Singing!!

This past week has been blessed with lots of music-making!! There's not much change to report on Bob's health front, but there's been a lot of music going on. Both Bob and I are enjoying playing the piano almost every day. I always rise earlier than Bob and after I've been up for a while I "awaken him gently" with a few strains of a hymn arrangement!! Thankfully in his semi-conscious state he doesn't notice all of the mistakes!!

And then in the evening, when my parents phone to pray with us, Bob offers a musical "benediction" after the "Amen", as only Bob is able to do with his gentle, soothing touch. What a way to end each day!!

Interestingly enough, I cross-stitched a verse from Psalm 92 over twenty years ago that hangs on the wall above the piano which says:

"It is good to praise the Lord and make music to your name, O Most High, to proclaim your love in the morning and your faithfulness at night."

And it is indeed good!!! What peace, joy, and hope fill our minds and hearts as we praise the Lord and make music to His name, replacing the anxieties and concerns that can overtake us.

Then on Sunday evening, we had a "Hymn Sing" at our church--a glorious 90 minutes of singing our hearts out. Jim Sawatsky, a friend for many years led the singing with such exuberance and giftedness, and another friend Marilee Congo and I joined Jim so that we had three parts helping to raise the rafters along with the over 50 people who turned up. Bob accompanied us on the piano--the perfect accompanist who plays so beautifully by ear and needs no music!! (I'm not biased as all!!)

Here's a picture taken at the "Hymn Sing".

Now, don't you all wish you could have been there???

Bob's at dialysis right now, where he has a four hour treatment three times a week. But he has a rest from chemo this week. He's also going to get a rest from ME this week, as I'm flying to Regina tomorrow evening for six days to help take care of our four grandchildren while Tim and Kim go to a Horse Show in Red Deer. Super-Auntie Barb will give me a hand in the evenings after work, and Tim and Kim will only be gone for half of the time.

Please continue to pray for my brother Jim who is in his final week of receiving radiation every day. He also had chemo all last week and he's really been feeling rotten--very tired and unable to keep much nutrition down. At the end of this week, he'll get a rest from this heavy assault on his body, and once the chemo makes its way through his system and he's sufficiently recovered, he'll have surgery. Dad and Mom phone him every evening to pray with him as well. We are SO blessed to have such a loving and supportive family who are trusting God with us for the strength, healing and peace that only He can give.

So . . . we keep on singing!!

Fall is settling in!!

Well, the rain has begun in the lower mainland and the smell of fall is definitely in the air. So I decided to change the "wardrobe" of our little home from "Breezy Summer"

to "Cozy Fall"!!

We still don't have the radiologist's report from Bob's CT scan last week, but I will post an update when we do receive it.

It's wonderful to report that this has been a very good week for Bob. He received two chemo drugs last Friday and had some nausea on Saturday, but has been doing remarkably well--well enough to participate last Sunday in the our church's 20th anniversary celebration!! Then he went to work for a few hours on Tuesday, Wednesday, and plans to go again this afternoon before dialysis tonight.

Tonight we're going to have a "date" while he's on dialysis. We'll take a picnic supper to eat on his bed, and also our Scrabble game and a new book to begin reading aloud together.

Then tomorrow Bob will have chemo again. We're hoping he'll do as well as he did last week since he's been asked to play the piano for a Hymn Sing at our church on Sunday evening. What a great time of joyful singing and fellowship we will have!!!

A special thanks to those who are praying for us and also for my brother Jim. This week he's having both chemo (continuously for five days) AND radiation at noon each day. Next week will be his final week of daily radiation treatments (there have been six weeks in all!!) This has been quite an "assault" on his body!! After a few weeks of rest and restoration, Jim will have surgery--likely in late November or early December.

Still a bit "fuzzy"!!

This afternoon we had an appointment with Bob's oncologist. She had just seen his CT scan from yesterday. The swelling around his left ureter (the one that is still functioning) has gone down considerably, but the tumourous mass hasn't diminished in size--if anything she says that it has gotten a bit larger. Dr. Le is still a bit mystified by Bob's cancer, as are other specialists. She says that usually she sees a rather well-defined mass that can be measured. But Bob's is like a mass of "fuzz".

Dr. Le will get a more detailed report from the radiologist next week who has more expertise at reading these scans, and hopefully will be able to bring greater clarity to this "fuzzy" situation.

She's also going to have some more labwork done that will look at something called a "tumour marker". Since his diagnosis, the tumour marker has continued to decrease even though the CT scan would indicate otherwise. Determining how these two tests interface with one another would be helpful.

