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!!!