Well we have a plan...as we have been waiting and praying for what is next we now have some idea. Today we met with the oncologist and par for the course we came away very encouraged. Just to continue to give God the glory we know that He is working all these details out. When we met with Dr. Vora, who by the way is proving to be a great Dr. And we praise God for leading us to him, we discussed all the different biopsies that have been taken, stomach, throat and bone marrow. The areas that cancer was found are all the very treatable lymphoma and the bone marrow is clean. That means that the course of treatment will be easiest and very straight forward. As I said, very encouraging :-). So what that means is next week I will have a porta-cath, this will be how they administer the chemo, installed along with a echo cardiogram. This will open the door for chemo to begin on June 3rd. The duration of the chemo depends on how well I respond and will last either 4, 6 or 8 months. This is good news as since the beginning I have my eyes set on returning to Uganda in October, let's keep praying. The other bit of news we received with joy was that during the treatment as long as my blood work continues to look good I will be free to interact with people, go places and with in reason live a fairly normal life. We heard many stories including our niece Bela who had to create a bubble and keep very isolated during her treatment so today's news is good.
So as we continue on this journey we see our great shepherd leading us as we follow. His presence and word provide our encouragement and the hope we cling to. Thanks to all of you who are praying, sharing God's word with us, sending cards, texting and emailing. You are displaying Gods sufficiency and being used by Hm to hold up our hands in this battle.
Tuesday, May 21, 2013
Thursday, May 16, 2013
haircuts and surprises
Until this recent Tuesday, our boys latest haircut was last October! When we left Uganda in early December Toby promised his friend Abraham that he wouldn't cut his hair until Abraham saw him again in May.
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| Toby and Abraham hauling water, circa 2010 |
Sorry Abraham, but these manes were becoming unmanageable! So, off to "Sport Clips" to see what could be done. . . |
| Kevin and his "dog on head" as we affectionately termed it before it was chopped down to a decent length. |
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| Toby, so serious. I post this one only and not the pics of the process because he whined that he didn't want to be "blog fodder" !! |
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| "My HAIR is GONE!" |
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| My handsome men! |
After the hair cuts we went out to a late Mother's Day lunch at the Macaroni Grill.
Little Miss A drawing pictures of the chicken crossing the road on the paper table cloth. "Why did the chicken cross the road? To do the chicken dance!"
Our house in Long Beach is a tremendous blessing to us! It is so peaceful and bright! We are deeply thankful for this lovely, temporary place while we stay in the U.S. a few more months.
Tonight the kids are out with Grammie for a surprise ice cream treat! To be able to do something fun with Grammie on the spur of the moment is a sweet gift that we haven't been able to experience since living in Uganda. God keeps reminding us of the good things that are a part of this extra time stateside!
Monday, May 13, 2013
The Whirlwind Continues
I looked on the camera to find a picture we could include here. I guess we've been too busy to take any--there were none, so I'll have to paint you a wordy one . . .
We have pressed on this past week in this new life of ours. There was something going on every day in every way . . . picking up more furniture for the house; cleaning the furniture and/or the house; changing out the leaky kitchen faucet; organizing tables, shelves and curriculum for the start of yet another year of homeschooling; frequenting farmers' markets and being creative with juices and then smoothies for Geoff; experiencing an interesting appointment with a non-traditional health care practitioner regarding Geoff, more on that in a little bit; getting to visit with dear New Hope friend Monique--affectionately called by our kids, "Uncle Nique"; seeing another long-time friend from Pepperdine days, Mark Mannasee, when he stopped by one afternoon; going to the annual Orange County Scout-O-Rama with my two boys--kayaking, rope climbing, archery and a plethora of other outdoorsy-activities; celebrating Mother's Day alone for lunch and then with extended family briefly in the afternoon and crashing every night about 5 p.m. because of all of the above!!!!!
Geoff is steadily improving both in his comfort level and in his strength. We have advanced his diet slowly and are now up to soft foods. Yesterday, without thinking, he picked up a sample of trail mix at Costco and ate it without any problems. He didn't even realize he'd done it until a few minutes later when he picked up a kettle corn sample and I commented, "Wow, you're really going for it today." Old habits die hard.
No worries, though. He doesn't seem to have suffered any setbacks due to those little treat sneaks. We have an 8:30 a.m. appointment with the gastric surgeon tomorrow. We expect to be given a good bill of gastric health so that we may progress on into chemotherapy. The oncologist has requested an appointment for early next week to discuss the way forward. Of course we'll keep you up-to-date.
