One down...

I may have faked some of you out on my last posting when I said my chemo starts on the 22nd. Well, I was wrong... It actually started today, the 23rd, as if one day makes any difference. The bottom line is that I went in today and was given my first of many doses of chemo. I'm not yet sure how many doses I will have because the doctor is not sure how my body will respond. It's probable that I will receive the treatments through the end of the year. 

Overall, I'm continuing to recover from the illness and I'm really feeling well. All of my blood tests are normal and indicate that my organs are all working well. The last few days I've been feeling a little lower back pain and mentioned it to the doctor today.  Just for precaution he is going to set up another MRI for me just to check things out. He really wasn't too concerned about it though. 

Thank you all for your prayers over the last few weeks as we prepared to face the start of the chemo treatments. We are so blessed to have all of you encouraging and praying for us through this illness. Our prayer through this time in our lives continues to be focused on how God will use our story to encourage others. We pray that He is glorified and made famous by the work He is doing in our lives. How blessed we are to have a Savior who loves us and provides all that we need, including the perfect plan for our lives!

Blessings,

Russ and Robyn

Cautious optimism...

After a visit with the Oncologist on Tuesday we have reason to be cautiously optimistic. The doctor reviewed my CT scan results with us and there were no indications of cancer remaining in my body. That means I'm good for now but it doesn't mean the cancer can't come back. The type of cancer that I have has a history of hiding in a tiny cell form in the body and then returning later. To combat that possibility, I'm going to go ahead with chemo therapy treatments starting October 22nd. The chemo should increase my chances of killing any remaining cancer cells. This is all great news overall, but I don't want to let my guard down just yet. Once the chemo treatments are complete, (probably in January), I will have CT scans every 3 months for a year and then twice per year after that until I've passed the 5 year mark. That's when we can relax...

Don't get me wrong though when I say I can't relax for the next 5 years. I am actually more relaxed now than I was before I found out about the cancer. I believe that's because I've truly let go of controlling my life and am allowing God to run the show! I still have my moments of fear and lack of faith, just like every human, but I'm certainly finding comfort in knowing that God is in control. Overall, my mental health is recovering very well. I can only attribute that to the support and encouragement from all of you and my return to work where my brain is gradually being reengaged. 

Physically, everything is going better than expected. I'm beginning to feel as good as I did just before the surgery but I'm not back to 100% yet. I feel like I've recovered from the surgery but the radiation treatments have taken a toll on my organs. All the parts are working as they should but they still feel very tender and sore. I'm sure that will all go away with time. The really good news is that along with losing 40 lbs I've lost the need for blood pressure medicine! My blood pressure was never very high to begin with but it's good to be off the medication. 

All in all I'm really doing very well. I thank God for the recovery but I really want to give Him the glory for being so faithful. Not because I'm being healed and recovering but because He has never left our side. His presence in our lives is being felt through so many ways but primarily through those of you who have been so prayerful and encouraging to us. I've said this quite often but, it bears repeating, God is being glorified through all of you and glorifying Him through this event in our lives is what is important!

Thank you for loving and caring for us so well!

Russ and Robyn

Full of faith and grace...

Have you ever had someone in your life that consistently showed their faith in God and gave grace no matter what the circumstance? We all meet people like that here and there but having a long standing relationship with someone like that is a unique opportunity. A couple of weeks ago in this blog, I asked you to pray for Barb Moulton because she was battling cancer. Barb and her husband Ken are the kind of people I'm talking about. Never thinking of themselves and always thinking of others. Always praising what God is doing and giving Him the glory for what has been done. Always trusting Him for what was and is to come.

Robyn and I met Ken and Barb 27 years ago when I was selling furniture and appliances in Southern California. They became repeat customers of mine who had a particular way about showing interest and concern for me. They displayed a gentle and kind spirit and discussed their belief in God without apology. They were the genuine article... When the four of us got together an immediate kinship was developed and we became best friends. Over the years we raised our families together, lived together, moved together, and Ken and Barb became the examples by which we gauged our spiritual lives. We live far apart now, but no matter the distance between us, they have always been part of our family.

Yesterday, Barb lost her battle with cancer but won the war against death. She is with our Lord today and even though we have suffered a loss, heaven has gained a saint. We will all miss Barb and her genuine concern for others, but those of us who knew her should also reflect on what life would have been like without her in our lives. Please join us in praying for Ken and their daughter, Kendra, as they mourn the loss of their devoted wife and mother.

Faithfulness and Grace

As you can imagine, there is a lot of time to think while recovering from a life threatening illness. In my case, there hasn't been a lot of time spent on "why me" or "why now". I believe that's because of our faith in God and the support of family and friends who remind us quite often that God is walking by our side during this illness. Many of you who read this blog are among those who boost our spirits by these kinds of reminders. I've spent some of my time thinking about your faith and the example that each of you are to us. Your encouraging comments have been a demonstration of your faith to us and a reminder that God is faithful.

As I began to think about what it means when God is "faithful" I realized that it is very easy to misinterpret the word. It is easy to relate God being faithful with Him solving the problems at hand and making everything all better. But nothing could be further from the truth. When God is faithful to us He is fulfilling the promises that He has made to us.

"...The Lord is faithful to all his promises and loving toward all he has made. The lord upholds all those who fall and lifts up all who are bowed down." Psalms 145:13-14

It is important to remember that not one of the promises God has made has ever failed. He has always been faithful and will be faithful forever. What is easy to forget is that He has never promised to make our lives easy. On the contrary, Jesus warned us that "...In this world you will have trouble." John 16:33. But He followed that up by reassuring us that He has overcome the world. In other words, we will all have trouble in our lives but God will be with us to walk by our sides through it.

