Facing The Giants!!

Boy do we have something great to tell you about today!

The other day, we heard about a movie created by a church called, Facing The Giants, that would actually be in theatres. So, we did a little research and found a theatre near our favorite PF Changs that was showing the movie! We went with our friends Luke & Megan & WOW!! I don't care what your plans were for the weekend, they've changed! You must go see this movie!!

To find a theatre near you that is showing the film, you can go to:
http://www.facingthegiants.com/

Don't forget that the first weekend a movie is out determines if it makes it to a second weekend! Take your kids for a matinee Saturday afternoon or grab your Sunday School class after church on Sunday! You must go see this movie!

I know it seems as if this movie has nothing to do with Ben and his cancer, but it has everything to do with it. Over and over in this movie, we were reminded that "nothing is impossible with God." Luke 1:37 Praise the Lord that it is not of our strength that Ben will be healed, but with the strength of the Lord! We trust in Him that nothing is impossible with Him!!

Even the making of this movie is an amazing story. A church in Georgia decided to make this movie. The lady that plays the wife of the head coach is actually the head coach's wife in real life in this small town! Each of the characters even wore their own clothes to keep costs low. The entire movie was shot in six weeks!

Anyway, I could ramble forever, but that would keep you from going to see the movie because you would be reading all day. So, GO SEE THIS MOVIE and show them that Christians do take a stand when their brothers and sisters in Christ make a movie that glorifies Him! Let's show Hollywood that movies like this can make it!! GO!! GO!! GO!!!!

P.S. Please pray for our friend Clarence today as he is facing some giants of his own as he heals from major heart surgery.

Snail Mail

Hello all!

We have received a few requests for a snail mail address to send donations to the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society in honor of Ben! Wow! You are all so precious, as if praying isn't enough, you want to go and help find a cure!! Thank you!

The address that I have to send them to is Haley's home address. I'm not comfortable posting that on here. However, if you e-mail me (benmeredithfox@sbcglobal.net), I will send it to you!

Thank you for loving Ben & loving a cure!!

Humbled,

Meredith

Walking for Ben!!

Hey guys! This is so cool & incredibly humbling! Let's just say it had me a little weepy!! We received this e-mail from a friend of Ben's today.
************************************

Dear Friends,

I am training for the Dallas White Rock Half Marathon and raising money for The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society as a participant in their Team In Training. I'm asking you to help by making a contribution. Each donation helps accelerate cures for leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma and brings hope to the patients and families who are on the front lines of the battle against these diseases.

At first, I signed up for this event as a way to stay in shape during my pregnancy. After a week of training, I got an email with the news that a friend of ours from T Bar M and A&M, Ben Fox, was recently diagnosed with Stage 2 Hodgkin’s Lymphoma. He has now been named my “Honored Hero” and I am participating in this marathon on his behalf. To read updates on Ben you may visit his blog at
http://psalm112-survivor.blogspot.com/.

Please use the link in this letter to help me reach my goal of $1,800. You can donate online quickly and securely. You will receive a confirmation by email of your donation and I will be notified as soon as you make your donation. Any amount you are able to contribute will help the cause.

You can learn more about my efforts and make a donation by visiting my Web site:

http://www.active.com/donate/tntntx/haleybirkel

On behalf of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, thank you very much for your support. I really appreciate your generosity!

Sincerely,


Haley Birkelbach

**************************
Be sure to check out her page and see what you can do to help out, if nothing else, pray for her pregnancy & a cure for all of this crazy cancer mess!!

Thank you all!!

Mr. Clean, Mr. Clean!!

Yippee!! Praise the Lord! We found out today that Ben's bone marrow is clear of cancer! His bones are clean!! Thank you , Jesus!! So, this leaves us at Stage 2 Hodgkin's Lymphoma.

We had our appt. today with Dr. Denham, the oncologist. Everyone there was so sweet. Such a friendly clinic. Wow! We really felt like their friends rather than a patient or number.