The three hours we spent last Wednesday exploring Geoff's health options and conditions via biofeedback was interesting, to say the least. Taking into consideration the fact that he had not eaten more than about 2000 calories total since the previous Thursday, coupled with the mostly horizontal nature of his existence since the previous Friday when he went into surgery, we have filtered through the information given us and disregarded some of the findings. Many of the "red flags" she found were due to his temporarily compromised state. In addition, there were other results that can be attributed to the pain meds he'd also been on since the surgery. We are, however, thankful to have received some helpful information on ways to combat the effects of the cancer and the chemotherapy, which we are already implementing.
Emotionally, it's been a mixed bag. Lots of faith and trust in the goodness of our God. Plenty of hope and security in our future that is in His hands. But, weariness amidst the daily demands. Today I pretty much tanked when the pressure of the whole process of homeschool seemed to converge in one heavy load. I have been trying to do all of the things listed above while also attempting to secure all the homeschool books we need at the cheapest prices. I spent half a day on Thursday and a full day on Friday searching websites and comparing prices. I filled a cart with a certain book dealer who consistently had the lowest prices, but I could never "check out" as their website kept encountering an internal error. I left it until today, but could not get the problem solved today either. After having taught the kids all morning and into the early part of the afternoon, I couldn't hold it together anymore when I realized that another day would go by without the needed books. I know it sounds small, but it was the proverbial straw. I cried for an hour. Can't remember the last time I've done that. Now, I'm just tired. Somehow, I managed to cook dinner which was almost ruined by a defective pepper grinder dumping a bunch of peppercorns into our main dish! If I hadn't been so worn down already I probably would have laughed.
Geoff worked a lot today on the spiritual development material for New Hope Uganda, as well as organizing and making phone calls on all the medical bills. Keeping track of all the bills is a full time job in itself!
He is now taking a horizontal rest--the first he's taken today. (This past week he's been resting three or four times in a day.) So, he's seeing progress in comfort, stamina and strength. Now, if I can just let the Lord put me back together emotionally we'll both be doing well!!
We have pressed on this past week in this new life of ours. There was something going on every day in every way . . . picking up more furniture for the house; cleaning the furniture and/or the house; changing out the leaky kitchen faucet; organizing tables, shelves and curriculum for the start of yet another year of homeschooling; frequenting farmers' markets and being creative with juices and then smoothies for Geoff; experiencing an interesting appointment with a non-traditional health care practitioner regarding Geoff, more on that in a little bit; getting to visit with dear New Hope friend Monique--affectionately called by our kids, "Uncle Nique"; seeing another long-time friend from Pepperdine days, Mark Mannasee, when he stopped by one afternoon; going to the annual Orange County Scout-O-Rama with my two boys--kayaking, rope climbing, archery and a plethora of other outdoorsy-activities; celebrating Mother's Day alone for lunch and then with extended family briefly in the afternoon and crashing every night about 5 p.m. because of all of the above!!!!!
Geoff is steadily improving both in his comfort level and in his strength. We have advanced his diet slowly and are now up to soft foods. Yesterday, without thinking, he picked up a sample of trail mix at Costco and ate it without any problems. He didn't even realize he'd done it until a few minutes later when he picked up a kettle corn sample and I commented, "Wow, you're really going for it today." Old habits die hard.
No worries, though. He doesn't seem to have suffered any setbacks due to those little treat sneaks. We have an 8:30 a.m. appointment with the gastric surgeon tomorrow. We expect to be given a good bill of gastric health so that we may progress on into chemotherapy. The oncologist has requested an appointment for early next week to discuss the way forward. Of course we'll keep you up-to-date.
The three hours we spent last Wednesday exploring Geoff's health options and conditions via biofeedback was interesting, to say the least. Taking into consideration the fact that he had not eaten more than about 2000 calories total since the previous Thursday, coupled with the mostly horizontal nature of his existence since the previous Friday when he went into surgery, we have filtered through the information given us and disregarded some of the findings. Many of the "red flags" she found were due to his temporarily compromised state. In addition, there were other results that can be attributed to the pain meds he'd also been on since the surgery. We are, however, thankful to have received some helpful information on ways to combat the effects of the cancer and the chemotherapy, which we are already implementing.