I think that it is easy to confuse faithfulness with the grace of God. God is faithful when He fulfills His promises but He chooses when to give grace. For example, He chose to give grace by giving eternal life, to those who believe, through the death of His son, Jesus Christ. He didn't have to do this therefore, He wasn't being faithful to us. However, now that He has promised eternal life He will be faithful to us by granting eternal life to those who believe in Christ.

To bring this full circle, if you consider that each of us is expected to be a reflection of Christ, then each of us should be faithful to our promises and show grace to those around us. In our case, we have been the recipients of your faithfulness and grace in countless ways. So many of you have been faithful to "uphold us during our fall" through prayer and have shown your grace through encouragement and financial gifts. You have all been such a testimony to us and have taught us so much. But more important than us, your words of encouragement have been seen by more people than you can imagine and have had an effect on the lives of many, thus, God is being glorified through your faithfulness and grace. Glorifying God through this challenge in our lives is our one and only goal. Thank you again for being faithful and gracious in the name of God.

Russ and Robyn

Latest Update

Here's the latest... Robyn and I saw my Oncologist yesterday and we developed a strategy for the next course of treatment. As you know, I was struggling with the decision to continue on with additional chemo therapy because there isn't any factual data that it would be beneficial. During our meeting with the Oncologist we all agreed that the next step is to get another CT scan to see if there is any indication of additional cancer in my body. That scan will happen over the next two weeks and once we have the results we'll discuss the chemotherapy again. Chances are I'll be going through the chemo regiment just to do everything I can to avoid any repeat of this disease. But this doesn't mean I have to like it...

For those of you who read the comments from the last few days you would have read about Barb Moulton who was recently admitted to the hospital in Kentucky. Barb and her husband Ken are like family to us and we are very concerned about her. She went into the hospital early last week and by Friday was transferred to ICU. She developed serious complications overnight and the doctors had difficulty in determining the cause. Saturday they confirmed that the problem was lymphoma and they administered a high dose of chemotherapy. Initially, Barb's health continued to disintegrate but she has responded very well to the chemo and she is now doing better. I share this with you in hopes that you would add Barb and her family to your prayer list. Barb and Ken have played a very critical role in our spiritual lives over the past 27 years and we are deeply concerned for them and their daughter Kendra. We can only hope that God will be glorified again by the coming together of His children to pray for another one of his flock.

Blessings to you all,
Russ and Robyn

A very long week...

You're all probably wondering "when is that guy going update his blog?" Well, I have to tell you it's been a very long week and a half for me and I just haven't had the energy to belly up to the computer and sign on... Thankfully, the radiation treatments are over and I've lived to tell about it. Although, at times I didn't know if I would live or not... The last three days of radiation were coupled with a dose of chemo each day and by end of those treatments I was in bad shape. I spent the next 5 days curled up in a ball either on the couch or in bed. But, here's the good news! I began to feel better on Wednesday of last week and now I feel great! I'm actually feeling like I'm getting back to my "pre-surgery" self. 

I have about two more weeks of recovery before I'll need to make a decision on the next round of chemo therapy. I'm still sitting on the fence on that decision but hope to get a few more details from the Oncologist on the 16th of September. If you don't mind, please continue to pray for us and that decision. 

Aside from my health, things for us are getting back to normal. I've been working for about a month now at Cornerstone Christian Fellowship in Chandler and I'm so thankful for God placing me in such a great and caring environment! The position seems to be a perfect fit for me and I'm enjoying interacting with people again. Robyn and the kids are all doing well also and continue to lift my spirits and keep me humble.

Speaking of lifted spirits and humility, we want to continue to thank all of you who have been praying for us and sending us such kind and encouraging words through your cards and emails. We are so blessed to have so many of you walking this path with us and we do appreciate every single one of you. At some point, we hope to be taken off your prayer list because there are so many in need, but for now, please continue to pray that God will be glorified through this event in our lives!

Blessings to you all,

Russ and Robyn

Standing at a crossroad...

Robyn and I met with my Oncologist today and discussed my treatment options. On Thursday I will be finished with my radiation/chemo treatments and now have to make a decision on how far to go with additional treatment. The Oncologist explained again that my type of cancer is very rare, therefore there haven't been many studies on it. The studies that have been done are not very accurate because many of the people have died during the study because of the cancer... So, as you can imagine, we were a little taken aback today with that information. What was encouraging was the doctor's response to all my blood work and his reassuring words that I'm not the norm and that I'm doing great! He went on to describe the next course of treatment which is 4 to 6 months of chemo. But, since the studies are limited, there is no information that indicates whether or not chemo will do anything for me. In other words, it's just a shot in the dark... He said from his perspective there is no right or wrong answer here and he would completely understand if we decided not to continue with the chemo treatments. He also said that if we chose not to continue with chemo he would continue to monitor my health with a CT scan every three months since this cancer can be aggressive.

So why am I sharing all this with you? Because, as usual, we need your prayers. We ask that you pray for God to give us wisdom through the next three weeks as we weigh our options. We ask that you pray for God's peace and comfort in knowing that He is in control and His plan is sovereign. Most importantly, we ask that you pray for us to never rob the Lord of His glory through this event. He is to be praised at all times and lifted on high for this situation. We trust in Him and trust that He knows exactly what He is doing and where this is heading. For that we are truly grateful.

Thank you again for all your support!
Russ and Robyn