The only real frustration that we've seen is that we aren't getting super straight answers. We've asked every single physician, Nurse Practitioner, etc., if Ben and I should have a flu shot. Everyone has had a different answer. Even the Oncology Fellow that saw us prior to the doc today gave us a different answer than his. She also said that she didn't think we would need radiation. However, the doc said definitely do radiation. So, please pray that everyone would get on the same page.

Chemo will probably start in a few weeks. Ben needs to have a few more tests run & they need to get all of his records from MD Anderson before they can begin. The good thing is that Ben will be able to take his chemo from the clinic in Greenville. He is excited about this as he can stop by on his way home from class for treatments!

Also, while we were waiting to be called back today, in walked our friend Jim Moore. He was headed to the heart center to see our friend, Clarence Plagens, Aggie Class of '65. Clarence was having major heart surgery today. Thirteen years ago he had a Quintuple (is that a word) bypass. They found a few weeks ago that 4 of the 5 were completely blocked and the one remaining was only working at 20%. So, today they had him in surgery for over six hours trying to find healthy veins in his body they could use to redo the bypass. Please pray for miraculous healing as this is very risky. His wife's name is Leigh. His daughter is Kathleen and her husband is Ron. He should be in ICU for the next week.

Just incase you want to spend more time on your knees, we found out today that a friend of mine from high school lost his youngest little girl today. My friend, Myson Johnson, RHS Class of '97, has three beautiful girls. This morning, he lost his youngest little girl, Peyton, after an awesome fight against Neuroblastoma (a very rare form of cancer). She was actually cured of the cancer through a stem cell transplant. However, amidst that, her immune system was down & she caught a virus. Her immune system was too weak to fight the virus. Please pray for their family as he has two other girls. The middle child, Devyn, & his oldest daughter, Avery, who has a genetic disorder that has caused multiple surgeries. Obviously, their plate is full and they could use our prayers!

Prayers:

*All docs to be on the same page with exactly how treatment should occur.
*Ben's strength to move through the treatments
*Blessings on my boss for being so understanding and compassionate! WOW!
*Clarence Plagens' health & healing & peace for Leigh, Kathleen, Ron, etc.
*Comfort for the Johnson family

Thank you for praying for all of these requests even if you don't know the people involved! We are so grateful for your prayers!!

Here We Go!

Well, today is our appt. with the oncologist in Dallas. We will be leaving in the next few minutes. Our weekend was wonderful as we had a couple of chances to rest. We ended up missing the football game on Saturday b/c we were both so exhausted (I fell asleep on the couch)!! So, it was nice to get the much needed rest.

The oncologist that we are meeting with today was also the oncologist for the pastor that married us. So, we've heard great things about him. His main office is at Baylor. However, he has an office in Greenville which will make chemo easy for Ben on his way home from class. We find out for sure today if that is an option.

Ben is feeling much better since the bone marrow biopsy. He still occasionally has some soreness in his back, but is doing much better. We are doing everything that we can to build his immune system now to make sure that he's ready to fight all of this once the chemo starts to hit his white cells. Ben is taking all kinds of supplements, etc. We are also working out a bit more. Ben has access to an awesome rec center at school & so he is working out there each day & then comes home & we walk for a couple of miles!

That's about it for this morning as we are running late to get out the door. However, just wanted to give you a quick update. We'll let you know how the visit goes this morning.

Thank you for your prayers! We feel them!

Home Again, Home Again, Jiggity Jig!!

Yeah! We are HOME!! It feels so good to be in our house & sleep in our own bed! Though the bed we were in this last week was super comfy! It's also great to see our little Hanker-poo!!

We had the prayer time last night! AWESOME! Thank you Kim & David for loving us enough to open your home for others to come and pray for us! Also, thank you Kim for loving me enough to make gluten-free brownies!! Yummy!! We had some precious friends that came to support us and lift us up to the Lord! Wow! What a precious time at Jesus' feet! Thank you all for coming to pray & thank you to everyone else that was praying for us that couldn't be there. We felt it.