In the meantime Bob will resume chemo. Since he almost completely stopped chemo over two months ago, it's hard to determine whether the chemo helped or not. Bob felt that it had, especially since his back pain disappeared. However, in the past couple of weeks his back has been sore at times.

We were a little disappointed that the scan didn't reveal that the tumour had shrunk, but we aren't disheartened. This will keep us dependent--especially on the Lord, and also on the medical help Bob has been receiving, and the love and prayers of our faithful family and friends!!

After the doctor's appointment, Bob and I went to Tim Horton's for an early supper before he went back to the hospital for dialysis. Everyone is amazed how well Bob is feeling and looking and we are so thankful. He even let me take a picture of him while he was hooked up to the dialysis machine so that you can see for yourselves!!

We recognize more than ever that we are living in a very "sacred season" that is full of purpose, joy, strength, hope, and peace. We daily experience all of those gifts from God and want to in turn share them with others--medical staff, friends, neighbours, fellow-sufferers, and of course our family. God is good!!

Stanley Park on Saturday

Bob's white blood cell count as well as his platelets are continuing to rise. And his kidney function has improved significantly with dialysis. He was told that if it continues to improve, he may get a break from dialysis!! Of course he would be monitored frequently to see if his one kidney can function acceptably on its own for at least a while. This is all very encouraging.

On Wednesday Bob will have a CT scan which will reveal the status of his tumour. The next day he'll be seeing his oncologist who will most likely have the results. We're looking so forward to learning whether the growth of the tumour has been halted or shrunk. When Bob was first diagnosed, we were told that all we could hope for was that chemo would halt the growth temporarily. We really believe that it has shrunk and want to have that "feeling" confirmed by "fact"!! Actually, Bob hasn't had as much chemo as was planned since it was suspended for two months in order for Bob's kidneys to become stabilized. Then after just one chemo treatment in mid-August, his white blood cell and platelet counts plummeted so that he wasn't able to have any more chemo. We're confident that God is at work in Bob's body bringing healing and strength and wonderful peace.

In the meantime we are enjoying the lovely warm weather we're having here in the Vancouver area. Today we drove into Vancouver and spent the afternoon at Stanley Park. We are convinced that we live in the beautiful part of the world!!

My brother Jim has reached the halfway mark of his aggressive chemo and radiation treatment. Eating and drinking has been challenging, and he's getting hydrated regularly through his chemo port. But this morning he felt well enough to go for a ten-mile bicycle ride!!! His full head of hair is beginning to "thin". It's strange that Bob, who is virtually bald, hasn't lost any of his "fringe" at all--yet, that is!!

A Red Letter Day!

Today's a "Red Letter" Day!! This afternoon Bob headed off to work at the District Office for the first time in eight months--only for a few hours--but this is WONDERFUL!! Although he has officially retired, he plans to spend a few hours at the office each week, as his strength allows.

He left with his computer in one hand and his "Kindle" and lunch in the other since he'll be going to the hospital for dialysis at 5:00 pm.

This morning Bob had an appointment with our family doctor. She was so pleased to see how well he looked and was encouraged by the improvement in his kidney function. She was aware that his white blood cell count and platelets were quite low, but after we left her office she received Bob's blood work report from Sunday and phoned us to say that both counts had improved since our visit to see the oncologist six days ago.

God is good and we are grateful!!

No chemo

Bob's white blood cell count and platelets continue to be very low, preventing him from having chemo. Chemo can certainly lower these counts, but he hasn't had much chemo at all in the last couple of months. The oncologist isn't sure why these are so low, and suggested that they could do a biopsy of his bone marrow, but has decided to wait until his CT scan on Sept. 14th. She was definitely pleased with how well he's feeling and acknowledged the importance of getting him on dialysis.

Bob's sister Vi spent a day and night with us this week, as she was in Vancouver on business. It was wonderful having her with us and we initiated her into our morning routines--among them is juicing carrots, apples, and celery into a delicious "cup of cheer"!!

Then this afternoon we took advantage of a beautiful sunny day by going to Ft. Langley for lunch, a walk along the river, and finally reading aloud by the river's edge.

My brother Jim just completed his second week of radiation--only four weeks to go!!! He doesn't have much of an appetite and nothing tastes very good with such a metallic taste in his mouth as well as some soreness. My sister Barb is in Palm Springs with our parents right now and Jim will be going out there tomorrow to see Barb, and Mom and Dad for the first time since he began his chemo and radiation treatments. They will be thrilled to see him I know.

Thanks so much for your faithful support and prayer for both Jim and Bob. We continue to daily experience God's peace and evidence of His healing touch.