7/18/2017 Update (PET Scan and Port Placement)

This morning is when we were scheduled to have the PET scan and I know many of you are waiting on a report of the results.  Late yesterday afternoon, after discussion with the Oncologist, we decided to postpone the PET scan from today to August 8th and postpone the port placement from 7/25 to 8/3.  The PET scan was originally critical due to the thought that we didn't know the primary source, but now that we know it is Ovarian cancer, the PET scan don't become as important until after the initial treatment of the primary.  The Port is needed because she cannot get so many treatments through IV over the long haul.  However, postponing it will only cause one additional treatment through IV.  Dr. Kasi assured us that neither of these things would in any way decrease his effectiveness on treating her so we made the decision to postpone them until we have insurance in August.  These decisions saved over $26,000.  There is no monetary value of Julie's life and we would never make a decision to save money that would limit in any way her ability to be treated, but the Dr. assured us it was not a problem and we felt like to be good stewards of the very generous gifts we have received to help with our medical expenses we needed to postpone these two items.

All this really means is that we have to wait until after August 8th to know for sure whether cancer is in other parts of her body, but knowing it at this time wouldn't help us in any way anyway, so we will be patient and wait.

With Much Love,
Ben

A quick note from Julie ...

Well I have made it past the 1st treatment.  I am thrilled to report that this time the only side effect I had was extreme fatigue.  I did not have any nausea.  Today I felt the best I have felt since surgery 4 weeks ago.  Ben and I even walked around the duck pond in our neighborhood 2 times.  So while I'm not planning a 5K anytime soon, it did feel great to get outside and walk around.

All of our kids came by yesterday for a visit, and brought me the sweetest gift.  A family photobook. Each child took the time to add their favorite pics, scripture verse and a sweet note to me.  How sweet and special they have all been.  I also got some extra goodies that will help pass the chemo time away.

And you folks out there--how precious you are to me.  I know of three t-shirt fundraisers, and the gofundme that are helping to help with our finances.  Yall--God does make a way!  And a big thanks for all the gifts that have been given to us through a variety of places.  We are so blessed to be loved by many.

Thanks for the words of encouragement, prayers, cards and belief!

We are believing for a miracle,

Julie

7/15/2017 Update

Julie had her first treatment of Chemotherapy Friday morning as scheduled.  Her body has responded well to it so far -- we have no way of knowing yet how the cancer itself is responding yet.  She has not experienced any major side effects yet,  but Sunday is supposed to be the worse day.  As of right now she is scheduled to have the treatment every Friday for 2 to 3 months followed by a likely surgery to remove the tumors from the pelvic area.  Once we get the results of the PET scan that will be done on Tuesday, July 18th, there is a possibility of adjusting the drugs and schedule, but for now it will be a weekly treatment.  The doctor is giving a lower dose every week instead of a higher dose every 3 weeks.  She is not expected to experience the worse side effects until around the 3rd week as many of the side effects are cumulative in their effects.

The doctor's office also called yesterday to let us know that they have decided to postpone the genetic sequencing blood test until after our insurance becomes effective on August 1st because the cost of that one test was around $4,000.  He said waiting a few weeks on that would not matter because it was more important for decisions in the treatment of the tumors that are not in the pelvic area -- right now he is focusing on the ovarian cancer as that is apparently the primary.  Our doctor is being great about helping us manage costs when a slight delay in something has no impact on treatment, but he is also working with us to be aggressive on the things where time is critical.

Praise -- we also go the J-P Drain removed today.  Our family doctor in Honduras talked with the surgeon in Honduras and told us what we needed to do to get it out.

We are overwhelmed by the messages and notes of encouragement and prayer as well as the fundraisers and donations that people are doing to help us with the financial side of this.  We have received verbal estimates of most of the procedures that we have had or will have before insurance becomes effective, but will share the details once we getting more firm written numbers.  Because so many people have and continue to give sacrificially to help meet these financial needs we want to be completely transparent in how the money is being (or will be) spent.  Based on the information we have now, we believe the total that we will be responsible for will be somewhere in the $50,000 range.

Ben

July 12th Update--CT Scans

Today I had a CT Scan,  Dr. Kasi called with the results this afternoon.

He said the scans show that there are no tumors visible in any major organs.

What a huge PRAISE!!!

He says that it appears that the cancer is focused in my pelvic area.  This leads him to believe that we are dealing with ovarian cancer.