Our friend, Zac Coventry, is here with us. So much fun! Such an encourager & such precious time for Ben to be loved on by a dear friend!

We are headed out to the "real world" today to go to the local Art fair & then to my cousin's college football game tonight!! Just nice to have a break from the medical world!! Whew!

Anyway, we are so grateful for all of your prayers! Thank you!!

Anybody want some chemo?!!

Yippee!! We're done here for a couple of months! We had Ben's final appt. here at MD Anderson to discuss the treatment plan. The complete results for the bone marrow biopsy are not back yet. So, we still don't know for sure that it's not in his marrow. If it is then the treatment would be extended. They said that they don't think that it is b/c he would have much larger masses.

Here's what we know:

1. Ben has tumors on both sides of his neck, both sides of his chest above his clavicles, & one beneath his sternum. The largest is 2 cm (this is good)! Go God!!

2. None are below his diaphragm which make his cancer Stage 2!!

3. It is for sure Hodgkins Lymphoma.

4. His chemo will be four rounds (4 months) rather than six!! Praise Jesus! Since he has so few nodes, they have shortened the course. However, since there are some nodes that are right at 2cm, they will do radiation on every single active tumor. Yucky!! That will come at the end of the chemo.

5. His chemo is called ABVD (this is an acronym for each of the meds involved) & is a worldwide standard. So, he will be able to receive treatment in Dallas. Let's Praise Jesus one more time!!!

6. They will possibly give Ben a product called Neulasta. They want to watch his white count to see how it responds. They don't think it will be affected too much, but this is an option to protect Ben from becoming Neutropenic (look up that fun word). Basically, this med will help Ben to continue to produce healthy white blood cells throughout the process. The cool part is that one of his friends from T Bar M sells this product and so Ben already knew a little about it.

7. Ben can no longer be a donor, no marrow or blood donations. Interesting.

8. Our appointment is already scheduled with the doctor in Dallas that will do the chemo. We will go to see him on the 26th. So, that is next Tuesday. We're getting the ball rolling. Hopefully, Ben can start treatments next week or early the following week.

9. They said at least no babies for a year after the treatment is over. The chemo can cause a bit of a mutation that takes a while to work it's way out of the system! So, it may be a while before there is a pitter patter in our house.

10. Last, but definitely not least, we have some of the greatest prayer warriors on our team! Thank you all for carrying us through this craziness. We have seen God's hand in this in so many ways! Wow!! You have each blessed our lives through this more than you'll ever know...I know that sounds so trite. I hope that you can hear our hearts. We love each of you so much and are amazed! Thank you!!

This was the scripture in my quiet time today. God is making everything so relevant!! Wow!!

I prayed to the Lord, and he answered me, freeing me from all my fears. Those who look to him for help will be radiant with joy; no shadow of shame will darken their faces. I cried out to the Lord in my suffering, and he heard me. He set me free from all my fears. For the angel of the Lord guards all who fear him, and he rescues them. Psalm 34:4-7 NLT

Prayers:

*Please pray for our sweet friends, Sarah & Nick, that opened their home to us this week! It was great to be in a home going through all of this. Sarah is due in early November, but sweet Baby Claire is dropping a bit. Please pray that Claire would hang out in her Mommy's warm belly for as long as possible, for her to be super healthy, & for blessings to flow abundantly upon Nick & Sarah for their precious hearts and love.
*Safety for our trip home. We will be leaving in a few minutes to get on the road.
*Continued healing for Ben's back. He is just sore now, not much pain anymore. He says it feels like he fell on his toosh.
*Blessings upon our friends, Kim & David that are having the prayer time for us tonight. Such precious friends. If you are anywhere nearby and would like to come, let us know and we'll give you directions!
*Pray for Ben right now as he is talking to a young guy here in the lobby that also has lymphoma & they have found it in his bone. He was diagnosed in '03 & is still fighting it...trying to find a bone marrow donor. Pray that Ben can be an encouragement to him.

Test Prep!

