Bonaire

We arrived on Bonaire on Wednesday evening and some friends from the church greeted us and another couple, also from the chuirch, picked us up at the airport. Very nice! We almost did not make the plane however. When we checked in at the reservations desk we were asked for Lucky's health certificate and his rabies certificate. We had the health certificate and the Vet had written on the bottom the date of rabies vaccination and the tag number. This was not good enough for this agent as it says that the passenger must have the rabies "certificate". I tried to point out that it was noted on the health certificate but to no avail. They were not going to let us on the plane. It is about 6:50 at this point and Mary Anne called the vet's office and the answering service said that although the vet would not be in until 8:00 a.m., someone would be in the office at 7:00. At seven, Mary Anne called back and got Penny, a woman we know, to fax the certificate to American Airlines. We made it!!! What a hassle that would have been to have to delay a day to get that certificate. We had never been asked for it in the past.

Last Friday, I went to see Dr. Gwo, a Chinese herbalist. Dr. Ayre, from whom I am getting the IPT treatments, referred me to him because of my often-present queasy stomach. I filled out the five page questionaire and went in to see the Doctor. He had me stick out my tongue, took my pulse for a minute on each wrist and looked at my nail beds.....that's it. I told him of my diagnosis and queasy stomach. He asked who prescribed all the supplements that I was taking. I told him Dr. Lodi in Phoenix. He asked me what Dr. Ayre had said about them. I told him that Dr. Ayre said they couldn't hurt, to which Dr. Gwo said, "Dr Ayre, too kind, I more direct, waste of money". I then proceeded to buy $400.00 dollars worth of herbs from him which he obviously did not think was a wate of money. I am, however, feeling better. My queasyness is almost gone. He gave me two herbs for my liver and two for my stomach.

Because of some work being done in our condo, we will not be able to move in there until Thursday. They are totally redoing the two full baths upstairs. There was a water leak and they had to tear the baths up to get at the pipes so they are redoing everything. Should be very nice.

It is good to be back here. We have many friends here in addition to the many who come down and stay at the resort.

Happy New Year!

Ed & Jayne our next door neighbors came over for New Years Eve. We had cheese and meat fondue and they sat down to watch a dvd (Amazing Grace). About 9:00 p.m. Mary Anne woke me up to tell me that Ed and Jayne were going home. They were tired and obviously so was I. However, after they left I did stay up til about 11:30....those little naps can do you a world of good.

I had my last IPT treatment today at least for a while as we had for Bonaire next Wednesday. I will fly back alone on Feb 19th and have three treatments on the 20th, 22nd and the 25th and then fly back to Bonaire on the 26th for another five weeks.

We are busy packing and weighing suitcases. More difficult for us when the weight limit dropped from seventy pounds to fifty pounds. We always look like the Clampets when we travel. Four large suit cases, two carry ons, a dog and a computer plus a back pack....WOW! We are hopeful that Lucky, our new addition will be as good a traveler as Jake was. He would not make a sound in the five hour flight from Chicago to San Juan. Amazing!

Have a healthy and happy New Year!

Joe

Great Christmas!

Hard to believe that it has been over a week since I last posted on the blog. The Christmas holidays seemed to fly by. Karen flew in from Phoenix although she was delayed with some fog in Chicago. I have never seen O'Hare soooo crowded. We finally got home at 2:00 A.M. We celebrated our Christmas with the family on Dec. 23rd. with everyone together but Michael Coburns who had a Christmas at home for the first time in years. We had a glorious meal headlined with beef tenderloin and a crown pork roast. Fourteen of us gathered at the table. We exchanged presents earlier in the afternoon. I led worship in the morning and sang on the worship team on Christmas Eve. On Christmas we went to Kevin and Tracy's for dinner which was great. Unfortunately, we had to take Karen back to the airport on Christmas day as she had to work the next day.

We are now preparing for New Years. I continue to feel the same with only a queasy stomach. Mighty good! Praise God. We leave for Bonaire on January 9th and we are excited to head down there again. In so many ways it is like home for us.

We wish each of you a Happy and Healthy New Year! May God bless each of you abundantly.

