Well, I want to post with great updates. It's been a bit of a rough week, though. I had to cancel my biz trip that was scheduled for this weekend. So, I'm really praying for my boss' support now. I'm just still having episodes. I actually went five days without any episodes. PRAISE JESUS!! Then, I had one on day 6. I had one yesterday and one this morning. So, it's a bit frustrating. I'm ready for none of these! My goal is seven days without any before I go back to work. The doc seems to think that exertion plays a role in these occurring. So, I'm trying to be careful, but at the same time, he wants me to increase my exertion so that I'm ready to get back to work (where it's exertion all day).
Ben is doing very well. He's busy searching for a full-time job right now. He mowed, cleaned his truck, etc., last weekend and feels great! So, this blog may be coming to an end since it was originally designed to update everyone on Ben.
Thank you for all of your prayers!
Friday, February 23, 2007
Saturday, February 17, 2007
Overdue
Well, we're overdue for an update. So sorry I've become so slow at them. Things have been crazy around here. Thursday was the first day in over three weeks that I didn't have a doctor's appt. I have literally had a doc appt. every single day since I went on Short Term Disability.
The cool thing is that God has truly been answering prayers and we're checking things off our list. Thank you, Lord! We felt very selfish asking so specifically. However, we have learned through asking specifically God can truly get the glory. It's so cool to watch.
So, I will do my best to update everything that has been going on over the last few weeks. Here is the prayer list and how the list is getting checked off:
Prayers:
*That Ben will hear from dental school so that we know if he is in or not. This will help us to determine his job search, etc.
Ben got a call on Tuesday from a dental school for an interview. He will interview this next Tuesday. They receive 3000 applications, interview 400, and accept about 50. Please pray for his interview.
*That Ben will be able to get a full-time job by March 1st that will begin to provide for our family.
He has heard from a pharma company that will begin the interview process the 25th of this month. Obviously, the interview with the dental school with have some weight in this, but pretty cool!!
*That we will find a way to make a big dent in our student loan debt.
Holy Wow! God is so good! Let's just say that we didn't think we could knock these out completely until next year. The Lord has provided considerably and based on the math we've done, we think we should have them knocked out by mid-March! Wow, LORD! You are so amazing!! This also allows us to start focus on saving for the adoption much sooner than planned.
*That we will get solid answers to what is going on with my health and we will find treatments that work and provide real results.
As far as my health goes, they are still convinced that it's mercury toxicity. Since I started the detox, I have had some great days. My goal is to go seven days without any episodes before I transition back to work. Last week, I went three days. Then, I had three days with some pretty serious episodes (only a few each day, so that's better than 15). I am now at the three day mark again. Thank you, Lord! I had a biz trip planned the 25th-2nd in Indy. I was afraid that I wouldn't hit the seven day mark in time for the trip and still have energy for seven days of intense training. So, we've rescheduled the trip. My heart rate has slowed considerably (another great thing)! The doc said he honestly didn't expect a response this quickly (he expected a couple of months before we saw real results), but he's calling me his poster child since my body is responding so quickly to the treatment.
*That my manager will be sensitive to my health issues and show understanding. He's an Ag, so he's a good guy, I just hate being out of work and stress myself out unnecessarily.
My boss has been awesome! Thank you, Lord! Please pray for blessings upon his family for his precious heart, support, and most importantly, his prayers through this. We're not sure when I will be able to go back, but he has been so wonderful! Such a blessing for my stressed out mind!!
*That the Lord will give Ben very clear direction on whether he is to finish chemo or not.
Let's just say we have had some pretty cool experiences. After the trip to MD Anderson, I was quite convinced that no doctor would support Ben stopping chemo. However, Ben had an appt. with his oncologist here last week. He is a Believer. Ben told him that he respected his medical expertise and he felt he had been cured. The doc said he was okay with Ben stopping at 3.5 rounds, but thought he should look into radiation. So, Ben met with the radiation oncologist. What an answer to prayer. In summary, the conversation went something like this, "I think you should do radiation b/c that's what the studies say. However, I'm a Believer, too, and from what you're telling me, I firmly believe the Lord has CURED you. So, I'm not going to hard sell you on radiation. I won't be disappointed if you choose not to do it. Oh, and here are all of the side effects..." So, as of right now, Ben feels that the Lord is telling him those treatments are over. He is still doing the Vitamin C IVs with our family practice doc. It's very cool stuff and we found out that Cancer Treatment Centers of America are about to do studies on these same treatments.
