Friday, May 30, 2008

We heard from the surgeon late yesterday afternoon. It was good news and not so good news. The lump that was removed from the breast was completely clear of any cancer cells. This is quite remarkable since the original tumor was larger than half of her breast. Out of the four lymph nodes that were removed, two of them had scattered cancer cells in them. The other two were clear. The surgeon thinks that the treatment course that we are on is appropriate to continue but wants to confer with the Oncologist. We are scheduled for a surgical follow-up on Tuesday but are not scheduled to see the Oncologist until we are back from Tennessee. Currently, Sharon takes the Herceptin IV every three weeks and the Arimidex by mouth daily. We need your prayers to finish this task of ridding her body of all the cancer. We praise God for the tremendous healing that has already gone on. We continue to look for the completion of the healing.

Tuesday, May 27, 2008

We went to see the surgeon today, expecting to get the pathology report from the surgery. Because it was a holiday weekend, there was no report. We expect that the surgeon will call when he gets the results. He will call as late as 10:30 at night. That's OK. Sharon had a three week dose of Herceptin today so that will carry us through our trip to TN. We will stay with our house mother, Rose Marie Westmoreland, on Thursday, June 5. We will be at Sharon's mom's Friday to Tuesday for the Magill family reunion. Then we go to Sevierville Tuesday through Friday for the Jewett reunion. We will be stopping in St. Augustine on our way back on the 13th to meet with David's mom and dad as they are just getting back from Thailand. David will have left that morning for 6 weeks out of the country. He'll be back in time for the wedding! We will be back home in Florida on the 14th. We are not sure yet but Sharon may be given the clearance to go back to work when we get back. We'll find that out in the next week.

I'm still concerned about the liver. Sharon is slowing getting her strength back. Continue to pray for her. With so many uncertainties and so many changes, they call this the "new normal." We're not sure we like it right now. Thanks for checking on us.

Later on the big birthday

We are now home and have had dinner and birthday cake. Sharon rested some after we got home around 3 pm. The doctor reported that he had removed a couple of lymph nodes and about a walnut sized lump from her breast. He was not sure that there was any cancer in the tissue but it was where the mass had shrunk to. All of these tissue samples will be examined by pathology and we will get this report on Tuesday. We consider all of this marvelous news! We know that your prayers have gotten us to this point. We thank God for His healing and for the faithfulness of all of you, our extended family in Christ. We have truly been blessed through this whole process.We know that there are still a couple of hurdles yet to jump but we are thankful for the progress in the race thus far. You have been faithful and God has been faithful. Thank you, God, for your blessing and healing.

Keep praying. We still need the liver to clear of the cancer cells that remain there. Keep us informed of your needs. We certainly want to be faithful to pray for you. Happy Birthday, Sharon, what a marvelous gift.

May 23, 2008 Sharon's birthday!

As I type this entry, Sharon is in surgery. The doctor put in a wire lead into the tumor this morning before the surgery so he could be sure to find it when he got in there. The original tumor was over 7 cm big. Now it is so small that he might miss it! What encourgement for today. Pray for Dr. Vopal right now as he is doing his work. I'm sitting in the cancer center lounge because it is more pleasant than the waiting room. It's just across the driveway so I can get back there soon. She should be out of surgery around noon. I will post the results of the surgery when we get them. Thanks for checking on us.

Wednesday, May 21, 2008

While I was home for lunch there was a message on the answering machine for Sharon to call the surgery center about her 7:45 a.m. appointment for Friday. So I guess that she is scheduled to be there then and the surgery should follow. In my mind there are two senarios. 1. They get in there and find there is scar tissue and nothing else. They remove that and we go home to celebrate her birthday. 2. My imagination goes wild here. This is how Satan plays in the playground of my mind. "Oh, let's go sit on the merry-go-round of those deep dark thougths for awhile." Sharon has been so thoroughly convinced that they are going to find everything clear and fine and we will be praising God for His great work in healing her. That truly is what we all are praying for. Her numbers get better everyweek. The chemo has had its effect on her. She is tired, has a rash on her hands, has lost her hair, has some nose bleeds, has pain in her back at night, sometimes can't sleep, sometimes can't wake up, food doesn't taste that good, when she does eat it burns her throat. Yet, she claims God's promises and waits for total healing. I'm not sure I would be so strong! Melissa, Laura, and I beg for your prayers as we anticipate the waiting for surgery. Those of you who have been there know that the waiting is a difficult time. As soon as we get results from the surgery on Friday we will post that for you.

We are still enjoying the sounds in our minds of all the choirs we heard last weekend at the benefit. Thanks, again, to all those who made that possible. It was a wonderful day of music and love. Our church has been such a stonghold of support for us. Where would we be without you! We often hear people say, "I don't know how I would have gotten through it without my church family." We are so thankful for ours and the extended family of the community singers. What a blessing you have all been.

If all goes as planned, we will be on our way to family reunions in Tennessee on June 5. Maybe we'll get to see some of our Tennessee support while we are there.

Thanks for continuing to pray for us. We are still "standin' in the need of prayer."

