Important Update

I haven't posted an update in awhile, because, for the most part, things have just been moving along in my now three-month-old routine.  I treat four days a week at Fox Valley in Fond du Lac--it is closed on Fridays.  Most of my treatments are first thing in the morning and last till 1:00-2:00 p.m.  Then I go to work four afternoons per week--we are closed on Thursdays.  Any extra tests/scans/bloodwork I've been able to schedule on Thursday afternoons or Friday mornings. I am still working as the insurance/billing manager at a chiropractic office three blocks from my house.  My bosses are like family and accommodate me however they can.  My coworkers are also great in their flexibility.  I've only had to call in once to say I wasn't coming in because I wasn't feeling well. Up to this point, my treatments and work have all fit neatly into place, and there has been little disruption to our schedules, which is a huge blessing.

The struggle with bone pain in my leg continues.  For about 3 1/2 weeks starting at Thanksgiving time, I had little to no pain.  I had started a new, stronger full spectrum CBD oil with a high concentration of 2000mg, and it worked so well that I was able to completely stop taking ibuprofen, which has been one of my goals.  But then I started having trouble again.  I'm not sure if it's because my body has built up a tolerance to the CBD or if it's because the bone pain is getting worse--or a combination.  So for the past couple weeks, I've had to take ibuprofen again with the CBD oil.  Today I got a new prescription for a pain killer that is used for bone pain and neuropathy, and it's supposed to be less harmful long term than ibuprofen.  Hopefully I'll be able to wean off the ibuprofen again.  Usually my leg pain worsens as the day goes on and can be quite bad at night.  But once the pain is under control, I usually sleep through the night.

At one point when the pain was getting me down, the lyrics to "His Eye is on the Sparrow" came into my head and were a great encouragement.

           Why should I feel discouraged, why should the shadows come?
           Why should my heart feel lonely and long for Heaven and home?
           When Jesus is my portion, a constant friend is He
           His eye is on the sparrow and I know He watches over me.
           His eye is on the sparrow and I know He watches me.

 

           I sing because I'm happy, I sing because I'm free!
           His eye is on the sparrow and I know He watches me,
           His eye is on the sparrow and I know He watches
          

I've been incorporating more detox therapies in my routine.  I think for a while I was concentrating too much on treatments and not enough on eliminating the die-off and toxic cell wastes that result from the treatments.  Both aspects are very important, treating the cancer and then detox, because without detox the body can become toxic and sick.  Dr. Donna Abfall from Fox Valley (she does blood microscopy and nutrition) also has her own detox clinic in West Bend called Inochi.  I've been there three times now for a 4-5 hour session of detox treatments.  She does Far Infrared Sauna, ozone sauna, ozone insufflation, ionic foot baths, photon therapy, and PEMF (pulsed electromagnetic frequency) therapy.  It's like going to a relaxing spa, so I enjoy the time there.  I have also scheduled some appointments beginning January 11, to get colonics done at a place in Appleton.  Cleansing the colon would rid it of build-up on the colon walls, which would not only be eliminating more toxins, but also allow nutrients, etc., to be better absorbed.

There is an extended group of people who are covering me and my family in prayer, and I've relied on my Prayer Warriors several times with specific requests on my Facebook page.  I can say from experience that when they pray, God works in a big way!  The latest example was over Christmas when I asked for prayer for the car ride over to Michigan and back.  I was concerned about my leg pain and the discomfort of sitting in the van for the six hour trip each way.  God graciously responded again, and I had no issues with pain or discomfort either way.  On the way there, Bob folded down one of the back seats and made a little bed for me with sleeping bags and pillows.  It was a perfect little nest, and I slept most of the trip.  I think I had the most comfortable spot in the van!  On the way home, we took my parents with us and dropped them off at the airport in Chicago, so I had to sit in a seat that far.  After we dropped them off, I got the back seat to myself and was able to stretch out.  My leg didn't bother me at all that trip, either.  It is very faith-building to see God answer specific prayers in specific ways.

Unfortunately, I did struggle with pain each night when I went to bed, but once I fell asleep, I was able to sleep well through the night. 

Our time in Michigan with both sides of our family was sweet and fun.  We spent Saturday and Sunday with Bob's side...39 out of the 40 family members were present!  Bob's family blessed us with an unexpected gift from all of them...it left us overwhelmed.  Monday and Tuesday we spent at my sister's house, and again we were only missing one niece in California and my brother's family here in Wisconsin.  When we arrived at my sister's house, it was very cool to see they were all wearing t-shirts designed by my nephew.  They say "Kim's Clan" on the back; the front has a design of a ribbon over a cross, and the ribbon says "Hope", "Not a spirit of fear", and "Against the tide".  They are a fundraiser on the Kim's Clan Facebook page.  My sister and brother-in-law also had Christmas gifts for our family which was another unexpected blessing and a great surprise for the kids.

