Happy Halloween

Joe left early this morning and will get his IPT today and his Pet scan tomorrow. We probably won't get the results until next week but at least it will be done. Joe was off one day on our return home. We will be driving home on the 7th and Heidi's Dad will be coming here on the 8th. We hope to be home until Jan7th but I might fly back to Ohio to help Heidi if she has RFA scheduled or if she goes to MD Anderson for a consult.
Halloween in this house is way different than at home. We don't ever have trick or treaters living in an adult community so I will be busy handing out treats and going to school to see the parade of costumes.
Have finally caught up on the cc website with all the other patients that have cholangiocarcinoma to see what they are doing and how they are doing. Lots of different ideas out there but everyone seems to stay away from sugar, alcohol, eat lots of vegetables and fruits, take supplements and pray for a cure soon. It is scary when you get a new symptom or one you haven't had in awhile. That's when we turn to God for wisdom, guidance and knowledge that we are following His Plan even tho we don't know where it is going. Love to all of you and God bless. Mary Anne

Home for a bit

My stomach has been acting up (queasy) for the last week and one half. Because of that, I am trying to schedule an IPT treatment and have another Pet CT the same day. I am currently waiting for approval from Medicare. The order was not written quite from my doctor and consequently they turned the first request down. We are trying again. If it comes through today, I will fly out tomorrow, have the pet CT and IPT the next day and fly back to Ohio the next day. We are planning on driving home on Nov 8th. Heidi's Dad will be arriving to help out on the 9th. She is feeling well and gaining strength every day.

As happy as we were to help out it will be good to get home again. We have been home so little this year. So far we have only been home during July, August and half of September. In many respects it seems like a lost year.

Thanks to all of you who are praying for Heidi and me.

Joe

Ohio

Heidi came home from the hospital yesterday. She seems to be recovering well from the surgery but as might be expected is having to process "having Cancer" I have bbeen spending some time with her discussing the importance of a positive attitude. There are lots of things to be positive about for her.

This morning we talked quite a while about God. She does believe in God and seems open to learn more. I told her that having Cancer was not the worst thing...having Cancer without God is the worst.

I think it is so good that we are here. It's a lot of work running the house and the three kids take time also. I am doing homework with Isabelle every night. She is very bright and helps me a lot so that the homework gets done.

Thanks for adding Michael and Heidi to your prayer list. We will be here til the 8th of Nov and then head home.

Joe

Another challenge in the Coburn household

Hi Friends,
We made a sudden change to out plans of being in Bonaire for the month of October. Our daughter in law Heidi was informed from a colonoscopy that she had a tumor in her colon and after biopsy, it was found to be carcinoid and metastacised to her liver. They have three small children and live in Ohio so Friday we flew home and drove to Ohio on Saturday to help out with the kids. It was a blow for Joe to get his diagnosis last year but he was 66. She is 44. It also is treatable but not curable by medical standards. She will hve RFA on the liver mets after she heals from the surgery in about a month. Please include her and Michael in your prayers. We plan to be here til the 8th of November but can't stay away from Joe's treatments either. We will try and pass on all the good nutrition info as well as the hope and strength they can get from God in this tough situation. We are back to helping with homework, feeding animals, and doing household chores that make us feel needed. Joe has Connor the 10 year old out fishing right now. There is a website for people with carcinoid tumors just like the cc website and that has been helpful for Mike. Joe continues to do well and our few weeks in Bonaire were really good to just relax and sit back.Take care and God bless. Mary Anne

Good Divin'

We are still in Bonaire and although not cold at all the weather has been unusual for Bonaire. The last few days have been cloudy and lots of rain. The island only get 22 inches of rain a year and we got 2 1/2" on Saturday. As many of you know, I suffer from SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder) which means that when the sun is not shinning, I am not in such a great mood. Saturday was about the third day that week that it was clooudy and I was pretty down most of the day. Sunday and today dawned sunny and nice and we went diving both days. Today we saw a Spotted Eagle Ray and I was able to get some nice pictures and Sunday for the second time we saw a Queen Trigger Fish (beautiful) and I also got lucky with the camera.

We are so blessed to be able to dive and see God's creatures that so very few get to see. The colors and variety anr unbelievable. I am not sure how one could doubt the existance of God with all the wonders of creation around.

Thanks to those who comment on the blog (Caroline above......we continue to pray for you). I so enjoy reading them.

Joe

Just Relaxin!

We have been on Bonaire for about a week and a half and it has been very good. On our own schedule and very relaxing. We went to the Small group that was started when we were down here in Jan. They are going strong and growing. They are studying the life of Jesus and the leader (Ernie) is doing a GREAT job.

