Living Thankfully

Dear Friend - May this find you well. The Rosenthal family is getting ready to start a Thanksgiving tradition. This year we are going to include our kids in the preparation of the meal, the house, and our family devotion (Ps 103). In the afternoon we will visit a local convelessient home to deliver cookies and the girls will sing a few songs for folks. Then its home to dinner, a visit to friend for dessert and home for a movie - Princess Bride. That's the plan, so we'll see how it goes. We hope your Thanksgiving is full of praise for God wonderful blessing (read Ps. 103).

On the cancer front, I had a bone marrow biopsy on Monday and will find out next Monday the results. My blood work is good and we anticipate the results will still be that we are in remission. I haven't discussed with the doctor that we are not planning at this time to continue with the chemo regiment. He wants to start on Monday with in intravenous chemo. It's called an "induction phase" which means a heavy dosage of chemo which will depleat my system. It will be a difficult conversation. The doctor will warn me of all the possible reasons we should be continuing and the danger I am putting myself in by stopping. He will tell me this is the time to stay with the treatments to ensure the best long-term results.

These possibilities are concerning to me and I waver in my heart. I don't have confidence in the Western approach to treating cancer, yet I don't know enough about the alternative approaches other than a few books and some web study. It just makes more sense to build up your body to fight disease than to kill the body with the disease and hope that the body will recover. Alternative routes to recovery have and do work for many people, but not all. Chemo works for many, but not all. It's feels like a crap shoot. I have tried the chemo and it has almost killed me with the fungus and debilitated me with radiation. It did knock out my Leukemia, but that is not a reason to continue with chemo for me.

If the Leukemia was to return, I wouldn't rule out chemo and I may be open to a maintenance dosage while using the alternative non-toxic approaches. But we feel I need to try the healthy non-toxic approach. I can tell that many friends and associates think I am wrong for stopping. It's hard because they could be right. I'm not confident of that, but as you can tell, I am still wrestling with it. I just don't know enough and haven't found a doctor that isn't biased to their training and are for the most part ignorant to alternative approaches. Therefore I don't feel I can trust them. I don't question their hearts and convictions, but they don't know enough.

God hasn't given me any clear guidance. Gabriela and I are in complete agreement at this stage - stop chemo and go alternatives until my condition changes, if it should change. Our hope and greater confidence is that the naturopathic and alternative cancer non-toxic treatments will address any future leukemia stem cells that might still exist in my body. Ultimately we trust the Lord and believe He has, (Gabriela believes that He has) or will heal me. So I share this with you our friends to have you continue to pray. I would like our oncologist to continue to monitor us even if we stop the chemo. He may not and I will need to have an oncologist that will. I will let you know the results of the biopsy and my conversation. I think I mentioned having a naturopathic doctor that is advising a protocol to strength and remove the heavy toxins in my body from the chemo and living in our environment. I really am feeling great! He is also working with us to build up my T-Killer cells which are part of our white cell makeup and they are what kills cancer cells in all bodies.

This update has rambled on to long. Again, His blessings to you and your loved ones.

Kelly

Our present direction...

Hi Friends,

This is Kelly writing to give a quick update on my continuing journey. It's wonderful that you care and take the time to check the blog and pray with us. I feel blessed and loved. Thank you.

Gabriela and I feel very united and at peace about stopping any additional chemo treatments at this time. I stopped my pill regiment three weeks ago and will await a bone marrow biopsy Nov. 24. We feel confident that it will continue to show I am in remission. At this time I will hopefully have changed oncologists. I approached the Cancer Care Associate administrator two weeks ago to ask if they had oncologists that were open to alternative treatments to our western protocols. Surprisingly she answered yes and that the Association was even starting a Eastern medicine study. She had a doctor in mind that would work with me if I wanted to try an alternative approach. So I meet this doctor on the 12th.

I was also given a book to read entitled, "Outsmarting your Cancer" by Tanya Pierce. I've started many "cancer books" only to put them down, but this book really has been an answer to my prayers for guidance. It speaks of the causes and nutritional care to fight cancers like most books, but Pierce documents several alternative nontoxic treatments that have been used with wonderful results and have better results than chemo treatments. Pierce gives history and treatment development information as well as case studies and contact information to purchase or contact doctors. It's very well done and I am shocked that I wasn't told of such options by my doctor.

Gabriela may have mentioned that we have been visiting a naturalpathic MD who has also given us great insight to the body and how if functions. He is able to use my blood test results to address my fatigue and detox my body. He is also a believer and ministers to the spirit and soul with the Word and prayer. He has opened my eyes to a spiritual realm of battle that is so freeing.

So all this to say that I am hoping, with the doctors, to design a nontoxic treatment protocol that involves nutrition, a balanced supplement package based on my bodies needs, and look into a few of the alternative treatments to maintain my remission. As long as I am in remission, I see no need to consider chemo at this time. For ten months after I contracted the fungal infection I wasn't able to continue the chemo protocol and still remained in remission. We have learned that with Leukemia, the longer you are in remission,the greater likely hood you are of staying in remission. The chemo treatments initially arrested the Leukemia, but the treatments haven't done anything to keep me in remission. They have only opened me up to other illnesses and have physically harmed me. Therefore, I can not in good faith continue to put my family, friends, and church, through this up and down roller coaster of treatments. It's barbaric and there are alternatives I am now aware of and believe are a better route to sustained recovery. We have learned that the rest of the medical world has come to see this except for our western medical community. So for now we are walking forward in the faith that God has healed me and are seeking to be wise in sustaining that healing.

I still am looking for God to confirm this direction. We feel God has provided a lot of insight. I would still like to have some further direct confirmation, but He has told us through several sources that this cancer will not take my life. I know I will live and continue serving the Lord and with greater fervor and fruitfulness. There are many that would disagree with our present direction and we appreciate your prayers and input. I am cancer free and believe I will stay that way. We can all agree and pray for this together.

Thanks again for reading this and I love the responses and shared stories. God is true. He is the Greatest Good. We get to know Him as the beloved. Regardless of what we face in this broken world, He is faithful and can be trusted. He is glorified best when we live fully alive in Christ. Let's push on and live in the reality of God's Word and our identity in Christ. It's such a superior life - God is and He cares!!

His blessings,

Kelly