Happy Thanksgiving 2009

Happy Thanksgiving!! Our family has a lot to be thankful for this year!!

Update on Grandpa, written by AW

So good news, bad news.
Lets get the bad out of the way - Dad has a high fever this evening. We don't know why but samples have been taken and cultures are cooking. Please pray that dad's fever comes down and is no longer an issue.
The good news - yesterday Dad had a CT scan which the neurologist read today. He said there was noticeable improvement in the area around the tumor (we like the way that sounds) He also suggested that we continue to aggressively treat his pneumonia (again sounds good). Both are very positive and encouraging.
Please pray that dad continues to improve and overcomes the pneumonia. We also ask that you would pray about his brain cancer and that "noticeable improvement" becomes 'shocking' improvement.
Thanks to everyone for your prayers and kind words, hugs, emails, phone calls - you get the idea. Keep them coming, we do in fact need them.

Thankful for small victories

On this day before Thanksgiving, our family has lots for which to be thankful! Grandpa breathed on his own for 40 minutes today! That is double what he did yesterday---a victory in its own! He was tired, worn out, but he did it!! We're praying this progress continues!!

Would you pray for physical strength for Grandpa? His body needs to regain his strength and then he needs more strength on top of that! He was really fatigued when we was admitted to the hospital and these last 11 days haven't helped, so now his body is just tired. We're praying for more strength and a supernatural healing of the brain cancer and the pneumonia!! God can do it!! He is in the miracle business and we're praying for a miracle!! Let's astound these doctors that are pessimistic and show them what God can do! Please pray for our family, and for Allen to just get out of that bed and walk out of the hospital!! God can do that!!

God is so good!! We are so thankful!!

Tanks and a bit of summer

It's November in Chicago and we're enjoying weather in the mid 50s!! I know it won't last, but it's been so nice to not have to bundle the boys every time we leave the house yet! AW spent the afternoon at the hospital with his dad, so I decided to take the boys to a nearby park that has tanks!! They loved being able to climb up all the tanks!! We had a lot of fun!

Tears!

I can't stop crying! I've been crying off and on all week, since Allen was admitted to ICU. The tears come anytime I see AW start to cry (which sadly, has been quite often lately). The tears come in the hospital room holding his hand and telling him that I love him. The tears come as I see his wife hug him, talk to him, or kiss his head. The tears come as I look ahead to the holidays. The tears seem to just keep coming!

I'm not ready to lose my father-in-law. I'm not ready to have my husband lose his dad. I'm definitely not ready to have my boys lose their grandpa. I keep praying for a miracle, but as the days go on and there seems to be little improvement, it seems like there won't be a miracle. I'm not ruling it out, just a bit doubtful. I'm only human...

I want Allen to stick around for many, many more years!

And tonight I just can't stop crying about it!

Swimming

Yep, I'm swimming in November! Swimming in a sea of mixed and confusing emotions, that is! You didn't think I was talking about the swimming that involved putting on a bathing suit, did you?? Ha! Never!! I stay away from those things, especially after the birth of my precious, third baby boy, almost a year ago. My body will never be the same, but I digress. I'm swimming, remember?

Anyway, it's not been an easy time lately and my husband and I are again arguing (which we don't usually do) so I have been a basket case, and yes, I am swimming in a sea of mixed and confusing emotions, and I don't like it, not one little bit!

To those of you that have lent and ear to listen and a shoulder to cry on, I truly appreciate you and love you! Send some good thoughts my way! :)

Leaves!

The latest on Grandpa

(This is the latest update on Grandpa, written by Gammy and Grandpa).

Dear loved ones and all who pray for us!
We are here with our children and grandchildren, and what a blessing they are to us. This is a time of resting for Allen, though it can be frustrating to just sit and wait. But he is doing a lot of that resting since the treatments have left him with great fatigue. One interesting and shocking thing happened during our last week of treatment. The very last day of radiation, we had an appointment with Allen's doctor overseeing the treatments. She is the one who is a believer and has been so encouraging through everything. She said to him, "you have astounded me!" Then she went on to say that in the early days of seeing him and the treatment, she feared that he would not live to complete them. And that was only 6 weeks. She also said they sometimes ratcheted up the radiation when they were concerned that the person wouldn't live long enough to complete. She thought about doing that for Allen, but then decided not to. On that last day she told us she was so happy she had decided to stay with her original program, since he had so dramatically improved. When we left the office and were in the waiting room, we looked at one another and said, "Wow, that was scary to hear." We were both shocked. I knew it myself, but to hear it from the doctor who deals with this all the time made it very real. And then we both decided that this made the miracle of his coming back that much sweeter. It only emphasized in our hearts that God chose that Allen should live.