Yesterday, I had my doctor in the States fax orders for bloodwork to the doctor I see here. I went in to see him yesterday and had the blood drawn yesterday afternoon and I picked up the results this afternoon. ALL of the results were very good. Liver function was all normal. Red and white bl;ood cells were also very good. Praise God! They were unable to do the Cancer markers here so I will probably get that done when we return home.

I made arrangements with American Airlines to came home two weeks earlier than planned in the winter so that Mary Anne can train with her coach prior to the Master's State Meet. I also made arrangements to come home in February (in the middle of our stay) for a week in order to get three IPT treatments. I will do that and then return to Bonaire for five more weeks.

This island is so much like home for us. We have been coming here for eleven years and know so many people. The Antilliens are very friendly and laid back. The island is sub tropical and not what one might picture when thinking of a tropical island. No long stretches of sandy beach but this is one of the things that maked the diving great. We think that it is beautiful. There is no discrimination here........I believe that it is the way God intended the world to be.

Again and again thank you for all your prayers!!!

Joe

Bonaire

We arrived here with no problems whatsoever on Monday night at 8:45. It was good to get back and we have seen quite a few people on the island that we know. Yesterday at the Warehouse market a lady who worked there asked me how I was doing? She said she knew me from church (on Bonaire) and that the testimony I gave in Feb really touched her. She is praying for me every day. WOW!

We went to Rum Runners for dinner last night and Bashi the manager asked how I was and said he had told his mother about me in Jan. She had asked about me just a couple of weeks ago and Bashi said she prays for me every day.

We went on our checkout dive on Tuesday and went to one of our favorite sites yesterday. Water is warm at 84 degrees and visability is good. We are hoping to be able to see the coral spawning tonight as we will do a night dive.

It is good to be here, very relaxing with no schedule.

Our love to you all,

Joe

Home

This is the second of a whirlwind three days. We are unpacking, then packing, going to the cleaners, shopping, trying to remember everything and endeavoring to get caught up on sleep. As I am saying this, I realize that this is not going to evoke a great deal of sympathy from any of you. I am excited about going to Bonaire on Monday for a month. The usual resort guests will not be there in October and so Mary Anne and I will have much more time with just each other which will be really good. The temperature will be about the same but because the wind will be much less, it will seem hotter. In October, they have a large sailing regatta and also the annual coral spawn (not nearly as sexy as it may sound). This happens at night and we have never been in Bonaire in October so we are anxious to see that.

I am still feeling excellent. I am thinking, just a walking miracle.....an answer to all the prayers from so many. Thanks....you have touched my heart and obviously God's also!!!

Joe

Paris - 1

Dear Friends,
We have been in Paris for 5 days and leave the hotel in the morning and don't come home til about 9 at night. We are having a great time and Joe is keeping up quite well. We have been to the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, Arch de Triumphe and others. Tomorrow we go to Versailles. We walked 7 miles each of the last two days so we are getting our exercise. Joe continues to feel just fine and he is taking hundreds of pictures. We enjoy traveling with the Carnevales - our ideas of a good time match up so well. we will attend church at Notre Dame on Sunday although we already visited it the other day. We plan to go to Euro Disney on Tuesday and we head home on Thursday.
Love to all of you and thanks for your comments about the video Cassie posted and the party. God Bless
Mary Anne

What A Great Day!

For several months, our son Kevin and our daughter Cassie and George (a friend) have been working on putting together "It's a Wonderful Life"...Joe Coburn. A celebration. It was a golf outing that began with lunch, a demonstration by the world's foremost trick shot artist, Peter Longo (who donated his time to put on the show), 18 holes of golf and dinner. Everything went off as smoothly as could be imagined. Friday the 14th was predicted to be a lousy day but after much prayer, God came through with a cloudless, beautiful day.

We had about 64 golfers and an additional 75 people that came to the dinner. To say the least, I was overwhelmed by the response. We had people come from Milwaukee, St. Louis, Georgia, Florida, Kansas City, Indianapolis, Toronto, Canada, Phoenix, Arkansas and Ohio. People that I had worked with and had not seen in years, made such an effort to help celebrate that day. Of course, as Mary Anne says, "They would rather come to this than a funeral." Yea, me too! Cassie had little bells on each table with pictures of me at all different ages on little tags on the bells and additionally made an awesome video with lots of pictures of me with great, appropriate music. She is so talented. Each one of the children got up and spoke....just beautiful. Then Kevin invited others to come to the mic if they wished and many did. It was so affirming.

