Well Joe has a short day of treatment today, just ozone so that means about two hours. I just picked Cas and Marianne up at the airport and we are meeting Karen for lunch while she works.
We got the results of the P.E.T. scan done in Chicago read by the radiologist out here. There are still 5 spots in the lungs and multiple areas in the liver. That sounds to us like nothing has changed but it is difficult to tell without a comparison. We will get a more definitive result when he compares it to the one last September. There are no new areas which is good but we don't know the size from this report. It is possible we may need to get a cat scan if this wasn't a PET ct scan which is what we thought he had. Joe continues to tolerate the treatments Ok and the port does make it easier. He has tomorrow off because the doctor is going to a conference so he has a three day weekend. The weather here is chilly for us about 60 but should be in the 80's this weekend.
That's about it for now. Have a good weekend and God bless. Mary Anne
Thursday, March 29, 2007
Monday, March 26, 2007
Monday march 26, 2007
Hi Friends,
Well today is 8 months since Joe was diagnosed. I don't think either of us thought he would be here when we heard the news but he is not only here but doing really well. The treatments are going well with little side effects. he had his blood drown yesterday to get ready for IPT today and his levels were fine. They check the while cell count before each treatment. We are hoping to get the results of the P.E T. scan today. I dropped Joe off and went swimming and now am at Karen's catching up on email. As one of the fellow cc patients wrote, we also can't take the time to read forwards and jokes while we are away so please understand. we pay for our time out here and we really just want news of how our friends and family are doing and what is going on in your lives.
It is different being out here away from all the distractions of home, some of which are really good by the way. We only get calls from caring people,no solicitors, no busy work to do etc. Yesterday we went to church and then out to lunch with the pastor Mike and his wife Darcy and some of their family. Karen had to help someone move so she couldn't join us. Then Karen treated Joe and I for our birthdays to a concert by Josh Groban downtown Phoenix last night. He is a wonderful singer and Joe and I have only been to maybe two concerts but nothing on this scale. It was at an Arena that held 20,000 people usually for basketball I guess. We were up in the boonies but it didn't matter because you could hear just fine. It was a nice break from all the medical stuff. We didn't get home til midnight which is late for me and up this morning at 7 to get ready for the day. I am having a guy make the green juice today to see if we can get one more palatable. He make them for a lot of patients at the center.
We had a sort of down day yesterday but are better today. I guess it is natural to have those once in awhile but church and Mike praying with us helped a lot.
Joe is going to try and play golf with Mike on Friday as the clinic is closed. I may hang out with Cassie and Marianne as they tour ASU that day.
Jan, Thanks for your comment and keeping the Carillon people abreast of what is going on. Feel free to give anyone our blog site.
We will let you know more news as we get it. Love you guys, God Bless Mary Anne
Well today is 8 months since Joe was diagnosed. I don't think either of us thought he would be here when we heard the news but he is not only here but doing really well. The treatments are going well with little side effects. he had his blood drown yesterday to get ready for IPT today and his levels were fine. They check the while cell count before each treatment. We are hoping to get the results of the P.E T. scan today. I dropped Joe off and went swimming and now am at Karen's catching up on email. As one of the fellow cc patients wrote, we also can't take the time to read forwards and jokes while we are away so please understand. we pay for our time out here and we really just want news of how our friends and family are doing and what is going on in your lives.
It is different being out here away from all the distractions of home, some of which are really good by the way. We only get calls from caring people,no solicitors, no busy work to do etc. Yesterday we went to church and then out to lunch with the pastor Mike and his wife Darcy and some of their family. Karen had to help someone move so she couldn't join us. Then Karen treated Joe and I for our birthdays to a concert by Josh Groban downtown Phoenix last night. He is a wonderful singer and Joe and I have only been to maybe two concerts but nothing on this scale. It was at an Arena that held 20,000 people usually for basketball I guess. We were up in the boonies but it didn't matter because you could hear just fine. It was a nice break from all the medical stuff. We didn't get home til midnight which is late for me and up this morning at 7 to get ready for the day. I am having a guy make the green juice today to see if we can get one more palatable. He make them for a lot of patients at the center.
We had a sort of down day yesterday but are better today. I guess it is natural to have those once in awhile but church and Mike praying with us helped a lot.