*That the CT will come back perfectly clear!!
We still have yet to hear from MD Anderson on Ben's CTs of his head and neck.
So, as you can see, God has been busy answering prayers! Thank you, Lord! We truly were hesitant coming with such specific prayers as we felt selfish and demanding. However, we have come to realize that by being so specific, we are setting it up that only God can get the glory for these awesome answers. It's so cool to be a part of a plan that you know you played no real role in...that it's all HIM!!
Thank you all for being prayer warriors and specifically lifting us up and praying that we can get this stuff checked off our lists! There is great relief and peace in checking all this off...thank you! Keep praying!!
The cool thing is that God has truly been answering prayers and we're checking things off our list. Thank you, Lord! We felt very selfish asking so specifically. However, we have learned through asking specifically God can truly get the glory. It's so cool to watch.
So, I will do my best to update everything that has been going on over the last few weeks. Here is the prayer list and how the list is getting checked off:
Prayers:
*That Ben will hear from dental school so that we know if he is in or not. This will help us to determine his job search, etc.
Ben got a call on Tuesday from a dental school for an interview. He will interview this next Tuesday. They receive 3000 applications, interview 400, and accept about 50. Please pray for his interview.
*That Ben will be able to get a full-time job by March 1st that will begin to provide for our family.
He has heard from a pharma company that will begin the interview process the 25th of this month. Obviously, the interview with the dental school with have some weight in this, but pretty cool!!
*That we will find a way to make a big dent in our student loan debt.
Holy Wow! God is so good! Let's just say that we didn't think we could knock these out completely until next year. The Lord has provided considerably and based on the math we've done, we think we should have them knocked out by mid-March! Wow, LORD! You are so amazing!! This also allows us to start focus on saving for the adoption much sooner than planned.
*That we will get solid answers to what is going on with my health and we will find treatments that work and provide real results.
As far as my health goes, they are still convinced that it's mercury toxicity. Since I started the detox, I have had some great days. My goal is to go seven days without any episodes before I transition back to work. Last week, I went three days. Then, I had three days with some pretty serious episodes (only a few each day, so that's better than 15). I am now at the three day mark again. Thank you, Lord! I had a biz trip planned the 25th-2nd in Indy. I was afraid that I wouldn't hit the seven day mark in time for the trip and still have energy for seven days of intense training. So, we've rescheduled the trip. My heart rate has slowed considerably (another great thing)! The doc said he honestly didn't expect a response this quickly (he expected a couple of months before we saw real results), but he's calling me his poster child since my body is responding so quickly to the treatment.
*That my manager will be sensitive to my health issues and show understanding. He's an Ag, so he's a good guy, I just hate being out of work and stress myself out unnecessarily.
My boss has been awesome! Thank you, Lord! Please pray for blessings upon his family for his precious heart, support, and most importantly, his prayers through this. We're not sure when I will be able to go back, but he has been so wonderful! Such a blessing for my stressed out mind!!
*That the Lord will give Ben very clear direction on whether he is to finish chemo or not.
Let's just say we have had some pretty cool experiences. After the trip to MD Anderson, I was quite convinced that no doctor would support Ben stopping chemo. However, Ben had an appt. with his oncologist here last week. He is a Believer. Ben told him that he respected his medical expertise and he felt he had been cured. The doc said he was okay with Ben stopping at 3.5 rounds, but thought he should look into radiation. So, Ben met with the radiation oncologist. What an answer to prayer. In summary, the conversation went something like this, "I think you should do radiation b/c that's what the studies say. However, I'm a Believer, too, and from what you're telling me, I firmly believe the Lord has CURED you. So, I'm not going to hard sell you on radiation. I won't be disappointed if you choose not to do it. Oh, and here are all of the side effects..." So, as of right now, Ben feels that the Lord is telling him those treatments are over. He is still doing the Vitamin C IVs with our family practice doc. It's very cool stuff and we found out that Cancer Treatment Centers of America are about to do studies on these same treatments.
