Update #11

Dear family and friends,

Two posts in one week! This is going to break my english and vocabulary skills. :) But we would like to update you on the situation. On Thursday after consultation with all the involved doctors, Rob and I made the decision  to go ahead with the next chemotherapy treatment. We know it is the only way to go forward in this fight with cancer but obviously for known reasons it was made with some nervousness. So yesterday Rob received his chemo, a one day treatment, the same type as the very first round that happened now about 7 weeks ago. He didn't have too many side affects that time other than nausea so we are hoping that with the new drug they are going to give him this time they can keep his nausea manageable. With much thankfulness we can say so far so good. Robs been eating his 3 meals a day and even had a special request for his mom's cabbage casserole yesterday for supper. We ask for your prayers that this will continue and that the chemo will have the desired effect. The hopes are that his lung drainage function will improve after this treatment. There are no guarantees for this but it is our prayer too that our God will bless this also.

People wonder how we are actually doing; we most definitely have struggles in this. It's hard, we see life go on all around us and sometimes wish for even just one day of normalcy. We are not extraordinary people. We know this is not something that most couples have to deal with a year after being married. Yet we have an extraordinary God.  He numbers the hairs on our heads, He is in control, in fact '...all the days ordained for me were written in His book before one of them came to be.' (from Psalm 139) Isn't that amazing? We don't know how this will end up, we have so much hope that God will bring us through this and let us grow old together. But we also rest in the comfort that His will be done. Please pray that we will never lose sight of that comfort.

Someone who encourages us more than they know reminded us of Psalm 63:2 from our Book of Praise. The words from the 'old' edition which we memorized as kids often floats through our minds and reminds us again of our purpose and the comfort that we have...

Psalm 63:2 "Thy steadfast love is better far

                   than life itself, O God my Saviour

                   Thy faithfulness will never waver

                   My lips Thy praises will declare

                   With joyful singing I will bless Thee

                   And all my life Thy love proclaim

                   With hands uplifted in Thy Name

                   I will in thankful prayer address Thee."

Update #10

Dear family and friends,

It's the day before Christmas and we're still in the hospital! There hasn't been a post in a while because things haven't changed a whole lot. Or rather we had hoped they would have changed more but they haven't. A week and a half ago Rob had a chest tube put in so that his lungs could drain properly as he had a buildup of fluid in his right lung. Since then he has drained approximately 9 liters of fluid.  Ah!! This drain is constantly open but it seems to 'dump' sporadically large amounts (700 mLs) every other day or so while draining slowly at other times. Last Monday a larger 'dump' occurred which his body definitely reacted to. His lung is partially collapsed due to the fluid so when the fluid drains his body has to take the shock of his lung re-expanding. His heart rate went up and his oxygen saturation went down which took pretty much all week to recover from. He went from being on a high rate on a oxygen mask all week to finally no oxygen at all on Sunday! This was a huge relief  for all of us. Of course though this slowed down physio the whole week, which kept us from attaining the tentative goal of being home by Christmas. Chemo also was put on hold for a bit, hoping to get Robs health more stabilized. Things are still up in the air to a certain extent though because his chest tube is still draining regularly and the doctors aren't totally sure as to why the fluid keeps building up. The likely theory that we've been told is that the lymph nodes which drain this fluid are obstructed due to the cancer.
  Dr. Wong met with Rob this morning and apologized for being vague because he couldn't tell us a whole lot. His wish is to get chemo started again as soon as possible so that also by that the lung drainage issue might be solved. Robs chest tube is a slight concern to him as a possible area for infection so somehow between him and the lung doctors they have to figure out the best possible plan. We will meet with Dr. Wong again on Thursday to set some action in motion hopefully. Please pray for wisdom of the doctors and our peace of minds as we look ahead to the next round of chemo.
  This is as you know a time of year when you least want to be in hospital, but we realize that this too is in God's hands. He has brought us this far and will continue to be near. We have so many things to be thankful for;  and with His faithfulness and love towards us being at the top of the list, how can we complain about spending these next couple of days in hospital. That doesn't mean it isn't tough, we of course miss the usual festivities of gatherings with family and friends but are very grateful that our families live close by so we can still enjoy some parties here at St. B.
  We would both like to thank you all for your continued support and prayers. It all means so much to us. We wish you all a blessed Christmas and joyous holiday season. All year round we celebrate the birth of our Savior and salvation that God has brought to us through His Son, yet there is something so special about this time of year. Truly the riches of the gospel are something to hold close in this Christmas season.


For to us a child is born,
to us a son is given,
and the government will be on his shoulders.
And he will be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
 Of the increase of his government and peace
there will be no end.
He will reign on David's throne
and over his kingdom,
establishing and upholding it
with justice and righteousness
from that time on and forever.
The zeal of the Lord Almighty
will accomplish this.

Isaiah 9: 6-7

Update #9

Dear family and friends,

There really is not a whole lot to say this time around. Rob is still in the hospital regaining strength after his bad reaction to the last chemo. He has come a long ways in the week and a half but still has a ways to go before he comes home. He has no side effects of the reaction( though he still can't remember those couple days very clearly) but his physical strength did take a dive. So now that they have nausea under control again (was a hard thing for the staff to figure out proper dosage since he didn't get the full chemo treatment) his eating has improved this weekend and that goes a long way towards building back strength. The goal of the staff is to get him home this week, so we are going to work hard at that but we'll see what happens.

