Update #26

Good evening all,

I can’t speak for the parts of the family living in other parts of the country or continent but here in Manitoba we had a beautiful pre-fall/almost end of summer day. It definitely feels like fall is on the way though. Anyway, I’m sure you all know that we met with Dr. Wong today to get and discuss the results of the PET scan I had on Friday. I think most of you have heard the news in some form or shape by now but we figured we should just send out an email anyway. I’ll try keep to what the good doctor told us, it won’t be a verbatim quote but here it is: Basically with the type of cancer I have or that it has grown into it “lights up a PET scan like a Christmas tree” but my PET scan didn’t show that. Where the cancer originated it shows up really good on the scan but the tumor in my abdomen doesn’t show what he expected, “I thought I would see something much worse than this.” He really doesn’t know what is going on inside of me, “when he looks at my CT scans he sees a very large tumor and that doesn’t look good at but then he looks at my “clinical presentation” (how well I look and feel and how well I am doing) and that just doesn’t fit with he would expect looking at my scan so he “somehow has to put the two together.” He is not sure where to go from here simply for the fact that he really doesn’t know if the tumor is cancerous or not. So his plan for now is do nothing at all until December and then have a CT scan, see where things are at then and go from there. We asked him to clarify what nothing meant and by nothing he means no chemo till after the CT scan. If the CT scan in December shows that the tumor has grown chemo will most likely be the way to go again. If it shows the tumor is still the same size as the last CT I had in July another scan will probably be scheduled for in another three months and the same also for if the tumor has shrunk. Also, if it is about the same size or shrunk, the doctors will most likely look at removing the original tumor. As you can see/read, there is so much to be thankful for. Dr Wong said today “you were desperately sick when I first saw, I didn’t think you make it but now you are doing so much better” God has been so good to us, He has granted so much, he has given me more days on this earth then I thought I would have. There are times when I thought I was not going to be able to celebrate our 2^nd wedding anniversary together with my wife but he was granted that. There was days that the doctors told Felicia and family that I might not pull through, days that I don’t and can’t remember. There was nights in the hospital when I would wake up struggling for every breath and praying to God that I would make it through the night. So thanks be to God and Him alone that I am where I now am! I am not out of the woods yet, the doctors can’t and won’t make any promises, there are many unknowns and as Dr. Wong agreed with today, “this is now a wait and see game.” We know though that God does know what is going on and what the future holds for Felicia and myself and we also know and confess that God hears and uses the prayers of His people so we ask you all to continue to pray with us and for us that God may continue to use the doctors and whatever other means He so desires to heal me. We don’t know what God’s full purpose is in all of this but we pray that He will accomplish His plan through my sickness. We do know that God has drawn us closer to Him in all of this and that He has made us realize our complete dependency on Him and that no matter what He is bringing glory to His name and that He is furthering His kingdom.

Rob and Felicia

Update #25

This was written last night:

Good evening all,

As most of you know, today Felicia and I had an appointment with Dr. Wirtzfeld, the surgeon whom Dr. Wong sent me to. Well, we didn’t hear what we wanted to hear, basically Dr. Wirtzfeld told us that because of the size of the tumor it is not possible to operate. When they operate they  take out everything and a margin of healthy stuff if they can, otherwise it is pointless to have the surgery. As she described it to us, the mass is almost completely wrapped around my kidneys and up against my spine, so she would have to remove both my kidneys and part of my spine at minimum. Kidneys alone might not be so bad, I would be on dialysis for the rest of my life but so be it, but then I couldn’t receive chemo anymore so altogether she feels that it would be quite detrimental to my health and of no benefit to have surgery. She also told us that her colleagues in Toronto would be of the same opinion as her.

So here is where we know we are at: In the next couple of weeks Dr. Wirtzfeld along with Dr. Wong is going to send me for a PET scan and wait and see what the results of that scan are. As I mentioned in an earlier email, there is a small possibility that the tumor is scar tissue, maybe some of it, maybe all of it, maybe none of it is. Maybe it is all cancer still, we don’t know. What this PET scan might show is that it is still cancer or maybe scar tissue but it could also show nothing new. As Dr. Wirtzfeld said to us, cancer tumors are alive, they feed off your blood system and your nutrients and that is quite often why cancer patients don’t feel well and slowly go downhill in their health. But I, on the other hand, am slowly gaining more physical strength, I am feeling better now than I have in almost over a year and that is what is why Dr Wirtzfeld and Dr. Wong are sending me for this scan. In the meantime, the tumor is still slowly shrinking from chemo (or is it scar tissue slowly being reabsorbed by my body?) so the plan is to keep going on with chemo as long as I can handle it or it stops working and then find something else that works and then keep on going again.

We can ask why, and we do. Why, Lord, did you send this to us, why us? Why this? But we do know why, that His name might be glorified throughout. The Lord has a plan and purpose for all of us, we don’t know what His plan is for us right now but we trust in Him, our help is in the name of the Lord the maker of heaven and earth. So we ask for your prayers and support in the coming days and weeks,

Rob and Felicia

Update #24

Hello all,

Hopefully all of you are in good health and enjoying this beautiful summer day.

