Hi Friends,
Well as we hoped, the fungus seems to be well under control and we are stopping the medication. The MRI and CAT SCAN still showed some pots, but they don't know if this is past scaring, just dead cells, or something else. Therefore we are going to stop the medication and see. This is great news and we are thanking God for this victory.
Still no word or sense of direction on the chemo, but we will wait until the end of the month and then decide what is next. I would appreciate your prayers at this time. It's just started to hit me that we can begin to live again. What I mean is, life felt on hold while dealing with the illness. Though I had the peace that God was going to deliver me, I still stopped in some respects progressing life. I don't know if I can explain it.
What was an uncomfortable wake up call this week was the realization that I have been living day to day in the way I parent, pastor, dream, etc. Because of this I have been very short sighted in my efforts. Now that I am coming more into the reality that I have some time, I am seeing the state of things and it is a bit overwhelming -- what I need to do to "get back on my game". I need to give myself some grace, but at the same time, I feel the urgency to correct these areas that are lacking. I am wrestling with shame, embarrassment, frustration, and inadequacy. It's a new walk or deepening walk of dependence and trust in the Lord. Thanks for your prayers.
The family is doing well. We have family in from Mexico and San Diego today and are planning a trip to Yosemite. Gabriela is dealing with back trouble that may be kidney stones (she has been suffering with this for almost a month). We are again looking to the doctors for a clear diagnosis to treat her. the Kids are well and on Easter break this week. Gabriela is making each day a special event for them. She's a good lady, wife and wonderful mom!
I hope this finds you well. We would love to hear from you and know how to pray for you. We aren't receiving many log entries and feel a bit lost on our friend's life at present. May you be experiencing God's peace in whatever you are facing today, and know His love for you. Have a blessed Easter Celebration as you reflect on Jesus' life, death, and resurrection.
His blessings,
Kelly
Thursday, March 20, 2008
Friday, March 14, 2008
The wait continues...
Hey Friends,
The picture is of the kids and friends on our recent Disneyland trip. They really had a wonderful time and we enjoyed them enjoying themselves with the Johnsons.
I don't have any new news other than I had hopefully my last CT Scan and MRI today to verify that the fungus is cleared up. I will meet with the Doc on the 19th and know for sure. We feel pretty confident that the fungus in nolonger a threat. It is amazing that the Lord delivered me from what should have killed me. The cancer is still in remission and our hope is that I have been delivered from that as well. Still no word from the Lord confirming this. I believe we will wait for specific guidance the rest of March and if I don't hear from the Lord, we'll make our best decision based on wisdom. If this is the case it really is a crap-shoot. There is no assurance that the chemo will treat the cancer for good and there's nothing to determine if the remission isn't for good. Of course the docs say the remission will end without further chemo, but I should have come out of remission already. I hope the Lord will give me the specific direction to take.
So keep praying for healing and for the Lord's direction.
His blessings,
Kelly
Thursday, February 28, 2008
Hello Dear Family and Friends,
Kelly's last doc. apt. went well. It still looks as if March will be the end of the fungal treatment. We are still in the process of seeking the Lord's direction for further treatment. I(Gabriela) feel as if the Lord has asked us to purify ourselves as we seek His direction. We are both spending time in prayer and Kelly has set out a flees to the Lord. (Old Testament practice in seeking out God's direction). We are new to this practice and eagerly await God's response.
Please continue to pray for our direction and also for the pain in Kelly's shoulders and upper arms. It's getting really bad and the doctors are not sure what the cause is. We are trying some natural methods of treatment to see if the pain might be linked to the toxicity levels in his body.
A praise to report is that through this flu season, although Anneliese, Andrew, Brianna and I all got sick, Kelly and Sarah remain healthy!! I have been hit hard by a number of things and Kelly has had to pick-up the extra load and has done GREAT! I truly am married to an amazing man, (almost 13 years and he still makes me laugh and makes my toes curl!)
Thank you for your prayers, love and support. It truly means more to us than we can express. Thank You Jesus!!!
