Wednesday Evening

Greetings to all!

The first thing I want to say tonight is “Praise the Lord! God is good - all the time! All the time - God is good!

The second thing I want to say is that the Logansport Great Banquet Community is holding another blood collection for Marty. It will be on Monday May 7th from 1 to 6pm at Calvary Presbyterian Church in Logansport. We are really excited and appreciative of their doing this for us. So far between blood and platelets, Marty has had to have 175 units. My count indicated that there have been about 60 units given in her name. We are not responsible to replace them, nor does it make a different in their cost, but they have been there when we needed them and we would like to encourage people to give blood, so that it is there for others and for us when we need it again. So, if you are available that day and able to give blood we would certainly appreciate it. If you need more information call Calvary Presbyterian Church, 574.753.0505.

Now how is Marty? I am so glad you asked because the GOOD NEWS is that she is feeling better even though her numbers are still going down. So, here is the story! The shot in her back that she got a week ago last Friday, took longer to work, and has not worked quiet as well, but praise the Lord, it has worked. It has brought her some relief in her back and has allowed her to cut down on the number and strength of the pain pills that she is taking. This in turn has allowed her to have more energy and not be as sleepy. So, that is all good, thank you Lord. We see the doctor who gave her the shot again on Monday, so we will see what he has and/or says about follow up.

Now for the counts! We saw Dr. Lee today and he did a CBC. It showed a WBC of 2.1, HGB of 10.2, and PLT of 60.0. Now these are all quite a bit below what is considered normal. But I finally got through my head and Dr. Lee confirmed today that this may be Marty’s normal, and if it is it is good. Since the last time we saw Dr. Lee, three weeks ago, I have been trying to figure out how he would say her numbers are good, when they were so far below the normal. Well, last week it finally hit me right in the head, that because of her MDS and not being in remission she will not see those “normal” numbers again. Actually she will level off for a while at her own "new normal," and Dr. Lee thinks that she may have done that right now. This will still have to be determined as we move forward. So, every two weeks for the next two month we will go to have a CBC done and then in two months we will see Dr. Lee again. During that time if the HGB is below 12 she will be given a shot to try and bring it up to 12. If it gets down to 8 or below she will have blood and if the platelets get below 18 she will have platelets.

In the mean time and in between time she is having a great week so far this week. She has more energy, does not hurt as much, is not as tired, and we are seeing the best time that we have seen in a number of months. Praise the Lord!

Just a note on me to say my knee surgery is scheduled for Friday at 12:30pm at Dukes. However I have a sinus infection and bronchitis, started on medication yesterday and hope to be okay enough to have the surgery on Friday. Please pray that it will be God’s will to heal and get this over on Friday.

On Marty’s scripture calendar for tomorrow, when most of you will be reading this, is I Corinthians 1:10 which reads “I appeal to you, brothers… that all of you agree with one another so that there may be no divisions among you and you may be perfectly united in mind and thought.” Would that not be awesome? If we could agree, be united, and have no divisions among us, would that not be great? I think the first problem with it is that as soon as each of us reads that, our first thoughts and reactions are: “No way!” “That will never happen!” “That can’t be!” So, I am suggesting that the first item in line in the thinking of most, if not all, of us is a negative thought that this verse is not possible. Therefore, it will not happen! But what we are missing is a strong enough faith in God, who says that it can and it will happen. God does not give us anything that we cannot do with God’s help and guidance. Can we do it alone – no! But with God we can do all things! So, I along with Paul, would appeal to you to find agreement with all others, be willing to talk, be willing to listen, be willing to change your thinking, be willing to allow God to work through you to reach others. Give it some prayerful thought in your life and praise the Lord!

Have a positive day and God bless.

Marty and Jack
John 3:16

Wednesday Evening

Greeting to all!

Hope that all of you are doing well and enjoying this Spring weather that we have been having. Today was not as good as yesterday, tomorrow is to be rainy, and then the week-end is to be beautiful. See, their I go, complaining already, can never be happy with the weather!

Well, it has been some time since we posted and for some reason Marty and I both had our dates wrong, we were thinking that we would see Dr. Lee today but it is not until next Wednesday. So, here is an update. The shot that Marty was given to help build the red blood count and the fatigue has not seemed to work in our opinion. It does not seem like her energy level has gotten much better at all. Marty is still quiet tired all the time, and after she really exerts herself she has to lie down. Last Friday, she was able to receive a block in her lower spine for that pain and it seems like it has helped some. She is still having some bad pain when she is on her feet too long, but she has also cut down on the amount of pain medicine that she is taking. So, though it is not all that we had hoped for, it has seemed to help some. Praise the Lord!