Emotionally, it's been a mixed bag. Lots of faith and trust in the goodness of our God. Plenty of hope and security in our future that is in His hands. But, weariness amidst the daily demands. Today I pretty much tanked when the pressure of the whole process of homeschool seemed to converge in one heavy load. I have been trying to do all of the things listed above while also attempting to secure all the homeschool books we need at the cheapest prices. I spent half a day on Thursday and a full day on Friday searching websites and comparing prices. I filled a cart with a certain book dealer who consistently had the lowest prices, but I could never "check out" as their website kept encountering an internal error. I left it until today, but could not get the problem solved today either. After having taught the kids all morning and into the early part of the afternoon, I couldn't hold it together anymore when I realized that another day would go by without the needed books. I know it sounds small, but it was the proverbial straw. I cried for an hour. Can't remember the last time I've done that. Now, I'm just tired. Somehow, I managed to cook dinner which was almost ruined by a defective pepper grinder dumping a bunch of peppercorns into our main dish! If I hadn't been so worn down already I probably would have laughed.
Geoff worked a lot today on the spiritual development material for New Hope Uganda, as well as organizing and making phone calls on all the medical bills. Keeping track of all the bills is a full time job in itself!
He is now taking a horizontal rest--the first he's taken today. (This past week he's been resting three or four times in a day.) So, he's seeing progress in comfort, stamina and strength. Now, if I can just let the Lord put me back together emotionally we'll both be doing well!!
Tuesday, May 7, 2013
The vicodin blog...
Here we are back on line. Today the "cable guy" came and hooked us up today, now I can get back to updating you all and begin communicating again. I would not know where to begin if I were going to account all the things God has done over the past 2 weeks so I really am not going to try. But I did want to declare His goodness and let you know how thankful I really am. Today, Tuesday I have begun to recover and though I am still feeling quite a bit of discomfort I am feeling pretty good. As you know from Mary's posts the surgery went remarkably well and I am now on the mend. Part of my stomach is gone and I am still on a full liquid diet I hope to be eating solids again in the next week. The next step as the healing continues on my stomach is to get ready for the chemo-therapy. Once that get's started we expect to have a time frame on the full treatment and our return to a normal life and our return to Uganda.
The pain meds are making my brain a little slow so I am not sure all of what to write but the one thing that I want to highlight is how faithful God is. I have seen God do many things over the years, miraculous protection, provision, healing signs and wonders but honestly nothing compares to what I have seen happen over the past few weeks. Again if I chronicled every detail, I will in my journal but not here, it would take pages. The mountains that he has moved are nothing short of miraculous! Despite my diagnosis and the struggles that we are walking in right now God is fully with us. He has not left me, I am not being punished and by no means will I be waking this alone. God is here and working in ways that have marveled me! May His name be glorified and His plans be fulfilled in our lives.
We spoke it as a family again tonight, "Our existence is to bring Him glory and the reason we live is for Him"
The pain meds are making my brain a little slow so I am not sure all of what to write but the one thing that I want to highlight is how faithful God is. I have seen God do many things over the years, miraculous protection, provision, healing signs and wonders but honestly nothing compares to what I have seen happen over the past few weeks. Again if I chronicled every detail, I will in my journal but not here, it would take pages. The mountains that he has moved are nothing short of miraculous! Despite my diagnosis and the struggles that we are walking in right now God is fully with us. He has not left me, I am not being punished and by no means will I be waking this alone. God is here and working in ways that have marveled me! May His name be glorified and His plans be fulfilled in our lives.
We spoke it as a family again tonight, "Our existence is to bring Him glory and the reason we live is for Him"
Saturday, May 4, 2013
Yay!
Dr. Nguyen was just here. The stomach looks good and Geoff took his first drink of water while dr. Nguyen was here. The nurse just came in and is almost as excited as we are about our going home! We have a follow up appt with Dr. Nguyen on the 14th at which time he will remove the surgical dressing and give us the throat biopsy results. The stomach should be healed by the 14th, and if it truly is, then we will begin talking about chemo with the oncologist in Long Beach.
Thanks for your prayers!
Thanks for your prayers!
Hoping to go home soon
Good morning! Geoff had a fairly typical first night after surgery. Pain, nausea, drowsiness,and feeling weird. I enjoyed staying in the hospital--what a complete luxurious experience here in the U.S. compared to the minimal amenities availed to the patient and caregiver in a developing country. Sheets and plenty of blankets kept me warm and cozy, which is needed since Geoff likes it about 10 degrees cooler than I do!