Now we still are looking at cancer in the abdominal wall and the pelvic area which is still very serious.  

I start chemo on Friday morning.

We will have the PET scan on Tuesday, followed by the port being put in on the 25th, and a biopsy on August 2nd.

BUT what a huge praise that the scan didn't show any tumor in my major organs.

God is at work!  

Dr. Kasi was more hopeful today.  His tone was more upbeat!  Sure made me feel better.

Keep Praying and Praising and Believing!

After the 1st Appointment

We went to the doctor today.  It is serious.  Based on what we know, before scans, bloodwork, etc.  He believes we are looking at a Stage 4 Cancer.

He said we needed to be aggressive.

Today we did blood work.
Tomorrow we go for a CT Scan in the morning.
They are hoping to get us back in to see the doctor after the CT scan results come in and then get the first round of chemo to begin on Thursday or Friday.

Next Tuesday we will have a Pet Scan, and the following week my port will be put in.

In the mean time, we will see a general surgeon to remove the J-P Drain as soon as possible.

It hit me hard today.  When the oncologist said, "This is worrisome."  I broke down into the ugly cry.
After I got it back together, we started talking strategy and I felt much better.

So please be patient with me as I process this with our family.

Like I told my kids today, "God numbered my days before I was even born."  He knows the length of my life.

He is still very much in control, I am not.

I love you all!  I am leaning on the the encouragement of family and friends.  My life is in His hands!

In Him Who IS ABLE,

Julie

So today . . . 1st doctor appointment at Mayo.

I couldn't get to sleep last night.  And around 3 am I was up again.

I asked Ben, "What is this--the 1st Day of School jitters?"

I am not really nervous about this appointment.

I'm ready to figure out what's going on inside my body.

I'm ready to get fighting this thing that wants to destroy my good cells.

It's hard to believe that 3 weeks have passed Before we had ever heard the word cancer with a big fat exclamation point at the end.

I can't hardly wrap my mind around the fact that one day I didn't have cancer, and the next day I did.

Of coarse I realize I did and I just didn't KNOW it.

So many people have walked this same road.  They KNOW.

And I am just in the baby stages.  Just starting the journey.

One I didn't choose mind you.

And then I have to breathe in deep, settle back, and meet Jesus on this walk.

He's allowing this to be apart of my life for a purpose I don't understand.

He loves me--I can feel it.  I don't feel abandoned, I feel surrounded by Him.

I don't have to understand, but I do have to trust Him.  I have to choose to trust Him--even though I would never choose what lies ahead.

Today I was reading about knowing Him.  So today, I choose to walk this road with Jesus.  If this is the path of KNOWING HIM MORE, then I'm walking in it.

Mind you, I'm praying for strength, I'm praying for joy, I'm praying for healing.

This is where I'm going to try and be real--good and bad.

Today, I honestly have peace. Not peace that says everything is going to be easy, but peace that says, I am wrapped up with the love of my daddy in Heaven. I feel like God has his hands so wrapped around me that I can feel his comfort.

For those of you that are praying-- thank you,

I can feel them.  I'm sure the prayers of many are being brought to God, and He is giving me strength.

So while I never wanted to have to have a July 11th that included a 1st appointment at Mayo, I know I'm going with the arms of God wrapped around me, leading me, and guiding me.  I feel safe in Him.

***My plan is to post updates here.  I may choose to sometimes cross post on our New Beginnings Website, but this is going to be a personal place for me to journal what I want to share.

If you follow by email, you will get a notification of updates automatically.  Your choice--no biggie to me. 😉

What Happens When...

* This is a copy of our blog from New Beginnings Honduras this week....  I wanted to share in both places since this is both personal and ministry and there are some different followers.

On Monday evening what we thought was an emergency appendectomy turned into something so much bigger.  When I woke up from my surgery.  The first thing I saw was my nurse.  The second thing I saw was a huge clock in the room.  When I saw the time on the clock I knew something had not gone according to plans.  I knew my surgery was only supposed to be a 30 -50 minute procedure, and that even with a 1 - 2 hour wake up window, that I was well past that time frame.  It was no surprise when I saw my sweet husband in the room, that he turned to me with tears in his eyes and said that I had not had an appendectomy.  The doctor had found a healthy appendix, but that he had taken biopsies from 3 different areas in my body one of which was a mass.  

The very first words I spoke to my husband were these, "This does not change our calling to Honduras."  And it will not.  We have a mission to fulfill in Gracias.  It is just having a slight delay.

