Friday, May 11, 2012

Dear Friends and Family,

There really isn't too much to update - Mark's condition remains about the same.  He still has the NG tube in which is very painful - the doctor said he may be able to take it out tomorrow - I sure hope so!!

We don't know exactly how long we will be here - we have to wait until everything internally starts working again and they see that he can hold down his food.

We were talking (well, kind of talking since he can't talk) about how thankful we are that this didn't happen two weeks ago when Jessica was getting married!  And how thankful we are that he has time to recover before Cameron's wedding.

Below is a picture of our crew at Jessica and Dennis' wedding.

We had to put Hallelujah Acres on hold for a couple of weeks but still intend to get there as soon as Mark feels up to it.

We are praying for a quick recovery and hope to get him home asap!

Thanks for all the prayers and thoughts - we are truly blessed to have friends and family who love us so!

Much Love,

Mark and Lee

Isaiah 30:20-21

 Although the Lord gives you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, your teachers will be hidden no more; with your own eyes you will see them.  Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it.”

Out of Surgery!

Dear Friends and Family,

Mark just got out of surgery and is in recovery.  The doctor said there was tons of scar tissue and they got it cleaned out really good - it was a total obstruction.  He said the surgery was very intricate since this was his 6th surgery and they won't be able to do any more surgeries in that area.

He will probably be here at the hospital for 5-7 days.  It will be a rough recovery - his last surgery was exactly 3 months ago and his muscles haven't completely recovered from that.

Thanks for all your prayers - we greatly appreciate it!

Love,

Lee

Going Into Surgery

This morning they ran more tests and determined that the blockage is not moving and they will need to do surgery.  We thought it was going to be right after lunch but they just took him back around 7:00.

Please pray with us as he endures his 6th abdominal surgery.

I will update later tonight or in the morning.

Thanks,

Lee

Back to Kennestone - Prayer Needed!

Dear Friends and Family,

We certainly didn't think that we would at Kennestone this past week-end but here we are!

Saturday night when we were going to bed Mark felt like he had some sort of stomach bug or food poisoning.  He took some Pepto and went to bed - twenty minutes later he was up with lots of pain.  He waited until about 2:00 to wake me up and as soon as I saw him I could see the pain he was in!

After about an hour he conceded and we woke up Cameron and he drove us down to the ER where they did a CT scan and discovered he has some sort of obstruction in his intestines.  They admitted him and he did get relief from the pain which I was so thankful for.

On Sunday afternoon after 4 tries they got an NG tube down his throat to drain his stomach and give him some relief.

Today, Monday, they have been doing tests to determine the exact spot of the obstruction and what is causing it and then hopefully what to do about it.  We have done a lot of waiting today and we still don't have any answers - I will update when we find out what is going on.

In the meantime please pray that this may be something they can fix relatively simple and without surgery!

Until this happened he had been feeling wonderful!  We are scheduled to be at Hallelujah Acres lifestyle center in North Carolina to learn all about our new diet - check them out at www.hacres.com

Thank you for your prayers -

Mark and Lee

P.S. We know just like everything that God is in control and has a plan, even in this.  If we focus our eyes on Him then first of all He will guide us and secondly we don't notice all the "stuff" going on around us.

We claim the promise "in this world you will have trouble, but be of good cheer! I have overcome the world!" (Lee's translation)

Update 4-24-12

Dear Friends and Family,

 I apologize in my slacking off from the blog - I never dreamed a wedding would take up so much time!! Our daughter Jessica was married to Dennis Coyle this past Sunday - it was a beautiful wedding and we are very happy for them.

 We found out good news that the blood tests they did for this cancer being genetic came back negative. Our kids will still have to start having colonoscopies when they are 30 but at least that gives them a little more time before beginning that! We are very thankful!

 Mark had scans a few weeks ago and met with our oncologist a couple of weeks ago - we have been quiet about all of the findings until after the wedding as we didn't want anything taken away from Jessica and Dennis and their celebration of marriage!

 I first of all want to apologize to anyone who asked about the scans and were misled – we just felt like it was the best thing for Jessica and even for us. I hope you understand.

 A couple of weeks ago when Mark had his scans, his liver and colon WERE clear but they did find one small cancerous spot on his lungs and one in a lymph node attached to the lung.

 We have consulted with many doctors and feel very positive about attacking this thing. Dr. Bergeron is our natural MD who is treating many cancer patients around the southeast – he does so much cancer research and he feels very optimistic about the protocol that he wants to put Mark on.

Instead of fighting this with chemo and making Mark sick and having lots of negative side effects and making his body weak and susceptible to more cancer we are going to build up his immune system and then fight this at a cellular level. I could write 3 pages explaining all that we are going to do but basically here is the outline.

 1. Nutrition – we are going to go to Halleluiah acres for one week and be taught how to eat – they will put him on the Recovery Diet they have. Our diet will go from being balanced and eating mostly healthy to being vegan plus fish. If possible we are going to try to go sometime in May.

 2. Supplements – too many to name – lots of great natural cancer fighting and immune building supplements.

 3. Injections – Iscador and Thymus injections 5 times a week – this is to build up his good cells and fight the cancer cells.

4. Laser therapy – this is a laser he would like for us to get and use it 20 minutes a day pointed right at the cancer. There have been some amazing stories of cancer patients becoming tumor free just by this therapy alone.