Once again I write another update after a day of visiting doctors, getting blood drawn, filling out forms and trying to remember all that we have been told today. First thing this morning we met with Dr. Wong (I think I should start calling him Dr. Wight) who is my oncologist. Both he and his nurse, Erin, were very happy with how I was doing and how well I looked, Dr. Wong told us he was quite happy with the way things are going. The tumor in my abdomen has shrunk a little more but not by much and a couple of lymph nodes in my chest are still slightly enlarged and kidneys are also still slightly enlarged. Dr. Wong would like to go ahead with chemo again; I still will not be getting the Vincristine drug due to the ongoing tingling and numbness in my hands and feet.  As of tonight we still do not know when my next round of chemo will be.

Going forward from here, Dr. Wong would like to talk to a surgeon here in Winnipeg about the possibility of surgery and if that surgeon doesn’t want to do the surgery because of the large size of the tumor in my abdomen then Dr. Wong would like to send me to Toronto. Dr. Wong feels that surgery is probably the best option here because the tumors are not responding well to the chemo but more just holding them at bay so to speak. Based on how I am still gaining weight (may it be ever so slowly), still have a very good appetite and how well I feel overall Dr. Wong has a suspicion that the tumor cancer cells may be inactive. If that is the case, surgery is a very good option; however the only real way for the doctors to confirm if this is indeed the case is if they operate on it and remove the tumor to send it for pathology tests.

Moving on a couple of hours we met with Dr. Bard, my urologist who put my kidney stents in last October. That appointment was a follow up of those kidney stents, which are typically changed or replaced every 3 to 6 months but can last up to one year. So on September 16 of this year I will have surgery to either replace them or remove them, Dr. Bard isn’t sure yet which will happen because he hadn’t seen my latest CT scan results yet. But either way the surgery is only a very routine surgery/procedure and I will be back home again the same day.

So, at the end of the day, after getting blood drawn twice, walking all over two different hospitals, seeing countless nurses and a couple of doctors, that is all we have learned. Well actually, that isn’t all we learned, today again we were remind of how faithful our Heavenly Father is, when we were talking with Dr. Wong he told us that he was surprised I was still alive. God has granted us so many blessings in the past year, that I was even able to receive treatment and that God blessed all the treatments, I responded well to them, I was able to leave the hospital, I could again live in my own home with Felicia again and that now He has even given opportunity for surgery now.  How can we not give thanks? Of course there has been hard days, days in the hospital when everyone didn’t think I would make it, days that I can’t remember; days when we struggle with the whys and the uncertainty of life but every day again we are reminded of God’s continued care for us children. We could read in Psalm 68 today “Praise be to the Lord, to God our Savior, who daily bears our burdens.” And as we confess in Lord’s Day 1 “He also preserves me in such a way that without the will of my heavenly Father not a hair can fall from my head” but then we have to continue on with that “indeed, all things must work together for my salvation” and also believe what we read in Romans 8 “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”We confess this is from Him, Lord’s Day 10 discuss the providence of God “...He still upholds heaven and earth and all creatures, and so governs them that ...health and sickness... indeed all things, come to us not by chance but by His fatherly hand.” We know that God is refining us; He has our ultimate good in mind, our eternal salvation.  We don’t know what God all has planned for us in this and what His purpose is in all this but one thing we do know, He is drawing us closer to Him. He is teaching us that our life is not our own, not one little piece of it. He wants us to look to him for all things, body and soul. He wants our praise and adoration. And so as we also read in Psalm 68 “Sing to God, O kingdoms of the earth, sing praises to the Lord, to him who rides the ancient skies above, who thunders with might voice. Proclaim the power of God, whose majesty is over Israel, whose power is in the skies. You are awesome, O God, in your sanctuary; the God of Israel power and strength to his people. Praise be to God!”

Rob and Felicia

Update #23

Good afternoon all,

As most of you know I have had chemo this past Thursday(round #16!) so I am in the midst of recovering from that. I have a CT scan scheduled for this coming Tuesday morning and the follow up appointment for that  with Dr Wong won't be till two weeks from then on August 6th. Because of that I am getting an unexpected little break from chemo which we are quite looking forward to. Also on the same day as the Dr Wong appointment I have another appointment with Dr Bard. Dr Bard is the doctor is who put my kidney stents last October. We aren't 100% sure but we are assuming it is just a follow up on those, most likely to see if they need to be replaced maybe even removed. In all this we have seen how our Heavenly Father has looked after us and provided us with the strength and courage to keep moving on. So now we also ask for your continued prayers on our behalf that God will continue to bless the work of the doctors and that the CT scan this coming Tuesday will show that the cancer is still responding to the chemo. 

We have seen quite a few faces in the last couple weeks that Rob had not seen in a very long time! We are very grateful to say that Rob has been to church a couple of times and could also be involved for the entirety of a family wedding that just took place last week. Exciting steps forward! Thanks to everyone again for all your encouragement! 

Rob and Felicia

Update #22

   As of yesterday Round 14 is now completed. Due to a symptom that has been getting worse in the last number of weeks, Dr. Wong has decided to drop one of Rob's chemo drugs which has been causing neuropathy in his feet and hands. Rob has been experiencing loss of feeling in his feet, mainly his toes as well as tingling in his fingers. These feelings may possibly be restored, however they also may not. So while there is a chance of getting that back, or at least not making it worse Dr. Wong feels it is best to just drop that drug for now. We of course are happy that the doctors take this into consideration, but also hope that this means that the chemotherapy will be as effective as it has been! Of course this is the doctors decision and we know that he is doing the best for Robs treatment.
   Rob has been feeling quite well during the off week of chemo and we hope that one of these Sundays soon we will have an opportunity to go to church together. That is a day that is much looked forward too! We thank you all for your continued prayers for Rob's healing. Our God is a awesome God.