Here we are again with another day of tests! Poor guy is in a ton of pain from his biopsy & then they won't let him have his multiple cups of coffee or any food this morning. I know he's back there starving. However, he can't eat until around noon when the test is over. He's having a PET (Positron Emission Testing) Scan. He has to consume glucose and then he gets a radioactive injection. After that sits for a little bit they scan his body. Cancer cells feed on sugar. So, this test will show us where all of his tumors are. As of now, there are nodes that have been identified, but we are not sure which ones are actually tumors. This is the final step in staging the cancer. Praise Jesus!

From what we've learned, it seems that something must have happened yesterday that was abnormal for him to have this pain. He said that it reminds him of when he broke his tailbone. The right side is fine, but the left side (the one in the Javorski Lane conversation) is giving him fits. The other big problem, he's not allowed to shower for 48 hours! Ben, the man that would shower every eight if he could, can't get the spot wet until Friday night. So, for those of you at the prayer time on Friday, you will probably get a newly showered Ben!! Other than the pain in the left hip/back, he's doing very well! I'm so impressed.

We were so blessed last night. We went to PF Changs to see our friend, Craig, who is a manager. We also met up with our sweet friends, Rob & Angie & their girls, Abby & Sophie! We had so much fun just hanging with them. Abby colored a picture for Ben. Abby has also been praying for Ben since about 10 minutes after we found out he had cancer. She was scared to hug Ben last night b/c she didn't want to hurt him. However, I got all of the hugs that she had stored up for him. So fun! We thanked her for helping Ben to get better by praying. She leaned over during the meal and asked me if Ben felt better. I told her, "Yes, because of your sweet prayers to Jesus for Ben." She smiled super big and lept at me with a big hug! As Ben said, "If this little girl recognizes the power of prayer and spending time talking to Jesus because of this, cancer is worth it!" Craig also covered our meal...so sweet! Well, the best part was actually the flourless dome cake milkshake that Craig had made for us! Yummy!!!

Ben is done with his scan and so I'll close for now.


Prayers:
*All lab results are ready in time for the appt. we have scheduled with the doctor tomorrow. If they are ready, we can get the treatment plan, get back to Dallas, and get treatment started quickly. If they're not ready, we will have to come back on the 3rd of October and chemo won't start until mid-October. So, the timing of the results are important!! Pray! Pray! Pray!
*Pray for the pain Ben is experiencing! Our friend, Sarah, that we are staying with says the biopsy is the worst part of all that he has to do...so, if this is it GREAT. However, I don't want my husband to be in pain!

He's My HERO!!!

Apparently the Bone Marrow Biopsy procedure is quite painful. Ben didn't want to hear anything about whether or not it would hurt, etc. He went back for the procedure and the first side was fine. The girl doing the procedure was Javorski Lane's cousin (for all you Ags)! Anyway, they were having a great discussion about Javorski & WOWWWW!! From what I understand she started trying to take the core sample from an area that had not been numbed.--So, imagine someone taking a track spike through your skin and then into your bone. Then, they start to rotate it in order to pull out a sample of your bone! Anyone want to have one done today? No thank you!--So, that moment sent shooting pain down his leg. At that point she tried to give him some more Xylocaine to numb it, but the damage had already been done.

From what we've been told, it will be quite tender for a while and cause his hips to feel tight. He has been told to walk around as much as possible to help relieve the pain and not get too tight. So, he's walking around right now.

Our friend that we are staying with, Sarah, who also works at MD Anderson, said that she has witnessed quite a few of these procedures. She accompanies kids into these procedures to make them feel more comfortable. She told us that as an adult, she would want to be knocked out completely.

All of this to say, Ben is my HERO!! What a stud!! His attitude in all of this has amazed me from the moment I told him he had cancer. However, being able to go through this procedure and still smile at me when it's over...he's my hero!!

Please say a special prayer for Ben that this pain he is experiencing would be momentary and miraculously disappear! Come on Jesus!