Joe is going to try and play golf with Mike on Friday as the clinic is closed. I may hang out with Cassie and Marianne as they tour ASU that day.
Jan, Thanks for your comment and keeping the Carillon people abreast of what is going on. Feel free to give anyone our blog site.
We will let you know more news as we get it. Love you guys, God Bless Mary Anne
Thursday, March 22, 2007
Thursday March 22, 2007
Hi Everyone,.
Well yesterday was another long day. Joe had his first IPT and I misread the info and we got there at 11 instead of 1. We went to Karen's and hung out for awhile (she ws at work) and then he got his treatment. I am very impressed with how careful they are and how much monitoring they do. The treatment was painless but it takes awhile to give the insulin, wait for the blood sugar to drop, give the chemo and a few other drugs and then get the bloood sugar back up. All the patients say they like the IPT days because they get to have sugar ( like juiced apple juice or orange juice) We left there about 4:30 and Joe felt Ok until the middle of the night when he had one episode of nausea. He feels back to his normal quezziness today. I alos talked to several patients wives and got some tips on the green juice. Dr. Lodi also gave us some suggestions. I tried a sample batch last night and it was really much better so we are going to start gradually until he gets used to it drinking the green juice and supplementing with raw vegan diet. We had a great cold corn chowder last night. Tonight I am going to Whole Foods and get a tour of the raw stuff that is good and what to do with some of it. We were 80 % raw for 5 months before we went to Bonaire so I have some background but it helps talking to other people and getting their recipes.
Our spirits are lifted today and I am going swimming for the first time since we got here. We are learning our way around and the distances don't seem so far. Jake our dog has been a real trooper and Karen's cats are getting used to him. Thanks you all so much for your support. We really appreciate the emails and phone calls. We know God is with us in this and I told Joe I really see his courage. God Bless Mary Anne
Well yesterday was another long day. Joe had his first IPT and I misread the info and we got there at 11 instead of 1. We went to Karen's and hung out for awhile (she ws at work) and then he got his treatment. I am very impressed with how careful they are and how much monitoring they do. The treatment was painless but it takes awhile to give the insulin, wait for the blood sugar to drop, give the chemo and a few other drugs and then get the bloood sugar back up. All the patients say they like the IPT days because they get to have sugar ( like juiced apple juice or orange juice) We left there about 4:30 and Joe felt Ok until the middle of the night when he had one episode of nausea. He feels back to his normal quezziness today. I alos talked to several patients wives and got some tips on the green juice. Dr. Lodi also gave us some suggestions. I tried a sample batch last night and it was really much better so we are going to start gradually until he gets used to it drinking the green juice and supplementing with raw vegan diet. We had a great cold corn chowder last night. Tonight I am going to Whole Foods and get a tour of the raw stuff that is good and what to do with some of it. We were 80 % raw for 5 months before we went to Bonaire so I have some background but it helps talking to other people and getting their recipes.
Our spirits are lifted today and I am going swimming for the first time since we got here. We are learning our way around and the distances don't seem so far. Jake our dog has been a real trooper and Karen's cats are getting used to him. Thanks you all so much for your support. We really appreciate the emails and phone calls. We know God is with us in this and I told Joe I really see his courage. God Bless Mary Anne
Wednesday, March 21, 2007
Tuesday first day of treatment
Hi Friends,
Yesterday was the day the juice fast started but Joe couldn't tolerate the juice - it really made hime ill even tho it is only green vegetables. So he will probalby not do that part. Yesterday he got some nutrients IV and today he will get his first IPT. We are well aware that this treatment is alternative but conventional medicine has nothing to offer that Dad is willing to do - i.e regular chemo. We have decided to do this for 6 weeks and see what happens. Please pray that we will be wise about this. We did get some good news. The CA 9-19 was 67 in September (normal is below 33) and the one he had done at St. Joes a week ago came back 27. We still don't have the P.E.T. scan results correct but hope to get that today. We appreciate the people who are trying to make sure we know all the facts about Dr. Lodi but we feel that God is leading us in this and want to give it a shot. We are praying for courage, fortitude, wisdoma nd patience. Dad has already made friends with some of the patients. Most of them are there every day for some treatment. I will not be spending all day with him as there is no place for me to sit with him in the lounge but I will spend the next few days there to see what is going on. Thanks for your support. We all have to do what we feel in right. Hope you understand this. We appreciate your concern and comments and have looked into the information about Cr. Lodi. God bless. Mary Anne