Chemo was originally scheduled for tomorrow again but this won't happen for sure this week. Dr Wong wanted him to regain enough strength to go home first before his next treatment. So at this point we're not even sure of the plan for chemo. We hope to see Dr Wong this week at one point, so then we'll get an idea of what we're looking at.

While this is not really a place we'd recommend for a lengthy stay, we can't say enough about the staff and excellent care that we get here at St. Boniface! Some of the most caring people work as medical staff and this is a huge blessing as far as the environment in which Rob is healing and making progress to come home. Couldn't ask for better.

One more thing we'd like to mention again is the amount of support that we continue to receive from so many people. While we're not up for all kinds of visitors we very much appreciate and feel encouraged by all the cards, phonecalls, texts and emails that we received! Thanks also to those anonymous people who help out in different ways, you know who you are. We thank you from the bottom of our hearts.

(Only to the interest of some of you: Robs phone, his only method of communication crashed a week ago and after some kerfuffle he got a new phone, with a new number. If you have been trying to contact him, he likely didn't get it. As for the new number, we're obviously not going to post it, but your welcome to contact me or our families if you want it.)

An encouraging phrase I heard this past weekend that provided food for thought was this: 'God spends more time making His people holy than He does making them happy.'. It kind of puts into perspective that our God has a purpose for us also in this battle with cancer that He put on our path. We don't always know His reasons for everything but we absolutely can and do put our trust in Him. We continue to pray that His purpose in our lives may be fulfilled.

Would like to end off with a beautiful Psalm, one that we have learned to say aloud as we go through this journey in our life.


Psalm 121

I lift up my eyes to the hills—
where does my help come from?
My help comes from the Lord,
the Maker of heaven and earth.
He will not let your foot slip—
he who watches over you will not slumber;
indeed, he who watches over Israel
will neither slumber nor sleep.
The Lord watches over you—
the Lord is your shade at your right hand;
 the sun will not harm you by day,
nor the moon by night.
 The Lord will keep you from all harm—
he will watch over your life;
 the Lord will watch over your coming and going
both now and forevermore.

Update #8

Dear family and friends,

Wow, what a roller coaster of emotions we have all been through over the past 3 days. A lot of you have been praying, and again our gracious God has seen fit to answer as always above and beyond what we hope for. 

Rob had one round of chemo on Wednesday and his only response was quite extreme drowsiness. So the plan was to complete the exact treatment on Thursday as well. Rob was still drowsy when they started on thursday but after not even an hour into it started showing signs of confusion. They immediately stopped the chemo and over the course of the afternoon and night kept monitoring him along with sending him for a CT scan of the head. After getting more and more confused all night long, he also got quieter and after they called me in early Friday morning he was quite unresponsive.

At first the doctors thought he was having seizures but after an EEG and another CT they ruled out that option as unlikely. They thought there was maybe infection in the fluid of the lining of the brain or maybe a possible spread of cancer to the lining of the brain. Or that this was a severe reaction to the chemotherapy drugs.

Alot of family came to be with us Friday evening which was a blessing. We had no idea what to expect but very much felt upheld in our Heavenly Fathers arms. The doctors were very frank and said that since Rob was so sick he very well might not make it through the night. Words cannot express the emotions which go through ones mind in times like these.

However God in his all knowing and ever loving ways kept Rob throughout the night. By the time morning came around Rob started to come around and showed signs of recognition. He knew my name and that I was his wifey, so I knew from that he'd be ok (he wouldn't dare forget me :) By mid morning he was talking in clearer sentences, and although he'd lapse occasionally and repeat words it was clear he was making progress.
The doctors have mostly come to the conclusion that this is a reaction to his chemotherapy drug. Dr Wong dropped by at one point and had very positive comments that though this was a scare he was sure Rob would be over this in a couple days with no ill effects. He will change the treatment to not include that one particular drug, but otherwise chemo will commence again in the course of weeks.

Rob cannot remember the past couple of days and still has slow speech but this will get better over a day or two we've been told. He was very surprised to see his two brothers from out west this morning as he had no idea they were coming. This is very special to the both of us. Rob keeps apologizing to his mom and myself for giving us such a scare, and by doing this shows the true 'Rob' again. :)

We are certainly praying for more restored health and strength. God has brought us this far and we feel confidant that his plan for our lives is not over yet. 

All of the above I wrote late last night. I was too tired to finish and post it though. We are thankful to see improvement today again even though Rob had a sleepless night last night. So in between family visiting he's been catching short naps all day. His speech is improving and he is remembering more things about this past week which he had not remembered yesterday. All in all we can only be so thankful to our gracious God for his continued care over Rob. He is the Healer, the Great Physician. Rob says that he feels he has the best possible care, from the staff here at St. Boniface and more importantly from our Heavenly Father. 

There is so much comfort that we receive and continue to receive from Gods Word. These words from our Book of Praise from Hymn 64 are very familiar and a good reminder and encouragement for us all.

1.What is in life and death my only aid,

my comfort when I am by troubles swayed?

I am not mine but Christ’s, who fully paid

for all my sins and saved me.

His precious blood for my offences gave he,

freed me from all the devil’s power and slavery,

for in the book of life God did engrave me,

and me his own he made.

​

2.My faithful Saviour keeps me in his care;

without my Father’s will cannot a hair

fall from my head; he shall for me prepare

a heavenly habitation.

All things must serve to further my salvation.

His Holy Spirit brings me consolation;

he makes me willing now with dedication  

in hope his yoke to bear.