Unexpected News

Life was great! And while life is still good, it is now once again a bit more complicated for me. This past Friday (7/22) I had a very unexpected seizure at Marv and Lee Smucker’s home in Wichita, Kansas that sent me to the emergency room. After a CT scan and a MRI of my brain, they discovered a two by six centimeter “something” located in the frontal lobe of my brain. With my recent history involving cancer, the doctors are suspecting this to be cancer as well. This really wasn’t on my to do list for my future plans, but such is life . . . unexpected. Monday I had a spinal tap followed by another on Wednesday because the one on Monday came back showing no abnormalities. It would be nice if I had a bit more of a warning system in life so that tumors wouldn’t just spring up in my body out of nowhere.

Once again, I am in need of prayers so that the doctors can effectively diagnose and take care of whatever is in my head.

Struggling for Peace,
Nathan

Praise the Lord!

I received great news of a miracle today; a true answer to thousands of prayers. The simple news is that there is no active cancer in my body to treat at this time. That means: no chemo, no radiation, no surgery and no bone marrow transplant at this time. And that is wonderful news!

The more detailed answer to my excellent test results is that there are no cancer cells in my bone marrow, which is an answer to many of my prayers in itself. And while the PET scan showed no active cancer cells in my body there are still a couple of residual tumors left in my abdomen. As it was explained to me, this means that as when a body dies it doesn’t disappear immediately, and when a tumor dies it may take a while for it to be completely flushed out of my body and may even last a while as scar tissue. Additionally, the PET scan showed a “hot spot” the size of a centimeter on one of my lungs. Since it is highly improbable that a new tumor would develop during chemotherapy, the doctors are thinking that this “hot spot” is most likely an infection. I will be returning to the hospital for a CT scan in two months to make sure there are still now active cancer cells in my body.

So that is the story for today and I am overwhelmed with thankfulness to God for it. As we continue to pray, lets thank God for the miracle that he has obviously done in my life.

Celebrating God’s Faithfulness,
Nathan

To Canada and Back

I recovered from my last treatment as always; with lots of fatigue and a stomach ach. But, now I am feeling great.

This past weekend I had a wonderful time in Canada. I went there for one of my good Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) friends’ wedding. There were five of us MCCers from the US and Canada that lived and worked in Asuncion, Paraguay for a year. It was so much fun to see all of them again as well as another volunteer from Germany that was there at the same time. It was a weekend of excitement as we scrounged around proof of citizenship for the child of one of the MCCer’s, reconnected with good friends, and stayed as a group at a wonderful bread and breakfast. I now need to catch up on the rest I let slip by over the weekend.

It is back to the hospital for exams this week. I have a bone marrow biopsy and PET scan coming up on Wednesday (13). But, I won’t be able to go over the results with my doctor until the following Monday (18). This is a week of waiting and anxiety. Please remember me in your prayers as I wait and wait. And of course, I am praying for great news from the doctors.

Trying to be patient
Nathan