Kelly's last doc. apt. went well. It still looks as if March will be the end of the fungal treatment. We are still in the process of seeking the Lord's direction for further treatment. I(Gabriela) feel as if the Lord has asked us to purify ourselves as we seek His direction. We are both spending time in prayer and Kelly has set out a flees to the Lord. (Old Testament practice in seeking out God's direction). We are new to this practice and eagerly await God's response.
Please continue to pray for our direction and also for the pain in Kelly's shoulders and upper arms. It's getting really bad and the doctors are not sure what the cause is. We are trying some natural methods of treatment to see if the pain might be linked to the toxicity levels in his body.
A praise to report is that through this flu season, although Anneliese, Andrew, Brianna and I all got sick, Kelly and Sarah remain healthy!! I have been hit hard by a number of things and Kelly has had to pick-up the extra load and has done GREAT! I truly am married to an amazing man, (almost 13 years and he still makes me laugh and makes my toes curl!)
Thank you for your prayers, love and support. It truly means more to us than we can express. Thank You Jesus!!!
Saturday, February 9, 2008
GOOD NEWS...Fungus clearing
Hi Friends,
That's right! My recent CAT scan and MRI showed that the fungus in the lungs was clearing up and the swelling in the Brain Dura was significately improved. I imagine another month and Mrs. Huckleberry's prophesy will be comfirmed as the Cancer is in remission and the fungus will be completely gone from my body (March will be 6 months from the time Mrs. Huckleberry prayed that in 6 months you will be healed). This is a new experience for me of God's speaking into our situation. At the time the words and prayer was very comforting, yet now it stretches my faith and brings me joy. So praise God with us for His glorious, gracious, and healing work in our lives!!! (Picture is of Andrew on his 9th birthday - January 7, 2008)
What's next? That is the question I am now seeking God's direction on. Continuing the chemo treatments while in remission is the doctors recommendation. I'm not afraid or unwilling to complete the treatments. My posture has been to take their advice unless the Lord makes it clear that I should not. Gabriela has asked me to not do anything until God makes clear which way to go and not to do anything until that happens. I am still unsure of the posture to take and figure God will direct. It's not like He doesn't have an opinion or wouldn't want me to know, but He may want me to grow in my understanding or faith in some way. So I am waiting and listening the best I know how.
This week Gabriela and I have been asked to speak at a Marriage Event on Valentine's Day. We are speaking on the topic of Trusting God in Marriage. This will be a first for us and I am excited to have this opportunity to expand our ministry experience and I pray, minister to couples. I guess we are entering the years where we have enough life experience to have something to share. Pray for our success in ministering to couples by encouraging them to trust God personally, together as a couple, and for oneanother when one's trust wavers. Pray also that we would be healthy (Gabriela has walking pneumona), and protected from the evil one's scemes - we would see them and counter them. His blessings to you.
In my next blog entry, I'll update you on how our time went. I hope you know how your prayers have shore us up these past 8 months. It's a very new experience to sense the spiritual support - I can't explain it yet. It's as if we have been surrounded by a heavenly host. I must keep intercessory prayer central in my life. It has power, influence, and brings God's peace to those prayed for. Thank you. I am learning and seeing God in so many new ways...
We love you,
Kelly
P.S. My spell check isn't responding - I hope you had a good laugh!!
Saturday, January 26, 2008
Still Waiting...
Hi Friends,
We just returned from a wonderful week away visiting friends and spending three days at Disneyland. The kids were beside themselves waking each day to explore the parks. I'll let Gabriela fill you in on the specifics. It was great to see the kids laugh and play after having to deal with so much this year.
On Monday I will have an MRI of the head and a CT scan of the chest to determined where the fungus is (or prayfully isn't). My hope is that it is gone in the brainlining and we can hopefully stop the medication. I believe the Doctor wants me to continue the fungal meds for a while, but the dosage should drop. I am still not feeling any real illness from the fungus. I have soreness from the medication, but that is doable. I am expecting the fungus to be gone.
Having a week away on vacation sounds relaxing, but it really is not a time to reflect or pray much - not with 4 kids at Disneyland. Gabriela and I both feel a bit dry spiritually. We need a vacation now that we have been on the "kid's vacation." As our week returns to normal I'm sure we will fall back into our disciplined times of devotion and prayer. I do hope to hear from the Lord regarding the next step. I would like to know something either way, but if the Lord is silent, I will continue as the Doctors say. I can't chance the cancer getting an advantage and placing me in a worst state. My family needs me and unless the Lord tells me differently, I will continue the treatment.