For a quick praise report:

*I forgot to tell you yesterday that we were told that Ben's platelet count shouldn't be compromised by the chemo they will give him! Praise the Lord!
*Our next appt. here was scheduled for 10/3 because of the time it takes to get labs back. So, that means that Ben wouldn't be able to start treatment until some time after that. However, they told him today that they should have the results in by tomorrow. So, we now have an appt. scheduled for Friday to see the doc & get the treatment protocol! Praise Jesus! This means Ben will get to start chemo earlier (this is what Ben wants)! There is a chance that all of the results won't be in, but we are praying they move quickly and get the results so that we can leave here with answers!!

Thank you for praying for my hero!!

Humbly,

Meredith

Good Morning!!

This was the scripture in my quiet time this morning. It seemed quite appropriate and so I thought I would share...

...because we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead will
also raise us with Jesus and present us with you in his presence. All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God.

Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

2 Corinthians 4:14-18 NIV

Ben has a day full of tests, so be in prayer for him. He is back having his CT right now. Then, he has a cardiac scan. For the real kicker, he has a bone marrow biopsy today. This one needs to be covered in prayer. Ben is tough, but reading the instructions on what they will be doing hurt me.

"The biopsy consists of taking a small "bone core" from the bone marrow."

Yikes!! The procedure is done in the hip & he has to have it taken from both sides. Ouch!!

Thank you for sitting at Jesus' feet on our behalf!!

PRAISE JESUS!!!

Well, today has been a wonderful day! First, the MD Anderson campus is beautiful. Second, we have heard great things about Ben's treatment today!

They still need to confirm his diagnosis with the Pathology department & then confirm his staging with a few more tests. However, we seemed to get a lot of great news today. They are so much fun here!

First, they have told us that staging doesn't matter as much with Hodgkins as it does with other cancers because it is based more on location.
1=one tumor/location
2=bilateral (if you drew a line down the middle of your body, you would have tumors on each side)
3=tumors below the diaphragm
4=cancer in the bone marrow (this is the only one that would really change treatment)

They think that Ben is a Stage 2 or 3 b/c he has nodes that are appearing under each clavicle, in his chest, & one near his abdomen. We'll see later this week if they are all tumors from the results of the PET scan.

Second, the class of his Hodgkins is apparently nodular sclerosing. I still need to look this up to tell you more about what it means other than the obvious coming from the definition of the two words.

Based on the way that Ben is feeling and the presentation of the node on his neck (that has since been removed) they feel that he has not progressed much. However, Hodgkin's is a fast growing cancer. The good news there is that fast growing cancers are easier to treat apparently...things aren't always what they seem! According to the Nurse, Nurse Practitioner, & Oncologist, they treat most Hodgkin's patients the same way & it's quick & easy. The only difference would be if he has it in his bone marrow.

Anyway, from what we learned today, he will probably have six rounds of chemo. Each round or cycle is four weeks in duration with two treatments. He will go in every two weeks for treatment. So, if I've not made this more confusing than it has to be...he will have two treatments each month for six months. We are trying to determine if he should do his treatments at MD Anderson or in Dallas. They will allow either. However, he needs blood work every week and so that would be a lot of driving if we chose MD Anderson. So, we need to hurry and look into a possible oncologist in Dallas that would be willing to follow the MD Anderson protocol in treating him.

Now for the great news!!! Ben didn't want to know anything about the symptoms of cancer or the side efffects of chemo b/c he knows the mind is powerful and he didn't want to plant any seeds. So, the nurse started to tell us the side effects of the chemo and he stopped her. However, she said you might as well know that there really aren't any...This chemo, called ABVD, is less likely to affect platelet counts (praise JESUS!!) and they said he probably won't lose his hair. They said it may thin a tiny bit, but he shouldn't lose it. She said the side effects are so minimal. We are incredibly encouraged by this!!

They also told us that he probably won't have to have any radiation! Praise JESUS!! They said that they only do radiation when the tumors are larger than 2cm & Ben's are all smaller.

