Update on Chris and the Family

Update on Chris 11-13-06
Today has been a tough day. As you may remember, we found out awhile back, that Chris’ cancer has spread to his upper left arm. Since then, it has continually caused him pain, getting increasingly worse everyday. The last week or so has been almost unbearable for Chris and he has only been able to make it through the hard days with heavy pain medication. As always, he still continues to have high spirits and has been working every day, despite his pain. Due to the increased pain, the doctor scheduled an MRI for this morning, before his scheduled chemotherapy appointment. The MRI shows that his arm is now broken, in the upper left humerus bone. It is a small break, so to prevent further breaking, he will be having surgery on it, very soon, to put in pins to protect the area. It is unsure what exactly caused the break, but is assumed to be related to the tumors in that area. Chris will be meeting with an Orthopedic Surgeon this week to schedule the surgery. We will let you know as soon as we know. It should be soon and will likely only be a one night hospital stay. This procedure will be performed by an Orthopedic Surgeon specializing in Oncology at Baylor.
Other than that, chemo is going well. His blood counts are normal and his AFP level has gone down to 12.000… this is good! The doctor says that although we don’t know yet how successful this regimen has been, we can definitely tell that it is stabilizing him.
He has one more scheduled chemo day in this regimen. They will likely do this treatment when he is in the hospital for his arm surgery.
Other family news… today was a tough day for me (Mandy speaking). I just feel so tired and overwhelmed with the daily routine and life that must go on, even though I feel like burying my head in my pillow and crying myself to sleep. I gained new strength after a friend unknowingly reminded me of a verse …Galatians 6:9, "Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up." Our oldest son, Cody, had a well exam/ sports physical this afternoon and after receiving immunizations, almost passed out. He was kept for observation for awhile and was released after he felt well enough to walk. As you can imagine, this was scary for me and we are not sure what caused it. He is fine tonight.
Please pray for our daughter Allison… she is having surgery on her bottom eyelid Thursday. She has developed a “Chalazion” that has continuously gotten worse and has to be surgically removed. She will be under general anesthesia. This is hard to have to go through for a four year old, so please pray that it goes smoothly and that she heals and recovers quickly.
Please continue to pray for our family… especially for Chris’ pain to be relieved soon. Your prayers help us get up in the morning and keep us feeling strong. Thank you.
Lots of love,
Mandy