Three Bedrooms, a PET Scan, and Chocolate Pudding

We have been hopping busy in the six weeks since we returned from Phoenix. The mess I mentioned in my last update only got worse when we decided to switch and redecorate three bedrooms so that Cara, our oldest, could have her own room when she returned from an extended visit with our families in South Carolina. Five of the children had to sleep downstairs some nights, so the living room and family room (which is already our laundry room extension as well as our physical fitness center) began looking like temporary bedrooms. Several times I wished that sleep was something that only children need. I could spend the nights checking school work, folding laundry, and washing vegetables for the next day’s green juice. That way the days could be spent keeping the children (especially the almost-two-year-old boy) out of trouble. I had to take time out of my busy schedule for another Zometa treatment and a PET scan. Before we left Phoenix I began the process to be approved to enter another treatment routine here in Denver, but that process has turned out to be lengthy and I haven’t had any treatments other than supplements and diet since the end of February. All things considered, the results of the scan were much better than expected. First of all, my blood work all came back entirely normal – even the tumor markers, which are now 24! My oncologist told me she was very surprised to see that. However, I still have active cancer. I have a new lesion on my liver, but it is small and not uptaking very much sugar. (Click here to read a previous post that explains a little about sugar and PET scans.) The other lesions in my liver have either continued to shrink or have stabilized. One of the lesions no longer shows any abnormal metabolic activity, which means, that although the lesion is still there, it is no longer considered malignant. The lesions in my hip bones also no longer show abnormal activity. The lesions in my spine have not changed since my last scan. We praise God for these results. So many people have asked for my chocolate pudding recipe, and I’ve neglected to pass it on to anyone who has asked. I’m going to post it here for the enjoyment of all. Don’t be put off by the avocadoes. Unless you’re allergic to avocadoes (like one of our kiddos), you’ll probably never know that this pudding is made with them. I love this treat. 1 ripe avocado, peeled and seeded 2 tablespoons cocoa (use raw cacao or regular cocoa powder, not Dutch processed cocoa, to make this as healthy as possible) 2 tablespoons sweetener like agave nectar, honey, or maple syrup 1 tablespoon coconut oil (optional) ½ teaspoon vanilla pinch sea salt Place all ingredients in a food processor with an S blade (the one you usually use), turn it on, and plug you ears. (That’s just because I hate the sound of food processors, but if you choose to skip the plugging-your-ears step, the pudding should still taste fine.) I think it’s impossible to over-process this stuff, so keep processing until it looks perfectly smooth and then a little more just in case. Taste, and adjust anything you think needs adjusting. I usually add a little more cocoa and sometimes more sweetener, but that’s probably because I use such large avocadoes. Place in the refrigerator for about 15 minutes to firm it up. If you leave out the coconut oil, it won’t firm up quite as nicely, but it will still taste great. One recipe serves two people. If you enjoy dark chocolate, this is the treat for you. If you don’t, this will probably be too rich. Help! No matter how many times I try, Blogger will not let me put paragraph breaks in my post. This post sounds about as run-on as the mess in my house is.

Ahhhh...

I'm sitting in the hospital getting my monthly Zomeda treatment, so I'm also taking advantage of their wireless internet connection to update. Our dial-up connection at home has always been frustratingly slow, but now it seems to be down right horrible. Either we were totally spoiled by having a wireless connection for the last three months, or our home connection got lazy after having the time off. After a few stops (Santa Fe, El Malpais National Monument Lava Falls, and Focus on The Family - Whit's End in particular), we arrived home on Wednesday last week. It was pure pleasure to walk into our house and know that we would be staying this time. We wondered if Gilead would even remember home, and it was obvious that he did. We had been home only a few hours when he pointed to the top of our dining room china hutch and asked for the candy (cannany or munumanumanum) that we used to keep up there. I have had a wonderful time making a huge mess in every room of the house as I unpack, put the clothes away, remove the clothes from closets and drawers that the kids grew out of while we were gone, empty cabinets to make room for new medications, supplements and products of all kinds, and reorganize the kitchen cupboards. It's homecoming and spring cleaning wrapped up together. I should be finished in another month or two and then we can get back to homeschooling. (That sounds suspiciously like a delay tactic, doesn't it?) The kids can be a huge help. John takes care of Gilead wonderfully well, Nathan usually cheerfully does what I ask him to, Arielle loves to help in the kitchen when she isn't drawing, and Eliana is my little organizer. This morning I walked into our family room to find her folding her basket of laundry, and then she took it upstairs and put her clothes away. (She's 7.) Jeremiah generally does his part by keeping the others occupied with his elaborate imaginary world, and Gilead gets into everything when John isn't keeping him occupied. Now don't they just sound like the kind of kids everyone would like to have? That's because this is a blog and I can portray anything I want to. And today I want to talk very nicely about my children. Check back at a later date for a different picture. Anyway - glad, glad, glad to be home.