 5. We are also considering going to MD Anderson for another opinion from another oncologist who would specialize in colorectal cancer.

We covet your prayers – here is what you can do for us…

1. Pray for wisdom in all our decisions regarding treatment

2. Pray for complete healing

3. Pray for our finances as all of this is going to be very costly. The Lord has provided everything we’ve needed thus far and we know He will provide again!

 4. Be positive!! We’re VERY positive and have given this to the Lord – join us in prayer but please don’t be down or feel badly because negativity is what the enemy can use against us…no “stinkin thinkin” allowedJ

 We love you all very much and thank you for all the support you have been to use thru this whole journey – believe me – we wish we weren’t once again calling on your for support but this is where God has taken us and this is the path we are on. It is not ours to question why.

 Thank you ahead of time for your love and prayers!

Mark and Lee

Psalm 46

God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging.[c] There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy place where the Most High dwells. God is within her, she will not fall; God will help her at break of day. Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall; he lifts his voice, the earth melts. The LORD Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. Come and see what the LORD has done, the desolations he has brought on the earth. He makes wars cease to the ends of the earth. He breaks the bow and shatters the spear; he burns the shields with fire. He says, “Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.” The LORD Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.

Update from Vanderbilt - March 21, 2012

Dear Friends and Family,

We just got home from our trip to Nashville to have a consultation with an oncologist at Vanderbilt Cancer Center.

We had a good visit with the doctor and really liked him. He threw a lot of information at us as far as research and studies that have been done - he definitely has a lot of knowledge.

In a nutshell he said that he would recommend 3 months of chemo but not strongly recommend because he can't guarantee that it would really do any good. He is going to take Mark's case before the board at Vandy next week and he will let us know what they came up with as a whole. We were very startled and excited that he stressed diet and nutrition and was very familiar with an integrative approach to cancer. I do believe he is the first doctor we have ever met with that has brought up nutrition as a way to treat the disease.

After finding out that we have 3 children he is going to do some genetic/mutation testing on Mark's blood to determine if our children have a high risk of getting colon cancer. If the test come back positive they will have to start having colonoscopies every other year.

To wrap it up he said that every single case is unique and what works for one person may not for another. We told him we understood and that we know and have faith that this is all in God's hands anyhow and that we are just trying to do what we can with the knowledge that God gives us.

We definitely felt like it was a worthwhile trip and enjoyed our visit as well as our time away together - it is a beautiful drive to Nashville and we had a very nice time.

We so appreciate the prayers and ask for continued prayers for healing as we know the ultimate healer and his name is Jesus! Pray that we will make the decisions that He leads us in and that it will be clear as to the paths we should take.

All for God's glory,

Mark and Lee

Psalm 139:14-17

I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well. My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth.
Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them.
How precious also are thy thoughts unto me, O God! how great is the sum of them!

Isaiah 40:28-29

Do you no know? Have yo not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.

Update - 3/6/12

Friends and Family,

So sorry to have not updated in a while - Mark's incision is much better - it is still open but we wash it and pack it every day and it is getting better.

We were very thankful to be able to make the trip out to Kansas City for Realtime - a once every 3 year FCA convention for staff all over the US. We heard so many great speakers and got to fellowship with lots of other staff - it was a very real blessing to us. It also blew me away when I would meet someone from the Kansas City office and they would know who we were because they pray for Mark. Someone told us that they pray for Mark as much or more than any other staff member - wow!

Right before we left we had a visit with our oncologist - she took Mark's case in front of a board where they discuss the harder cases - she said basically the other 20 people on that board couldn't believe he was still around after hearing his history the past 3 years - she told them not only is he still around, he is healthy - she can never get over how healthy Mark is every time we go - his blood work is always good, he looks and feels good - sometimes it is really hard to believe he has cancer.

Since the cancer has returned 3 times and he has already had 6 months of chemo they are not exactly sure what direction to go in. Since the cancer keeps returning they fully expect it to return again - we told her that was totally up to God and that we would just trust Him!

We are scheduled to go to Vanderbilt on March 21 to see a specialist there so we are anxious to hear what they have to say.

In the meantime we were encouraged by some FCA friends who are in a very similar situation to be aggressive in treating this naturally. They follow a very strict protocol which includes daily shots, supplements and of course diet. I believe that is just what we needed to hear - they are 2.5 years cancer free. They have shared all their research with us and we are fired up and ready to go!

We have an appointment tomorrow with a local doctor that practices an integrated approach to cancer and can help us tremendously with prescribing the shots and supplements we need.

Prayer requests - 1. Clear direction and confirmation of approach to treatment when meeting with doctor tomorrow. 2. Visit to Vanderbilt will go well and shed some light on direction 3. Currently Mark has a terrible cold and is feeling very weak from that plus recent surgery I'm sure - please pray healing

Thank you for your continued prayers on our behalf - we are grateful!

Much Love,

Mark and Lee

James 1:5 If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally...and it shall be given him.

Psalm 41:1-2 I waited patiently for the Lord: and He...heard my cry. He brought me up..out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings.

Psalm 5:3 My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O Lord; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto Thee, and will look up.

Philippians 1:6 Being confident of this very thing, that He which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.