Mom got out of the hospital a couple days ago (she just reminded me that we didn't post that on the blog). She is home and resting once again, though I think she might secretly miss the hospital becasue she gets lots of uninterrupted sleep and is waited on hand and foot! We are waiting now until Monday, Feb. 8th when she will start the next round of treatments: Monday through Wednesday she will have outpatient chemo; then Thursday through Sunday she will be in the hospital having a concoction of drugs. She'll be out for two weeks and then she'll do that whole week over again. This schedule will continue through April we are told.
As long as the brain stays clear of cancer and the drugs do what they are supposed to (kill the cancer in her liver), we are hoping that by the end of April she will be cancer free and on her way to a healthy recooperation! I really can't remember what it was like for her to be totally cancer free which was way back in June. Please pray with us that this will be the case come April...I would love nothing more than to go on a spring walk with my mom followed by a drink on the sidewalk at Starbucks. It has been WAY too long since we've been able to do that together!
We continue to thank God for you and your love. A special thanks to my aunts Carol and Suzy who have provided a Sunday meal to us and grandpa the past few weeks. We are blessed to have such loving family and friends. And Norma, I ate way too many of your choc. chip cookies tonight!
ALL of you are wonderful cooks!
love, Molly
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Lungs
Quick update -- my mom was taken to the emergency room tonight because she was having difficulty breathing and was coughing a lot (but isn't sick). After a CT scan, they discovered that she has another blood clot in her lungs (YAY, it wasn't more cancer!!). She was put back on a blood thinner, but the first clot is starting to go away (also a YAY). They have decided to keep her tonight and possibly another night just to keep an eye on things.
We are so thankful that the ER trip has not brought any terrible news....big sigh....
Thanks for your continued prayers and love!
Molly
We are so thankful that the ER trip has not brought any terrible news....big sigh....
Thanks for your continued prayers and love!
Molly
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Wisdom and The Next Treatment
Hi friends,
I want to first of all thank you for your continued support and concern for our family. It is humbling to know how many people are praying for us as a family and individually each day, how many people are bringing meals (which fed ALL of us over the holiday season as we enjoyed time together), and how many people continually check this blog for the latest updates and prayer requests. Thank you for being theBody of Christ so well.
I have a feeling God is going to be teaching me a lot in 2009. He teaches me a lot every year, but I just feel like this year may be deeper than the rest. It already has been actually in just the past 13 days. A common theme has come up in many circles of my life at once, and when that happens, you know God is trying to get your attention. The theme has been wisdom. It almost seems cliché because the word seems to be everywhere. But in our current family circumstance, God has shown me that I need not pray for direction – direction is just an answer to a specific question I may have for God (i.e. Where should I go to college? How much should I give to the church? Should I be part of this or that?) Asking for direction, I have realized, is rather limited. And I have been asking for direction lately – Show me what to do for Mom today…How can I not feel the despair that sometimes suddenly comes over me…What am I going to do if this situation doesn’t end the way I want it to?
But what God has been so tenderly leading me to discover recently is that instead of asking for direction in this, He wants me to ask Him for HIS Wisdom. James 1:5 tells me that “If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.” So basically God seems very eager to give us His wisdom whenever we ask for it, and he will give us lots of it. So why is wisdom better than direction? In asking for God’s wisdom, the Holy Spirit can literally give us a piece of God’s mind, His perspective. Paul reminds us in 1 Corinthians that “we (can) have the mind of Christ.” Asking for wisdom instead of direction will be a process within us and a deeper, eternal change of our character making us more like Him, rather than just a simple answer to our single question.
Proverbs Ch. 1-4 are full of truths about wisdom. Wisdom, or having the mind of Christ, is far more valuable than any earthly thing. What an odd perspective in our culture. But it is true in my heart. If this is what it takes to make me more like Christ, than I can truly count everything else as loss. I pray that through this trial, God will draw you and I unimaginably closer to Himself and generously give wisdom that we would have not otherwise found. Praise be to God!
Now an update on my mom: after a meeting with the oncologist this week, we have some wonderful news – no new growth in her brain!! Thank you, Lord!! This is the first positive news we’ve heard, and it has been reviving to our souls. For precautionary measures, she will be having brain radiation through the end of the week.
Unfortunately, they did discover that the spots on her liver have basically doubled. That is not the news we wanted to hear. They have decided to start a chemo-like treatment next week for three days (out patient). A few weeks later when her steroids have gotten out of her system, she will have the three day treatment again followed by a four day intense treatment in the hospital. They will continue to do the three day/four day treatments every three weeks or so for the next few months (we think she’ll be done in May). Surgery was not as good an option due to how aggressively the cancer has been spreading in her liver, so please join us in vigorously praying that this intravenous treatment will be strong enough to kill the cancer in her liver.