God has been so faithful, not that we would think otherwise! It was just so cool to hear all of the awesome news! You walk into this with faith that He will care for you & you're prepared for the worst. However, God allowed us to experience some true excitement today!

Thank you all so much for your prayers! We FEEL them! Today was such an encouragement. Be encouraged that God is hearing and answering your prayers that you are lifting up on our behalf!!

Praise the Lord!!

Off to H-town!

Well, it is super early in the AM and we are getting packed up to head to Houston. We have our first appointment at MD Anderson around 11 ish. We thought we would be there for a day or so, but found out yesterday that they want us to stay for 5-7 days!! We think they may even start treatment while we are there, but that is a guess. We are hoping that we won't need to stay as long since Ben has already had quite a few of the tests done that they will want. We have a friend that works at MD Anderson that told us that is usually why they would keep us for so long.

We really want to make sure that we are back by Friday, though. First, we have a friend (one of Ben's groomsmen-these descriptions don't do their friendship justice) that is coming to town to love on Ben. Second, some dear, precious friends of ours are having a prayer time at their house for us on Friday night. If you are near the Dallas area and want to come, let us know and we'll connect you to them so that they can give you directions.

Oh, we also found out that if we choose to go with MD Anderson, Ben will probably be able to do his treatments on an outpatient basis in Dallas! Praise the Lord! This will be wonderful as it will keep us from having to travel too much (especially if Ben gets icky from the treatments). This is also a blessing because it will keep me from having to miss too much work. I love my job and my manager has been amazing through all of this & so I want to make sure that I am working each moment that I can...please say a prayer of blessing upon my manager and his family as he is the reason that I am able to be with Ben "in sickness and in health." He is making a way for me to take care of Ben! Thank you, Lord, for him!!

I need to get back to packing, but wanted to let you know what was going on...

Prayer requests:
*God's glory to be made known through all of this
*safe travel to MD Anderson
*efficiency in getting checked in & getting tests run
*Wisdom beyond measure for the physicians & staff
*blessings for our friends that are allowing us to stay with them while in Houston
*HEALING for Ben
*blessings on my manager, Greg & his family
*peace for our family
*Financial provision

Dad!!!

What a wonderful weekend we've had...Ben's dad came in town Saturday night to hug on Ben a little bit. They had a great time Saturday night going to have some Mexican food together. I stayed here and talked to Ben's Mom on the phone for a while. She stayed in Pennsylvania. She so desperately wanted to be here, yet had a peace that she was supposed to stay there. After Bill (Ben's dad) left for the airport, their dog, Molly, passed away. So, Donna was able to be there with her. This was sad for Ben, too, as she was "his" dog. He's already planning how he can help his Mom find another companion. Say a prayer for her as Molly was such a great pup and companion!

Ben has been having some pains in his neck. He's unable to move his neck much because of his surgery. He has internal sutures and then dermabond on top. His doc told him that if he moves his neck too much away from the suture then he could cause the scar to be fat & much bigger than necessary. So, he ends up keeping his neck so stiff that his shoulder is tightening up and he has massive knots. I've done my best to rub it over the last few days, but we had to pull out the percussion massager today and some muscle relaxers because the knots were so enourmous. So, we are praying that healing occurs quickly so that he can start to move more and get out of pain.

It was just awesome seeing arms wrapped around Ben today at church. We had friends stop him and pray over him at that moment...Wow!! Others shared their hearts and the prayers they were lifting up for him. The greatest part is listening to Ben talk about how encouraged he is to receive this blessing from the Lord! It just amazes me!! He is so sold out to the Lord and wants the Lord to be glorified in every aspect of this. Amazing!! I stop and want to have a pity party and he quickly reminds me that the Lord has allowed this and that he sees that as an opportunity to give Him glory!

We are trying to decide how to work our trip to MD Anderson. We don't know if we need to go the night before and/or stay in Houston the night of since he may need to come back the next day. Our understanding is that they want to start treatment within 5-7 days of our first appointment! Praise Jesus because we want to knock this out quickly!!