Joe

Another Pet CT

Last week, I had another Pet CT. It seems that with each one, I become more nervous regarding the outcome. Our primary physician, Dr. Schubert called me on Sunday to let me know that although there was small growth in one of the lung tumors, he would still classify the disease as stable. I certainly thought that this was good news. On Wednesday, we went downtown to see Dr. Mulcahy at Chicago Northwestern. Overall, she just indicated that my tumors seemed to be very slow growing and that I was on the far end of the bell curve. We think that she may have just written us off as we are doing alternative therapy which she refuses attest to its effectiveness. Oh well! I'm not sure it is worthwhile going to see her again.

Last Saturday on the 15th we flew to Cleveland to spend a long weekend with Michael, Heidi and the children. We had Christmas on Sunday morning and Mary Anne, Michael and Heidi went to her oncologist on Monday. I stayed home with the kids as it was a snow day with which they were delighted. Her news was all good with no growth of her tumors. All her blood work was also normal and he didn't think they would do more blood work for several months and another MRI for maybe six months....all good news.

Tonight our daughter Karen flies in from Phoenix and will be with us for Christmas. We will have our Christmas on the 23rd as Kirk and some of the children are busy with church on Christmas eve. On Christmas day we will all head to Kevin and Tracy's for dinner. Mike and family will spend their first Christmas at home in some years. Unfortunately, Karen will have to fly back on Christmas day but we are so grateful that she will be in for a few days, We just don't get to see her as much as we would like.

Immediately after Christmas we will start getting ready to go to Bonaire as we leave on January 9th. We are so blessed to be able to spend time there!

We wish all of you a most blessed and joyous Christmas!

Joe

New Addition

As some of you may remember, last April we had to have our thirteen year old Maltese, Jake, put down. It was a very sad moment. As you dog owners know, they become like members of the family. Both Mary Anne and I have missed Jake a great deal. Mary Anne has been looking on "Pet Finders" and has showed me several dogs. I asked her if she was planning on getting another dog and when she said no I asked her not to show me anymore pitures of dogs.
We have been dog sitting for a friend who has the cutest, submissive little white dog. As great as he is, just dog sitting did not seem to do it for us and so Mary Anne called a friend who works at the Vet we went to, who also happens to be a show judge and asked her about finding us a small white dog...maybe a Maltese. Three hours later she called back to say that a friend of hers who runs the Animal Shelter in Joliet had a one year old male Maltese. He was small and very submissive.
Mary Anne went out that afternoon and got him. We found out that if we had called one day later he would have been put down. He is the cutest thing and very submissive. We felt very lucky to get him and him to be lucky also as he wouldn't have been here one day later.....
so naturally we decided to name him "Lucky"!
He is nothing like Jake. First of all he doesn't growl at me when I come into the bedroom and he is much more affectionate. He has adjusted very easily and already seems very much at home.

On another note, I have another Pet CT on Thursday the 13th and we have an appointment with Dr. Mulcahy at Chicago Northwestern on the 19th. We are hoping that the report will not only be favorable but also far more definitive.

In four weeks we will be leaving for Bonaire. We are so blessed to be able to get out of the winter for a while. We sure love the island and all the people who we know who either live on the island or come there while we are there.

May God bless each of you abundantly at this marvelous time of the year!

Joe

Christmas is Coming!

Last week, we were able to get the Christmas tree up and all the decorations in the house. I had put up the outside lights when the weather was much warmer. We turned on the outside lights on Thanksgiving evening. Like so many, I love Christmas. What a special event is the birth of our savior. I am enjoying each day and thank God for them. I am still feeling well and if anything my queasyness is less than it had been.
Yesterday I went to the Bears football game. It rained continually until we were in Soldier Field. Then the rain did stop and it didn't rain again. The temps started dropping and the wind picked up but I had soooo many clothes on that I was plenty warm. If I had put on many more clothes, I would not have been able to move. We had to walk a long, long walk from where we parked to the stadium and that was fine for me but Kevin (our son) had invited me and he brought his two boys, Jason 8, and Ryan 6. Jason did fine but Ryan had to be carried most of the way. I think they enjoyed the game....actually they enjoyed all the junk to eat that Kevin bought them. To the surprise of very few, the Bears blew a nine point lead in the fourth quarter and lost. It was a very nice outing. I'm glad Kevin asked me to go although at first I said I would rather stay at home and watch it in High Definition where the temp is always 72 degrees.