Geoff went down at about 9 this morning for the upper GI, and if his stomach staples are intact he may start taking water. Hopefully we will make the trip back to the new house in Long Beach this afternoon. At this point we are waiting for Dr. Nguyen to tell us the good news and set us on course for home. Every step forward moves us closer to Uganda and that us a very good thing!!!!!
I have spent a good amount of time here in the hospital catching up on my journal. It has been such an intense whirlwind this past week and a half that I had not had a chance to chronicle any of the events. We have moved from one appointment to the next, one phone call to the next, looking at rentals and trying to negotiate daily life all at the same time, all in a fairly busy environment. We even had our previous digs at my mom's house become even more full of people last weekend as 4 more friends, in town for the recent Pepperdine Bible Lectures, joined us in the humble abode of 3 bedrooms and 2 baths, bringing the total "party participants" to a whopping 14. I just want to say that we survived and actually had a bit of fun in the process, but it certainly makes our new place seem all the more peaceful!
And, speaking of the new place, now that I've had some quiet and privacy to spend some time journaling, I realize that from the day we saw our new house to the day we got our keys, it was only one week--Wednesday to Wednesday! I am amazed all over again at the hand of our God and how He creates good for us with a precision only He could craft.
Again I am shocked at all we accomplished this week with doctor appointments, signing a lease and moving all in time before surgery! Our lives certainly lend evidence to the fact that God is alive and active!
After we've talked with Dr. Nguyen and get the discharge I'll update here again. Thanks for your prayers and encouraging messages!!!
Geoff went down at about 9 this morning for the upper GI, and if his stomach staples are intact he may start taking water. Hopefully we will make the trip back to the new house in Long Beach this afternoon. At this point we are waiting for Dr. Nguyen to tell us the good news and set us on course for home. Every step forward moves us closer to Uganda and that us a very good thing!!!!!
I have spent a good amount of time here in the hospital catching up on my journal. It has been such an intense whirlwind this past week and a half that I had not had a chance to chronicle any of the events. We have moved from one appointment to the next, one phone call to the next, looking at rentals and trying to negotiate daily life all at the same time, all in a fairly busy environment. We even had our previous digs at my mom's house become even more full of people last weekend as 4 more friends, in town for the recent Pepperdine Bible Lectures, joined us in the humble abode of 3 bedrooms and 2 baths, bringing the total "party participants" to a whopping 14. I just want to say that we survived and actually had a bit of fun in the process, but it certainly makes our new place seem all the more peaceful!
And, speaking of the new place, now that I've had some quiet and privacy to spend some time journaling, I realize that from the day we saw our new house to the day we got our keys, it was only one week--Wednesday to Wednesday! I am amazed all over again at the hand of our God and how He creates good for us with a precision only He could craft.
Again I am shocked at all we accomplished this week with doctor appointments, signing a lease and moving all in time before surgery! Our lives certainly lend evidence to the fact that God is alive and active!
After we've talked with Dr. Nguyen and get the discharge I'll update here again. Thanks for your prayers and encouraging messages!!!
Friday, May 3, 2013
Okey Dokey
When I worked at Pepperdine a favorite part of my various tasks was occasionally assisting "Big" Don Williams with miscellaneous details. While we worked, he was always good for a story or two. I'll never forget the one about a community member who was notified of his wife giving birth to yet another child--they already had many children. The man looked up from his work and answered the announcement with a very calm, "okey dokey."
And that's how we're approaching today, "okey, dokey." It's been a wild ride these past few months. From the craziness of a furlough to the upside down schedule change of a cancer diagnosis. Woohoo! Hang on!
But, we're calm and trusting in our good God! Yup, two words, God is good. Ok, so my math is not so good,but I decided to leave my typo in there to show you that though my physical tiredness may show in poor math skills, I am not experiencing a spiritual weariness at all! Let me list off for you the goodness of God as evident in these recent months.
This is how we're counting our blessings.
1--we were in the states when the cancer was discovered. It was discovered via a method not available in Uganda.
2--all of the doctors treating us are kind, friendly, and flexible (literally--wish you could have seen some of the moves the ENT made on Tuesday when he performed an in-office biopsy)
3--we have NEVER lacked the finances for this journey. Many individuals and churches have generously given to us as the funds required have mounted.
