Tuesday, April 10, 2012

NO PAUSE BUTTON

Dear Family and Friends,

This has been a very hard couple of weeks for us.  Our small church family in Ohio has had more than its share of "bad" news lately.  I put the word bad in quotes b/c  when we truly believe in God's sovereignty, it is hard to intellectually view anything that He ordains as "bad", and yet it can often FEEL really bad to us in the moment.

We lost a dear friend not long after a surgery;  another good friend was diagnosed with a very rare disease that produces too much protein in his bloodstream.  Another dear friend has just been diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer and another good friend had a significant stroke, leaving most of her left side paralyzed. And a young member (8 years old) broke his leg in the growth plate, which could set up complications later).   It is almost too much to really take in.

I know the purpose of this blog is to communicate with those of you who are faithfully praying for us as we deal with Dan's stage 4 kidney cancer.  But the rest of life still comes at us, even in the midst of dealing with that.  There just doesn't seem to be a "pause button" anywhere.

I'm glad to report that Dan finally was able to begin his new treatment of axitinib or Inlyta by brand name, and has been on it for about 1 1/2 weeks now.  Happily, no adverse side effects have shown up yet.  Often these drugs take a while to build up before that happens but so far, so good.  He has also been able to receive his first injection of the bone strengthening drug which he will receive approximately once a month.

He has had one more set of scans, right before beginning the drug and there had been no significant changes so that was good news since it took us so long to get going on a treatment.  He will have his next scans in June, so barring any unpleasant surprises, there may not be another update until then.

With all the major medical issues happening to folks we know and love, we humbly ask for your prayers for them, for our church family and for us as we look to ABBA FATHER and try to grasp what He has for us in all of this. Our prayer is that we would be instruments of comfort and encouragement to these dear friends, just as you all have been to us, and that God would increase our and their faith and confidence in His love and His plans for them, even in the middle of these trials. 

Thank you all AGAIN, for your continual prayers and encouragement.  With Easter just being celebrated, our gratitude for such amazing redemption is overflowing and only adds to our gratitude for each of you.    Love, Jodee and Dan

2 comments:

  1. Praying with you, for you, & for God's glory in these difficult times for so many!

    Delighted to be together so recently.

    Mom, Dad & I went to see B in KY, Dad had a TIA there, but has recovered well. B was VERY gracious, even spending a long night with Dad in the hospital. We are rejoicing in God's goodness.
    Love,
    Anne

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  2. Anne, so glad that your Dad is recovering well. It is good to be reminded of God's
    goodness. It seems silly that we need to be, but we often do. We rejoice with you. J.

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