I am so thankful for those that follow this blog and pray for us. I wish I had more to share and could be more specific with how to pray and what, but the facts are, we are still waiting...
I would ask you to pray with us about:
1. Gabriela and I have been asked to speak at a Marriage Dessert on Feb. 14 in So. Cal on the topic of Trusting God in marriage. We need wisdom, creativity, and an outline.
2. Time to refresh our hearts with the Lord amist the busyness of life.
3. Guidance with training up our kids...consistency, character, and transformation.
Thank you and His blessings,
Kelly
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
Life is never boring!
Hello All,
Stanford is the Nordstroms of Cancer treatment centers! Wow! Although the wait and drive were long, we were thankful to get even greater clarification about T-Cell, Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. And thankful for a new friend that we met there who shared with us that she is a witch. She gave us her e-mail address and I look forward coresponding with her.
Kelly was a bit discouraged in that there really are not many conventional methods of treating this disease. Same drugs, different combinations and/or sequences. Although his bone marrow biopsy was clear and he is considered to be in remission, according to protocol, he is far from cured and it is far from even being something to rejoice over.
Don't get me wrong, the doctors all concur that it is "good" that Kelly is in remission in light of the fungus (if he were not, he would be dead). But the doctors believe that Kelly is far from being done with treatment (about 2 more years of chemo).
At this point our biggest request is that prayers are lifted up asking our Father to give clear direction at to what He wants us to do. Personally, I cant' explain why I have such a confidence in what Violet Huckelbarry and Claudia Eller said, (see previous blog entries.) I believe that some time in or after March Kelly will again baffle the doctors with the miraculous recovery they witness and they will not be able to say that Kelly is a poster child for any medications or procedures but that his recovery is nothing but a clear sign that God is alive, involved and desires to show Himself strong on our behalf and sometimes He heals our physical diseases!
My heart longs to have the Lord speak directly to Kelly. He has been through so much this last year and for those of you that know him, you know that he is a work horse and lives, very much in the present. I believe that his heart needs an extended time of solitude in order to process what he has gone through and "feel" it. Then I believe that he will hear from the Lord. Now I know that the Lord can speak whenever and however He desires but I also know that scripture gives us this pattern of the discipline of solitude as we seek His voice.
I have shared this with Kelly and he thinks that a time away would be nice but that there is not time for it. I told him that we just need to ask Jesus if that is what He wants and if it is... He will make the way.
Thank you for your continued love and support through this journey we are on. Praise be to God who is faithful beyond belief, gracious and merciful and is able exceedingly, abundantly beyond what we ask for or even think!! We serve and awesome God.
P.s. Another praise!!! We had a huge scare last night. Anneliese was coming down with, what seemed to be, a cold and was restless through the night. I brought her to our room at about 1 in the morning and at about 2 o-clock I felt her jerk her little body and then stop breathing. Kelly turned on the light and our precious little Anneliese was staring up at the ceiling, pupils dilated, not blinking, stiff body and not breathing. We called 911 and as her lips turned blue, I breathed some breaths for her and then prayed life over her and that if there was any demonic activity that they would be sent to the feet of Jesus for their judgment. She slow began to breath again then the ambulance took her to Children's Hospital (just so happens to be the very next exit from our house. Amazing!) The doctors told us that she had a Febrile Seizure. Her temperature was at 105 and had spiked too quickly that her little body didn't know what to do, consequently, the seizure. We learned that this is not so uncommon for young children, (5 and younger 1 in 200 chance) but that now she will have a 1 in 25 chance of seizuring again. Scary at first then the Lord reminded me, through my dear friend, Tammy Delisle, that God is still on His throne and in control and I refuse to bow to fear. I will only bow to Jesus!! Thank you Lord!
Stanford is the Nordstroms of Cancer treatment centers! Wow! Although the wait and drive were long, we were thankful to get even greater clarification about T-Cell, Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. And thankful for a new friend that we met there who shared with us that she is a witch. She gave us her e-mail address and I look forward coresponding with her.
