We’re so happy for Josh and Nicole who began the adventure of thier lives on a thru hike of the Appalachian Trail. They left from Georgia this morning, and will be hiking about six months until they arrive in Maine at trail’s end.
If you want to follow their progress, here’s a link for their hiking blogs:
https://shmoopyhikes.wordpress.com
or:
https://trackmytour.com/ljVpR#1118148
They will be missed, but we’re so excited that they have this amazing opportunity to venture out! Keep them in your prayers for safety and what will certainly be a life-changing experience.
It’s been almost a week since starting my first round of chemotherapy for 2016 (seventh round including last Fall). I have mixed feelings with this though. Yes, I am glad to be back on treatment, as based on my history, chemo appears to be the one thing my body has responded to so far in terms of knocking the cancer down. Thought we beat it in December! We try again.
The flip side of this, however, is that we still haven’t found a strong enough non-toxic way of keeping those bad cells at bay. Last year we added a number of alternative ideas to the mix, but when chemo stopped from December to February, none of those were potent enough to compete with the cancer. Last week I had new tumor markers taken and yet another CT scan. The markers were all the way back to when I was first diagnosed, and the scan showed that tumors had returned, had grown in the pancreas and liver, and fluids were beginning to appear in my lung lining and heart. So we’re still searching for something that may possibly work long term. My doctor is still hopeful, lots of prayers are still being said, and my wife’s optimism is still unshaken. Some good fuel there.
A few prayer requests.
First: My cell counts are at a historic low for platelets and white counts. Friday the 11th and Monday the 14th they’ll be running blood tests to see if I’ll need a platelet transfusion or not. Please pray for my platelets to finally rebound. They’ve been on a steady decline for three months now.
Second: With the low blood counts, they’ve had to take me off blood thinners, which leaves the clot that had formed in my leg on its own. We’re praying that doesn’t move, and no others form.
Third: Low cell counts also mean I am at risk of bleeding. Again, prayers to get through this season without incident are appreciated.
(UPDATE: I passed the blood test on Friday 3/11. Platelets went up for the first time since January! Still low, but moving in the right direction. Finally. Next test after the weekend. UPDATE 2: Monday’s blood test (3/14) continued to rise on platelet counts again. Looks like no transfusion is needed, back on the blood thinners, less risks now, so I’m calling this an answer to prayer!)
Fourth: We still need to find a long term solution to fight this. I can’t stay on this treatment plan forever, so we need to find something else that works for me. If a cure is out there, we’re asking God to lead us to it.
Last: Emotionally, this has been an extremely challenging time. I waiver between hope and despair, knowing full well that hope is better. Prayer that God will keep me focused on Him would be awesome.
Thanks again for your love and support.
– Sandy K.