. On January 7th, he had an MRI. We met with the chemotherapy Dr. on January 11th to go over the results and plan the next phase of treatment. The MRI showed that the tumor has responded to the radiation and has decreased in size and the cancer has not spread. We were happy to have confirmation that we were doing the right thing. As part of the treatment protocol, Dennis will have another Endoscopic Ultrasound tomorrow morning (January 14th) to get a better look at the tumor and surrounding lymph nodes. We are curious to see how the results of this one will compare to the one he had in September.
Otherwise, Dennis is scheduled to begin the next phase of his treatment on January 19th. This will be four cycles of chemotherapy alone. This time he will go to the infusion lab on Wednesday mornings to have a one-hour infusion of one medicine followed by another that will only take a few minutes. Then he will be hooked up to the pump with the same medicine as before and go home with it. We will go back on Friday for him to be taken off the pump. He will not receive any other chemo for twelve days. In simpler terms, Dennis will have chemotherapy every-other-week for six and a half weeks. While this will be easier in that it’s less back-and-forth, it will be harder on Dennis as the medicine is stronger and he is likely to have more severe side effects. March 4th will be his last day of chemotherapy. Following a three to four week break he will have surgery.
We continue to focus on what is before us and not allow ourselves to get too far ahead. Dealing with one thing at a time is more productive than worrying about what is to come. God continues to remind us at every turn that He is our provider – of everything; we have all we need. We’ve been reminded by Oswald Chambers, “there is no circumstance of life in which we cannot abide in Jesus.” We are learning that “God engineers (our) circumstances. The things surrounding (us) are real, (and) if (we) look at them (we) are immediately overwhelmed, and even unable to recognize Jesus.” So we are to “let (our) actual circumstances be what they may, but (we are to) keep recognizing Jesus, maintaining complete reliance upon Him.” This is not always easy, but we continue to press on.
We would appreciate your continued prayers for Dennis. Specifically the following:
*That he will tolerate the treatment well and have minimal side effects
*That his blood counts will stay up and he will not become ill
*That the chemotherapy would be effective in treating the cancer
*That we would have continued safety in traveling to and from UCI
*That God would continue to supply all of our needs
*That the kids and I will be gracious and flexible in our schedules as needed
We are so very grateful for your continued prayers. We look forward to seeing how God will work “all things for good” in 2011.
Blessings,
Carolyn
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