Heading Home

Sunday, February 13 - Gilead gets throwing-up sick

Monday, February 14 - Internet service is discontinued in preparation to go home. Gilead is still throwing up.

Tuesday, February 15 - Get final blood test results. Tumor markers are 52. Can't post anything for those of you who are waiting for the results due to discontinued internet service. We consider delaying our trip home because Gilead is still occasionally throwing up and constantly being fussy.

Wednesday, February 16 - Gilead finally sleeps through the night and seems to be doing better, so we spend a marathon day packing up and finally pull out of the driveway at about 10:30 p.m. Gilead throws up again less than 3 minutes from our temporary home.

Thursday, February 17 - We arrive in Flagstaff, Arizona at about 1:30 a.m., our first planned stop, although we had planned to be here hours earlier. The check-in guy at the hotel upgrades our rooms to suites for free. Nice. After a good night's sleep we drive to the Grand Canyon for a day of awe-inspiring sights. Gilead fusses a lot, but doesn't throw up again. My legs are extremely sore, and I can't figure out why. Back at the hotel, everyone gets settled in our nice suites, and I begin running a hefty temperature. Now I know why my legs are sore.

Friday, February 18 - Gilead is still not himself and eats almost nothing, but he hasn't thrown up since Wednesday, so in spite of my feeling crumby, we decide to head to the Petrified Forest on the way to our next stop at the home of dear friends, who are so dear that they don't mind if we arrive bearing sickness. In fact they're so dear that they don't mind if I deliver a baby in their home. (Which, thankfully, I didn't do this time, in case you were wondering; but I did do it 6 years ago. Long story. Just know we hadn't planned it that way.) A contrary child notifies us right after we get on the highway that he had forgotten to go potty before we left, and now he has to go bad. So we stop for an unplanned potty break. Everyone gets back in the car, and just as Gilead is being buckled in he throws up. Back into Burger King for a bath in the sink. Jon washes out the car seat with bottled water and baby wipes, everyone gets back in the car, and we try again. Gilead throws up again in about 30 minutes. And again, and again, and again. We cancel all plans for extra stops and make a beeline for Dear Friends' who don't mind if we bring a child who is throwing up...we hope. (A throwing up child is a far cry from a squaling, newborn child.) Dear Friends are truly dear friends and welcome us travel worn folks with open arms and an invitation to stay until we are all better. Which we decide to do.

Saturday, February 19 - Sunday February 20 - So here we are at Dear Friends', and our children have decided that this is much better than the Petrified Forest. The Petrified Forest doesn't have cool games, videos, and good food just waiting for them. Since Gilead and I are now much improved, we plan to hit the road again Monday morning. We're thinking of bringing one member of Dear Friends' family with us since Gilead has become very attached to her.

Wrapping Up

This is my last week of treatments. Although we have entered week 13, Dr. Lodi recommended that I finish out this week. My tumor markers had dropped to 66 on Monday, and we hope to see another good drop by the end of the week. I'll have my final blood draw on Friday, and we'll get one more look at those markers before we head home. We plan to go home about the middle of next week after Jon completes the job he's working on now.

Going home holds its own challenges. We have to choose a new doctor that provides IV vitamin C therapy and get a new treatment routine rolling as well as continue with normal life responsibilities. We also need to aggressively investigate some other treatment options that Dr. Lodi has highly recommended I pursue in Denver. I'd appreciate your prayers that God will make our way clear to us and give us the energy to walk in it.