We feel your prayers…and the gentle, loving arms of our Father.
Molly
“I will repay you for the years the locusts have eaten…you will have plenty to eat, until you are full, and you will praise the name of the Lord your God who has worked wonders for you.”
Joel 2:25,26
I want to first of all thank you for your continued support and concern for our family. It is humbling to know how many people are praying for us as a family and individually each day, how many people are bringing meals (which fed ALL of us over the holiday season as we enjoyed time together), and how many people continually check this blog for the latest updates and prayer requests. Thank you for being theBody of Christ so well.
I have a feeling God is going to be teaching me a lot in 2009. He teaches me a lot every year, but I just feel like this year may be deeper than the rest. It already has been actually in just the past 13 days. A common theme has come up in many circles of my life at once, and when that happens, you know God is trying to get your attention. The theme has been wisdom. It almost seems cliché because the word seems to be everywhere. But in our current family circumstance, God has shown me that I need not pray for direction – direction is just an answer to a specific question I may have for God (i.e. Where should I go to college? How much should I give to the church? Should I be part of this or that?) Asking for direction, I have realized, is rather limited. And I have been asking for direction lately – Show me what to do for Mom today…How can I not feel the despair that sometimes suddenly comes over me…What am I going to do if this situation doesn’t end the way I want it to?
But what God has been so tenderly leading me to discover recently is that instead of asking for direction in this, He wants me to ask Him for HIS Wisdom. James 1:5 tells me that “If any of you lacks wisdom, he should ask God who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to him.” So basically God seems very eager to give us His wisdom whenever we ask for it, and he will give us lots of it. So why is wisdom better than direction? In asking for God’s wisdom, the Holy Spirit can literally give us a piece of God’s mind, His perspective. Paul reminds us in 1 Corinthians that “we (can) have the mind of Christ.” Asking for wisdom instead of direction will be a process within us and a deeper, eternal change of our character making us more like Him, rather than just a simple answer to our single question.
Proverbs Ch. 1-4 are full of truths about wisdom. Wisdom, or having the mind of Christ, is far more valuable than any earthly thing. What an odd perspective in our culture. But it is true in my heart. If this is what it takes to make me more like Christ, than I can truly count everything else as loss. I pray that through this trial, God will draw you and I unimaginably closer to Himself and generously give wisdom that we would have not otherwise found. Praise be to God!
Now an update on my mom: after a meeting with the oncologist this week, we have some wonderful news – no new growth in her brain!! Thank you, Lord!! This is the first positive news we’ve heard, and it has been reviving to our souls. For precautionary measures, she will be having brain radiation through the end of the week.
Unfortunately, they did discover that the spots on her liver have basically doubled. That is not the news we wanted to hear. They have decided to start a chemo-like treatment next week for three days (out patient). A few weeks later when her steroids have gotten out of her system, she will have the three day treatment again followed by a four day intense treatment in the hospital. They will continue to do the three day/four day treatments every three weeks or so for the next few months (we think she’ll be done in May). Surgery was not as good an option due to how aggressively the cancer has been spreading in her liver, so please join us in vigorously praying that this intravenous treatment will be strong enough to kill the cancer in her liver.
We feel your prayers…and the gentle, loving arms of our Father.
Molly
“I will repay you for the years the locusts have eaten…you will have plenty to eat, until you are full, and you will praise the name of the Lord your God who has worked wonders for you.”
Joel 2:25,26
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Quick update
Part of me doesn't want to post what's planned next because it seems to change as soon as I do. It looks like now we will hold off on liver surgery and be doing chemotherapy instead. No date set for beginning it yet. Susie still has a clot in her lung which will probably take months to get rid of. How 'bout we just pray that thing away too. Q will be starting radiation tomorrow that will target the place in her brain where the tumor was removed. She will have two of those treatments this week and three more next week.
There's more I could say, but I gotta go to bed.
We know you are praying...thank you so much!
Love, Scott
Friday, January 2, 2009
Still waiting...
Q had her head and torso scans earlier this week and today we met with her liver doctor to find out what direction we'll be going with treatment. The images showed the two cancer lesions that we knew were there, but also another spot that may or may not be cancerous. Dr. Rouch said surgery was still the preferred option of treatment. He would probably remove half or more of the liver in the process. Surgery would probably be between one and a half and two weeks weeks from now.
We are still waiting to hear what the brain scans revealed, but it is pretty certain that Susie will be recieving radiation treatments regardless of what they show. Hopefully, we will know more on Monday or Tuesday.
Will keep you posted.
- Scott
We are still waiting to hear what the brain scans revealed, but it is pretty certain that Susie will be recieving radiation treatments regardless of what they show. Hopefully, we will know more on Monday or Tuesday.
Will keep you posted.
- Scott
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