*That the CT will come back perfectly clear!!
We still have yet to hear from MD Anderson on Ben's CTs of his head and neck.
So, as you can see, God has been busy answering prayers! Thank you, Lord! We truly were hesitant coming with such specific prayers as we felt selfish and demanding. However, we have come to realize that by being so specific, we are setting it up that only God can get the glory for these awesome answers. It's so cool to be a part of a plan that you know you played no real role in...that it's all HIM!!
Thank you all for being prayer warriors and specifically lifting us up and praying that we can get this stuff checked off our lists! There is great relief and peace in checking all this off...thank you! Keep praying!!
Wednesday, February 07, 2007
trust Who?
"if I trust You, everything else will become, for me, strength, health, and support. Everything will bring me to heaven. If I do not trust You, everything will be my destruction."
-Thomas Merton
I'm stealing this from another blog, but our friend Creth had this on his blog yesterday and we see so much truth in it and wanted to share!
-Thomas Merton
I'm stealing this from another blog, but our friend Creth had this on his blog yesterday and we see so much truth in it and wanted to share!
Sunday, February 04, 2007
MD Anderson Update & prayers
I've needed to post an update since we left MD Anderson. So sorry that I haven't posted yet. We sent an e-mail to our Sunday School class with an update and prayer requests. Instead of rewriting everything, here is most of the e-mail.
**********************
Our precious prayer warriors-
You are so amazing to us! Can't tell you how much we appreciate your prayers! So, we wanted to send an update with prayer requests.
We got to MDA on Wednesday night and Ben did his CT scans. Friday, we met with the oncologist. The only CT that was back was his chest...it was CLEAR! Thank you, Jesus!! The head & neck CTs weren't back yet, though. So, we are supposed to call/e-mail on Monday to get the results. Obviously, the oncologist was not a fan of Ben stopping chemo. He wants him to either do radiation or finish the chemo. It's not that we expected him to say anything different.
However, as Ben's wife, I left a bit scared. Basically, because I love my husband and want to spend the next 100 years with him. At the same time, I know that I need to have faith. As we've told you all before about our spiritual gifts: Ben's list-#1 Faith & Last is mercy. My list-#1 Mercy & Last is Faith. So, I think I wanted the doc to tell Ben that it was a great idea, he was healed, and to have a nice cancer FREE life!!
As far as my health goes, they are pretty sure I have mercury toxicity and they've started me on a mercury detox. It seems to be making an impact as I went from having 15+ episodes each day to maybe 1-4. So, obvious improvement! However, my heart rate is still crazy. They have me on meds to slow it down and resting it is still 96-100+ beats per minute. Standard is 60-80 bpm. We've got to get that slowed down some more.
The other pieces of our puzzle are the adoption and Ben's full-time work vs. dental school. We have both spent considerable time in prayer and are content with telling the adoption agency that we need to say "Whoa," not No. We just don't know that we'll be completely ready by May (when they expect referrals to start coming through). It could be eight months or it could be eight years until Ben gets in to dental school. So, he wants to get full-time work to support our family in the meantime.
Is anyone else as tired as I am?
After a lot of time in prayer and tears on Friday, our biggest request is that we can start to check things off our list. I am just becoming so overwhelmed with all that is going on and need to take something off of the list. Not just pray for it generically, but get it off the list!!! We realized that we have been praying for "Ben's job & health" & "my health" & "the adoption." However, we haven't said, "Lord, please provide a full-time job for Ben this month." Not that we can put time lines on the Lord, but we feel that we need to ask more specifically. So, will you pray with us that we can begin to check things off our list?
Prayers:
*That Ben will hear from dental school so that we know if he is in or not. This will help us to determine his job search, etc.
*That Ben will be able to get a full-time job by March 1st that will begin to provide for our family.
*That we will find a way to make a big dent in our student loan debt.
*That we will get solid answers to what is going on with my health and we will find treatments that work and provide real results.