Keeping On

My blood work results were disappointing today. My tumor markers remained basically the same - 76. We were really hoping for another drastic drop, but we knew it wasn't guaranteed. Through this past week, the Lord has reminded me constantly through a variety of sources that He always works perfectly, and I can continue to trust Him without reserve when things don't go the way I thought I wanted them to. What peace. I hope and pray that every one of you can have the same peace. The difficulties it usually takes to learn this are worth it.

I've been doing a lot of reading lately. I won't do a review of the following books, but they both deal with trusting our Shepherd and King and have been a powerful blessing to me. I hope some of you will enjoy them too.

Hinds Feet On High Places by Hannah Hurnard
Edge of Eternity by Randy Alcorn

Short update on tumor markers. I got yesterday's blood work results back this morning, and my markers had fallen to 73! That's a drop of more than 40 points, and if that happens again during this week, I will be in the normal range. Please keep praying.

Selin and Emre - Thanks for getting in touch. I was excited to see your post. Hope you're well and life is pleasant in Turkey. Thanks so much for your kind thoughts.

Fruits and Nuts

We couldn't have chosen a better place to be for cancer treatment during the winter. We have been enjoying the balmy spring-type weather here in Phoenix for most of our stay. There have been a couple of cold spells, but the kids didn't realize it was considered cold and they ran around outside barefoot. The desert nights are always chilly, but the weather during the day is beautiful.

Last Saturday we picked oranges and grapefruits at a friend's house, and have been enjoying making fresh juice since then. The kids hardly recognized the juice as the same stuff we normally buy in frozen concentrate. I use lemons regularly in my green juice, and we've been blessed with huge lemons from trees around here too. The treatment center has several pecan trees that are dropping nuts all over the yard, so I've been picking up pecans too. And do you have any idea how much better pecans are straight off the tree than the nuts you can buy in bins or bags? There is simply no comparison. I took a small bag of nuts into the treatment center one day and several of us patients cracked them and shared the meat around. It was the first time most of the folks there had tasted a truly fresh pecan.

We were invited to an interesting potluck dinner last week - all raw, vegan, non-processed food. It was hosted by a family who goes to the church we've been attending since we've been down here. I was having a hard time imagining a smorgasbord of raw food. It was difficult to visualize people walking around with plates piled high with carrot sticks and tomato slices. To my surprise, there must have been about 70 people there, and the array of food was lavish - wraps, fruit salads, nut salads, green salads, cold soups, dips, crackers, and wonderful desserts. Our plates really were heaped, and it looked every bit like a normal potluck. My favorite was a chocolate-strawberry pie, which I shouldn't have eaten since it wasn't IPT day, and my blood sugar wasn't lowered. I only had a small piece, and it was worth the step out of the boundaries. I truly enjoyed almost everything I tried that evening. I even contributed a raw apple pie which I made myself with only a little help from a recipe. (Recipes are only suggestions.) It was a very positive raw food experience.

I have been enjoying my food so much more lately. Thanks to all of you who prayed about that. I made my first cheese sauce out of cashews, garlic, lemon, and a little bit of red bell pepper last night, and tonight I enjoyed it on sprouted grain tortillas with red bell peppers, tomatoes, marinated artichoke hearts, onions, and (cooked) marinara sauce. It tasted very much like a little pizza, especially after I warmed it somewhat in the oven. Oh, well...it started out raw, anyway.

My white blood cells have been behaving wonderfully, and it's been nearly two weeks since I've needed a Neupagen shot. The counts are falling, and I will need a shot again by next Monday probably, but I'm doing so very much better than I was.

My tumor markers fell this week to 119. We are praying that that number will plummet into the normal range very quickly (30 or below) so that we can all go home. We'd sure appreciate your praying about that too. It's been so encouraging to us to see how the Lord has answered your prayers for us. In case you have wondered, getting the tumor markers into the normal range is really only the beginning of this battle, but it is a very significant part. The challenge is to keep the tumors from growing again once they have been destroyed. That is what the strict diet is expected to help with, as well as a period of maintenance treatments.