Finally, this is a prayer that we received from a friend. I know there are times that we struggle with how to pray for Ben and this prayer has been such an encouragement. So, we wanted to share it with you.

"Heavenly Father, You are the giver of life and the creator of our bodies.
You are to be worshipped b/c You provided life in a dead body. We were once sin
stained and now we are wiped clean through the provision of your blood. The
'cancer' in our hearts could not be removed by human hands or by our own merits.
Only by your election and by your great grace did you decide it pleasing to
remove the 'cancer' from our hearts and provide salvation to undeserving people
like us.

I pray for my brother, Ben, as he has just learned of that cancer has
entered his body. Please give him strength and provide for him as he battles
through cancer. We love you and are grateful for your protection and covering.
Be glorified in Ben and Meredith's lives as they deal with fighting through
this.

In Christ's name. Amen"

Family Time

We had a fun time today celebrating my Uncle's b-day. He is the only one of my uncles that lives outside of Texas. He lives in Virginia and so we don't get to see them nearly as often. However, his youngest son just signed to play football with Tyler Junior College. So, my uncle retired and has been in Texas much more often. His birthday was yesterday and so all of his boys came in to surprise him!! George, the one that plays ball had to stay in Tyler, but we got to spend some time with Lloydcito & Gene & my aunt, Elida. It was fun getting to celebrate his birthday with him since he's usually so far away.

It was a great time with family! The picture is my Aunt Elida, cousin Lloydcito, Granny, cousin Gene, & Uncle Lloyd!!

Happy Birthday, Uncle Lloyd!!

M.D. Anderson

Well, we have some great news!!

Ben got an appointment at M.D. Anderson!! Praise Jesus! His appointment is next Tuesday, the 19th. They want to do a bone marrow biopsy and PET scan. So, we have cancelled his bone marrow biopsy that was scheduled for Monday. We understand that it can be a pretty painful experience and see no reason to repeat it. So, we will head down to Houston either Monday night or Tuesday morning. They have two specialists that treat Hodgkin's and so we will have a chance to meet with one of them Tuesday. Ben is excited about this appt. We also have a sweet family friend that is pulling every possible string to get Ben in with the Hodgkin's specialist at Tx Oncology. He apparently has had HL himself! So, it's always nice when someone has walked in your shoes.

We had dinner last night at PF Changs (our favorite) and ran into some friends from A&M & Ben knew the guys from College Station (childhood friends). It was so fun! Anyway, we took a picture so that everyone can see how great Ben looks. We've found that when you say cancer, there is an automatic assumption that the person walks with a limp, weighs 40 lbs, and has a big "C" on their forehead! So, for those of you that can't be here to touch and love on Ben, here is a pic so that you can see he hasn't changed a bit!! It was fun listening to Ben last night while talking to our manager friend, Jeremy. He told him that he is excited about this and is ready for the challenge!! It's so awesome to hear Ben ready for the challenge and "looking forward to it!" Wow! Our friend, Jeremy, encouraged Ben so much. He told Ben that his Bible Study prayed for Ben last night, but also that he knew people would come to know Jesus through this. If there is anything in the world that encourages Ben, it is God getting glory and people coming to know Him! So, that brought such immeasurable joy to Ben!

Thank you all for your prayers and your love, we truly feel them! The only additional prayer with this entry would be:
*safe travel to MD Anderson next week

We love you all and are daily humbled by your love and sacrificial time in prayer for Ben and our family!

Still Waiting!

Hey there friends, family, & faithful prayer warriors!!

I'm so sorry to get this info to you a day late. We can't even begin to tell you how precious your prayers are to us, especially me! Ben is so strong, but as the wife, I occasionally get weak & need a little boost & all of your e-mails and prayers have been a true blessing. So, thank you!!