Saturday, May 17, 2008

This has been a busy week and I have neglected this site. I will give summaries of the events and write later about the details.

The Music Festival was fabulous. The music was grand from the sixth graders all the way to the "symphonic winds." The church and the community choir folks out did themselves. Everything went without a hitch. Sharon's sister, Margaret, surprised her and came in for the event. It was nice having her here.

On Monday, Sharon had a full round of chemo instead of just the Herceptin. When she got to the Oncologist's office she found out that the plan now includes surgery. On Wednesday she found out that it was set for Friday, May 23, her birthday. She is to have a lumpectomy and a sentinal node biopsy. We'll celebrate her birthday quietly back at home!

We have enjoyed having David here for the weekend. Today is his birthday and we went to MY favorite restaurant to eat tonight. It's good having him here.

The Community Choir had one of their concerts today. We have one tomorrow and then one next Sunday and that will conclude our year. The summer will probably hold a few more twists and turns in it but we'll face them as they come. We are looking forward to the family reunion in TN in June and Melissa and David's wedding in August. Pray for direction for all of us. Pray for Sharon's surgery next Friday. Pray for God's blessing on all of us as we each try to do His will. Thank you for caring.

Monday, May 12, 2008

Sharon is at the Oncologist's office this morning as I write this. Today is the first day she has driven herself to and from the visit. Normally, she is given some drug that makes her sleepy. Today she will have only the Herceptin so she won't be needing the other drugs. We have lots of questions for the Doctor today in light of the surgeon's report last Wednesday. Among those questions is the one about traveling. We actually are looking to the future and hoping for a trip to Tennessee for two family reunions in June. I'll have to let you know later in the week how this meeting went.

The Music Benefit on Saturday was HUGE! There was an estimate of 1300-1400 people who came to the church for the concerts. All of the music was superb. I enjoyed every minute of it. Sharon was able to attend the entire day. She was a bit exhausted when it was done. Her sister, Margaret, surprised her and came in on Friday night from Memphis to be at the Benefit. I must tell you that the church family and the Community Singers did a marvelous job in pulling off this ordeal. I didn't get to see all the outside work because I was inside the entire day. But with temperatures in the 90's and some folks outside all day I don't know how they did it. But they did and Sharon and I appreciate them so very much. It was a special day that we will never forget.

As for your prayers, continue to pray for the cancer that is in Sharon's liver. We pray that it, too, clears as it did in the breast. May God be seen and glorified in each step of this process. We love you all.

Thursday, May 8,2008

We've been waiting for this opportunity to post for you the results of Tuesday's breast MRI. The surgeon called last night at 10:00 to give Sharon the report. He says, "the cancer is gone from the breast. The lymph system looks healthy." WOW. Does prayer work, or what! God has heard the prayers of His people. Needless to say, we didn't get much sleep last night. We have all been overwhelmed with the feeling of God's presence in our lives. We truly feel "blessed."

We still need the faithful prayers of our team. There is still some invovlement in the liver. We, of course, expect that God is already taking care of that. Pray that the next test shows the cancer in the liver to be gone. So it appears at this point that there may not be a need for surgery on the breast. Thank you, God, for how you work.

Pray that God uses the Music Festival at the church on Saturday to show His greatness. We know there is something special going to happen because it is completely out of our hands. We'll give you a report on Sunday.

As we have asked for your prayers on our behalf we also have been given prayer concerns from friends. Pray for our friend, Matt. Also, pray for Lisa's mom and dad and Carrie and Pat's brother. Russ, Ali, Gina, and Leia need special prayers.

Thank you for your faithfulness and love.

Thursday, May 1, 2008

It has been a busy week with the house full and special celebrations and doctor visits. I wanted to wait until we saw all of the doctors to give you an update. Sharon and I went to see the surgeon on Saturday. She saw her oncologist on Monday. We both went to see the Radiation Oncologist on Tuesday (my birthday). Everyone we see says things like, "tremendous, dramatic" change in the tumors. And we rejoice with this news. The cancer markers are down to 135. Even the guys in the PET scan area got out the first scan to compare it to the new one and were amazed at the quick changes. The discussion now is what should be the next step. One says lumpectomy, one says radical mastectomy, another says why change the course of action as it is working so well.

Okay, we still are dealing with stage 4 cancer. The liver still has a tumor. The lymph system is much clearer. The breast has a small tumor. Sharon was to have had an MRI today. It has been changed to next Tuesday. The last MRI showed both the breast and the liver so they have good pictures from before treatment started. Now comes my request to you. Please, please pray that the tumor in the liver is gone by the time the Tuesday MRI is taken. Let's call on God to bring this to a complete healing. I know that the doctors want to take the credit. They just don't understand that God is using them to accomplish this. But now we want Him to be glorified by making this tumor "melt away." Yes, there has been "dramatic" progress and we know why. It is your prayer that has called Sharon's name to God over and over. Please be constant with your requests to God between now and next week. I told the Doctor that 1000's of people are praying for Sharon. He smiled and said, "that's nice." He doesn't understand yet what the power of prayer is. May God be glorified because of your prayers and what He is going to do.