They Call Me Mellow Yellow

Okay…I am just being lazy…this is an email that Frank wrote, but it says it all, so here’s the update:

Every week seems to bring something more, but this upcoming week appears to be the start of Carol's chemo process. On Monday she is back up to Johns Hopkins for “chemo class’ which we will all attend with her, then she is off to have a liver biopsy which will provide the pathology on the type of cancer she has (we still pray that the biopsy will show benign lesions), and depending on Dr. Giday’s schedule, have a stent placed in her bile duct. The blood work she had last Friday showed “elevated enzyme levels” and they were surprised that Carol didn’t look yellow. (She doesn’t yet.) Apparently her severe abdominal pain is being caused by a blockage of the bile duct and a stent will at least allow the bile to be discharged. So tomorrow is a big day. If all the tests show cancer, then she will start chemo and the clinical trial Weds/Thurs or Thurs/Fri. –Frank

(Carol here….) BUT…all that is contingent on the PET scan and the liver biopsy…so, keep praying for no cancer! If there is not cancer, I think the plan will be to have chemo to shrink the tumors then surgery to remove the mass in the pancreas/bile duct area sometime in the future (best solution, and we all jump for joy and thankfulness!). If it is indeed cancer, then chemo for an undetermined amount of time + the clinical trial and we keep praying for healing! (THEN we jump for joy and thankfulness…just a little later than we hoped.)

Big week ahead. Monday: biopsy, stent, chemo class; Wednesday: chemo begins, blood tests periodically for the rest of the day to see how it’s going (long day at JH); Thursday: more chemo-follow-up tests at JH. I found this in the Psalms and I like it!: Psalm:.16:8-9 I know the Lord is always with me. I will not be shaken, for He is right beside me. No wonder my heart is glad, and I rejoice. My body rests in safety. (pretty cool, eh? I love these verses that I am finding!)

A friend sent this to me:

I am the place where God shines through.

Therefore He and I are one, not two.

He wants me where and as I am.

I need not fret or will or plan.

For if I'm calm, relaxed and free,

He'll work His plan divine through me.

Correction Message from Frank

PET scan is Friday (tomorrow) and liver biopsy Monday. Start the prayer machine for best from liver biopsy: benign tumors; next best nonpancreatic cancer and no other cancer anywhere else. Thanks, Frank

PET Scan & Liver Biopsy Scheduled at Hopkins

As my grandpa used to say, “Here we go, off to the races!” The moment we have all been praying for (REMIND me of that! )
Monday morning – PET scan; Tuesday morning-Liver Biopsy. The PET scan should show what’s going on with the pancreas and the liver biopsy will produce some nice tissue for JH to analyze. My prayer is that it will all be benign, but let’s see what God has in store for us in this big adventure. That’s for coming along with me and supporting me with all your prayers. I am overwhelmed with cards, good wishes, encouraging words, and knowing how many of you guys are thinking of me and praying for me. I feel like Moses when he held up his arms while the battle against Amalek was ongoing. Whenever his arms would get weary, his friends Aaron and Hur would come alongside and hold them up for him Exodus 17:7…I know that I will need lots of “holding up” by friends in the days, months?, years!, to come…so THANKS good friends and mighty prayer warriors!!! Love, love, love xoxo Carol (p.s. Amalek was defeated! )

Insurance Approval Comes Thru for Clinical Trial!!!

Proving yet again that God is bigger than any mountain…even the lofty peak of the Insurance Company! We just got the news. The approval is official. So now I am “on ready alert” to be at Johns Hopkins whenever they receive the official paperwork and can schedule me. I will keep you posted. Thanks for your prayers. Wow…God IS in the details, isn’t He? And now Chip can head back to San Diego today knowing that we are moving forward…hmmmm, maybe it was all for the best ~ snow storm cancelled the flight but yet insurance worked out before he had to head back. No Worries --- Peace is a good thing! Just like Moses said to Aaron:
The Lord Bless you and keep you;
The Lord make His face shine upon you and be gracious to you;
The Lord turn His Face toward you and Give You PEACE. Numbers 6:24-27

I feel blessed…..and peaceful!

Love,

Carol

The Big Snow

Well, I am convinced that it will take Divine Intervention to clear up the insurance snaggle! They say “We haven’t denied coverage. We haven’t been asked.” I have a feeling this problem is larger than me. This is making the cures for cancer, world hunger, the economy, and the Middle East strife look like a piece of cake!

Here is a bit of sunshine from the Good Lord… as many friends said, perhaps it was all in God’s Plan for us not to travel north to Baltimore in the snow…so THAT’S why the Biopsy and PET Scan were cancelled over the weekend. AND the best part is, that as a result of the impending blizzard, Chip’s flight was cancelled! Yay! It was the funniest thing…we had all gone to our favorite Irish Pub for lunch after church (see photo) and then Frank took Chip to Dulles to catch his flight back to San Diego. It was the funniest thing…the ground was bone dry, not a flake in sight yet, but HEY! Who cares…our boy is back! Oh, and here is an added blessing – he got on a flight for Wednesday and no “change fee”!

Oh and uh hummm, right on point: Psalm 37:7 Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for him. I’m not so hot at “being still”..but this morning instead of a liver biopsy we had a sunny morning in the snow. Let’s see if Sally can put the pictures on the blog! (thanks Sally!)

Love, Carol

Sunday Afternoon Prayer Request

Okay prayer warriors, get out the knee pads! – We got the disappointing news from Johns Hopkins that even though we have terrific insurance coverage, the Blue Cross paperwork is lagging and despite many calls and contacts from JH, the Blue Cross approval never came in. So, they had to cancel tomorrow’s Liver Biopsy and the PET Scan for Tuesday. (and chemo class!) We are so disappointed… we are so anxious (as is the team at JH) to get a firm diagnosis and get started with The Plan! We were again amazed at the dedication of the team at Johns Hopkins when we got an email and phone call from them over the weekend learning that THEY (including Dr. LaHeru) are on the phones and working this in the background. I again am reassured at how fortunate I am to be in their care.

But here is a picture for you…amidst all the fretting, Christine said, “We need to pray about this.” … I was sitting on the little sofa, Christine was next to me, Frank stood beside holding my hand, Chip was behind me with his hands on both my shoulders and Andrew just plunked his whole hand on the top of my head and we prayed. Please join with us in asking God to remove this first bottleneck. (and to give me patience!) and for healing and peace and to be in all the details. Love, Carol

Cast all your cares on Him, because He cares for you. 1 Peter 5:7

Food Blog???

Saturday:

No Carol-health news, but we sure are having a blast having Andrew home from Maine, Chip home from San Diego and Christine+Erik here all the time! Friday night was such fun, we had a “wine selection” for the wedding! Our friends Jerry and Patty came from North Carolina with a selection of “candidates” for the wedding. Steve and June came over, we were all here, Erik made a PHENOMENAL dinner of herb-crusted lamb chops, fingerlings and roasted broccoli (hey, forget cancer…let’s make this a FOOD BLOG!) with Erik as our chef, that would be do-able ~ although I think his Latin students would feel very cheated!! June and Patty baked an amazing cake for dessert. We had such fun! (and the wedding wines were selected as a result of the blind tasting…complete with forms to fill out and record the tastings!) It was a wonderful, happy evening of family and friendship! No wine for me, so I was the official photographer. Here are some pix!