4--not only are we in the states for the treatment necessary, but we are in an area of California with excellent medical practitioners who are on the cutting edge of their field of expertise
5--we found a house PERFECT for us and moved into it less than two weeks from the first time we saw it! That is a miracle in itself. The owners did not plan to rent to anyone for less than a one year lease, but we only wanted six months; they also did not want to rent it out until June. But, they wanted to help us out so they rented it a month early for only a six month lease! This house, ahhhhh, peaceful. God chose this place for us, I have no doubt about it. We loved it because it had two bathrooms and three bedrooms. But He also gave us a beautiful garage that will serve well as a homeschool classroom. The kitchen came with ALL appliances, a double oven, microwave, stove, dishwasher, refrigerator, coffe pot, and tea kettle. The master suite has a jacuzzi tub and French doors to a veranda overlooking numerous roses and, are you ready????? Fruit from the tropics! We have a guava tree, a passion fruit vine, a mango and a fig tree all around us.
6--we are surrounded by family and friends who are praying with us through this time and giving of their time, stuff, and money to help us thrive in this season.
7--the whirwind of recent events of the past week and a half from getting a PET scan to meeting the oncologist for the first time, to getting into two different docs at UCI and having their schedules coordinate for a dual surgery today-- only 4 days after they met us for the first time! The gastric surgeon said today that the ulcer was VERY large and the stomach wall VERY thin--he is not sure how much longer the stomach wall would have remained intact.
I have given you only seven of the multitude of examples of God's goodness, I could go on and on. But, being that 7 is the number of perfection and being that our GOD is perfect, I'll leave you with that for today.
Geoff got out of surgery around noon and is now in a private room--still sleeping. I will spend the night and we'll go home tomorrow after he has an upper GI to check the surgical area.the throat where they biopsied is not troubling him at all, nor is his face swollen. He has four incisions on his abdomen, but they look very good. Thanks for your prayers!!!
And that's how we're approaching today, "okey, dokey." It's been a wild ride these past few months. From the craziness of a furlough to the upside down schedule change of a cancer diagnosis. Woohoo! Hang on!
But, we're calm and trusting in our good God! Yup, two words, God is good. Ok, so my math is not so good,but I decided to leave my typo in there to show you that though my physical tiredness may show in poor math skills, I am not experiencing a spiritual weariness at all! Let me list off for you the goodness of God as evident in these recent months.
This is how we're counting our blessings.
1--we were in the states when the cancer was discovered. It was discovered via a method not available in Uganda.
2--all of the doctors treating us are kind, friendly, and flexible (literally--wish you could have seen some of the moves the ENT made on Tuesday when he performed an in-office biopsy)
3--we have NEVER lacked the finances for this journey. Many individuals and churches have generously given to us as the funds required have mounted.
4--not only are we in the states for the treatment necessary, but we are in an area of California with excellent medical practitioners who are on the cutting edge of their field of expertise
5--we found a house PERFECT for us and moved into it less than two weeks from the first time we saw it! That is a miracle in itself. The owners did not plan to rent to anyone for less than a one year lease, but we only wanted six months; they also did not want to rent it out until June. But, they wanted to help us out so they rented it a month early for only a six month lease! This house, ahhhhh, peaceful. God chose this place for us, I have no doubt about it. We loved it because it had two bathrooms and three bedrooms. But He also gave us a beautiful garage that will serve well as a homeschool classroom. The kitchen came with ALL appliances, a double oven, microwave, stove, dishwasher, refrigerator, coffe pot, and tea kettle. The master suite has a jacuzzi tub and French doors to a veranda overlooking numerous roses and, are you ready????? Fruit from the tropics! We have a guava tree, a passion fruit vine, a mango and a fig tree all around us.
6--we are surrounded by family and friends who are praying with us through this time and giving of their time, stuff, and money to help us thrive in this season.
7--the whirwind of recent events of the past week and a half from getting a PET scan to meeting the oncologist for the first time, to getting into two different docs at UCI and having their schedules coordinate for a dual surgery today-- only 4 days after they met us for the first time! The gastric surgeon said today that the ulcer was VERY large and the stomach wall VERY thin--he is not sure how much longer the stomach wall would have remained intact.
I have given you only seven of the multitude of examples of God's goodness, I could go on and on. But, being that 7 is the number of perfection and being that our GOD is perfect, I'll leave you with that for today.
Geoff got out of surgery around noon and is now in a private room--still sleeping. I will spend the night and we'll go home tomorrow after he has an upper GI to check the surgical area.the throat where they biopsied is not troubling him at all, nor is his face swollen. He has four incisions on his abdomen, but they look very good. Thanks for your prayers!!!
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