Return Delayed

Christen had a slight setback this evening. She had a fairly rare complication to one of the nausea medications which caused very painful muscle contractions in her jaw. Thankfully that episode didn't last very long, but it was enough to make the Dr. decide to keep her overnight. :-( Thankfully she had some friends visiting at the time, so that eased the disappointment.

The rest of the kids and I were all home this evening, and that was very nice, though we really missed Debbie and Christen. God willing tomorrow we will all be together.

Please pray that Christen will be able to feel well over the next several days, and that we will all enjoy the time being together as a family.

Steve & Debbie

Home Tonight?

The Dr. just told us that there is a good chance that Christen will be able to come home this evening. Please pray that she continues to improve throughout the day.

Steve & Debbie

Still Waiting

Thank you so much for the prayers! Christen started taking a turn for the better last night, so we are cautiously hopeful that she will not have to go on the TPN. Debbie should be hearing from the Dr. sometime this morning about that.

Steve & Debbie

Prayer Needed

Christen really needs prayer today. Our Dr. just told us that all of Christen's counts are ok enough to go home. The thing that is keeping Christen in the hospital now is that she needs to be able to start eating some on her own and taking in enough liquid on her own. The Dr. said that today will be the determining factor---if she doesn't do better today, then they will have to put her on TPN (total parenteral nutrition) because it has been eight days since she's really been able to eat much of anything. If they do put her on TPN she will have to stay in the hospital for the first few days of it to make sure that she is progressing. Today could go either way. She is starting to get the mouth sores which probably also is indicative of what is going on inside her ---esophagus, etc.

So please pray that she will be able to eat and drink and keep it down! She is still very nauseated today. Debbie is coaxing her to drink fluids as much as she can.

Thanks,
Steve & Debbie

Still in Hospital

Thanks for your continued prayer for Christen. She is still in the hospital waiting for the intestinal bug to clear. As soon as it does she will get to go home since the Dr. decided to delay the next chemo treatment until next week which will give her a welcome break from the hospital.

Steve & Debbie

The Monday Blues

Today was blue Monday---for one thing, we're still here; for another thing, Christen was literally a little blue around the edges for lack of a high enough level of oxygen. Thankfully, our doctor this morning put her finger on the problem right away---methemoglobinemia, caused by Christen's one little once a day antibiotic pill called Dapsone. It can cause your iron in your blood to change so that the hemoglobin can't carry oxygen. This was confirmed by a blood test.

We are still not absolutely sure why the intestinal bleeding as all of the results haven't come back, but at this point the doctor thinks it probably is c-dif, an intestinal bug common in hospitals particularly to those with suppressed immune systems. Thankfully, the bleeding seems to have subsided after two days of intestinal rest which means that Christen couldn't have any food or drink in the last two days.:-( Hopefully they will be able to let her start eating lightly tomorrow.

Christen has mostly slept through both day and night for the past few days as she has been nauseous and the anti-nausea meds make you sleepy. She did wake up enough this afternoon for a little while to visit with her grandparents who dropped in and a little this evening to visit with her dad, but hasn't felt well enough to sit up in bed. She also was grateful to have Mr. Rice chauffeur her sister and friends down here for a short visit Sunday evening while she dozed in and out of the conversations.

We don't know yet when we will get to go home. She is still scheduled for chemo (the real tough one) this Thursday. It's possible that we won't get home before that starts. If not, I can see us still being here for the next seven days or so. Pray for contentment of heart to accept that "this is God's will concerning us" at this time; that we would allow Him to have His way with us. He is the Potter; we are the clay.

I am very thankful for the many ways throughout each day that God shows us His love in the midst of this trial. "It's as if God is placing sticky-notes in our lives as daily reminders of His presence and provision."
(C.J. Mahaney). We serve a risen Savior. He's alive and real!

Love and thanks to you all,
Debbie, for all of us

Prayer for Faith

God provided an wonderful encouragement to our faith this morning by way of a sermon by Paul Wolfe on Habakkuk 3:17-19.

Habakkuk 3:17 "Though the
fig tree should not blossom,
nor fruit be on the vines,
the produce of the olive fail
and the fields yield no food,
the flock be cut off from the fold
and there be no herd in the stalls,
18 yet I will rejoice in the Lord;
I will take joy in the God of my salvation.
19 God, the Lord, is my strength;
he makes my feet like the deer's;
he makes me tread on my high places."

It is tempting for us to think sometimes that God has "stepped over the line" if you will. That the hand we have been dealt is just too hard. That He has given us more than we can take. But in reality He hasn't done so. He promised not to give us more than we can handle. He doesn't want us to put our ultimate satisfaction in anything other than Him, as this passage points out. So Christen is dealing with cancer, and all the painful things the treatment brings about, and the rest of us have the pain of watching her go through it, and not knowing what the future holds, and having had life thrown on it's head in many respects.
Please pray for Christen, and for each of us, that we will have the faith and spirit that Habakkuk had.

An update on Christen's situation: she is still in the hospital, her chest scan was clear, but now we are dealing with a likely intestinal infection which will delay her release from the hospital. She has slept most of the day from the meds that she is being given. She also had a blood transfusion today to help her oxygen level. Pray that she will be able to come home tomorrow.

Debbie and Christen have really enjoyed the visitors. The hospital stays get more difficult every time, so the visitors really help.


Steve & Debbie