A prayer from above
May 12, 2008
A great family friend passed my cousin’s info on to her prayer group and the following prayer was sent to me. There is strength in numbers and I would like to ask that when you have a minute, please repeat it (as frequently as possible) while keeping my cousin in your thoughts.
Heavenly Father:
We come to you in prayer with thanksgiving for Jon.
We pray that your healing hand will restore his health. What
looks like the impossible in this world is not impossible for you! You
are a God who can heal the sick, restore the weary, comfort the grieving and
strengthen the weak. We pray your divine healing and protection from this
assault over Jon. May his hope be renewed in You the God of all
Grace! We pray for you to guide the medical doctors and give them
discernment and wisdom about his situation. Put back what has been stolen from
him and heal the mass that entangles his heart, lung and esophagus so that your
holy life blood and breath can flow and rejuvenate him in Jesus’ name! Be
Jon’s fortress in this storm and let him not be overtaken, but let him be the
conqueror and the victor through You! Let there be a day of rejoicing and
proclamation that Jon has been delivered from all his fears and illness by a
miraculous healing! May Jon and his family and friends be comforted and
may you strengthen them and give them courage and peace to stand strong in this
battle with all their hope and trust in You!
“Be of good courage, and He shall strengthen your
heart, all you who hope in the Lord.”
Amen.
So, it’s been just a little over 9 months since my uncle Robert passed away from brain cancer and today my family is facing yet another tragedy/obstacle. After having bad chest pains last night, my cousin Jon who is 25 (my dad’s brother’s son who is a nurse) was taken to the emergency room. An x-ray showed a tumor in his chest and after several days of tests, a biopsy showed that Jon has T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (T-ALL). He will start radiation and chemotherapy soon in hopes of shrinking the tumor and killing the cancer. Right now I am still in disbelief and am not sure how to react. Ironically, the night I got this news, I was in the very last pages (literally reading the last 5 pages) of ‘My Sister’s Keeper’ – a book about a girl living with acute promyelocytic leukemia. Ironic in the fact that the very things I had been reading about for the past 3 weeks (Hickman catheters, bone marrow transplants, induction therapy, radiation) are now a part of my cousin’s and family’s everyday vocabulary and dealings. I’ve been praying like crazy and trying to arm myself with knowledge (because knowledge is power, right?). Really, for me, having the knowledge to understand what Jon is going through is the best way for me to remove the fear from the situation (if that
is possible)…when I remove the unknown (at least part of it), I find that I can actually think more clearly and try to help others understand. So, here it is…this is what I’ve found.
- Acute Lymphocytic leukemia (ALL) is a type of blood cancer.
- T cells form part of the body’s defense mechanism against disease. T cells originate in bone marrow and then migrate to the thymus gland, where they mature. T cells work to kill specific cells recognized as “foreign,” and to regulate the activities of other cells fighting disease and
infection. - Few factors have been associated with an increased risk of developing ALL.
- Leukemias that affect T cells are very rare; thus, there are no standardized treatments. Various chemotherapy drugs have been tried, with varying levels of success.
- T-ALL can be resistant to drug therapy, but the disease-free survival rate approaches 80%, which is similar to outcomes of patients with
B-cell ALL. - High-risk types of ALL – such as T-cell ALL, infant ALL and adult ALL – are usually treated with higher doses of drugs during induction and
post-induction therapy. - Induction therapy brings about a remission in most patients, but over time most patients relapse. A relapse is when the disease returns
after a remission. Patients who relapse after chemotherapy may be treated with different chemotherapy drugs and/or more intense doses. Patients who relapse soon after remission or while they are receiving chemotherapy have high-risk disease. For these patients, chemotherapy is less likely to achieve a long-term remission, but a bone marrow or cord blood transplant may be effective.
And that’s it so far – not much, but a little to keep me at bay until I can do 1,000 more Google searches and talk to others who have dealt
directly with the disease. What I do know is that my family needs your prayers. Also <and this is a book SPOILER…so read no further if you are or
want to read ‘My Sister’s Keeper’ without knowing the outcome> in the book Kate lives, and with prayer and good doctors Jon can live too.
