Thanksgiving Dinner

Just thought you all might enjoy a review of my Thanksgiving dinner. Although I didn't have any treatments today, the center did provide a raw vegan meal for me. I'll list the items on the plate clockwise, starting at 1:00.

Mock mashed potatoes - blended cauliflower and macadamia nuts with mushroom "gravy" - so-so
Stuffing - I think this was a nut pate with regular stuffing seasonings - very good
Mock Turkey - not sure what this was made from - maybe mung bean sprouts? - okay
Green Bean Casserole - made from broccoli stalks and onions - very, very good
Cranberry relish - yummy, yummy
Waldorf salad - delicious
Dessert (not shown) - pumpkin pie with a nut crust, carob mouse pie - both were delicious!

My first experience with a vegan Thanksgiving meal was a very nice experience.

Hope you all enjoyed yours!

First Week

I haven't had much access to the web in the past week, so I'm slow in letting you all know how much I appreciate all my anonymous friends out there. It's impossible to completely say how very much we're thankful for what you're making possible. The folks here at the center have already been impressed with the kind of support they have seen us receiving. I hope it will be a reflection on the kind of God we serve.

I've had a full week's worth of treatments now, and so far so good. Saturday's treatment was with Zomeda - a drug to attack the bone cancer - and it made me feel pretty uncomfortably flu-ish for about 24 hours. None of the other treatments have caused serious discomfort. The chemotherapy is administered after insulin has been used to drop my blood sugar, so I get a mighty blood sugar ride. It's not exactly pleasant, but it's all worth it because I get to eat dessert after the treatment to bring my blood sugar back to normal. I haven't eaten sweets for months now, so that's a real special treat. (Even healthy desserts are limited to after chemo treatments.) And those desserts are made from entirely raw vegan ingredients. You would never have known the difference between the almond fudge I had on Thursday and normal fudge. Today I had coconut-almond macaroons which I also loved. It's absolutely amazing what the chefs here do with raw veggies, seed sprouts, and nuts. I'm certainly not suffering. I will be providing many of my own meals beginning next week, since, although the food is delicious, it is also very pricey. Because I've been eating raw food since late July, I feel prepared to handle my own food needs. I sure am excited to try making nut cheese on my own. We did that in "cooking" class this week and the result was very similar to feta cheese. And I had thought I would never be able to eat cheese again.

Last week I have had 4 Vitamin C IV treatments, 1 infrared sauna treatment, one oxygen treatment, 1 chemo treatment (called IPT therapy), 1 Zomeda treatment, 1 specialty massage (too intense to be a pleasure massage), 1 treatment I would rather not go into detail about (a good one - but you'll just have to guess what it is), exercise classes, food preparation classes, several consults with the head nurse to educate me on the oral vitamin therapies, and a 3-hour consultation with the doctor in charge, Dr. Lodi. Last week was light since I didn't check in until Tuesday afternoon and since it was my first week. Next week, several of the therapies I listed will be doubled (not the vitamin C and thankfully, not the Zomeda which will only be given once a month), and several others will be added.

I've gotten to know many of the other 20 or so patients. What a diverse group! I haven't found two from the same state yet, and several are from other countries. Today I learned from another patient that all the patients who are currently involved in treatment and have reached their 5-to-6-week mark have received good news from their mid-point PET scans. The extent of the good news varies from person to person, but all are evidently doing better than standard medicine had predicted. What an encouragement!

Website and fund raising...

This is Amy's sister in law, Amy C Bixby :) As we share names, I have given myself permission to "highjack" Amy's blog just long enough to share with you, who are following this blog and offering prayer support to Amy, the new tools that are available for staying updated and knowing how you can help.

Amy's friends and family members have started a fundraiser to help meet the staggering financial needs that Jon and Amy are facing. We have also started a website which we will update with specific prayer needs (as seen by those of us looking on) and other bits of news.

Please click HERE to be directed to the website.

Thank you to all of you for your overwhelming support and generosity.

Wonderful Doctor

We met with my oncologist today to find out how much she is willing to support alternative treatment. She was very supportive of our decision to try another type of treatment, and said she would do whatever she can to move this treatment option along. I won't go into all the details here on the blog, but just know that I sure am thankful for an open-minded doctor.

Treatment Options

We have looked at dozens of websites, read dozens of articles, made dozens of phone calls as we've been researching treatment options. The treatment center in Loveland, Colorado does not offer any more cancer treatment cycles until January, so we've ruled out that center. A treatment center near Phoenix, Arizona seems to offer a very wide and encouraging range of treatments. They offer therapies that have been successfully used in Germany as well as other alternative therapies. I'm meeting with my oncologist tomorrow to find out to what extent she is willing to work with the doctors at this center. The treatment would require about an 8 week stay, and like I said before, many details need to fall into place for this option to work for us. Some of those details are already beginning to come together.

We would appreciate your prayers. We know that God already has this all mapped out for us, and we trust him to show us his way. If this isn't part of his plan, we don't want it.

The news we got this afternoon was not good. The oncologist reviewed the PET scan results with us, even gave us nice glossy pictures of all my insides. The scan showed that the cancer has spread to my liver, spine (T2), hips, and possibly my ovaries. The suggested treatments offer a 10% chance of survival for 5 years. There is no hope offered for cure.

Isn't it astounding, that being deathly ill, I feel better than I've felt for years? I've continued to make my spinach-lettuce-carrot juice three times each day and to eat mostly raw food. We'll be checking very seriously into the lifestyle center I mentioned last time.

I have not given up, but I'm constantly aware of the probablity that I won't live for very long. I pray for a miracle or for some unsung yet successful treatment, but I'm ready to accept moving to the next life. I ask all of you to pray for my family. I've got the easier load to carry right now.

Neither life not death shall ever

From the Lord His children sever;

Unto them His grace He showeth,

And their sorrows all He knoweth.

Lisa Sandell - translated from Swedish by Ernst W. Olson

O the deep, deep love of Jesus,

Love of every love the best!

'Tis an ocean full of blessing,

'Tis a haven giving rest!

O the deep, deep love of Jesus-

'Tis a heaven of heavens to me;

And it lifts me up to glory,

For it lifts me up to Thee!

Samuel Trevor Francis

Good News – Bad News

Last Friday I had a routine visit to the oncologist’s office for blood work. I also had my annual mammogram. Dr. Cook (the oncologist) told me that my blood work looked better than it ever has since I’ve been her patient. My red blood cell counts have doubled, and otherwise the lab results were beautiful. I found out that Dr. Cook has attended at least one seminar on treating cancer with a raw vegetarian (alkaline) diet, and she was positively impressed by what she learned. Dr. Schroeder (the doctor who handles mammograms) scared me when he said more imaging needed to be done - that usually means something ominous showed up in the first pictures -, but it turned out that the technician who took the original pictures had failed to take one that is part of my prescribed imaging. The additional imaging was done, and everything looks great.

Monday morning, Dr. Cook called me with further results from the blood work. A tumor marker (that’s the blood count that indicates a growing tumor) has risen from about 30 to over 200. Barring a mistake in the blood work, that means the cancer has returned. I will be having a PET scan at 8:00 a.m. tomorrow (Thursday) morning and a follow-up visit with the oncologist on Friday. Chemotherapy is her recommended course of treatment, but I’m not interested in doing that again. We have already begun to check out a lifestyle center near us in Loveland, Colorado, that uses several alternative therapies to treat cancer. Treatment at any lifestyle center requires a stay of several weeks, so a lot of details will have to fall into place for that option to work for us, but we are praying about it. We would appreciate many folks praying along with us about all of this.