This Pilgrim's Progress

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Just a quick note to wish everyone the best during the Thanksgiving holiday.

Thanks to all of you faithful prayer warriors and all our friends and family for your prayers and encouragement.  God has definitely blessed us in many ways and we continue to be amazed at where his plan for us leads us in our lives. I am very optimistic for the coming year and what it holds for our family.

I'm going back to work Monday, and I will probably even more need your prayers, not only for the fight against the lymphoma but also on how to balance the stress of work and needs of my family. I want to go back to work, but I realize I need to be careful not to put myself in a situation where stress or over-work will endanger my continuing battle against cancer.

We wish everyone a very Blessed Thanksgiving and a Wonderful Advent Season.

Soli Deo Gloria!!

Good News!

I saw my oncologist today before my chemotherapy and he told us the results from the CT and PET scan.  My body has made marked improvement and the lymphoma has been significantly reduced.  I have two more chemo's to go. 

My leave of absence from work ends at the end of November, so I asked my doctor about returning to work on December 1. He had no problem with me going back to work if I was feeling up to it. Well, I feel pretty good, so I'm planning to go back on December 1.

We have a lot to be thankful for already, but this really is an answer to prayer. I know I'm still not "out of the woods" yet, but I can see the other side pretty clearly. Praise the Lord!

Soli Deo Gloria!

Feels Like Summer!

El Cajon had the record high in the country, 97, this weekend!  Had a good weekend, took naps, I think the heat made me more drowsy than normal.  The scans went well last Friday. We'll get the results this Friday when we see my oncologist before my next chemo.  We are looking forward to hearing what my progress is and possibly more about what the future has in store for us.  It feels like my life is  "on hold" right now, and it would be good to know more. 

Took a walk this morning, and it was starting to get pretty hot. Crazy weather we're having. Luckily no wildfires here. Santa Barbara is getting hit with them this year. 

We went to church Sunday and that was a blessing as usual.  Our church is hosting another conference next weekend with Paul Tripp speaking Friday night and Saturday morning, should be good.

Soli Deo Gloria!

Cal Baptist

We spent Tuesday and Wednesday visiting California Baptist University in Riverside.  Andrew spent Tuesday night sleeping in the freshman dorm.  Both students and the other visiting high-schooler were from San Diego! The two students were water polo athletes and it turned out they had friends and acquaintances in common from Andrew's swim days with CAST.  It is a Small World indeed!!

We were all favorably impressed with the school, and thought it could be a real good fit for Andrew. Andrew still needs to audition with Concordia and talk to their percussion/worship band instructor. Cal Baptist is about twice as large as Concordia, and the campus is huge with quite a few new buildings. They have a new music building which was quite impressive. Their focus is more on contemporary music rather than the more classical focus that Biola has (our daughter Heidi is a violin performance major at Biola). Andrew really liked the students he met and talked with at Cal Baptist. He didn't get that chance at Concordia since we visited on a weekend and the campus was pretty deserted!

I'm feeling pretty good, stretching the pain meds out as far as possible. I can tell when I need them when I start feeling odd aches and pains, but usually they aren't that much, maybe 2 or 3 on a 10 pt. scale. Took a walk today, it was beautiful out, and pretty warm. Tomorrow I go in for a CT and PET scan. Apparently they are going to do them on the same machine!! I am looking forward to hearing what my progress has been.

Soli Deo Gloria!

Busy Weekend

We spent the day up at Concordia University in Irvine yesterday.  We are in the midst of visiting colleges as we try to find the right fit for our son, Andrew.  It's a beautiful campus with fairly new buildings.  The dorms are quite nice, we won't tell Heidi about them, she'd be jealous!!!  We were favorably impressed with Concordia and it's definitely on the short-list.

Tuesday we go up to Cal-Baptist to drop Andrew off for an overnight. We'll stay at a motel, then spend most of Wednesday doing the things they have planned for parents.

It's tough trying to figure out which school is the best for your child. We are praying for much wisdom!!!

We had a sunny day up at Irvine, and today it's kind of rainy and windy. We definitely need the rain, not to sure about the wind.

I've been doing well, sometimes feeling a few aches and pains, but usually not. I've been sleeping through the night which is a blessing. This coming Friday I'll be getting a PET and CT scan at Scripps to see how the treatment is progressing.

Our niece, Brittany Wnek will be starting her first chemotherapy tomorrow. Her CT scan was encouraging with no tumors showing up anywhere else.

We were able to go to church today, which was a real blessing. Received a lot of encouragement from folks. We are very blessed by our little church!!!

Soli Deo Gloria!!

Obama

Well the election didn't turn out like we had hoped, but that's ok. I've survived a Carter and Clinton presidency, and I bet we'll survive Obama's too. The Republican party needs to return to it's basic principals and jettison those who want it to be "Liberal Lite" instead of traditional conservative. My real hope is that this presidency will remind our nation how far removed the left is from the mainstream of most Americans' values.

Not much new to report.  Debbie's niece, Brittany, had some encouraging news this week, be sure to check out her web site (http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/brittanywnek).

I just finished reading Clarence Thomas' autobiography, "My Grandfather's Son". A very good and inspiring book. What a contrast between this man and the one just elected president!!  The left knew they didn't have the votes to block confirmation, so they tried to destroy his reputation. I believe Justice Thomas is a true American patriot who has continued to serve his nation at great cost. 

Be not dismayed by the election, but continue to pray for our country and Christ's church!!

Soli Deo Gloria!

Election Eve

Chemo went well Friday, no complications. It even went faster than usual because they were able to speed up the drip on one of the chemicals from 45 to 30 minutes because I'm tolerating it pretty well.  Experienced the normal "post-chemo-constipation" this weekend, but ducolax and miralax came to the rescue. Had a bit of the "dry mouth",  but jolly ranchers helped me out with that too. Otherwise everything is good. Oh, and the oncologist was pleased I had gained back some weight. He said it was a good sign that the body was recovering from the cancer.  I'll need to be more diligent about getting exercise, because I was getting used to the extra room in my clothes! Now they are shrinking on me again!!!  I'm scheduled for CT and Pet scans next week to see how things are going.

The weekend was great. We were back up at Biola to see the orchestra perform. It was a great program and the students played very well.  In the afternoon we had a nice leisurely "linner" with Heidi at B.J.'s where I overdosed on their delicious draft root beer!! Afterwards I managed to get her printer working after an hour or so. I ended up having to un-install and re-install the driver software, something had become corrupted or defunct! Now she's all set for the rest of the semester.  We've met all three of her apartment "roomies" now and they are all very nice and sweet girls. 

Took our lab Toby for a walk this morning. It's quite a work-out with him, because he's kind of vague on the "heel" concept. He usually pays attention only if I have a treat in my hand.  The slight rain we've had made everything nice a cool and fresh smelling. Toby enjoyed it too.

Don't forget to vote tomorrow!!

Soli Deo Gloria!!