Last year on Thanksgiving, the family pretty much stayed around the house trying to figure what to do. The news was not good and the prospects did not look good either for another Thanksgiving with me here. We wondered what Christmas would bring after the surgery and the start of whatever treatments were going to take place.
Well that was a year ago and God has been good to us. We had our granddaughter for the first time on Thanksgiving. The 11 of us, Steve, Patti, Heather, Ron, Caleb, Micah, Steve, Stacy, Tyler, Joshua and Mckenna went to Kalahari for Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. We had a Thanksgiving feast. There was just about anything you could imagine for food and deserts. We all over ate. It was really just what I said, a feast. And it cost the price of a feast too.
Besides the feast on Thursday, we swam and water sported Wednesday night going up and down stairs to ride the slides and battled the waves at the wave pool. The same on Thursday and Friday up to 3 pm. Patti and I came home wore out. I find swimming is not something I can do and I end up beat up more than I want to. We also went to the Treehouse Fun area and pelted each other with sponge balls from air cannons and just plain throwing them. Again, I am not too bad left handed on the throws, but then again not too good. It was funny watching everyone chasing each other and shooting each other. Other kids there joined in as the rest of the adults seemed like stick in the mud's. When we left several came up to Patti and thanked her for letting them have so much fun.
I thank God this Thanksgiving for being able to be here. Being able to see my grandchildren grow and to play with them. Especially for Mckenna. Watching her grow over these past 9 plus months and seeing her personality start to show thru is fun. I even enjoy babysitting her while the other went on the rides. All in all, I am thankful for the past year and all the small things I think I would have missed had God not slowed me down to enjoy what he has given me.
Saturday, November 29, 2008
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
It's been a while
It's been about a month since the last time I put something on the blog. I just have been hesitant with the holidays and the round of biopsies that I have done. The biopsies taken from my back have all come up negative. One had to be redone as the site of the mole had developed tentacles and had spread. The mole was abnormal in the readings so they decided to take a larger chunk out of my back. That came back last week as negative and they got all of it.
Today Patti and I went to the alternative doctor for results from my last round of blood and urine tests. I think that Patti was more nervous than I was. It's been over 13 months since we found the cancer and that has played on both our minds. Especially since we discontinued the interferon and conventional treatments. When they took my blood pressure it was 140/60 with a 74 pulse. I blame the off readings on going up three flights of stairs to get to the office. Patti says it was my going to the doctor's office and waiting for the results.
Well, the results were good. Immune system should be between a .9 and 3.7. When I first was tested it was below .9. In July it was a 1.9 and it is now a 3.0. My T cells and NK cells which are the bodies killer cells is way up and the receptor blockers, the things that latch onto the T & NK cells was low, meaning that there is little to no cancer in my system right now. Great news for us. We asked a lot of questions but some of the answers I could not tell you because I was praying and thanking God for the good report. My mind was more on thanking Him than what the doctor was saying. He says everything else looks good and to go to Florida to get some sunshine to get some natural Vitamin D in me. Vitamin D is shown by both conventional and alternative medicines to be a natural cancer fighter. Patti and I will have to take his prescription for sunshine and head down south in January or February for a few days.
I guess, and all doctors say also, that a good attitude as well as good support has helped cure many with cancer and other things. I have a good attitude as well as the greatest support team I think that God could ever give someone. I thought about this with Pastor Quick's sermon on Sunday talking about his experience with Melanoma. We both pretty much have the same story and it made me reflect just how thankful to God I was, not for the cancer, but for the support and the opportunities I have had to tell people about my experience and my God.
I know that I will need further support as the days and months go by, as every ache, pain, bump, doctor's visits and waiting on test results will be a challenge in some way. Thank you all for being there for me when I needed you most.
Today Patti and I went to the alternative doctor for results from my last round of blood and urine tests. I think that Patti was more nervous than I was. It's been over 13 months since we found the cancer and that has played on both our minds. Especially since we discontinued the interferon and conventional treatments. When they took my blood pressure it was 140/60 with a 74 pulse. I blame the off readings on going up three flights of stairs to get to the office. Patti says it was my going to the doctor's office and waiting for the results.
Well, the results were good. Immune system should be between a .9 and 3.7. When I first was tested it was below .9. In July it was a 1.9 and it is now a 3.0. My T cells and NK cells which are the bodies killer cells is way up and the receptor blockers, the things that latch onto the T & NK cells was low, meaning that there is little to no cancer in my system right now. Great news for us. We asked a lot of questions but some of the answers I could not tell you because I was praying and thanking God for the good report. My mind was more on thanking Him than what the doctor was saying. He says everything else looks good and to go to Florida to get some sunshine to get some natural Vitamin D in me. Vitamin D is shown by both conventional and alternative medicines to be a natural cancer fighter. Patti and I will have to take his prescription for sunshine and head down south in January or February for a few days.
I guess, and all doctors say also, that a good attitude as well as good support has helped cure many with cancer and other things. I have a good attitude as well as the greatest support team I think that God could ever give someone. I thought about this with Pastor Quick's sermon on Sunday talking about his experience with Melanoma. We both pretty much have the same story and it made me reflect just how thankful to God I was, not for the cancer, but for the support and the opportunities I have had to tell people about my experience and my God.
I know that I will need further support as the days and months go by, as every ache, pain, bump, doctor's visits and waiting on test results will be a challenge in some way. Thank you all for being there for me when I needed you most.
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