Good Week

I had a good Easter with my family. Erika was home over the weekend, and it was a lot of fun to be together as a family. We spent time talking, playing games, and looking at her pictures from her church service trip to Ecuador. Other than that it has been quiet around here. We have had a couple of really nice days where I spent some time outside, and I have been reading and spending time around the house. I am also officially finished with the classes I was working on from last semester. That feels good.

Remember to keep me in your prayers as the cycle starts over as I go in for my eighth big treatment this coming Monday. I like the sound of these larger numbers as that means I am getting closer and closer to being done.

Peace,
Nathan

CT Scans

As I finished painting my room today, I once again realized how much my chemo wipes me out. It was just two weeks ago when I started painting that I had so much more energy, and today putting on the final touches was a challenge. But, the chemotherapy is doing its job. As many of you may be waiting for, I have the results of my latest CT scan from this past Monday. Compared to my last CT scans taken in December, my largest tumor has shrunk from 8.7 x 4.8 cm to 4.4 x 2.8 cm. The other notable tumor has shrunk from 3.0 x 2.7 cm to 1.9 x 1.3 cm. Over all, I still have multiple tumors throughout my chest and abdomen, but they appear to be shrinking. Praise the Lord!

This past Monday, I also found out that I am half way done with my treatment schedule. There are a total of 12 treatment cycles lined out in my protocol, and I just started my seventh cycle. I would invite you to join me in prayer that as I go through this next half of my treatment that every last cancer cell is destroyed as well. I will also be cutting down on one of my chemotherapies because of its side effects. It makes my hands and feet numb and not function right. So, hopefully those side effects will start to go away. But, I would appreciate prayer for this as each person potentially can recover differently from these side effects.

Over all I feel that I am doing fairly well. I pray this continues as I continue down the road to my healing.

May God watch over all of us,
Nathan

CT Scans

As I finished painting my room today, I once again realized how much my chemo wipes me out. It was just two weeks ago when I started painting that I had so much more energy, and today putting on the final touches was a challenge. But, the chemotherapy is doing its job. As many of you may be waiting for, I have the results of my latest CT scan from this past Monday. Compared to my last CT scans taken in December, my largest tumor has shrunk from 8.7 x 4.8 cm to 4.4 x 2.8 cm. The other notable tumor has shrunk from 3.0 x 2.7 cm to 1.9 x 1.3 cm. Over all, I still have multiple tumors throughout my chest and abdomen, but they appear to be shrinking. Praise the Lord!

This past Monday, I also found out that I am half way done with my treatment schedule. There are a total of 12 treatment cycles lined out in my protocol, and I just started my seventh cycle. I would invite you to join me in prayer that as I go through this next half of my treatment that every last cancer cell is destroyed as well. I will also be cutting down on one of my chemotherapies because of its side effects. It makes my hands and feet numb and not function right. So, hopefully those side effects will start to go away. But, I would appreciate prayer for this as each person potentially can recover differently from these side effects.

Over all I feel that I am doing fairly well. I pray this continues as I continue down the road to my healing.

May God watch over all of us,
Nathan

Ups and Downs

I made it through my VAC treatment and the following week as normal. But then out of nowhere I was completely exhausted over the weekend. I didn’t even feel I had enough energy to stand up. As I look back on that weekend, I feel fortunate I even went to church on Sunday, because I didn’t do much more than that and sleep the whole weekend. And what amazes me is that even though I slept so much during the day, I still slept great at night. I must have needed the sleep!!

Over the past week and a half, I have had a couple of joys. Attending the Goshen College Men’s Choir concert was a lot of fun. And before the concert I had the privilege of eating with the choir and then going to Mark’s (good friend and choir member) house to eat cookies and talk more with some of the guys. I also finished my final exam this past week for one of my classes from last semester. That feels good. And I also spent time with two guys from the community who have become mentors to me as I walk the road set before me. I always look forward to the time we spend together and then walk away feeling challenged and refreshed.

It has been a little over four months now since my diagnosis of cancer and the journey, which has felt longer than a year by now, has and still is teaching me a lot. I have and am learning new insights into my inner being as well as growing spiritually. The depth of my growth though is far too great, and so new that I simply cannot express it on the blog at this time. But, if you really want to know more, lets go get some coffee sometime. But I must confess that what I tell you may be outdated within an hour or so. As far as growing goes right now, it’s an exciting time!

A look into the future: I have CT scans approaching. The date is March 14th and I would appreciate your prayers as this look inside my body approaches.

With much love,
Nathan