The fact is that I have had a wonderful life. I have been blessed with an awesome wife, four great children, eight grandchildren and the best of friends. I have been so blessed by God. He has allowed me to be here far longer than I thought I would be after the diagnosis in July of 06. He is either not done with me or He has more work for me to do.....maybe some of each.

Monday, the 17th we are flying to Paris for 9 days with dear friends the Carnevales who we have vacationed with many times. We return home on the 27th of Sept. We are home for three days and then fly to Bonaire on October 1st and will be there for a month.

If you are reading this blog, I have been blessed by you because you are a relative, a friend someone who is praying for me or at the least someone who cares and is interested.

You have all touched my heart so. Yesterday was one of the GREATEST days of my life. For all of you who shared in that day..........THANK YOU SO MUCH!

Love you,

Joe

Prayers answered - Praise God

Hi Friends,

We just returned home from the doctors with the report of the P.E.T. scan. The report is not as detailed as the ones we got in Arizona but there are no new sites and the current tumors in the liver and lungs remain about the same. The lung ones may be a bit larger but the largest is only 2 cm. the liver ones are still partly necrotic, which means dead, so not real active. The blood results were all normal including the liver enzymes. We didn't get the Ca 19-9 back but that is not real important in intrahepatic. The doctor was pleased with the results and will keep Joe on the same IPT schedule and we are thrilled that his condition remains stable. He has some queasiness over Labor Day weekend but it is gone now.

We have added some joy to our life. We have a friend who broke her kneecap and needed someone to care for her 4 1/2 pound mostly Maltese dog. Since we lost Jake in May, I jumped at the chance so we have Gabe until we leave for Paris, Sept. 17th. He is a delightful dog and fills a spot in our hearts. Look how tiny he is! We went to see the Bourne Ultimatum last night to get Joe's mind off today and it was really exciting.
We are happy so many of you can make it to the golf outing or just the dinner. We are truly celebrating prayers answered and praying for wisdom in what God wants us to do with our time here. We thank all of you for your prayers and support in this waiting time especially. We wanted to wait for this report to blog but we called several of you on the way home from the doctor. Have a great day and God Bless you all. Mary Anne

Triathlon Update

Our sons, Kevin and Michael competed in the Chicago Tri today. There were 8400 competitors making it the largest Tri in the world. Kevin, who was challenged by his older brother, not only finished the race (we had some concerns) but did very well. Michael bettered his best time and then left to drive back to Ohio (about a six hour + drive). We were very proud of both of them.

At service today, Mary Anne joined the worship team. It was very nice to be singing together with her. She did a great job and we will be singing together again in September.

This Thursday, I will have another PET CT. This will show what's going on in my body and what the tumors are doing. Even though I feel well, I have concerns each time I have a scan. Of course, I am praying that the tumors have not grown at all. I am also hoping that the Insulin Potentiation Therapy which I am taking every other week will be enough to maintain where I am. I have another one of those treatments on Wednesday. The last time I had this treatment I was very nauseated and so I am hoping that doesn't repeat itself.

Lots of people are signing up to come to the Celebration of Joe Coburn's Life Golf Outing. I am bowled over by the number and distance that some are traveling to attend. Very humbling!!!

Thanks to each of you who are praying for me. It touches my heart so!

Joe

Time Flies Again

It's been a week (again) since I last put anything on the blog. I can hardly believe it. Mary Anne returned home safely outside of the sore neck she got from having to haul all her medals around. This Wednesday, Michael and his family from Ohio will be coming in to do the Chicago Triathlon. Michael has managed to goad his younger brother Kevin into doing the Tri with him. Should be something....I get tired just thinking about it.

I played golf a couple of times last week and I am incredibly inconsistant....100+ one day and high 80's the next....no clue as to what's going on.

There are already a number of responses to the "Celebrate the Life of Joe Coburn" event. I am humbled by the people who are coming from far away...Florida, Georgia, MO, etc. I am hoping that we will have good weather. Today is terrible with rain and wind....YUK! If we get a day like that we will be spending a lot of time at the bar.

To all those of you who are praying for me, THANK YOU! It is impossible for me to tell you how much that means to me.

Joe

Empty House

Mary Anne left for Houston, TX on Friday morning and will not return until Monday evening. She, as you probably know, is a swimmer and belongs to the Naperville Waves. She traveled to Houston to compete in the Masters National Swim Meet. This pits the best swimmers in the country against each other. She did wonderfully well. In her five races she got a fourth, three thirds and a second. I am very proud of her and she was very happy with how she did.