So what happens your world gets turned upside down?  
I'll tell you what I did.  I cried, and spoke the truth of the moment--we are still called to Honduras.  But in the stillness of the night in the dark hospital room, I did let fear creep in--I started wrestling with Satan mentally.  I started going through the what ifs. Questioning things.  I had to wake up my husband so we could sit there together and speak the truth about the situation.

Since then I have had so many friends and family call, email, and text with words of encouragement, daily devotions, and scriptures. What a testimony to friendship and family--so very grateful.

So here is what you need to know.  After much prayer and discussion with our doctors here and other medical professionals in the states, we have decided to take a leave of absence from Honduras to get treatment in the states.  Ben and myself plan to fly back this next weekend if our doctor gives us medical clearance to fly.  We plan to seek medical care in Jacksonville, FL.

Let me tell you what amazing details God has worked out over the last 6 days.  

       1- I was supposed to fly back home for a weekend with my WooHoo girls for our annual beach trip, and now that ticket is being used to help fly me home for treatment. Some other donations are coming in for our tickets to fly home!

       2- My bloodwork back in February when we were getting certified to be a foster family was normal, so the doctor thinks that we are catching it early.

       3- Some of our board of directors were here in Gracias with us when this happened.  They just jumped right in and ministered to our littles and continued to fix many issues for us.  We now have a cistern and a dryer that works.  Huge differences!

        4- Our partners, Legacy of Hope, have a couple of options for our sweeties--Maria and Josue.  Please pray that they will transition  easily through this loss of our home.

        5- We have been blessed with a place to stay at my cousin's house.

        6- We have been blessed with a vehicle to use for as long as we need.

        7- Another missionary family has agreed to house sit for us while we are gone and will also continue to run the bookstore here in Gracias.

        8- A "GoFund Me" page is being created for us to help meet the medical expenses.


This morning as Ben and I were praying in bed before we got up, we prayed that this situation would bring Glory to the Lord!  We prayed for lives to be changed in salvation, we prayed for our lives to be transformed by God, and we prayed that God will show us the "Joy" in this journey. 

Here are some of our prayer needs:

      1- Pray as we seek out medical care, and doctors in the states.

       2-  Pray for our doctor visit on Wednesday when we get our diagnosis. (Another huge praise--when Dr. Maria visited with us on Thursday, she volunteered to go with us to translate to make sure we understand the diagnosis.)

      3- Pray for us as we seek a few venues to help figure out medical costs.  We do not have insurance in the states.

      4- Pray for Austin and Taylor as they stay with our girls and get things ready for change when we leave for the states.  They are planning to bring them to the states in August.

      5- Pray that God will provide opportunities for us to share about New Beginnings ministry while we are in the states.

Again, we love you all!  Thank you for your prayers, words of encouragement and phone calls.

And to my family who is here with us in Honduras, I can't think you enough for stepping up and meeting the needs of our little ones.  AND for helping me.  I've been told my job is to heal--and they are doing everything to make that possible.

In HIM who IS ABLE,

Julie

Big Day Today

Do you know what we did last night???

You got it!  We sterilized baby bottles, and packed a diaper bag(ok--so it is a hiking back pack cause we forgot to buy a diaper bag--but no judgment)

We brought two sets of clothes for just in case. (Mind you we are traveling 45 minutes away)

And . . .

We tried to sleep.  But I've been up since 3:48 a.m.  mentally going over every possible crazy scenario that could happen.  Like do you really think it's possible that we won't hear this little one through out the house?   Ben, however, lost no sleep to random thoughts. 😆

Today--we are going to bring home our first foster care baby here in Honduras.

So with much anticipation and a little bit of nerves, we are getting in the car in just a few minutes.

We have been praying for this day since July 2015 when God planted this tiny seed of moving to Honduras to care for the least of these--social orphans, children in crisis, abandoned babies, neglected or abused.

But yall, please pray for this little one today.  Today will be a day of loss for him.  He is leaving the respite care home he has been with for the last several weeks after he was released from the hospital.

Pray for his sweet caregivers who love this baby boy like he was their own.  Pray for E's sweet mama's heart and T's daddy's love.  They will be experiencing loss today also.

Pray for comfort and peace.  Pray for an easy transition,  Pray for us today and tonight as we love on this tiny little bundle who will soon be placed in our arms.

In Him,

Julie