Kelly was a bit discouraged in that there really are not many conventional methods of treating this disease. Same drugs, different combinations and/or sequences. Although his bone marrow biopsy was clear and he is considered to be in remission, according to protocol, he is far from cured and it is far from even being something to rejoice over.
Don't get me wrong, the doctors all concur that it is "good" that Kelly is in remission in light of the fungus (if he were not, he would be dead). But the doctors believe that Kelly is far from being done with treatment (about 2 more years of chemo).
At this point our biggest request is that prayers are lifted up asking our Father to give clear direction at to what He wants us to do. Personally, I cant' explain why I have such a confidence in what Violet Huckelbarry and Claudia Eller said, (see previous blog entries.) I believe that some time in or after March Kelly will again baffle the doctors with the miraculous recovery they witness and they will not be able to say that Kelly is a poster child for any medications or procedures but that his recovery is nothing but a clear sign that God is alive, involved and desires to show Himself strong on our behalf and sometimes He heals our physical diseases!
My heart longs to have the Lord speak directly to Kelly. He has been through so much this last year and for those of you that know him, you know that he is a work horse and lives, very much in the present. I believe that his heart needs an extended time of solitude in order to process what he has gone through and "feel" it. Then I believe that he will hear from the Lord. Now I know that the Lord can speak whenever and however He desires but I also know that scripture gives us this pattern of the discipline of solitude as we seek His voice.
I have shared this with Kelly and he thinks that a time away would be nice but that there is not time for it. I told him that we just need to ask Jesus if that is what He wants and if it is... He will make the way.
Thank you for your continued love and support through this journey we are on. Praise be to God who is faithful beyond belief, gracious and merciful and is able exceedingly, abundantly beyond what we ask for or even think!! We serve and awesome God.
P.s. Another praise!!! We had a huge scare last night. Anneliese was coming down with, what seemed to be, a cold and was restless through the night. I brought her to our room at about 1 in the morning and at about 2 o-clock I felt her jerk her little body and then stop breathing. Kelly turned on the light and our precious little Anneliese was staring up at the ceiling, pupils dilated, not blinking, stiff body and not breathing. We called 911 and as her lips turned blue, I breathed some breaths for her and then prayed life over her and that if there was any demonic activity that they would be sent to the feet of Jesus for their judgment. She slow began to breath again then the ambulance took her to Children's Hospital (just so happens to be the very next exit from our house. Amazing!) The doctors told us that she had a Febrile Seizure. Her temperature was at 105 and had spiked too quickly that her little body didn't know what to do, consequently, the seizure. We learned that this is not so uncommon for young children, (5 and younger 1 in 200 chance) but that now she will have a 1 in 25 chance of seizuring again. Scary at first then the Lord reminded me, through my dear friend, Tammy Delisle, that God is still on His throne and in control and I refuse to bow to fear. I will only bow to Jesus!! Thank you Lord!
Monday, January 14, 2008
Oh dear friends and family,
We are so sorry to not have updated our blog recently. Right now we are about to leave to speak with a Leukemia specialist at Stanford. We don't have any updates with the fungus or the cancer. Things have actually been busy with "normal life" kind on stuff. Birthday for Andrew, kick off or community groups new session, homework, play dates for our kids... oh how sweet life can be. We love all of you and appreciate your prayers. We will let everyone know what the specialists say.
OH!!! Side note... A family from our church has given us a 3 day trip to Disneyland!! We hope to go the week on Jan. 20th. Pray for Kelly, (stamina, endurance) Lots of Love, Gabriela
We are so sorry to not have updated our blog recently. Right now we are about to leave to speak with a Leukemia specialist at Stanford. We don't have any updates with the fungus or the cancer. Things have actually been busy with "normal life" kind on stuff. Birthday for Andrew, kick off or community groups new session, homework, play dates for our kids... oh how sweet life can be. We love all of you and appreciate your prayers. We will let everyone know what the specialists say.
OH!!! Side note... A family from our church has given us a 3 day trip to Disneyland!! We hope to go the week on Jan. 20th. Pray for Kelly, (stamina, endurance) Lots of Love, Gabriela
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