Marty is serving on the Session of our church and is the chair of the Faith Commitment Team. Tonight she had the first meeting of the team and has gotten them started on the areas of ministry that they are responsible to do. That she had not gotten anything done on this had been bugging her for some time. So, now they are underway, so that is good. Praise the Lord!

Marty is still having discomfort in the right shoulder and both shins. The shins particularly have been a problem area since right before she went into the hospital August 15th and we found out what was going on. The shoulder has been a problem since the first or second chemo treatment. No one has really been able to say why, except that it could be the cancer working in the bone marrow in those areas. Recently, we got a medical excuse so that Marty does not have to wear the shoulder belt on the seat belt, as a passenger in a car, because it hurts her so much.

For your information, I have been taking care of a few things myself. The tooth that I broke the first day Marty was in St. V’s last August is now all capped and doing fine. This past Tuesday I saw my heart doctor (missed the six month appointment last October because we were in Indy) for my yearly check up and for a surgery clearance. The check up went fine; and the surgery will be on my left knee on Friday, April 27th. I believe that I have mentioned before that last November I had an MRI of that knee and learned that I had a bad vertical tear of the meniscus. So, that is to be repaired and the knee cleaned out. I am to be on crutches for 3 to 5 days and then all is to be well. So, I am getting things taken care of in good order. Praise the Lord!

At least one thing that neither of us are having a problem with is eating and gaining weight. We both are weighing more than we ever have in our lives and cannot really do that much about it. I am on a “see food diet” it seems – I see food and do I ever eat it. Marty does not seem to be eating more food, in fact seems to be eating less, but has still gained weight. At times it seems to be water retention, but some is also weight. So, we still are not quite sure what that is all about. It seems like we never do things the way most people do, but God is so good – all the time! All the time – God is so good.
Well, I have gone on for a lot longer that I had planned to, but I do believe it has brought you all up to date. So, for all of us, I want to lift up Deuteronomy 32:3,4 which reads: “I will proclaim the name of the Lord. Oh, praise the greatness of our God! He is the Rock, his works are perfect, and all his ways are just.” What awesome verses these are, how fitting they are for even our day and age, and how meaningful they are no matter what our present situation in life. Praise the Lord! When I think about how long ago Deuteronomy was written and what we understand the world was like isn’t it amazing that the author would proclaim “things” about our God that we still experience and proclaim today. That is just awesome and mind boggling. To me it is a true affirmation of our God and what He has done and does do. Praise the Lord!

You know I am going to type those verses on a sheet of paper and keep it on my desk because it is such a great reminder for me and for all of us, of who God is and what He does. I do hope that you can find meaning in them as well, make them a part of your life, and give to God the glory.

Have a positive day and God bless.

Marty and Jack
John 3:16

Friday Evening

Greetings to all!

I know that it has been 9 days since the last posting, and I am sorry about that, but it sure has been busy and I just did not have the time and/or energy to get anything on. Sorry about that, particularly for those of you who rely on the blog, for all of your information. I want to say that I will try to do better in the future, but as of right now I really do not see the time and energy being any better in the near future. So, I will do my best to keep the blog up as often as I can.

Marty is about the same, I would say. It does not seem to us as though the shot that she got a couple of weeks ago, from Dr. Lee, to help build up the red blood cells, has not seemed to work. We did forget to ask how long it would take to work, so we don’t know if this is to be expected or not. We see Dr. Lee again next Wednesday and we will see what he thinks and if Marty can get another shot or not.

Today, Marty got the shot in her spine that we hope will relieve the nerve pain in her low back, right hip and right leg. The doctor said today that her spine is 2 inches off from the Scoliosis. It seems like the chemo is making that worse and worse and I sure wonder if there are not more nerves involved. But, no matter what, I sure hope that the pain gets better. The last shot that Marty received helped for about 3-4 months. It sure would be great to see that happen again. The full effects of the shot may not be seen for 2-3 days, according to the discharge nurse today.