Sources:
Playa del Carmen…Hausmen Style
May 5, 2008
I knew that when Dustin and I accepted an invitation to travel to Mexico on vacation with our good friends the Hausmans that it would be anything but ordinary. After I received the Playa itinerary from Terry this week, I knew I had assumed right and I couldn't help but get all giddy and excited about our upcoming trip to the Caribbean beach. Although our trip isn't for another 6 weeks, I couldn't contain my excitement and wanted to share:
Technically, I kinda get 2 vacations in 1 — I will be heading to Boca Raton, Florida on Thursday, June 19 with a few of my closest girlfriends — we are going to celebrate one of my best friend's (Vera) bachelorette party! After 3 days of playing in the sun and cruising on the family yacht, I'll be jetting off to meet Dustin and the Hausman crew in Playa. Here are the plans while there:
- Monday: Zipline tour! I've always wanted to do this and I'm finally getting the chance! We'll be doing the tour with Selvatica and be zipping to and from 24 platforms (the longest in North America!). That night we'll be dining on authentic Mexican food at La Parrilla – http://www.laparrilla.com.mx/
- Tuesday – trip over to Cozumel — Dustin and I will probably take this day to do a few Scuba dives.
- Wednesday – Day at Paamul – a small, rocky, quiet beach. We'll be Scuba diving with the Hausman group that day.
- Thursday – this day is open and we haven't decided if we are going to Scuba some more or not — most likely we'll be catching up on our reading and lounging near the condo. That night, we'll celebrate AJ's birthday at La Bodeguita where we will enjoy traditional Cuban food.
- Friday – open day to enjoy the sun!
Again, I am already counting down the days until we leave AND already counting down the days to our 2009 vacation (haha) – what can I say, I LOVE to vacation!!
Celebrate the bride & groom
May 4, 2008
This weekend Dustin and I got to spend time with our wonderful friends Barbara and Justin. Their wedding is all set for 6-7-08 and on Saturday they were treated to 2 showers thrown by family and friends in McAllen, TX. Saturday started with a girls-only shower where we enjoyed delicious food catered by Mimi’s cafe (quiche, muffins, fruit salad, petit fours, cheese trays, and punch) and visited with friends and family of the Holland and Gonzalez families. When the guests left, Dustin and I were able to watch the happy couple open all of their gifts — how fun!
Later that night we attended a Cowboy BBQ & Margarita themed couples shower and enjoyed scrumptious fare catered by Rudy’s BBQ.
Needless to say the day kept the bride and groom busy and on their toes greeting guests, chatting about the wedding, and enjoying their friends company. It’s easy to see by the high attendance at both showers that these two are loved very much. We were so glad that we were able to attend both events to show Barbara and Justin how happy we are for them. We can’t wait for the wedding next month in Mexico!
Update on back
May 4, 2008
Well, everything is looking up as far as my post-surgery progress goes. I had my 4 month checkup (technically it was March 24…just getting around to letting everyone know) and was surprised to learn that my back was nearly 90% fused! I was told that 100% fusion would most likely take 6 to 9 months, so to hear that at 4 months I was almost completely healed made me ecstatic! The photos below show my x-rays at 2 months post-op, before fusion had started. I’ve tried to label them so you could tell what they are. Isn’t it crazy that they can now print x-rays on paper – everything is digital – no big bulky film paper! I’m going to ask for prints at my next appointment so that I can show you the fusion.
At that appointment I was also released to go back to exercising with very few limitations (no impact cardio (running, jumping), no abs where I’m lying on the floor (until the 6 month mark and I am counting down to June 4), no roller coasters or jetskis (at least this summer))! So that made me very happy. I jumped (not literally because jumping would hurt my back 
haha) back into the gym and it has felt oooooh so good. Everyone cautioned me to get back into everything slowly and I did my best, but I found that the more exercise I did the better my back felt! I’ve been working out again for about a month and feel better than I can remember feeling in a very long time. Pain in my back is minimal – about a 2 on a 10 point scale 2 or 3 days a week – whereas pre-surgery it used to be at least an 8 at the end of EVERY day. Some days I am actually pain free and it’s wonderful.
I will go back to the doc for a 9 month post-op appointment in September and will let you know how it goes, but I don’t see anything but good news coming in the future!