It is about 25 degrees here today....very cold but sunshinny. Good day for staying inside!

May God bless each of you.

Joe

Happy Thanksgiving

Dear Family and Friends,
Last year we thought it might be our last Thanksgiving together. Now here we are year later and Joe isn't feeling any worse than last year. What a blessing! We are gathered at Kev and Tracy's,(our youngest son) house in Bloomingdale and we have had a very relaxed day. We actually have three dogs with us and they are all dong well together.
Today brings to mind the verse from Jeremiah - For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans to prosper you and not harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.
Joe and I had a nice dinner out last night and talked about why he was still here and feeling well. We decided that there is still work God wants us to do together so we are trying to be open to what that is. Does that sound like bargaining with the Lord? We hope not but we feel truly blessed by the time we have had and hope we have a lot more.
Hope you all are enjoying a great Thanksgiving with family and friends. We continue to pray for all those who are praying for us. God Bless. Mary Anne
P.S. The new picture to the right is from our trip to Paris in September.

Summer's Over!

Most of the leaves are off the trees and I have already put up the outdoor Christmas lights. Wow! Summer is definately over and winter is upon us. Even though I won't turn on the Christmas lights 'til Thanksgiving night, they are up and I actually chose a day where it was 68 degrees to do it in. Normally, I like to wait until it is about 20 degrees with a strong wind and then put them up.

I have been going to Dr. Ayre and getting IPT every week since the results of the last Pet CT. My queasy stomach is about the same. It's not so bad; it is just disconcerting! Dr. Ayre is perhaps the most caring physician I have ever encountered. He would be more than willing to come in on a Sunday if I could not get in at another time.

I have been making sawdust in my workshop.....making some things for Christmas....stuff for the neighbors. Cassie, our daughter, who is very artistic put the finishing touches on them and made it look really good. She is very talented and most willing to help.

We will be celebrating Thanksgiving at Kevin and Tracy's house. We will all be together except Karen who is in Phoenix and will have her best friend Kelli there with her. Karen will come in for Christmas but Michael and his family will not. We will fly to Cleveland on December 15 to have Christmas with them. It is so hard to get the whole family together at one time. After being gone for so long it is so good to be back home and attend services at our church here in Carillon. We will actually be home for about two months before we leave for Bonaire (God willing).

Mary Anne's back is hurting her as she has a bulging disc. She is scheduled for an MRI. We are praying that it will resolve on its own and ask for your prayers also.

With Thanksgiving almost here, I think we are all reminded of the vast number of gifts that God has showered upon us. Each of you who read this blog and pray are certainly among our gifts. Thank you!

Have a great Thanksgiving.

Joe

Back Home

We did drive back to Chicago on Wednesday the 7th of November. On Thursday I had lunch with Ben Pahlow the co-founder of Global Family Rescue (see link to their website). They are having a fund raiser on Saturday (today) and I am MC-ing it. What a great cause. On Friday, Mary Anne and I went to see Dr. Ayre. I got another IPT treatment and he talked to us about the results of the most recent Pet CT. Not very favorable. The report was not very clear and rather general in nature but it said that the number of tumors in my lungs had increased. I don't know whether this meant from the five that were there to six or to sixty. It also said that some of the tumors had increased in size....no mention of what percentage increase. It also said that the tumors in my liver may be experiencing more viability on the outside ring (the inside is dead). Disappointing that the report was so non specific. The bloodwork that I had done was ALL normal including the CA 19-9 which is the first time that has been normal in a year and a half. (19-9 is a marker for gastrointestinal cancers) We will take the CD of the Pet CT down to Dr Mary Mulkahy at Chicago Northwestern and have her look at it. I am also going to increase the treatment from once every other week to every week and then have another Pet CT in 6 or 7 weeks and see if the increased treatments helped. With the exception of the queasy stomach I am still feeling well.

My continued thanks for your prayers. God bless you,

Joe

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