Radiation with a Side of Saline

Today was a good day.  Dad went to the hospital and received his daily radiation.  He also got saline fluids, which he will do three times a week to help with hydration.  He had lots more energy, and was able to go to work for 5 hours. 

He is also managing his hiccups better.  Mom and dad are careful to not get dad too full and to remember to pour the liquid into his feeding tube without a lot of head (like in beer). Mom is very careful to pour down the edge of the tube.

In case you were wondering, they found another cure for hiccups: stick a throat swab to the back of your throat.

Today, dad received a beautiful quilt made for him by the Ebenezer United Methodist Church from long-time friends BJ and Kerrie Tucker from Virginia Tech and 1/75th in Bamberg days, so just a couple years ago.

James 1:12   Blessed is a man who perseveres under trial; for once he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life, which the Lord has promised to those who love Him.

Surgery is an Option....

Dad successfully made it through week 1 of chemo and radiation. While Saturday was a bit rough, Sunday was a little better. Dad Is still losing some weight but they think they are learning how to prevent this. Mom found a different kind of Boost that delivers a lot more calories in a smaller package. Dad felt good enough to get a haircut from his barber, Yvonne. She is super nice and even offered to come to the house to cut dad's hair if he wasn't feeling up to coming in to the store. She also offered to give dad a crew cut, which couldn't help but make us think of granddad, my dad's dad.

He met today with the radiologist and oncologist and they both agree, along with the surgeon, that dad needs the surgery. They will proceed as originally planned as he is a good candidate, is getting stronger daily, and he can take it. It is still not a given, but it's back in play which is good news.

Today was a tough day with doctor appointments, radiation,  and appointments with First Command clients, but mom and dad are doing well. They are learning how to work the schedule so as to keep dad from getting too tired. And at least for this week, dad is happy to be able to sleep in his bed almost - last week while doing the chemo, he slept in his big leather chair so that he wouldn't roll over on the chemo pump. Right now he is getting a handle on things from eating through the feeding tube and this has kept him in the chair the last two nights as being more comfortable. They think Prilosec will solve this minor obstacle. They remain strong and believe in God's healing love -- a sure sign today from the surgery news.

While I usually end these posts with a Bible verse, I wanted to end this one a little bit different but just as fitting. My daughter, Payton (3 years old), is in a program here at West Point called Cubbies. She studies Bible verses each week and learns the stories of the Bible. Sunday, when I went to pick her up from her class, she was talking about what she had learned and she brought up how grandpa was sick. She proceeded to tell me that God touches people who are sick and heals them. She said that this was what God was going to do for grandpa. From the mouths of babes...

Please continue to keep dad in your prayers, but we also have some other prayer requests. As dad had requested earlier, please keep my Aunt Barbara and Uncle Jim in your prayers for healing as well as the Greenwells for God's peace and love. Also please add Judy McMillian, her daughters Amber and Holly, and their families to your prayers on the loss of their mom/grandma, and add Sydney Petty and her family to your prayers on the loss of her nephew in the tragic shootings at the Columbia Mall.

Finally, I just want to mention that on Thursday, February 6, Gretchen will be bartending for Piney Orchard's Relay for Life team (her kid's elementary school)  at J. King's Steak and Seafood Restaurant in Gambrills, MD sometime between 7 and 10 pm. Stop by and get a drink from her.....maybe beer, wine or a simple cocktail like vodka tonic or jack and coke. You would be helping out a great cause. Mom and dad are hoping to make an appearance as well, as are the kids and I.

The Pesky Hiccups

I apologize for not posting sooner. Our household has been hit by the winter icky's and so we've been working to all get better.

Dad has had hiccups this week. We tried to scare him over the phone, told him to hold his breath, and tried to get him to drink a cup of water upside down but nothing seemed to help. He is still working though and undergoing treatments. Luckily, no treatments have been cancelled due to the storm, just moved to later in the day.

The snow brought some fun for mom as she watched Josh and Ashley, the older grandchildren. They had a day off of school and so got to come down to Annapolis and go sledding.

