Surgeon

Last time the surgeon was Dr. Greggory. Well, he's on vacation so his boss is doing the surgery.




Please keep Dr. Dunn in your prayers.

Adam

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Update

The surgeon came out not too long ago. His platelets aren't doing their job when they put his central line in (blood isn't clotting well). She thinks they might change the approach on the surgery and not try to take out more tumor and only focus on the cyst. Everyone is on board with this decision - it's the best for John and poses less risk.

Adam

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Under

We just left John in his pre-op room. He should in surgery in the next hour or so.


Adam

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Tomorrow

Tomorrow is the big day. His surgery starts at 730 in the morning and will go 12 hours or so. He is heading to pre-op at 530am and I plan on arriving around 6. Please keep everyone in prayer, including the surgeon, staff, family, friends and of course, John.

Wow, seems eerily familiar.... http://prayersforjohn.blogspot.com/2009/11/tomorrow.html

- Adam

Group prayer

I got to take part in a prayer group today for my dad at his house. He's so fortunate to be a part of a church like Encompass. It's small enough that everyone knows everyone, and because of the "small town feel", you can really see the passion and care that everyone has for each other. Thanks, Kevin, for leading!




Adam

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Portacath

John's first stint in the hospital and all his subsequent doctor visits have turned him into a human pin cushion. The top of his hands always have a little hit of purple to them thanks to all the lab work that's been drawn. So, now John has his very own portacath which was surgically implanted on June 8th. Having this will allow him to no longer have his hands tied up and it will give the nurses the advantage of being able to get meds to him and into his blood stream faster.


More info on a portacath can be found here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Port_(medical)

The now and then

As promised, here is a very high level summary as seen by me (Adam).

The past few months have seen there fair share of ups and downs. We've had some good days and bad, happy times and sad. The chemo and radiation is not an easy thing to forgo, but all things considered, John did remarkably well and didn't get too physically sick.

A little less than a month ago John finally had a follow up MRI which revealed that there was a cyst that has formed in his head. A cyst in the brain in case you were wondering is a sphere filled with fluid, similar to a miniature balloon filled with water. This one is isolated in the rear of the area where the tumor was. We were told that getting a cyst after this type of surgery although rare, usually doesn't cause too much worry depending on what its doing. In John's case, we found out that this cyst is pushing against his left brain hemisphere. Because of the pressure it has begun to mess with his motor skills. With all this new information, and after his case being presented it was unanamously recommended that another surgery should be done. This unfortunatly was not what we wanted to hear - as John said he would NEVER go through that again.

About three weeks ago, and after a lot of prayer, a decision was made that he would go through with a second surgery. In this surgery they would drain the cyst and remove as much of it as possible and then place a sort of plug in his skull to allow for future draining. The plug is... well... imagine a cork being stuck in your head. Through this cork someone can take a needle and go through the cork to get into your skull. This is essentially what he is getting. Once it's in, it will sit below the surface of the skin but will allow a doctor access to drain the cyst in the event that it fills back up.

Also shown by the MRI was new growth of the cancer. Although it wasn't entirely expected, it was inevitable. The good news is it has spread only a little and while the surgeon is in his head working on the cyst, he can take out a little bit more of the tumor.

The surgery is set for Monday, June the 14th early in the AM. It is pretty much the exact same surgery as last time.

Please keep John in your prayers, as well as his family. Thanks.

A long time

It has been quite a while since this blog has last been updated. Since the last post there has been some good news and stories along with some not so good news. In the upcoming days and weeks I'm going to try to post more news and information, both old and new.

As always, prayers are still very much needed and preferred.


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Radiation almost Done!

I have just two more radiation treatments and that phase of my treatment will be over with. Although the actual radiation treatment is painless and relatively quick, the side effecte of chronic fatigue is getting very tiresome. Having a total lack of energy is difficult to deal with. To further compound the problem, I found out last week that I am also suffering from hypothyroidism (i.e. the thyroid gland is not producing sufficient amounts of hormone). According to the doctor, his is probably an unrelated condition to my brain cancer, and is easily treatable by taking anoher pill each day, which I began last week. Symptoms of this are also fatigure, so it is understandable on why I have felt so tired. With the radiation ending tomorrow, and his hormone supplement, I am praying my fatigue will disipate in another week or so.

I have another meeting with my oncologist next week to discuss what comes next. I believe the plan is to take a 1 month haitus from the chemo and then restart at double the current dose at the end of 30 days. New imaging will be done in the near future to see what the current state of the cancer is.

I spend most of my day in scripture and prayer. When not doing that, Caren and I continue to run lots of errands each day relating to the building of our new home which we plan on moving into in late March. We are excited about the move and it certainly has proven to be a pleasent distraction from my health issues. We coninue to see small blessings nearly every day in the midset of this 'storm', and remain convinced that if we remain faithful and obedienet, the Kindom will be served through this trial. His transforming power is certainly working in both of us.

Thanks to all for any and all your prayers, they contiue to sustain us. May God richly bless you all.

Love, John and Caren

Update

I have completed my 3rd week of radiation and chemo treatments, and all is well thus far according to the Doc's. The only side effect I continue to have is a constant fatique (which is very normal and expected side effect of the radiation treatments); but no negatives with the chemo which is a huge Praise to the Lord. In another month, they double the dose of my chemo, and that may be a different story, but for now, the Lord has smoothed out my path. Apparently, the chemo does a number on your bone marrows ability to replace red blood cells, so I am still awaiting the results of some tests taken yesterday on that, but the doctor doesn't seem to worried at this point.

Caren and I were able to spend some time with another couple from church who has a reoccurence of cancer. It was nice to be able to empathize with their situation and pray together for God's provision on us as well as others we know from church undergoing their particular 'storms of life.'

With the fatigue issues, I am usually in bed my 8 or 9 o'clock, and then inevitably wake up at 1 or 2 in the morning. My routine has been to get up and read and/or study scripture for a few hours until I get tired again, and then go back to sleep for a few hours. I then spend most of the morning doing my normal Bible study routine; the best part of my day. I am working hard to memorize more scripture, something I have always stuggled with. The Lord definitely has granted my wish for a thirst, but I admit to having trouble in the memorization. My short term goal is to memorize a minimum of 15 minutes worth (that is how long my radiation treatment lasts). Now, I have to repeat over and over the same few passages I have committed to memory to take up this time plus some power praying.

Thanks again to all for your continued prayers and support, Caren and I are so grateful.

We love you all, John