*That my manager will be sensitive to my health issues and show understanding. He's an Ag, so he's a good guy, I just hate being out of work and stress myself out unnecessarily.
*That the Lord will give Ben very clear direction on whether he is to finish chemo or not.
*That the CT will come back perfectly clear!!
Wow, I feel so selfish now. Please send your requests our way so that we can pray specifically for you!!
God Bless You all!!
because of HIM,
Meredith & Ben
**********************
Our precious prayer warriors-
You are so amazing to us! Can't tell you how much we appreciate your prayers! So, we wanted to send an update with prayer requests.
We got to MDA on Wednesday night and Ben did his CT scans. Friday, we met with the oncologist. The only CT that was back was his chest...it was CLEAR! Thank you, Jesus!! The head & neck CTs weren't back yet, though. So, we are supposed to call/e-mail on Monday to get the results. Obviously, the oncologist was not a fan of Ben stopping chemo. He wants him to either do radiation or finish the chemo. It's not that we expected him to say anything different.
However, as Ben's wife, I left a bit scared. Basically, because I love my husband and want to spend the next 100 years with him. At the same time, I know that I need to have faith. As we've told you all before about our spiritual gifts: Ben's list-#1 Faith & Last is mercy. My list-#1 Mercy & Last is Faith. So, I think I wanted the doc to tell Ben that it was a great idea, he was healed, and to have a nice cancer FREE life!!
As far as my health goes, they are pretty sure I have mercury toxicity and they've started me on a mercury detox. It seems to be making an impact as I went from having 15+ episodes each day to maybe 1-4. So, obvious improvement! However, my heart rate is still crazy. They have me on meds to slow it down and resting it is still 96-100+ beats per minute. Standard is 60-80 bpm. We've got to get that slowed down some more.
The other pieces of our puzzle are the adoption and Ben's full-time work vs. dental school. We have both spent considerable time in prayer and are content with telling the adoption agency that we need to say "Whoa," not No. We just don't know that we'll be completely ready by May (when they expect referrals to start coming through). It could be eight months or it could be eight years until Ben gets in to dental school. So, he wants to get full-time work to support our family in the meantime.
Is anyone else as tired as I am?
After a lot of time in prayer and tears on Friday, our biggest request is that we can start to check things off our list. I am just becoming so overwhelmed with all that is going on and need to take something off of the list. Not just pray for it generically, but get it off the list!!! We realized that we have been praying for "Ben's job & health" & "my health" & "the adoption." However, we haven't said, "Lord, please provide a full-time job for Ben this month." Not that we can put time lines on the Lord, but we feel that we need to ask more specifically. So, will you pray with us that we can begin to check things off our list?
Prayers:
*That Ben will hear from dental school so that we know if he is in or not. This will help us to determine his job search, etc.
*That Ben will be able to get a full-time job by March 1st that will begin to provide for our family.
*That we will find a way to make a big dent in our student loan debt.
*That we will get solid answers to what is going on with my health and we will find treatments that work and provide real results.
*That my manager will be sensitive to my health issues and show understanding. He's an Ag, so he's a good guy, I just hate being out of work and stress myself out unnecessarily.
*That the Lord will give Ben very clear direction on whether he is to finish chemo or not.
*That the CT will come back perfectly clear!!
Wow, I feel so selfish now. Please send your requests our way so that we can pray specifically for you!!
God Bless You all!!
because of HIM,
Meredith & Ben
Thursday, February 01, 2007
I owe you!
Well, I feel like I owe all of you an update. So sorry for the delay. Things have been CRAZY around our house.
We are in Houston right now for Ben's appointments at MD Anderson. Ben is doing well.
Where to start?
I'll try to go quickly through my stuff and end on the reason you are here, BEN!
