January 2020 CT Results

On February 21, I will be starting a new round of chemotherapy.

The CEA marker in my blood has risen which aligns with what the doctors see in my CT scans: that the cancer has started to grow again inside my lungs and liver. It doesn’t look like they will be able to operate on my liver due to the way the cancer has spread out. To remove the cancer spots they would have to remove the entire liver. Likewise with my lungs, there are too many areas to remove surgically.

Apparently drugs are my best option at the moment.

I’m on the first of four standard treatments currently available for my type of cancer which, to me, translates to another few years of life. I will also be pursuing clinical trials. I’m not sure what that will entail but we shall see.

The plan is to give me another 3 months of chemotherapy and then see how I respond. At some point, when it is safe to take a long enough break from chemo, I will still have the procedure to have my ostomy reversed. 

I was a little disappointed with the results, to be honest. I was hoping for a completely clear scan. But God obviously has something else in mind.

I still feel fine. My abdomen is still a little tender from the surgery and is preventing me from doing sit-ups but that is about it. Since my last visit to the oncologist I’ve gained 22 lbs. I’m roughly at my pre-surgery, post-chemo weight.

I can’t say I enjoy living life with cancer, although I do enjoy living. If left untreated I could have been dead back in June of last year. I have no idea how anyone could live like this without God. My life may be coming to an end sooner than I would like. The only way I am coping is because I know God is in control, and ultimately, if the worst does happen, I’ll be with Him in heaven.

I’m rather curious to know how long God wants me to be down here and what He wants me to do while I am living out my last days, whether that be a few years or several decades from now. 

This news has not changed my outlook on life. I am not dead yet and will continue living as though I will make it to my nineties like my Great Aunt Irene, whom we fondly call “Auntie” and who turns one hundred this year. I’m continuing to keep busy with work, and while this may cause you to question my sanity, I have recently enrolled in a 6-month course to learn Biblical Hebrew. Not really sure why, except that I do enjoy challenges. Well, most challenges. I could do without my current “cancer challenge.”

I wasn’t exactly cheering as I left the doctor’s office today but after having countless doctor’s appointments my impression of doctors it that they really don’t know that much. Don’t get me wrong, they know WAY more than I do, but they don’t know everything. They are scientists predicting outcomes based on the available data. I still believe God can heal me because God can do anything. I just don’t know if it is His will to heal me.

Please pray for us:

• Pray for healing. I’m not giving up hope of being healed until I meet God in person. It would be really nice if He would just tell me what He is planning. And on that note…
• Pray that the chemotherapy will work. Pray that I can endure the side effects.
• Pray that I will be eligible for cancer drug trials that are close to home.
• Pray that Leanne and I can better know God’s will. 
• Pray for our family. We don’t purposely remind the children of my condition, although they know. I can’t help putting myself in Harry’s 7-year-old shoes (figuratively speaking as his shoes would never last for 7 years and I of course could not literally fit in his shoes). How would I have felt at his age if my father had died or if there had been a distinct possibility he could die? I was blessed to have my father alive for 33 years of my life and my deepest desire is to be there for my children at least that long.

I’ll end this post with the lyrics from a song that I keep praying to God, that reflects my situation perfectly. I used to play this song a lot when leading worship back in my youth. (Am I old enough to refer to “my youth” yet? Oh yah, I have cancer. I can say whatever I want.)

I’ll let you know how my first chemotherapy goes.

Good to Me by Craig Musseau

I cry out
For Your hand of mercy to heal me.
I am weak,
I need Your love to free me.

O Lord, my rock,
My strength in weakness,
Come rescue me, O Lord.

You are my hope,
Your promise never fails me
And my desire
Is to follow You forever.

For You are good,
For You are good,
For You are good to me.

For You are good,
For You are good,
For You are good to me.