A new direction

Jim flew out of Bellingham at 7:00 am this morning, so he and I were up and out of the house by 4:45, which is when the picture of Jim and me sitting on the piano bench was taken. He managed to eat 25 butter tarts while he was here and didn't even gain a pound!!! It was such a treat to have him with us.

Barbie arrived late Monday night and will be here until next Tuesday. She's such a cheerful presence and LOVES rubbing her dad's head--and of course he loves having it rubbed!! So far he hasn't lost any hair--as if he had any hair to lose!!! But he still has his little fringe and his eyebrows!! He does wish however that he wouldn't have his chin to shave each morning.

Barbie and I went with Bob to the urologist appointment this morning, and got the results of the ultrasound which showed that the stent in the left ureter is becoming blocked. It was our intention to ask for Bob to be put on dialysis as soon as possible, and the urologist agreed, although he wants to replace the stent before Bob begins dialysis. That will happen on Monday morning, with dialysis to follow fairly soon.

We have cancelled his chemo for this Friday, and feel very good about this decision. The Lord has indicated to us through the wise and caring counsel of family, friends (some who have a lot of medical expertise), and our own growing sense, that care for his kidneys now is of greater importance than even the cancer--especially zapping more toxins into his body when his kidneys can't hardly handle anything now. It's amazing how "clear" the message has been because it has come with such unanimity. This is so encouraging to me--and to Bob too, although he's so fatigued he doesn't express his excitement like me--of course he doesn't EVER do that--even when he's feeling great!!!!

In a phone conversation with the oncologist this afternoon, she also felt that chemo should be delayed for now until Bob's kidneys are stablized. We're so grateful for that.

This will prevent us from going to Regina next week, but we're hoping still go in a few months, when he'll likely have more energy than ever having been on dialysis. Of course there's still the cancer, but for some reason we feel less concerned about that right now.

It's been exciting to see how God is "working all things together for our good" in launching us in this new direction with such hope and peace and the approval of all of Bob's specialists.