I have had a doctor's appt. every single day of last week and this week. The overwhelming answer seems to be that I have severe mercury toxicity which is causing kidney damage. So, yesterday I started my mercury detox program. Praise Jesus, I didn't have an "episode" until 7:30pm. That's almost an entire day without one. I've been having up to 15 each day. So, thank you, Jesus! The one that I had at 7:30p was really bad, though. Ben was back having his CT at MDA and I could feel it coming. So, I tried to get in to the restroom quickly and as I walked in, I fell on the floor...I tried to catch myself on one of the doors and tore my finger up a bit. It was very scary and probably one of the most intense episodes I've ever had. Once I was on the floor in the bathroom, I realized it probably wasn't a great idea for me to have gone into a restroom by myself. Anyway, after a few minutes I was better. I had two more little ones before we went to bed, but they were quite minor. I had one this morning before I took my supplements, but seem to be doing well now! Thank you, Jesus for the healing you have provided so far!
Now, on to Ben, the reason you are here! He is doing very well! He had his CT last night and we meet with the doc on Friday at MDA. The biggest thing that has happened for us this week is the realization of where our prayers need to be placed. Once we posted the blog about Ben leaving chemo, this was a response we received from one of the greatest prayer warriors we know:
So, we have changed our focus and are praising the Lord that HE ALONE has healed Ben! Thank you, Lord, for healing my husband!! It is finished! He is healed.
Ben has started some treatments with our family practice doc this week that are impressive. It is IV Vitamin C. Government studies (National Institute of Health) are showing that IV (not oral) Vitamin C leaves 0.0% lymphoma cells and leaves 100% healthy cells. Thank you, Lord! So, Ben will have four Vitamin C treatments (every other week-like chemo). If nothing else, it's good for him!!!
So, please sit with us at the feet of our Savior and Praise Him for healing Ben!!!
Also, one of our prayers is for the appt. with the doc at MD Anderson tomorrow. Thank you all for being so faithful in prayer!! We love you!!!
We are in Houston right now for Ben's appointments at MD Anderson. Ben is doing well.
Where to start?
I'll try to go quickly through my stuff and end on the reason you are here, BEN!
I have had a doctor's appt. every single day of last week and this week. The overwhelming answer seems to be that I have severe mercury toxicity which is causing kidney damage. So, yesterday I started my mercury detox program. Praise Jesus, I didn't have an "episode" until 7:30pm. That's almost an entire day without one. I've been having up to 15 each day. So, thank you, Jesus! The one that I had at 7:30p was really bad, though. Ben was back having his CT at MDA and I could feel it coming. So, I tried to get in to the restroom quickly and as I walked in, I fell on the floor...I tried to catch myself on one of the doors and tore my finger up a bit. It was very scary and probably one of the most intense episodes I've ever had. Once I was on the floor in the bathroom, I realized it probably wasn't a great idea for me to have gone into a restroom by myself. Anyway, after a few minutes I was better. I had two more little ones before we went to bed, but they were quite minor. I had one this morning before I took my supplements, but seem to be doing well now! Thank you, Jesus for the healing you have provided so far!
Now, on to Ben, the reason you are here! He is doing very well! He had his CT last night and we meet with the doc on Friday at MDA. The biggest thing that has happened for us this week is the realization of where our prayers need to be placed. Once we posted the blog about Ben leaving chemo, this was a response we received from one of the greatest prayer warriors we know:
While reading the blog post, I got to the part about "our prayer is that there
is still no cancer". As I read that, a thought popped into my mind that I am
confident was the Holy Spirit speaking to me (I say that because there was so
much faith, complete certainty, and just plain matter of factness about it! A
total God thing!) -- the thought was "You don't need to pray that Ben is still
cancer free -- God has healed Ben. There is no cancer. Offer prayers of
thanksgiving and praise to God instead."
So, we have changed our focus and are praising the Lord that HE ALONE has healed Ben! Thank you, Lord, for healing my husband!! It is finished! He is healed.
Ben has started some treatments with our family practice doc this week that are impressive. It is IV Vitamin C. Government studies (National Institute of Health) are showing that IV (not oral) Vitamin C leaves 0.0% lymphoma cells and leaves 100% healthy cells. Thank you, Lord! So, Ben will have four Vitamin C treatments (every other week-like chemo). If nothing else, it's good for him!!!
So, please sit with us at the feet of our Savior and Praise Him for healing Ben!!!
Also, one of our prayers is for the appt. with the doc at MD Anderson tomorrow. Thank you all for being so faithful in prayer!! We love you!!!
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