Radiation

Well, here is a current update to let everyone know how things are going.

Last Wednesday, I started my radiation treatment. It wasn't quite like I thought it was going to be, but we are getting through it. I pictured a quick time/in-and-out-kind of thing. We actually thought the treatment was going to take place on Monday, but that turned out to be only a CAT-scan, feeding the anticipation. The first day took a while, I guess I should have expected that when the guy giving me the treatment told me that day would take longer than the rest. The reason being was that they had to take a few more films of me before getting started. I guess I couldn't blame them because if the radiation is off by a little bit, I could grow another liver or something--just kidding, but it could do some damage to something that didn't need to be damaged. Anyway, the procedure goes a little something like this: I lay on my back on this table, then I put my legs into these molds, and then I get strapped to the table by the plastic mask that I mentioned in a previous post. My head is held pretty tight to the table, so much so that I have some grid marks under my chin and on my nose. The radiation guys then adjust my body some and make some marks around the tattoos that I was given earlier in October. They then leave the room, and the lights go partially out. The robotic armature type device rotates around my horizontal body, and then this buzzing noise can be heard for a few seconds. I was told that this is when the actual radiation is beamed in. I don't think that I can feel anything while it is happening. I try to really focus when this happens to see if I can actually feel it, but then I am like, oh, I am just hungry, or this mask on my face is really, really tight, but I at least I can still breathe.

I am given some medication that helps with the nausea that people get when this area of the body gets radiated. Due to the location of the tumors, the radiation comes from the front, and is angled in at 3 places, instead of the 4 that I was previously told would happen. This is actually a blessing because my kidneys will receive a large amount less than there were originally going to receive.

After the first day's treatment, I was nauseous on the way home and was thankful that we had a plastic bag and some napkins in the car (so was Meredith--she was very strong). But after the first day of radiation, I have been taking more of the medication, and I haven't been nauseous since. The typical day of radiation is as follows: Meredith and I wake up and leave our house between 8:00 and 8:15. We drive to Tacoma while listening to music and cool books on CD. I then get treated around 9:30, and we leave shortly after 10:00. I don't really feel any of the effects until about an hour or hour and a half after the treatment. Then I am pretty wiped out, so I take a nap. When I wake up a couple of hours later, I am pretty much normal...And so starts another day. I can be honest and say that I am not so much looking forward to next week, but the treatments will start to seem faster because they no longer have to take the films before the treatment begins, so it will now seem like radiation-drive-through service. I am looking forward to it because my wife is there with me, and she is really encouraging me.

I am learning that things don't always have to seem great or I don't have to act like I or everything is perfect or that I am so joyous 24-7 (24 Season 5 is out though), but I (we) need to just go with it. God is so good. The fact that I am standing and walking is a testament to that. We take His gift of salvation for granted way too much, and some don't even see it, or haven't even opened it. God bless. Romans 6: 23

Give Thanks

"Do not worry about anything, but in everything, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God, and the peace of God will guard your hearts and minds in Christ.: Philippians 4:6-7

There is a lot that we all have to be thankful for. Food on the table, roofs over our heads, clothes on our back, our families, and our health. After talking with some of my family on the phone, hearing their concern for my back and how scary the surgery was, I am thankful for my health right now. Thank you for your prayers too, for God has truly answered them. Give Him the glory.

On Tuesday, I got my stitches out. It was not as painful as I thought. Every morning when I wake up, my mobility increases. I am walking around, almost normally. I am still a little slow, and I need to be careful with what I lift. My left leg, which is what was hurting prior to surgery due to nerves being pressed by the tumors, still hurts some, but it is probably residual pain because of the nerves being inflamed.

Meredith and my parents have been wonderful taking care of me and helping me with everything. Sometimes they think they haven't helped enough because I have been able to move around so much and the recovery has been so fast. But they really have, it has been such a blessing for my parents to be here. And my wife is amazing. She has cooked such amazing food and has taken great care of me.

This recovery has literally been twice as fast as the surgery in 2003! God has done so much, He continues to prove He is the great physician. He leads me beside quiet waters. Psalm 23.

Be thankful for the grace, the forgiveness, the Salvation, the relationship from Christ.

