Radiation Finished

I stepped out of the hospital today with a plastic helmet in my hand. The nurses that give me radiation gave it to me as today was my last day to receive radiation. And it feels good to be done. I am actually feeling stronger right now than when I started receiving radiation, which feels great. As I have said before, receiving radiation feels a lot different than chemotherapy. As a total, I received 31 days of radiation. They started targeting my cancer tumor and then moved to my whole brain for the last nine treatments. Right now I am looking at two to three week break from receiving treatments, so I have to find things to do to stay busy. My next trip to the hospital will be this coming Monday when I go to see my chemo doctors once again. Please remember to pray for God’s wisdom as my they determine my next chemotherapy. I also want to once again thank you all for the many prayers you continuously send to God. I really appreciate them all.

I also want to thank everyone who was involved with my fundraiser on October 15th. I should have put this on the blog earlier, but now is the time. I enjoyed the time very much and the money that was raised will help me out a lot. Thank you very much for your generosity.

With love,
Nathan

More Treatment

The last couple of days have been very busy for me. On Friday I learned that I will be receiving radiation for nine more days. Since radiation is working to shrink the tumor, they want to maximize the treatment by using radiation throughout my whole brain. This increases the risks for short-term memory loss and greater fatigue. So, losing as little short-term memory as possible is an important prayer request for me. The therapy is still easy, just a bit more risky since it involves the whole brain.

Then on Saturday I attended the fund-raiser that was organized by my close friends. It was a lot of fun and I think I was the one who benefited the most. I got to see so many friends and my job was to talk with them. It was quite easy and a lot of fun. I also realized how many people are praying for me as there were around 900 people who came. And then I also realized there are even more people than that praying for me as I know I have many friends around the world all remembering my struggles and lifting me up to the Lord in prayer. It is really amazing!

Sunday I went to church :)

Then today I had another radiation treatment at two o’clock and then met with my cancer doctors after receiving my radiation. My doctor let me know that I have been quite a challenge lately and to stop being such a difficult cancer patient. Then she smiled. But the truth is that I have been difficult. My brain cancer has really tangled everything up. I wasn’t supposed to receive radiation before my bone marrow transplant. But, today I learned that a couple weeks after finishing my radiation therapy, I will then begin the bone marrow transplant. I am not looking forward to it at all as it will be very exhausting, but I also know that I need it to survive. The radiation won’t get everything and the chemotherapy with the radiation is the best treatment that the doctors can give me. So, this is another prayer request. I need God’s support to help me through the closest thing to hell as I know on earth.

I know this is a long blog page, but I guess I had a lot to write.

Nathan

MRI Report

Today the doctor showed me a picture of my brain MRI SCAN. It was rather good looking, except for the cancer tumor that is growing in it. But, in the good news, the rhabdomyocarcoma tumor is smaller than when I started to receive radiation. That is very good news and I am looking forward to when it is completely gone! Receiving radiation is the easiest treatment for cancer that I have ever had, although it isn’t fun to go to the hospital every day for the therapy. The cancer is still in its spot, so I will still appreciate more prayers for it’s reduction. I will continue to get radiation treatments until October 21 and then begin chemotherapy treatment soon after. So, if you would pray for me to have plenty or as much strength as possible during these weeks, I would appreciate that as well. Except for losing my hair and being tired, I am feeling pretty good. Thanks for your ongoing prayer support.

With love,
Nathan

***FUNDRAISER ITEMS FOR SALE***

FUNDRAISER ITEMS FOR SALE

BASKETS - Each basket listed below has a theme and will be sold by “silent auction” on display in the foyer. The auction will end promptly at 6:45 pm.

Baby, Broncos Football, Candles,
Car Care, Chocolate Lover’s, Coffee Lover’s,
Curves Fitness, Dessert of the Month,
Fall Bulbs, Flowers, Gift Certificate, Girls’ Night Out,
Golf, Goshen College, Grandma’s Church Bag,
Hawkeye Tailgate, Labor (8 guys for 4 hours),
Meat Basket, Meat(2), Movie (3), Nurse’s Basket,
Reader’s, Relaxation, School Supply Backpack,
Scrapbook/Cardmaking,
SPA Basket from 4JPE !!!,
Sugar Overload!, Teacher’s Basket.

LIVE AUCTION - These items will be auctioned in the “live ring” by Yoder Auction Service with auction periods of 20 minutes each at 5 PM, 6 PM, and 6:45 PM.

Beef - Corn fed/frozen
Brunch for 8 on Saturday AM - Karen/Mike Bates
Christmas Brunch for 8 - Lisa/Dave Yoder
Coffee Table - Karla/Faye Schlabaugh
Mayberry Meal for 8@Aunt Bee’s House-Susan See/Becky Widmer
Dinner for 8 - Carolyn/Atlee Yoder, Jane/John Schlabaugh
Dinner for 8 at Grandma’s - Phyllis Litwiller
Firewood
Furniture
Gravel - 10 tons
Hawkeye Basket with autographed ball by Steve Alford, etc.
Hawkeye Football tickets
Lunch for 10 and Garden Tour - Anna Geyer
Mexican Dinner for 6 at Lake McBride - Ann/Steve Valenta
Mexican Dinner for 8 - Marta/Ramiro Hernandez
Night in Italy for 4 - Jill Widmer/Karenza Kroeker
Pies
Quilted Wall Hangings
Wall Hangings
Wooden Stools - John Ramsey