Yesterday, we went to Indy to have the biopsy done, to see if the lining of the uterus has changed due to medicine or other disease. The bottom line is that the biopsy was not successful because they could not get through the cervix to obtain any tissue. Both doctors do believe that it was caused by medicine, so we will probably just wait 3 or 4 months and do another ultrasound and see if there are any changes. If so, then outpatient surgery (D & C) will be done and if not then it will be considered having been caused by the Tamoxifen and they will keep an eye on it.

So, over the last 9 days the things have been done that needed to be done, but we have not seen any change in Marty at this point. She is still extremely tired, has pain in the right clavicle and both shins, as mentioned above her back and hip are possibly even a little worse. She has a very hard time walking long distances, standing in one place for more than a couple of minutes, and she continues to take pain medicine three times a day.

Again, we see Dr. Lee on Wednesday and we will be happy to get another CBC to see what is going on there and to see if Dr. Lee has anything else up his sleeve that could help Marty.

Marty’s scripture calendar lists Proverbs 12:25 which is an awesome verse for us. It reads: “An anxious heart weights a man down, but a kind word cheers him up.” Wow, isn’t that a great one!
Praise the Lord! There it is again, the positive (a kind word) is the best, it will do so much more than “an anxious heart.” I know a lot of the time that is so much easier to say than to do. Well, folks that is where we must grow the faith and get closer to God. We must let God have our anxious heart, while we follow Jesus by being positive in all aspects of our lives. As we continue through this Easter Season, may this be our goal to the glory of God.

Have a positive week-end and God bless!

Marty and Jack
John 3:16

Wednesday night, April 4, 2007 11:30pm

Greetings to all!

We thank you so much for your interest, support, and prayers for us. God is good – all the time! All the time - God is good! And today we received some more of that grace, love, and goodness of our God. Praise the Lord! The good news is that the CBC indicates that all areas of Marty’s blood are still in good numbers and there are indications that the bone marrow is healing and growing. Praise the Lord – even thought she came out of remission there are still good things happening in her blood – Praise the Lord! Prayer and communication with the Lord does work!

Yesterday she really had a bad day and was in bed or asleep in her chair most of the day. It was good from the point that her ankles and feet did go down in size to almost normal, and are not hurting her today like they were on Monday. She also seems to be more rested and able to function better today. We see the back doctor next Wednesday and sure hope that he can schedule her for a caudal block in her back ASAP so her pain can be controlled. The pain in her back and hip are really a problem. It is getting to the point where she can not be on her feet for 10 minutes because she has so much pain, but when she sits down she is able to handle the pain. We also got a note from the doctor today so that she does not have to wear the shoulder seat belt over her right shoulder in the car because that pressure hurts her so much. So, I talked to the State Police and asked them what we could do and they told me to get a note from the doctor explaining a medical reason why she should not wear it. So, Praise the Lord we have that taken care of! Then, we asked the doctor what we could do about all this tiredness. He said that it is part of MDS and there is not a lot that can be done. However, since her Hemoglobin is a little on the low side, but not low enough for a blood transfusion, he said he could give her a shot that should help to increase the Hemoglobin and maybe help to the problem. So, Marty was given that shot and we shall see, we are indeed praying that it will help, otherwise there will have to be a major change in life-style.

Mentioned in the last two blogs, I believe, that Marty was to have some tests reference being four years out on her breast cancer. Well, we got those results today and most were good, and one needs some further testing. It seems that the lining within her uterus has thickened beyond normal limits. This can be caused by the medication that she has been on for the breast cancer, Tamoxifen, but we need to find out for sure. Therefore, we will see another doctor who will do a biopsy and let us know. Dr. Lee said that this is pretty common for breast cancer patients that are on that medication for a long time, but we have to check it out to be sure. It will be an in office procedure. Praise the Lord!

Now for the future! The plan at the present time is for no more treatment for the next 3 to 6 months, other than the shots every three weeks for the red blood cells if they work, and transfusions if they are needed. However, Dr. Lee is hoping that the transfusion will not be need and feels that is a possibility. Then in 6 to 8 months we will do another bone marrow biopsy and see where everything is. If by that time the blasts are up to 15 to 20% or more then we will talk about doing another remission induction and consolidation treatment. That is the treatment that Marty just came through, but we may or may not use the same medications. So, that is the plan for now, and Marty is free to do whatever she wants and feels like she can do. We just have those couple of “stones” to get out of her way, and then watch out Peru here she comes again.