Home Sweet Home

Well, our hospital stay is over! We were able to come home today, Tuesday, a couple of days earlier than I had expected based on my last surgery. God has totally increased the speed of this recovery. From the moment I was awake in ICU, I kept saying that, " I can't express how much better I feel than last time!" The post surgery pain and soreness has been nothing like my last surgery. Although last surgery was a little more invasive as far as the laminectomy goes, the doctors removed four tumors, one was not expected. All of them were very easily removed, and were "jelly-like" instead of hardened masses. A post surgery MRI showed that nearly 98% of the tumors were gone, the little that remained should easily be fought by the radiation (or the Lord could just take it out). I am able to walk around (very slowly and carefully), and I have seen an increase in my walking ability and a decrease in the pain I feel each day. The majority of the pain I am experiencing now has to do with the incision that was made for surgery. It is about 13 inches and goes well below the belt on the backside. My back muscles are somewhat in shock, which makes my back as stiff as a board, supreme posture.

The coolest thing happened today though. Even though the weather has been somewhat dreary, we still could view many mountains from my hospital room window. We were totally blessed with a seventh floor, window room, we wanted the jacuzzi, but it was taken. Today the clouds were pushed away and the sun was shining so bright through the window. What was even more amazing was Mt. Rainier was huge outside the window! What seemed to be small, cloud covered mountains the previous days, turned out to be the giant Mt. Rainier, snow-covered and awesome! It was God saying, that I was on the mountain top, and to remember that, no matter where I am.

Night Before Surgery

Everybody,
This comes to you the night before my surgery. All is well. My parents are in from Houston, and we all are staying on base about two minutes from the hospital. Today I went through the pre-op routine: blood drawn, anestesiologist, vital signs. We have had an awesome day, and everyone that we encountered was very nice.

Tomorrow, Thursday, at 0900 we return to the hospital for surgery. The exact length of the surgery is indeterminable and depends on how easy the tumors can be removed. The same surgery I had done three years ago lasted approx 9 hrs., so Meredith and my parents are in for a marathon. They will be in a waiting in a room, and the doctor will come out at parts during the surgery to give updates. Afterward, I will be in ICU for about 1-2 days, and they will be able to see me. Then I will head to the normal ward for about 5 more days.

Meredith and I cannot express how much we appreciate everything that y’all have done for us already. We have received encouraging phone calls and letters from so many people, and there are so many people literally around the world praying for us. God’s family is huge! We will definitely keep you posted either via phone, e-mail, or blog. God bless you all; we love you!

We leave you this: Jesus prayed in Gethsemane for God to take away what was about to happen to him, but he still did not want his will, but God’s will be done. More than once he prayed this. I am not sure if he immediately got his answer, but he was betrayed and ultimately turned over to be crucified immediately after he was done praying. Mark 14: 32-42.

We have all prayed for God to heal me, yet not our will but God’s be done. As we sleep tonight, we still do not know if I will have to endure this surgery and radiation, for with God all things are possible, the tumors may not even be there when they open me up. Not our will be done.

Love,
Jordan and Meredith
Matthew 6: 33

Radiation Preps

I had never really planned to get a tattoo in my life, that's why a week and a half ago I got five!

My wife and I went down to the hospital to get a CAT Scan in order for my oncologist to make preparations for radiation therapy. Little did I know that I would have to get this custom made mask and five tattoos! While there were prepping me for the CAT Scan, I laid on this table and they placed this warm sheet of plastic over my face and then strapped it me to the table by my face! It was a most unpleasant experience, and I had to get them to let me up for a couple of minutes after the mask dried (I was about to freak out; it seemed like they were used to people being uncomfortable with the mask formation procedure). Once it hardened, it was a little more comfortable. I will have to wear this special mask each time I receive the radiation therapy because my spine has to be perfectly aligned our the radiation could hit some of my internals that it is not supposed to. I also had a leg mold made to add in the proper positioning.

While I was having this mask made, the specialists were poking around my chest and lining up these lasers. Little did I know that when they removed the mask, there was a man there to give me some tattoos! No joke, there was a needle with the ink and everything! The tattoos are especially key because they will be used to line up where the radiation is going to enter my body. After much needling (they said my skin was the toughest to tattoo of anyone in 12 years--the ink might have been bad, I like to think my skin is think-who knows), I was left with five little dots on my chest and sides. This whole series of events was rather unexpected, but I did learn that after all these guys had to go through to simply make five little dots, I will never get a real tattoo--ouch!