We had Ben's first appt. with the oncologist yesterday (Thursday). He was a nice guy, but very quickly admitted that Hodgkin's Lymphoma is a rare form of cancer & it has been a few years since he has treated someone with HL. He also said it's been a very long time since he's treated a patient as young as Ben. So, he wants to see if Ben can see one of his colleagues at their downtown office that has more experience treating HL. In the meantime, we have scheduled Ben's Bone Marrow Biopsy for Monday at 2p. That is apparently a painful procedure as they will place a needle into the bone in Ben's hip to remove the marrow. He will just have local anesthetic. So, please pray for Ben's strength in that procedure. The man doesn't seem to experience pain. He is so tough!! However, the procedure just sounds a bit more painful than your everyday bump or bruise!!!

The nurse is working to schedule Ben's PET scan which will illuminate any tumors & she is setting up a few other required tests for him. The chemo treatment this doc plans to use is apparently quite hard on the heart & lungs & so they are scheduling a test on his heart that measures the ejection fraction & he will also have a Pulmonary Function Test to look at his lung function/capacity. On Monday, they will also check to see if Ben's veins appear to be strong enough to handle the chemo. If not, Ben will get a port which would keep him from getting stuck with a needle each time.

Right now, the doc is planning to do six rounds of chemo (about six months) followed by radiation. However, we are still waiting on the complete pathology report from Ben's surgery on Monday. That report will help the doctor to determine what class of Hodgkin's Ben has & what Stage his cancer is at...The doc said that if he had to guess, he thinks that Ben caught this early & is a Stage 1 or 2, which are the lowest on a scale of 1-4. One means that the cancer is limited to one cluster of lymph nodes above the diaphragm. Four means that the cancer has spread to your organs & tissues. So, we are still waiting on the final word there. We also found out that Hodgkin's is a quick growing form of cancer & so we are praying for quick answers so that we can get the ball rolling.

Again, we are so grateful for everyone's prayers. Here is our list for today:

*God's glory would be made known through this.
*Ben will experience complete healing!!! Yes, Jesus!!
*Wisdom for the physicians-we've already seen this answered to some degree with the doc in Rockwall saying that he felt his partners were more qualified to treat this. Praise the Lord he set his pride aside!!
*Peace for our family-I need to trust the Lord more with this.
*Financial provision
*Safety for Ben's dad as he travels to see Ben this weekend!!

Oh, and Ben has been so encouraged by two of his friends. His "old lady" (roommate) in the Corps, Russell, is going to compete in the LavaMan, a triathlon in Hawai'i in April. He has contacted them & is now running for Ben Fox! Whoop!! We also heard from a friend of Ben's that he worked with at T Bar M, Haley. She is running a 1/2 tri for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. She has named Ben as her honored hero & will be running for him. This has done Ben's heart a lot of good. You should have seen his face when he found out. He is so touched, humbled, & this just gives him more fight!!!

I'm a Survivor!!!

For those of you that didn't get the chance to read our first e-mail, I have copied it below.

Hey guys-

Just wanted to send you an update on Ben. We found out today that he has Hodgkin's Lymphoma. So, that means that he has cancer of the lymph nodes. We are not sure if it has spread or where it is in his body, as of yet. We have appts scheduled throughout the week to figure out more. Then, Thursday afternoon he will have his first appt. with the oncologist to determine how we will begin to treat this!

Ben has a rock solid attitude. The first words out of his mouth when I told him that the doctor said he had cancer, were, "cool, this means I get to be a cancer survivor." Then, he started wondering if he is now eligible for any special grants to dental school as a cancer survivor! So, he has an awesome attitiude! It's quite humbling to me.

His goal in all of this is God's glory! Wow! It's amazing to watch his spirit and fight! I admire him so much! Anyway, please be in prayer for:

*God's glory to be made known through this
*Healing for Ben
*Wisdom for the physicians
*Peace for our family
*Financial provision

Thank you all so much!

because of Him,

Meredith

Praise the Lord, blessed is the man who fears the Lord, who finds great delight in His commands.
Surely he will never be shaken; a righteous man will be remembered forever.
He will have no fear of bad news; his heart is steadfast, trusting in the LORD!!
Psalm 112: 1,6-7