Yesterday was the day the juice fast started but Joe couldn't tolerate the juice - it really made hime ill even tho it is only green vegetables. So he will probalby not do that part. Yesterday he got some nutrients IV and today he will get his first IPT. We are well aware that this treatment is alternative but conventional medicine has nothing to offer that Dad is willing to do - i.e regular chemo. We have decided to do this for 6 weeks and see what happens. Please pray that we will be wise about this. We did get some good news. The CA 9-19 was 67 in September (normal is below 33) and the one he had done at St. Joes a week ago came back 27. We still don't have the P.E.T. scan results correct but hope to get that today. We appreciate the people who are trying to make sure we know all the facts about Dr. Lodi but we feel that God is leading us in this and want to give it a shot. We are praying for courage, fortitude, wisdoma nd patience. Dad has already made friends with some of the patients. Most of them are there every day for some treatment. I will not be spending all day with him as there is no place for me to sit with him in the lounge but I will spend the next few days there to see what is going on. Thanks for your support. We all have to do what we feel in right. Hope you understand this. We appreciate your concern and comments and have looked into the information about Cr. Lodi. God bless. Mary Anne
Monday, March 19, 2007
Dr. Lodi's Visit
Hi all,
It's Karen (Joe & Mary Anne's daughter) writing for Mom and Dad. It's been a long and pretty exhausting day at the doctor's office. We got there at 10am and left around 3:30pm having had only an apple each to eat. So they were pretty tired and I told them I would give the update on the blog.
Unfortunately in the way of PET scan results and bloodwork, the results that Dr. Lodi had were not complete and gave us no definitive picture of where Dad's cancer is at at this point. His office is going to work on getting more complete results.
Dr. Lodi spents lots of time with us explaining various aspects of cancer and how a raw diet helps the immune system. He also explained the various types of IV treatments that Dad will be getting. The first goal is to do six weeks of treatment and then see how things look. The treatment involves IPT (can't remember what it stands for), Ascorbic Acid doses (high doses of Vitamin C) and Oxidation. If you want to know more about these and how they work you can check out Dr. Lodi's website at www.anoasisofhealing.com . Anyway these treatments are designed to specifically target cancer cells and not kill of the good cells. At the same time Dad will be doing a "green juice" fast for 21 days to boost his immune system and cleanse and detox his body. Mom is going to be doing that part with him I think.
The treatment is much more expensive than Dad thought it would be and is not covered under medicare. This of course creates stress. Please pray for wisdom for them and for the Lord's peace to just be all around them. They start the fast tomorrow and are probably going to be at Dr. Lodi's every day. Today felt pretty heavy by the end of the day - just facing the reality of all that will be happening. Please pray that the Lord will lighten that heaviness. Thanks for all your prayers!
Karen
It's Karen (Joe & Mary Anne's daughter) writing for Mom and Dad. It's been a long and pretty exhausting day at the doctor's office. We got there at 10am and left around 3:30pm having had only an apple each to eat. So they were pretty tired and I told them I would give the update on the blog.
Unfortunately in the way of PET scan results and bloodwork, the results that Dr. Lodi had were not complete and gave us no definitive picture of where Dad's cancer is at at this point. His office is going to work on getting more complete results.
Dr. Lodi spents lots of time with us explaining various aspects of cancer and how a raw diet helps the immune system. He also explained the various types of IV treatments that Dad will be getting. The first goal is to do six weeks of treatment and then see how things look. The treatment involves IPT (can't remember what it stands for), Ascorbic Acid doses (high doses of Vitamin C) and Oxidation. If you want to know more about these and how they work you can check out Dr. Lodi's website at www.anoasisofhealing.com . Anyway these treatments are designed to specifically target cancer cells and not kill of the good cells. At the same time Dad will be doing a "green juice" fast for 21 days to boost his immune system and cleanse and detox his body. Mom is going to be doing that part with him I think.
The treatment is much more expensive than Dad thought it would be and is not covered under medicare. This of course creates stress. Please pray for wisdom for them and for the Lord's peace to just be all around them. They start the fast tomorrow and are probably going to be at Dr. Lodi's every day. Today felt pretty heavy by the end of the day - just facing the reality of all that will be happening. Please pray that the Lord will lighten that heaviness. Thanks for all your prayers!