I took this time to get some things done around the house that I have wanted to do for a long time. Cleaned some spots in the carpet, did some painting around the garage door and side door and also patched and painted the ceiling in the master bath. I spent some time figuring why the whirlpool tub was not working and was able to fix that; so it was a productive few days. I am sure looking forward to her return however.

Our son Kevin has decided to hold a golf outing to "Celebrate the Life of Joe Coburn". It will be held on September 14 and will include lunch, a trick shot demonstration by Peter Longo ( the best in the world) 18 holes of golf (scramble) and dinner. Cost: $80.00 Any proceeds will go to Global Family Rescue (their link is on the right). They are helping under-resourced families in Uganda. If you are interested in attending, email me and I will take care of it!!!! (You can download a registration form in the links area or just click here too!) I am still feeling great. Thanks for all the prayers!

Joe

Time Flies

Wow! I can hardly believe that it has been a week since I last "blogged". Last week I had my first IPT (Insulin Potentiation Therapy) from Dr. Ayer. I like him a great deal. He is very warm and willing to spend lots of time with you. He did the IPT himself which surprised me w bit. Dr. Lodi in Mesa has three full time nurses doing the "stuff". However, Dr. Lodi does much more than just IPT. He does vit. C, Ozone treatments, Kelation and general nutrient buildups. I had no side effects from the treatment. After IPT we met with a nutritionist for about and hour and one half. Seemed well versed in Vegan and Vegetarian eating. He is also a believer in Eating for Your Blood Type. By the way, do you all know that the word vegetarian is an old Indian word meaning "Bad Hunter". Just kidding.

Our pastor Earl asked me the other day if I could build him a platform for him to preach on. I built it and then tried to get it into two vehicles to get it to the club house. One of the vehicles was a van and we still couldn't get it in and it is only about 51" square. Today my neighbor who has a pickup helped us get it over there. YEA! I built a trap door in the platform so that when Earl's message goes longer than 25 minutes, the trap door opens, Earl disappears and we can then move along with the service. Noooooo, Earl is great and rarely speaks longer than 25 minutes. I gave a testimony in church on Sunday about my physical condition and that it was surely an answer to prayer. There are so many in the congregation who are praying for me. Thanks and blessings to all of you who are praying for me.

We spent last Monday and Tuesday with our son Michael and his family in Ohio. It was a great visit and on Monday, Mary Anne and I played with Michael and his son Connor who is 10. Connor did very well and look forward to playing with him when they visit us.

Enough for now!

Joe

Great Reunion

Good Morning,

It was a great reunion. About 70 of us showed up at Bass Lake Indiana where Mary Anne's sister Tricia and her husband Bob have a wonderful lake house. They have lots of toys to keep the children (of all ages) entertained. Pontoon boat, Wave runner, Hobiecat, Sunfish sailboat , windsurfer and a speed boat. They put in a tremendous amount of time, work and money to make this a wonderful time. We are blessed that this is a family that gets along great and loves each other. Not too many like that I think! Most arrived on Friday afternoon and departed on Sunday after lunch. Most of the time was spent eating as I recall with occasional bathroom breaks. Family came from Wisconsin, Minnesota, Illinois, Michigan, Ohio, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado and Mass.

Yesterday afternoon we drove to Ohio to spend a few days with Michael and Heidi and the kids. We will head back to Illinois on Wednesday, and Thursday I will begin my every-other-week IPT treatments. I continue to feel great and really enjoyed a reunion I didn't think I would be here for a year ago. I thank all my family and friends for the prayers that have sustained me through the last year and in the days ahead. We feel blessed with each day.
Joe

ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY

Hey All,

Yup! It was one year ago today that I heard those "bad" words....."It's Cancer". Sometime before that diagnosis, Mary Anne and I were talking and she asked me if I only had a few months to live would I change how I was living. I answered "No". I was so wrong. I have grown closer to God, closer to Mary Anne, closer to the children, changed my eating habits, lost sixty pounds and done some things that I have wanted to do for years.

Here is a brief summary of what has happened the last year:

• July 26th: Diagnosed with Cholangiocarcinoma
• August: Biopsies of liver and lung - Started eating Vegan, no more Coke or sugar! Went to Joliet Oncology and was referred to Chicago Northwestern. Diagnosis of Stage four Intrahepatic Bile duct Cancer
• September: Went to Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN for second opinion. Same diagnosis and treatment options (chemo...ad infinitum) Decided not to do Chemo......easy decision, I felt good, why mess that up!
• October: Traveled to Utah and North Carolina
• January: Went to Bonaire
• March: Started feeling some nausea and pain. Came home early to go to Mesa, AZ for alternative treatment. Pet CT shows moderate growth of tumors.
• April: Feeling better. No nausea and the pain is gone.
• May: Continue treatments. Came home for two weeks to rest up. Pet CT shows an active tumor in liver.
• June: Radio Frequency Ablation to destroy tumor in liver. Three weeks later a Pet CT shows tumor is gone and the five tumors in my lungs have shrunk 30% each. We drive back to Plainfield from AZ.

