Day 1 - in the books!!!

Psalm 103:1-5

Praise the LORD, O my soul;

all my inmost being,

praise his holy name.

Praise the LORD, O my soul,

and forget not all his benefits -

who forgives all your sins

and heals all your diseases,

who redeems your life from the pit

and crowns you with love and compassion,

who satisfies your desires with good things

so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's.

We made it through the first day. Praise the Lord! God is so good!

We started out bright and early this morning with our first app't at 8:00 AM with the eye doctor. This was to get a baseline reading of my vision to compare throughout the process. Then we headed straight to radiation oncology for treatment #1. I was fitted for all the equipment last week so we were ready to go. I basically lay on a table (they cover me with a blanket and rubber band my feet together to help keep me from moving). Then they put a mask on me that is fitted to my face, along with a mouthpiece. All of this is to keep me as still as possible. If I move even a millimeter, there are sensors on the mouthpiece that tell the computer I've moved and it shuts down the radiation. They then have to come back in and adjust me back to my original spot. This is all so that the radiation hits exactly the precise spot it's supposed to. They said I did great - I didn't move at all today!! Last week when I tried all this on, it was hard to relax and breathe easily. It's definitely easier today, but pray that I can stay relaxed through this process. It's fairly quick and also painless, which is a blessing!

Please pray that the radiation beams will always hit EXACTLY where it's supposed to. Pray for the staff, that they will be alert and focused. I've really been praying that God's HAND would guide the radiation, and also the chemotherapy and other drugs to EXACTLY where they need to go to be most effective.

After this we stopped at Hope Lodge to check in. We will post a picture, hopefully tomorrow, of where we're staying and give you more details. Then we were off to an oncology app't to discuss the chemo with my doctor. We were told in more details the side effects of the chemo and our doctor explained at length that it will cause infertility. This has given us new things to pray about. Please pray for us as we meet with our team of doctors tomorrow to discuss this more.

Thank you so much for your prayers. It's been a long day and we're exhausted so we'll write more tomorrow. We love you all and are humbled by your support! God Bless!!

Update, Please Pray

"There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven." - Ecclesiastes 3:1

It's been two years already since Stacie was first diagnosed with a brainstem glioma. The doctors have all been in agreement to wait for treatment until symptoms were increased. As of recently, she has experienced more intense changes and we headed to the University of Iowa Hospitals this week for a last opinion. Following these appointments, we have decided that it's time to begin treatment. Our next season of life consists of 5 weeks of treatment in Iowa City.

We feel very comfortable with the team of doctors and staff and believe we are in good hands. Stacie will be receiving radiation along with chemotherapy. Wednesday she had a series of tests and exams and was fitted for some of the equipment that will be used for radiation. This morning we headed back and they walked her through what treatment will consist of. Monday morning everything will officially begin. God's hand has already been shown in mighty ways. One of those being that we already have a place to stay during the week and will hopefully be home on the weekends.

Bottom line, we covet your prayers. Please look at the prayer requests to the left and continue to pray with us as we ask for God's protection and healing hand during the next 5 weeks and many years to come. We will do our best to update you with this blog throughout this journey.

Thank you and God bless.

Psalm 46

God is our refuge and strength, an ever-present help in trouble.
Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way
and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,
though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging.

There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
the holy place where the Most High dwells.
God is within her, she will not fall; God will help her at break of day.
Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall; he lifts his voice, the earth melts.

The Lord Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.

Come and see the works of the Lord, the desolations he has brought on the earth.
He makes wars cease to the ends of the earth; he breaks the bow
and shatters the spear, he burns the shields with fire.
"Be still, and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth."

The Lord Almighty is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.

Psalm 73

Psalm 73:21-28

When my heart was grieved
and my spirit embittered,
I was senseless and ignorant;
I was a brute beast before you.

Yet I am always with you;
You hold me by my right hand.
You guide me with your counsel,
and afterward you will take me into glory.
Whom have I in heaven but you?
And earth has nothing I desire besides you.
My flesh and my heart may fail,
but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.

Those who are far from you will perish;
you destroy all who are unfaithful to you.
But as for me, it is good to be near God.
I have made the Sovereign Lord my refuge;
I will tell of all your deeds.

We're Back!

For those of you still reading this, I'm so sorry for neglecting this lately. I think I've been avoiding it because I don't always like to face what I'm going through. : ) But I'm finally back and just wanted to give an update. Since my last post, I met with one of my doctor's and talked to my neurologist again on the phone for some follow-up questions. I was able to get some things answered and felt some peace after talking with both.

One question we had was why am I noticing changes if the MRI is showing no change. My neurologist explained again that their ability to measure with the MRI is not as good as my ability to feel. They believe the tumor is growing, it's just at such a small rate that they can't measure it with the MRI. We've known this all along, it's just something we need to remind ourselves of. He also met with my radiation oncologist and they are both on the same page now and believe that I should continue doing what I'm doing and wait until absolutely necessary to go through treatment.

We continue to do more research and are looking at setting up more appointments in the future. We also continue to just take one day at a time and wait patiently on God. That's all any of us can do. Continue to pray for peace to know when/if to go through treatment, which can shrink the tumor, but can also damage the healthy nerves that control vision, hearing, balance, etc.