Karen
Thursday, March 15, 2007
Heading to Arizona
Hi Friends and Family,
Wednesday we spent at the International House of Prayer and what a great filling up we received. We went in the healing room and were prayed over, Joe for his cancer and me for my voice. In between, we spent time in worship and prayer during the day and then late afternoon we went in the prophetic words room. It was so encouraging and we really feel the Lord blessed us with His words and will continue to bless us on this journey. Today we got up and left Kelli's at 5:45 and drove 880 miles to Albuquerque, NM. We arrived here at about 6:30 having gained an hour, had dinner and are now in the motel room relaxing while Joe peeks at the basketball games. The drive was not bad (although I only drove two hours) but no traffic and very little construction. The weather was perfect and we have now come to some low mountains. Joe felt good today which made the drive much better. Tomorrow, we should have no trouble getting to Karen's by dinner and we can't wait to spend some time with her. We saw something today we would never see in Chicago - a riderless horse with bridle and saddle galloping along the highway. We didn't see the cowboy anywhere but the horse was having a good old time.
We have been eating anything and everything which makes us feel alittle guilty but we know we will be on a strict program come Monday so we figure a few days off won't hurt. How much weight do you think you can gain in a week? I have been known to do a good job on a cruise.
Jake our dog continues to be a great traveler and just sits up behind the wheel like he is driving when we stop for gas or a quick meal.
Thank you all for your concerns and prayers. We couldn't do this without you. God Bless. mary Anne
Wednesday we spent at the International House of Prayer and what a great filling up we received. We went in the healing room and were prayed over, Joe for his cancer and me for my voice. In between, we spent time in worship and prayer during the day and then late afternoon we went in the prophetic words room. It was so encouraging and we really feel the Lord blessed us with His words and will continue to bless us on this journey. Today we got up and left Kelli's at 5:45 and drove 880 miles to Albuquerque, NM. We arrived here at about 6:30 having gained an hour, had dinner and are now in the motel room relaxing while Joe peeks at the basketball games. The drive was not bad (although I only drove two hours) but no traffic and very little construction. The weather was perfect and we have now come to some low mountains. Joe felt good today which made the drive much better. Tomorrow, we should have no trouble getting to Karen's by dinner and we can't wait to spend some time with her. We saw something today we would never see in Chicago - a riderless horse with bridle and saddle galloping along the highway. We didn't see the cowboy anywhere but the horse was having a good old time.
We have been eating anything and everything which makes us feel alittle guilty but we know we will be on a strict program come Monday so we figure a few days off won't hurt. How much weight do you think you can gain in a week? I have been known to do a good job on a cruise.
Jake our dog continues to be a great traveler and just sits up behind the wheel like he is driving when we stop for gas or a quick meal.
Thank you all for your concerns and prayers. We couldn't do this without you. God Bless. mary Anne
Tuesday, March 13, 2007
On our way
Hi Friends and Family,
Well we have made it to Kansas City and are staying with Kelli for the next two nights. Kelli is Karen's friend who she roomed with in Russia. The drive today was easy. Easy for me to say because I only drove 120 of the 488 miles. The sun was shining most of the way and it got warmer all the way and when we arrived it was 80 in Kansas City. Tomorrow we spend the day at the House of Prayer and I am really looking forward to getting filled up with grace and prayer for our Arizona journey. We heard today that the treatment is not covered by medicare which is a bummer but we don't know all the details yet or what the costs will be so we aren't worrying about what we don't know. At least, I am not worrying about it. Jake our dog traveled wonderfully well on the floor in front of my seat. Just like he did in the airplane.
Thanks to Kirk, our son in law for putting on a picture of us from Bonaire. I have to say that we had a wonderful stay in Bonaire doing all the things we usually do. Joe isn't feeling really great and I would say generally he is probably 5-10% worse than he was at Christmas. Now again that is me the spouse saying this. I am not the one with the quezziness. He is a trooper tho and doesn't complain. The only way I find out is if I ask.