One other thing we are learning here (there is a very sharp learning curve for us in all this!) - As Allen said on the trip in on the last day, "Every day has its own special grace." The grace from God is there for every day, and it can be different for each new day. Another thought - Every day has meaning in the Eternal Kingdom of God, no matter what is going on in that day. That is a great source of comfort to us, when one day follows another of just waiting and resting. Today as we rest and wait, in the heavenlies, in God's Kingdom, there is a reason and meaning in this very day.

Janelle

Below I have put Allen's brief description of where we are today, and then I have followed it with Allen's short history of his dramatic decline and return. This is for those who are new to the updates, or those who want to read how God worked so miraculously in this journey.

Update on my cancer treatment and progress: I continue to surprise the oncologist with my progress and lack of serious side effects from the treatment. I have finished with my lifetime limit of 30 radiation treatments and am now resting 3 weeks with Janelle and with our children. Then on the 17th of November, we will return to Houston and have an MRI that will be the basis of the next stage of my therapy. My Christian oncologist just points to the sky and says, "You have help!" So, the battle is still on, fatigue and short term memory are still a problems, as are numbers. Let us all in faith speak out the Scripture that says, "He took up our infirmities and carried our diseases." Matt. 8:17 Please continue to pray for complete healing for God's hand. Thank you

History of Allen's Treatment and Miraculous signs: My symptoms came like a tsunami. On August 6th, Janelle and I were spending quality time with Scott and Lisa at a game lodge near Kruger Park when I began to have short term memory problems and to feel unstable walking down the stairs. On August 15, I saw Dr. Middleton and after hearing the symptoms, he ordered a CAT scan on the next Monday morning, fitting me in as a rushed appointment. By 11 a.m. on that Monday, Janelle and I took the films to Dr. Middleton and he announced to us that I had a Glioblastoma tumor, the worse type of primary brain tumor. So, 24 hours later, we left our house, and that night we were flying to Houston, TX.

--- I say my symptoms was like a tsunami because I left home on August 18th pretty normal, but by the time I was in the Johannesburg airport, I was disoriented and got lost twice. The next day when I got to Houston, I could not easily remember where our room was in the house. I began a downward spiral of lethargy and depression. Three and a half weeks later, on September 11th, I saw the radiology-oncologist who was to oversee my radiation treatments, and she later told us that she wondered if I would be able to survive and end the treatments. These were the dark weeks for Janelle. ---

A biopsy was preformed that confirmed it was glioblastoma brain cancer, and on the 16th of September, the radiation treatments and the chemo began. But, as hundreds of faithful saints were praying all over the world, miraculously after the 4th radiation treatment, I had a complete turn around. Short term memory began to return. The depression lifted. Strength returned to my body. I was able to begin taking walks with Janelle. Each day I became stronger and stronger. Other than losing my hair at the points of radiation I have had no side effects, from either the chemo or the radiation. I am a new Allen with a shaved head and goatee. I finished my 30 radiation treatments on October 27th and now must wait for three weeks to let the brain stabilize before taking an MRI to determine future treatment. It was on the last day of treatment that my wonderful doctor told us that, when she first saw me, she thought I would perhaps not live long enough to finish these treatments. She made the statement, "You have astounded me! You are not the same person who walked in here that first time."

So, through the prayers of so many of you, God has given us miraculous signs that He is healing me.

Please continue to pray that the my short term memory will continue to improve and that I will be completely healed.

We thank God for each of you and your many prayers. May God's blessings rest on you!

Grandpa's new look---and AW's new look (he buzzed his hair to honor his dad!!)

Rainbow Cake!

What a fun cake this was to make....and to eat!! I first saw it on MckMama's site and wanted to try it! Today was the day. It was not hard to make, just a bit time consuming with all the layers and letting them harden in the freezer for a while. The boys had lots of fun mixing in the colors and then after dinner we all had fun eating a super tall, very yummy, rainbow cake!!