We hope everyone is doing well despite the cold weather, part 2. Josh and Ashley said that they are loving the snow but are hoping that it doesn't close school anymore so they don't have to go later in June, but that they wouldn't mind having 2 hour delays.

Isaiah 41:10 "Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand."

From dad: Yesterday (January 21) was a tough day as I had bad hiccups all day. With God's help, the hiccups went away long enough to do the radiation treatment. I asked my nurse navigator if she knew something that would help. All the Internet suggestions were not working. She suggested a 1/2 teaspoon of sugar in warm water. It worked almost instantly and lasted through the night. Praise God! It seems to be still working.

We believe!

All,

                First, let me thank you for the outpouring of love and support for Becky, me, Gretchen, and Lindsay and their families. We are surrounded by God’s presence not just in our faith, but in the faith each of you brings. It is impossible to describe the tremendous feelings of peace and strength this gives us and our words can never thank you enough; but we intend that we will have many, many years to thank you. On Sunday, a visiting Pastor preached on God’s Great Love and the healing and other powers of His love. You are each examples of God’s Great Love, and we are blessed we have you around us.

                Our Pastor gave us a book called Health Food Devotions by Kenneth E. Hagin. Becky and I have been reading this daily. In it he quotes 1 Peter 2:24: “Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.” As written in His Word, I want you to know that I believe I am healed and that is what I want all of you to believe in your hearts and in your faith. I have really never felt any differently – only God could have brought that peace and strength to me and to us. I placed myself in God’s Healing Hands from the start and nothing that has been told to me has swayed me in the least from this.

                I wrote the last paragraph before this one so as I tell you where I am physically, you know where I am emotionally and mentally. Today we met with the Radiologist and he gave us a better explanation of the PET scan. The news was not as good as we thought. The lungs, kidneys, and liver are clear. However, the activity described around my throat is really in two sub-clavicle lymph nodes which are cancerous. They are small, but they are there. These are not operable and so any future surgery is questionable if it will not improve my chances for survival. I am now categorized as Stage IV vice Stage III. Survival is not 0%, but greatly diminished by about half. We are continuing the chemo and radiation which is at as high a dose as it can be allowed and tolerated. This is just a report.

                I was unphased by this report and it did not change in the least that I believe I am healed and is what I ask each of you to believe and pray and hold in your hearts – have no doubts; only God’s Love could have given me this kind of strength and peace when he told us this. I believe the chemo and radiation will reduce the cancer to nothing and no surgery will be required. I was in the small percentage that should have ever developed esophageal cancer according to my lifestyle and I will be in the small percentage for which no surgery will be required – I BELIEVE!

                I also want to reach out to your incredible love and prayer to pray for some friends of ours. First, I would like you to pray for our Pastor’s son Jed and all the Soldiers in Afghanistan – please pray for their protection and safe return. Second, please pray for our friends Bill and Peggy Greenwell. Peggy’s sister, Sue, died the end of last week of breast cancer. Please pray for peace and comfort for Bill, Peggy, and Sue’s family. Third, please pray for my sister Barbara that her heart would be healed and for her husband Jim and that his heart and kidney would be healed. In particular for Jim, he has only one kidney donated by my sister. He has recently had indications there may be problems with the kidney. It may be caused by one of the medications he is receiving, and so please pray for discernment of the problem and that it is easy to solve.

                Thank you all again for your Great Love and support. I thank God each day for what he provides me and each of us and for His Healing. I AM HEALED! I BELIEVE!

Sid and Becky

The Fight Begins!

All hooked up and sipping on his Ensure

Dad starts chemo and radiation today. The treatments will last all day. Dad began his chemo treatment today at 7 am. The chemo takes about 4 hours today, and then they will hook dad up to a pump which continues to pump a different chemo into him for the next 96 hours. He has one more treatment like this in 4 weeks. The radiation today takes a total of 30 minutes. There is more setup today. After this, for the next 6 weeks, it takes 10 minutes. He is all set to kick cancer's booty!

Dad has been checking email on his phone, and mom and Gretchen have shown him all of your Facebook comments and likes. The outpouring of love, faith, and support keep that million dollar smile on his face.