We are pretty comfortable with this plan and appreciate both doctors affirmation that the treatment has given Marty “more time with her grandchildren”. Praise the Lord! God has a plan as we have said all along, and we feel we are on the same page. We do certainly hope that the tiredness will let up, so that Marty will be able to continue to glorify our God. However, at this time we do not see how she will be able to go back to work for quiet a while yet. Yet we know that God will continue to use Marty in many ways.

You know that is one of the beautiful things about Easter. As we celebrate the death and resurrection of our Lord, we can at the same time put away some of the things that we have been doing and begin to do the things that we hear God calling us to do. You know we can have our own resurrection experience right here on earth. As we celebrate Jesus resurrection, we cannot only prepare for our eternal resurrection to the life everlasting that Jesus has gone to prepare for us, but we can change and have our own earthly resurrection in that we glorify God in a different way and/or ways.

I encourage you as we go through this Easter weekend to consider how you can right now have your own earthly resurrection and glorify God in new positive and meaningful ways because of the love and grace that God has shown you. Of course, that will not be easy, but what a ministry and glorification of God it will be. Praise the Lord!

May you have a positive and meaningful weekend to God’s glory and God bless each of you.

Happy Easter!

Marty and Jack
John 3:16

Monday, April 2, 2007

Greetings,

I know it has been almost a week since I typed here and I am sorry, particularly for those of you out of town that rely on this for your only information. When we are in Indy I have more time, but when we are home I keep on the go and this kind of goes to the back burner and does not get done. So, I wanted to make a point to bring you up to speed today.

Marty is not feeling very good. She is hurting all over, her left clavicle and shins are particularly bad. Her ankles are also pretty bad from “fluid” retention and when she walks she thinks she is moving a couple of cement filled shoes. Her back and hip are also giving her a lot of discomfort, particularly when she is up and around. The tiredness is also still around. The other night she went to Kokomo shopping and was only able to be gone for 2 hours, with an hour of that being the travel time: after an hour in the store she could just not do anymore. Finally, she has another “infection” in her sinuses and bronchial tubes. This is the second one of these that she has had since she last got out of the hospital. We understand that MDS is really known for having lots of infections. The medication that she is on this time is a big old “horse pill” that has a very, very bad taste, so she puts it in peanut butter before she takes it; she said that it slides right down and the peanut butter doesn’t taste bad at all. So, Marty is pushing on, Praise the Lord!

Last Wednesday we met with a transplant doctor and came up with a list of about 7 options that Marty has at this time. We talked about the pros and con’s of each and ruled some out right away so that there are only 2 - 3 that are really options. Never-the-less, for your information here is the list of the seven.

1. Do nothing at all.
2. Only do the transfusions as they become needed. (It has been about 2 months since Marty has had to have one now.)
3. Take the pill that Dr. Lee had mentioned at our last appointment. Dr. Akard said that it is not really meant for the type of MDS that Marty has, therefore would not really help and may even make her worse.
4. Get involved in some test experiments – but he did not know of any that would apply.
5. Do a chemo remission induction like she had before right now and see if it will put her back in remission.
6. Do a chemo remission induction like she had before when she gets worse and has to have transfusions, etc.
7. Have the bone marrow transplant.

Will not go into all the reasons, but right now we are kind of leaning on # 6 but waiting to get the blood work on Wednesday and talk to Dr. Lee about a couple of things. Please be praying that we are indeed discerning God’s will.

This is such an important week for our faith and commitment to our awesome God. It is the week that we annually remember and celebrate His great love and grace for each one of us. Without this week where would we be? With this week we know that God loves each of us so much that He gave His one and only Son to die on the cross for your and my sins, so that we might have life eternal with Him. Praise the Lord! God is so good – all the time! All the time – God is so good. It is this week that gives us, Marty and I, the hope and confidence to travel the path that we are presently on. It does not mean that we asked for this path, because like Jesus we have asked that the cup could be passed by us at this time, but at the same time it is not our will but God’s will that will be done. And with God’s will, we know already about His grace in Jesus Christ and our salvation, we also know about His grace in this life that is so awesome and has already been experienced so many ways in our lives. So, we ask again if it be God’s will that we may experience His grace and know that whatever His will, He will be glorified. Praise and thanks be to God.

We pray that during this Passion Week and Easter Season you will experience God’s presence, love, and grace in your life and know His will for you, that God may be glorified.

Have a positive week and God bless.

Marty and Jack
John 3:16