Surgery Update

Here is a quick update on the latest of my back situation: Last Monday Meredith and I met with the Oncologist, a very nice doctor at the Madigan Army Hospital in Tacoma, WA, and he was able to explain to us more details about my case and the treatment that I will be receiving after surgery. We learned that the type of tumors that I have are not “malignant,” that is they are not spreading or growing rapidly to other parts of my body. They are “benign,” but are still growing at a slow rate. Most cases show about a ten year period for tumor regrowth, I am little bit more special because mine came back in about three. However, on a scale of 1-4 with 4 being the most severe growing tumors, mine are a 1. The downside is that due to the location of the tumors, there is not much room for them to grow. So, as far as removal goes, I will be getting them removed in a similar fashion to the ones removed three years ago, but this time there is scar tissue from the last operation, which makes the surgery (called a resection) more difficult. Also complicating things are some of my nerve roots are being intertwined with the tumors. This makes them again difficult to remove without possibly causing nerve damage. Once surgery is complete and the doctor removes as much of the growths as he can, I will begin some radiation therapy, which aims to hault the growth of the tumors by killing their cells and making their multiplication very difficult. The therapy will begin three weeks after surgery and will be five days a week, for six weeks. Meredith and I have visited the fertility clinic in preparation for the possible sterility that may result from the radiation and both of us are very confident that God has a great plan for our family. Both my parents and Meredith’s parents will be coming up at different points throughout the entire process to aid in taking care of me and with the commute (1.5 hrs one way), etc.

Please continue to pray for my healing because, I know that with God all things are possible, and He can heal anyone. Keep believing! Other prayer requests: Surgeon being able to remove as much of the tumors as possible, radiation therapy (my strength—can make me a little weak and sick; Meredith’s strength—to deal with all of this and help take care of me), endurance (each day will be approx 3 hr commute—we are looking into staying in Tacoma for a couple of nights a week), and fertility and our children (isn’t it awesome that God already knows our children!). Thank you for your love and prayers.

In Christ Hands,
Jordan and Meredith
Matthew 6: 33

Philippians 4: 6-7
1 Peter 5: 7

Initial Letter to All

This is to inform you of my current situation.

As most of you may know, I had surgery on my back in March 2003 to remove what are known as ependymomas from my spinal region. These growths were causing severe nerve pain in my lower back/upper thigh region. The surgery was a great success, and the pain was gone until recently. About a year ago I began to experience a similar type pain down my left leg. MRI’s showed that there was regrowth of the tumors in slightly different areas near where the last ones were located. It turns out that there are three primary growth areas: one left, one lower, and one right (not separated by too many inches) along my spine. The left most is causing me my current pain. My wonderful neurosurgeon has said that he will for sure be able to get two of the growths, but the right most will be more difficult and could possibly leave some side effects (weakened right quadriceps muscle, burning, etc.). He still may be able to decrease the size of the right one regardless. All this was not too shocking (except for the difficulty of removal of right tumor), however, the doctor said that if I don’t get radiation therapy following my surgery, that these will continue to grow throughout my life. Hmm, there are many things that radiation therapy could mean, and honestly, Meredith and I are not too familiar with it, except for the chance that this can make me sterile, and we would really like to have children one day. As you can see, this is a very difficult situation for us both and for those we know (you), and this Monday we will meet with the Oncologist to be educated on radiation therapy. We will update you all as the information/events unfold.

This part is the coolest thing I have learned so far, and something that I didn’t grasp the last time I had this surgery: We often hear of people saying, “Why did God allow that to happen to me, him, or them?” Or “If God is a God of love, why are those people suffering, etc.” To leave out the fact that we are in a fallen, degrading world where sin dominates most everyone’s flesh, and as a result everything will one day pass away would be silly, but have we ever thought of everything that God allowed to happen to His own Son, the obvious being the torture He went through, and ultimately His death on the cross; or what about when He was in the desert for forty days and was probably suffering, not only physically (no food, water, etc), but also mentally? We would be foolish to think that if God allowed this to happen to His own son, why wouldn’t he allow this to happen to us, his children. The following hit me even harder than what Jesus went through: it is so incredible that God has allowed this to happen to me (twice!) and all the trials and pains we all go through. He has used and is going to use what I am going through right now to touch others and to bring them to His son. How precious are His thoughts for us—how much He cares for each of us that He would specifically use us. God could be so distant and uninvolved with His people’s lives that it could seem like He didn’t even exist, or if He did, we weren’t even on His mind. On the contrary, He specifically cares about each and every one of us. Enough to allow things like this to happen, so that He can be glorified.

Things to pray for us: Surgery (more difficult than last time because of scar tissue etc), radiation therapy (and all that entails), future of naval career/submarines (already get some radiation there :o), and most importantly that God uses this for His glory.

All of the above will take place if it is God’s will, however, I have seen and know His power, especially His power to heal. Please pray for His healing power. With God all things are possible! Believe with us.

Love,
Jordan and Meredith

Psalm 104, Proverbs 11:9, Matt 6:33