Message from Dad:
On 30 Dec 2013, I was diagnosed with stage III esophageal cancer. My wife and I decided immediately we would not keep this a secret and started letting people know--best decision we ever made. We met the Pastor at the Church and prayer support also started immediately. It just happened that at the Church at the time were a great group of people who prayed with me and laid on hands to heal. Our Church has been fantastic. The sermon at Church yesterday was on the power of Great Love, the kind of love God has for all of us. At the end of the sermon, I knew how to describe our Church. It is a Church of Great Love and their support is tremendous. My wife and daughters also started letting friends know through the Internet. Again, the outpouring of Great Love has been tremendous. God's love, peace, and strength and the support of our amazing friends has helped us to never doubt we would beat this. I am writing this as I sit receiving my initial chemo treatment. I am glad for all the advances in medicine and am not discounting this in the least, but it is the Great Love of God, Church, family, and friends which will sustain us through this and which has a healing power greater than any other. We cannot begin to express how much the love of God, Church, family, and friends means to us. We love you all and thank you.

Deuteronomy 31:6 “ …Be strong and courageous. Do not fear or be in dread of them, for it is the Lord your God who goes with you. He will not leave you or forsake you.”

PET Scan Results are In

Jeremiah 29:11 For I know the plans I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.

Dad has his PET scan yesterday, and we received the results today. They did find cancer activity in his throat and esophagus, so it is a minor change from what we already knew. His lungs, kidneys, and liver were clear, which is wonderful news.

What doesn't change though is his course of treatment or our faith and optimism. Dad will begin chemo and radiation treatments on Monday at Anne Arundel Medical Center. Both he and mom are prepared for their long battle and are ready to begin the journey together with their family and friends supporting them every step of the way.

Newly married in 1977

36 years of marriage and counting

They are also still adjusting to the feeding tube, and they are finding the humor in their situation. They noticed that the tube turned pink after dad drank cranberry juice which was kind of fun. True to form, my daughter Payton mentioned just how much she loved the color pink when I told her what grandma said about the pink tube. But funniest and grossest of all, they discovered that there is no laughing during feeding tube time. While mom was "feeding" dad, he started laughing and it caused what just went down to squirt out. So dad had to get himself under control and stifle the laughter until after the feeding. Mental note for mom and dad, the feeding tube is no joke....quite literally, no joking unless you want to wear a raincoat during feeding times.

On a separate but related note, our whole family will be doing the GLO Run in DC on August 2! We would love it if you would run/walk it with us. If you sign up as a team of 5, you get cool shades to wear! There is a DJ on the course and lots of glow in the dark fun. Registration opens February 11.

Message from Mom and Dad:
Thanks for all the cards and gifts. The reminder on each is that God is our strength and refuge. Thanks for all prayers and everyone thinking of us.

Thoughts and prayers to our friends who yesterday lost their sister to cancer.

We have Approval!

The PET Scan was approved! Prayers are needed as dad will go in for his PET scan on Thursday. We ask for prayers that the PET scan does not show anything other than what we already know.

We are also asking for prayers as dad will begin chemo and radiation on Monday. He is getting his treatments done at the Anne Arundel Medical Center so he and mom don't have very far to travel. We have heard great things about his oncologist, which only serves to increase our faith and trust that the Lord is watching over dad. Dad and the rest of the family are ready to get the chemo and radiation started so that we can get to the task of beating cancer.

Gretchen, Aunt Corry, Grandma, Adam, myself and even mom helped to prepare about 30 slow cooker meals that mom can just take out of her freezer at night, and throw into the crock pot in the morning

Isaiad 40:31 But those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint.

An assortment of cards dad has received so far that he can see from his chair

Feeding Tube/Chemo Port Put In....Now Recovery and Waiting

As I'm sure most of you know by now, dad's surgery to put in the feeding tube and chemo port was on Wednesday of last week. The surgery went well except for some delays. The grandkids were even trying to think up creative "foods" they could put in grandpa's feeding tube like peanut butter and jelly sandwiches with pickles, squash, and mustard. But alas, their plan was foiled when mom and dad went in on Thursday to learn how to use the feeding tube and were told that only things that were already liquid could be used.

