And the News Is -------Good!

On Wednesday, Cheryl had an appointment with Dr. Burke, the gynecologic oncologist who performed her surgery last summer. He removed her IP (abdominal) port under local anesthesia. She is now somewhat sore from the inch and 1/2 hole he made in her side to access the device. Over the next week or so, the stitches should dissolve and the steri-strips will peel off and she should feel better.

Cheryl has a follow up appointment with him next month along with blood work and a CT scan of the pelvis and abdomen to make sure that there is no residual cancer left. Based on her low count now and how well she responded to the chemotherapy, he feels that she is in remission at this time.

She will be facing blood work every three months for the next year. If all goes well, they will move the testing interval out to four month and then eventually every six months after a couple of years. As long as we can keep her cancer-free, or at least under control, we will be very pleased.

We want to thank everyone for all of their prayers, support and kind words during this past eight months.

Plans are going well for Cheryl's remission party that we are going to hold at Westside Baptist Church, 108 N. Welborn St. (off Memorial Drive) in Hinesville on Saturday, February 26th from 2-4 pm. You are all invited to drop by so we can express our thanks to you in person.

If 22 Was Good News... What Does That Make 19?

Cheryl finally got word from Dr. Robertson's (oncologist) office with her CA125 results from the January 17th test. And the number is--- drum roll please--- 19. All the more reason to celebrate as we look forward to her remission party on Saturday, February 26th from 2-4 PM. Everyone near and far is invited to come. Please drop a line, comment on the blog, give us a call or tell us in person if you will be able to attend. We hope to have a large crowd join us fir the celebration.

Cheryl is looking forward to going to church service this Sunday. This will be her first time to attend in several months. This will be our quarterly communion service so that makes it that much more special for both of us.

We continue to be encouraged by Cheryl's progress and strength. She is doing all the laundry and has even gone back to ironing my shirts. I guess she is tired of seeing me leave the house looking rumpled. Keep praying for her total recovery in the weeks and months to come.

Planning a Party

The 17th of January was a really cool day for Cheryl--- not because of the temperature but because it was the 13th day past her last dose of chemo and she didn't have to go back for another round of CHEMO.

Now, we are waiting for results from her latest CA125 and planning a party for Saturday. February 26th. Cheryl will have her lower port removed on February the 16th so she she should be healed in time for the party.

The Celebration Party will be Saturday, February 26th from 2-4 PM at the Westside Baptist Church Fellowship Hall (108 N. Welborn Street, Hinesville, GA 31313). This is our way of saying thanks to all those that have supported us during this time. We hope that you all will be able to attend.

We will continue updating the blog in the days and weeks to come.

Finally Feeling Better

Last week's chemo really hit Cheryl hard. She had nausea and vomiting from Tuesday until Saturday afternoon. After a short reprieve of feeling better, she went in for her final treatment of Taxol on Monday 1/4/11. This triggered the nausea and vomiting again and it wasn't until midday today that she has started feeling human again.

In the midst of all this, we received word Sunday morning that Cheryl's Uncle Charles Gerstner had passed away at age 90. He was an Army veteran of World War II- European theater. There will be a memorial mass for this gentle, saintly man on Saturday, January 8th. We would love to be able to attend but after the problems that Cheryl experienced when we traveled to my father's funeral in November, we think it would be wiser for her to stay home.

This evening, Cheryl's energy level has improved and her stomach has finally settled. Even her voice is much stronger than it has been for the past week and a half. Now that the chemo is over, we are in follow-up mode.

Today, Cheryl had a call from Dr. Burke's office telling her that she will have blood work done in mid January. On February 16th, she will have a physical exam and will have her IP (abdominal port) removed. This will be an in-office procedure but if it is anything like the removal of her PleurX drains, she will be sore for several days following. They will also do the first flushing of her upper port which will need to be done every couple of months to keep it from clogging.

We do not have a date or time for Cheryl's follow up scans and x-rays yet but we will continue to pray that they will show that everything is clear. Our goal is to get her back up and moving/walking so she can regain her strength and stamina and be back to normal activities soon. We appreciate everyone's care, concern and prayers during these difficult months and we look forward to being able to return the favor in days to come.

Our daughter Michelle wants to make plans for a "Remission Party" when we get the word from the doctor. We are in full agreement with that. There will definitely be a hallelujah shout that day.

The Final Week--- of the Year and Chemo

2010 is drawing to a close and Cheryl is in her final round of chemo. The nurse in the picture with Cheryl is her chemo nurse Cheryl. Cheryl first met Cheryl while she was on the oncology floor following her surgery. Cheryl,RN transitioned down to the Anderson Cancer Institute and has been administering Cheryl's chemo over the past several months. She has been a real encouragement and has provided a wealth of information. Our Cheryl is so thankful to have had Cheryl as her nurse through all of this. We truly feel that she has a special gift to be able to deal with such serious illnesses on a daily basis.