Sunday morning we worshiped at West Cannon Baptist, which is where Bob and I were attending when we were married, so we have lots of friends there whom we haven't seen in a long time.  We joined two of Bob's sisters and husbands, his parents, plus my sister and brother-in-law drove up the 45 minutes from their house with my parents, so we had a nice group of our family at the morning service.  It was great to touch base with several of our old friends after the service.

The end of November I had six-week appointments with Dr. Coleman and Dr. Abfall to go over the six-week blood work, etc.  Most of the blood work numbers which were out of the normal range the first time had improved, except for the tumor markers which went up.  They check thyroid, hormones, blood, etc., etc.  The tumor markers are difficult to interpret without a third set of numbers to establish a trend.  For instance, it's possible that even though they went up, they went up at a slower rate than they were previously rising.  I had 12-week blood work done a couple days ago, so we will see what the new numbers show.  It can take a couple weeks to get all the results back.

Last week I had my second PET scan and a full-body thermography scan.  Thermography cannot penetrate bone, so it doesn't show bone cancer, but Dr. Coleman said it will show circulation issues and other problems.  It's so weird that if one just looked at the thermograph, there would be no indication that there's anything wrong with me!  My breasts are both still clear; in fact, they look slightly better than they did in my last thermography scan.  I thought sure my leg would show up warmer just from all the pain and inflammation, but it looks no different than my good leg.  Like I said, weird.

The PET scan is another story and not what we wanted to hear.  There are multiple new spots throughout my skeleton, so it is spreading and growing.  The spot in the bottom of my right lung that was there previously remained basically unchanged.  I think we have a pretty good idea at what those new blood work numbers are going to show now.  I had this scan done head to toe, because I was convinced that my entire right leg was full of cancer all the way down to my ankle based on the fact that I have a lot of pain in my knee and lower leg that feels just like the pain in my femur where there is a lot of cancer.  Amazingly, there is no cancer below the femur!  I was shocked; the pain must be nerve pain then.  I found out that the reason PET scans are only done down to the mid-thigh is because that's all the farther the machine can go.  In order to get my lower legs scanned, I had to flip around and put my feet where my head had been and then run another scan which took about 10 minutes less than the body scan.  It's good that it was shorter, because I was starting to struggle with pain on the table and ended up singing out loud, etc., to distract myself so I could lie still.  The machine is pretty loud, so I doubt anyone could hear me.  :)

The results came in yesterday, so Dr. Coleman found me in the IV room and went over them.  Fortunately, Bob took me to the clinic yesterday, because he is off all week, so he arrived to pick me up shortly after Dr. Coleman came in and was there for the news.  All of the new spots are too small to measure, but there are many:  base of my skull, sternum, several more vertebra, ribs, pelvis, humerus.  Dr. Coleman compared them to new weeds popping up everywhere and said that the cancer is searching for new places to go.  He said the cancer has a lot of momentum, and that I need to do something more...sooner rather than later.  He recommended going to a cancer clinic in Mexico and said that is what he would do.  Of course I could choose to go with conventional chemo if I wanted, but I just think that would hasten the end and be ugly in the process.  I could also just keep doing what I'm doing and postpone the inevitable as long as possible.  But Bob and I are pursuing the Mexico clinics.  There are several, and they are not hindered by the backward regulations and restrictions of the FDA, etc., in the U.S.  They offer all the things I've already been doing as well as additional crucial treatments that are proven and used world-wide...except for in the U.S.

Some of the treatments include:  Hyperthermia (they put you under and raise the body temp very high...normal cells can handle it; cancer cells can't and get cooked). Sono-photo-dynamic therapy (using light and sound to kill cancer cells). IPTLD therapy (insulin potentiated low dose chemo): they put you under and lower the body's blood sugar drastically then introduce a very low dose chemo with insulin; the cancer cells are starving for the sugar, so they suck it up--it uses significantly lower doses of chemo and it's so targeted, it does little damage to the rest of the body. There are also viruses that are developed to specifically attack cancer cells.

The daunting part is that we need to come up with $45,000 up front, which we don't have.  And Bob and I would be gone for three weeks.  That nice, neat schedule I mentioned in my opening paragraph just blew up.  This would be a big upheaval for our family.  We also need to get passports--they can be expedited for medical reasons, if necessary.  We don't know if this is going to happen or not, but I know my God is bigger than any of the obstacles in the way, and He can move them if He chooses.

This news has been a blow, for sure, and my heart hurts for Bob and my kids.  Having decisions to make and planning to do helps keep the mind off thoughts of a grim future.  My good friend, Tammy, often says, "Don't doubt in the dark what you know in the light."  So we hold on to all God's promises and trust that He knows what He's doing and it will be for the best.