GREAT TO BE HOME AND FEELING G R E A T !

FROM WHERE I SIT, IT CERTAINLY LOOKS LIKE AN ANSWER TO ALL THE PRAYERS FROM ALL OF YOU!!!

THANKS SOOOOOOO MUCH!!!!

In August I will take Insulin Potentiation Therapy every other week here near home and hopefully that will allow me to maintain the status quo!

Joe

July 23, 2007

Hey All,

Here is a Bass that I caught a couple of days ago in the little lake right behind the house. It's so great to be able to walk out the door and go fishing!!!

I went to see our regular doctor today....just for a checkup and to bring him up to speed. I had some blood work done about a week ago and had the results sent to him also. Everything was normal including all my liver enzymes. The only thing that was elevated at all was the CA 19-9 which was 54......which it has been for some time. I am still feeling excellent....praise God!

As Mary Anne said, this Friday we are headed to the family reunion....70 some....too many people. On Saturday I will play golf with two of my brothers-in-law. On Sunday, after lunch we will drive to our son Michael's in Hudson, Ohio. Heidi and the kids will leave earlier. Michael is doing a bike race around Bass Lake and so we will wait for him and then head out. On either Monday or Tuesday we will play golf with Michael, Connor (9 yrs), Mary Anne and I. Connor has gotten really interested in golf this summer and we have never played with him so that should be fun.

Thanks to all of you for your support and prayers.

Joe

Sunday July 22, 2007

Hi Friends,
Well another week has passed and things are still terrific. This disease has done so much to help us appreciate each other and all the good times we have had and are having. Joe spends a lot of time just sitting on the deck looking at the little lake and the beautiful flowers that are in full bloom right now. A great way to thank God for all his blessings. We have been dog sitting our daughter Cassie's King Charles spaniel and it has been a delight. Not exactly like having Jake back but it sure fills the void Jake left. Yesterday we also got a little shitsu for 6 days while her master, Debbie Ferguson in out in AZ looking for a new job. Molly the spaniel goes home today.
Friday night we went to the hot rods with our son Kev and his family Tracy and the two boys Jason and Ryan. This is something Joe and I did when we were in college and again when we used to camp with the kids. We would spend Friday night at the race track and pick cars and get points for 1,2, and 3rd. Friday night was a perfect night and we had a great time. Maybe seems like a silly thing for people our age to do but it brings back great memories. Yesterday we played golf together and it was another perfect day in the 70's. We just cherish these good days and are so thankful to God for giving them to us.
Next Friday we head to the BIG family reunion on the Murphy side with 72 of the 76 of us together at my sister Trish's lake house on Bass Lake in Indiana. We are staying at a hotel but the days will be spent at the lake. This Thursday marks one year that Joe was diagnosed with intrahepatic bile duct cancer. Neither of us thought we had this much time and we are trying not to waste it.
Thanks to all of you for your continued prayers and contacts. Linda, it was great to see your comment on the blog. We miss you guys too. Charles, good to see your post. We know you are a good prayer warrior and it was because of you that Joe started going to Bible study so many years ago. Take care and God Bless. Mary Anne

July 15, 2007

Hey All,

Yes! There really is a "Joe". I am so grateful to Mary Anne for writing on the blog with such faithfulness. She takes such great care of me. We have been home a couple of weeks now and it is all I expected that it would be. Great friends, lots of relaxing and a church we love to attend.

I am really feeling well these days. For the last few weeks I have not had a queasy stomach at all. This is the first time since Sept of 05 that I have felt normal again....Praise God! As Mary Anne has told you the latest Pet CT was excellent.....what a gift! The procedure along with the chemo and low red & white blood count really took its toll on me. I had NO energy whatsoever. Mary Anne said that if my friends had seen me then they would have been really frightened. I know I was. I believe that I am all the way back to normal now(or at least as normal as I get). I played golf last week, shot a 90 and was not tired when we were through. I was very interested to see how I was going feel after playing 18 holes but I felt just fine.

I led worship at church service this morning and it felt soooo good. I love being able to worship with our friends and neighbors. As always I am so overcome and struck by the number of people who are praying for me....it is so humbling. My thanks to you all for your thoughts and prayers.

Love ya,

Joe