We had a very busy three days home but finished our taxes unpacked and repacked and left at 8:30 this morning and arrived here at 5 tonight. We are on our way to dinner with Kelli and then probably early to bed. Please keep praying and God Bless you for all your support. We will only have email these two days til we get to Karen's on Friday. Love to you all and God Bless. Mary Anne
Well we have made it to Kansas City and are staying with Kelli for the next two nights. Kelli is Karen's friend who she roomed with in Russia. The drive today was easy. Easy for me to say because I only drove 120 of the 488 miles. The sun was shining most of the way and it got warmer all the way and when we arrived it was 80 in Kansas City. Tomorrow we spend the day at the House of Prayer and I am really looking forward to getting filled up with grace and prayer for our Arizona journey. We heard today that the treatment is not covered by medicare which is a bummer but we don't know all the details yet or what the costs will be so we aren't worrying about what we don't know. At least, I am not worrying about it. Jake our dog traveled wonderfully well on the floor in front of my seat. Just like he did in the airplane.
Thanks to Kirk, our son in law for putting on a picture of us from Bonaire. I have to say that we had a wonderful stay in Bonaire doing all the things we usually do. Joe isn't feeling really great and I would say generally he is probably 5-10% worse than he was at Christmas. Now again that is me the spouse saying this. I am not the one with the quezziness. He is a trooper tho and doesn't complain. The only way I find out is if I ask.
We had a very busy three days home but finished our taxes unpacked and repacked and left at 8:30 this morning and arrived here at 5 tonight. We are on our way to dinner with Kelli and then probably early to bed. Please keep praying and God Bless you for all your support. We will only have email these two days til we get to Karen's on Friday. Love to you all and God Bless. Mary Anne
Sunday, March 04, 2007
Getting ready to come home
Hi dear friends and family,
We are winding down here in Bonaire. We leave here Friday and have spent the last week saying good bye to friends who have left the island. Today we said goodbye to our church friends who aren't in our small group. We have our last small group on Tuesday and the group has become good friends. We hope they will continue after we leave.
Joe has had a better week this week with no bad nausea. We are trying to lap up all the sunshine and warm weather to store it in our bodies for our few days in the cold Chicago weather. We hear they had a warming trend which melted some of the snow-that would be great. Our plans are to arrive home late Friday night and leave again on Tuesday morning for AZ driving there with a stop at the International House of Prayer in Kansas City on Wednesday and on to Az arriving there Friday the 16th.
My voice is slowly coming back to normal. I no longer sound like Minnie Mouse, at least not most of the time. I think it will make a full recovery.
We are so grateful for the time we have had in Bonaire and being optimistic, we have scheduled to come back in October for the month we aren't using now. I did read on the cc website that some people with this cancer have a slow growing kind. I would rather think Joe's is healing but slow growing would be OK if we can turn it around with prayer and treatment. Whatever God plans, we know it is good. We try to treasure each day and feel blessed for the well days. We hope to keep in better contact when we get home or in the states as wirelass should be a little more convenient. We miss you all and so appreciate all you concern. Can't wait to see all our carillon firends at church on Sunday. Bye for now God Bless. Mary Anne
We are winding down here in Bonaire. We leave here Friday and have spent the last week saying good bye to friends who have left the island. Today we said goodbye to our church friends who aren't in our small group. We have our last small group on Tuesday and the group has become good friends. We hope they will continue after we leave.
Joe has had a better week this week with no bad nausea. We are trying to lap up all the sunshine and warm weather to store it in our bodies for our few days in the cold Chicago weather. We hear they had a warming trend which melted some of the snow-that would be great. Our plans are to arrive home late Friday night and leave again on Tuesday morning for AZ driving there with a stop at the International House of Prayer in Kansas City on Wednesday and on to Az arriving there Friday the 16th.
My voice is slowly coming back to normal. I no longer sound like Minnie Mouse, at least not most of the time. I think it will make a full recovery.
We are so grateful for the time we have had in Bonaire and being optimistic, we have scheduled to come back in October for the month we aren't using now. I did read on the cc website that some people with this cancer have a slow growing kind. I would rather think Joe's is healing but slow growing would be OK if we can turn it around with prayer and treatment. Whatever God plans, we know it is good. We try to treasure each day and feel blessed for the well days. We hope to keep in better contact when we get home or in the states as wirelass should be a little more convenient. We miss you all and so appreciate all you concern. Can't wait to see all our carillon firends at church on Sunday. Bye for now God Bless. Mary Anne
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