Dad's recovery is going well despite some initial pain in his shoulders and upper back. True to form, he powered through. He has been using a heating pad for relief and has been trying to move his shoulder around to work out some of the air in his joints. He was able to go with us (mom, dad, Gretchen, Ben, Josh, Ashley, Adam, Payton, and I) last night to see Shrek the Musical. Maybe Shrek's inspiring words, "better out than in I always say," were enough to help dad get the rest of the air out and start feeling more like himself.

He is back at work and meeting with clients. Knowing my dad, that is no big surprise. We are currently waiting for the insurance company to approve his PET scan. They had initially denied the approval because he had just had a CT scan, however, the doctors are fighting it and are sure that it will be approved in the next couple of days.

He has received all of your cards, letters, emails, and books. If he hasn't gotten back to you already, please know that he appreciates them all. He was trying to answer some of your emails on his phone yesterday while recovering.

Adam, the kids, and I came down to Annapolis on Thursday to spend the weekend at home. It has been a wonderful visit and we are so grateful that we were able to travel down. Gretchen, Ben, and their kids live about 20 minutes away so they have been visiting and cheering mom and dad up the past couple weeks. Mom and dad continue to say that they have an amazing network of family and friends and that they are so lucky to have so many people who have shown just how much they care about their family. I know that Gretchen and I feel the same way having so many friends and family reach out to us during this time.

In other news, according to mom, the training for the race begins today! Despite the weather, we are going to attempt to get some exercise in and get ready for the goal of running the 5K in the fall when dad is all better.

"What Cancer Cannot Do"

Cancer is so limited...
It cannot cripple love.
It cannot shatter hope.
It cannot corrode faith.
It cannot eat away peace.
It cannot destroy confidence.
It cannot kill friendship.
It cannot shut out memories.
It cannot silence courage.
It cannot reduce eternal life.
It cannot quench the Spirit. 

Sorry for the Confusion

I may have confused some people by switching blogs from my first post about my dad to the second. I created an entirely new blog for updates about my dad, but you can still read the original post at my other blog (http://lindsayodonnell.blogspot.com/2013/12/prayers-for-my-dad.html).

The News as of January 4

Family photo taken in May 2013 by J. Shipley Photography

My mom has asked me to write a blog to keep everyone updated with what is going on with my dad. You can follow this blog and I will update it as we learn more information, or even when dad has something that he wants to put out to everyone. Through this blog, we will also let you know more of the specific of what we need prayers for during a particular time. And as always, general prayers for health, healing, a cure, and good doctors are always in high demand!

First and foremost, to those who have sent cards, letters, texts, emails, etc., thank you so very much! Dad loves reading them and hearing from all of you. My dad doesn't have Facebook, but my mom has shared all the posts with him and he is always amazed to see all the support and love that you all have shown to him and to our whole family during this difficult time.

Dad starts his road to beating cancer next week. He goes to the radiologist on Tuesday, and see the surgeon on Wednesday. The surgeon will put in a feeding tube and port for his chemo treatments. On a side note, the once beer and wine fridge has now been converted to a protein shake and meal replacement shake fridge.

Thursday, dad is hoping to get a PET scan to make sure that the cancer is just in the one spot. He did have a CT scan, but the PET scan is definitive and sensitive. Following that, we hope to start radiation and chemo treatments the following week. He will go every day for 5 weeks for radiation treatments. He will have two 4-5 day chemo sessions during that time as well.

After the chemo and radiation, he has 6 weeks to recover his strength and then surgery to take the tumor out! With God's help, he will then be healing and getting stronger!

The whole family (yes, all of us) plans to run a 5k in the fall to celebrate. Something fun to celebrate life! We are thinking maybe a Color Run so that the kids can participate too.

Mom and dad are in Annapolis and are looking forward to continuing to hear from and/or seeing their friends and family. They run a pretty nice B&B for visiting family and friends. As per the usual dad, he will continue to work throughout this time and see clients as he is able as a financial planner for First Command. Luckily, his office is only a few minutes from home and both mom and Gretchen work in the office with him.

As it says in Philippians 4:13, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." With our faith in the Lord, our love that we have for our family, and the love of our friends, we move forward and take on the cancer together.