I've been able to take Cheryl to Savannah for her treatments this week since we are out of school for Christmas break. That is probably good since this week's chemo has been rougher than usual. Monday's IV Taxol produced the usual flush but the Tuesday IP Cisplatin was much harder on Cheryl than previous doses. She has had quite a bit of nausea and some vomiting which thankfully is subsiding a bit. She has gotten some of her appetite back but is still not moving very fast. She gets a day off from her fluids tomorrow since the ACI is closed for New Year's Eve.

We will be spending a quiet New Year's Eve at home--- no wild partying here. Cheryl has her last IV chemo session on Monday, January 3rd. One of our long-time friends will be taking her up for that final trip to ACI. What a way to start the new year.

Over the next several weeks, Cheryl should be having additional scans and tests to verify that the cancer is in remission. At some point they will remove her IP (lower) port since Dr. Burke does not plan any future sessions of abdominal chemotherapy.

Please pray that Cheryl's final session will go well and that we will soon get a report that she is in remission.

2010 Christmas Letter

We wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

If you've been following the blog, you know that 2010 has been a bit of a rough year for us. Things started off well. We are in our fourth year serving as Pastor at Westside Baptist in Hinesville,GA and I still have the privilege of being a Technology Specialist for Liberty County School System. Cheryl was able to go to North Carolina to visit her Mom and sisters and she also went to Kentucky to visit Michelle and her family.

In early summer Cheryl received her diagnosis of Stage 4 ovarian cancer and we weren't even sure that we would see Christmas together this year. She had major surgery to remove the extensive cancer in her abdomen. Complications stretched that stay out to 13 days. Just before she was supposed to start chemotherapy, she developed a large blood clot in her leg and two small clots in her lungs. This resulted in a four day hospital stay and getting started on Coumadin to regulate her blood's clotting factor.

Since then she has bounced back and has gone successfully through five eight-day rounds of chemotherapy. We've have had the great support of our family, church family, neighbors and friends. Both Michelle and Jason have traveled down several times during Cheryl's hospitalization and chemo sessions. The grandkids, Jonas, Susannah and Dylan have helped brighten Cheryl's spirits through all that's been going on.

During all of this, we got news that my father's health was failing due to advanced congestive heart failure. Jason and I both went to see him on the weekend before Veteran's Day and he passed away the following Wednesday. This saddened us all very much. He has been like Cheryl's second father all these years of our marriage since she lost her dad shortly after our first anniversary.

When we traveled to Thomasville, GA for the funeral, Cheryl ending up spending the night of Novemeber 11th in the emergency room experiencing shortness of breath. They gave her pain meds and performed a number of scans and tests, all of which were inconclusive. We made it safely back home and decided to hold off on any further travelling until chemo is over and the doctors declare her to be in remission.

We had a great Thanksgiving with both kids, their spouses and children all together. This was the first time we've been able to do this since Jason and Sharon's wedding.

We plan to spend a quite Christmas at home this year. I've already given Cheryl her new 3G Wi-Fi Kindle2 so she can get some use out of it during chemo and I've built a new computer to replace my eight year old dinosaur that I built during Jason's second year of college.

Our plans for 2011 are still up in the air. I plan to continue pastoring the church and working at the school system's Technology Department. I hope to get our garden underway this coming spring. Our prayer is that Cheryl will be declared in remission when this last round of chemo and the associated tests are over so that she will be able to return to a normal busy life helping take care of other people in their time of need.

Above all, we praise God for the salvation He gave us through Jesus Christ our Lord. We thank Him for our 31 years together and we ask that we can have many more years before we part.

Ding Dong, The Second Drain Is Gone

Cheryl had a good visit on Monday with Dr. Robertson, the oncologist that will be managing her last round of chemo and follow up. He did not see any reason to test her CA125 before her next session since it has dropped so well previously. He asked if she would like to take a break before doing the next round but said that there is no medical reason to delay if she is ready to go ahead and get things wrapped up. Her blood counts are relatively good with a slightly elevated white count and slightly low hemoglobin. Her INR from the Coumadin is within normal range at 2.7.

Today, she returned to the pulmonologist's office to have the PleurX drain removed from her left side. It took Randy, the PA almost an hour to get it loosened and out. They gave her a couple of shots of Lidocaine before they began the procedure and added a couple more while they were working. Even with the painkiller, Cheryl had a pretty rough time as they removed the nearly 24" long catheter from her chest cavity. She came home with a pressure dressing on the wound and a prescription for Lortab since they've stopped dispensing Darvocet.

Before the drain removal, Cheryl was feeling quite peppy and energetic but since we came home she is experiencing quite a bit of pain in her side. Please be praying that she bounces back quickly from this and that she will be able to enjoy Christmas with no medical surprises.

Next chemotherapy session will be December 27 - January 3.