Where Has Time Gone

It is the end of the month and here I am again. I completed my treatment last Friday. At the end it was more of an endurance thing since I was getting very tired during the day, and the tiredness still lingers even today, though things are slowly getting better.

We are scheduled to be in Seattle and to serve the class there on Saturday, February 11th. We plan to stay the night and visit the class the following morning (hopefully with Bev Christiansen in tow with us). Then we'll drive back the the BSRC and probably depart for Southern California on Tuesday.

I need to write a new talk for our memorial season and I have been thinking a lot about the book "The Cross and the Lynching Tree". There has got to be lots of good stuff in the topic for me to draw on, but I'm just getting started, so not much to share on that for now. It does remind me of a talk given by G. R. Pollock years ago called "The Wood of Life". I need to try to find it and see if it is suitable for a redo.

I also need to look up some of the books that are now available at the library through Kindle. It will be interesting to see if any of the titles that I have in mind are available.

That's all I have for now. Slowly getting better and looking forward to the Southern California trip and the succeeding trip through Texas to Mississippi and back.

by grace,
Wade

Ps 23:4 (NIV)
4 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil, for you are with me;
your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

A New Topic

This last weekend I had the opportunity to listen to a CSPAN2 BookTV interview with a man by the name of Chris Hedges. That name will be entirely new to most of you, it was to me, and yet, he may be an icon to many of you. Certainly he has a wealth of experiences and the resulting perspicacity to account for an in depth three hour interview in which I hardly ever heard him repeat himself. The interview was referred to me by my youngest son, Stephen, who, though not consecrated, has an uncanny insight into the scriptures and their meaning in our lives.

Mr. Hedges comes from a religious family. I don't remember the denomination, but his father was (is) a minister and his early life was affected by his upbringing. When he decided to enter into journalism as a career, his perspective on the world and the control of the world began to change. Thus, now he believes we are largely influenced by powers bigger and stronger than us, and, almost, to the point of being out of control. His list of books is as follow:

The World As It Is: Dispatches on the Myth of Human Progress
Empire of Illusion: The End of Literacy and the Triumph of Spectacle
Death of the Liberal Class
War Is a Force that Gives Us Meaning
American Fascists: The Christian Right and the War on America
What Every Person Should Know About War
When Atheism Becomes Religion: America's New Fundamentalists
Losing Moses on the Freeway: The 10 Commandments in America
Collateral Damage: America's War Against Iraqi Civilians
I Don't Believe in Atheists
American Fascists: The Christian Right and the War on America
Iraq: A War

There are several other books that I will read in the near future that touch upon the subject of our being influenced by society at large to ignore the import of the "cross" in our lives. One of the books is called "The Cross and the Lynching Tree" by James H. Cone. It touches upon the proclivity of the white church in the south to ignore lynchings. Another is "Been In The Storm So Long: The Aftermath of Slavery" by Leon F. Litwack. Both books are now available in the library and I will pick them up tomorrow. Other books, based upon the reading habits of Chris Hedges include:

In Search of Lost Time by Marcel Proust
The Collected Essays of George Orwell
The Origins of Totalitarianism by Hannah Arendt
The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin

I can hardly wait to get started on these books and this topic.

"Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends." - John 15:13

Checking Back In

Saturday, January 7, 2012

Hard to believe it is 2012, but that is what the date says!

Things have been going along pretty good, so there has been no incentive to really write anything much. I finished half way through the radiation therapy yesterday (and chemo too), so, I begin part two next Monday. I have had no side affects except for getting tired from not enough sleep. The steroid pill causes me to be wide awake at 4:00 a.m. after about 6 1/2 hours of sleep, so I get up. Then after breakfast, about 8:00 a.m. I often feel the need for a short nap before heading off for treatment.

My diet has been pretty good. We try to keep it as alkaline as possible, with fruits and vegetables and turkey, chicken and fish for the protein. I also am getting used to tofu - it tastes great in stir fry, etc. I drink lots of green tea and water and that helps too. I usually spread breakfast food over the morning from the time I get up to about 7:00 a.m. and then we have a substantial lunch. Lately we have been making a "green drink" for dinner - about a cup of veggie and apple/pear freshly ground in our new juicer.

One of the side affects of "something" is that I am still constipated. Can't figure it out, but it sure is frustrating. Seems like something ought to work. I have decided yesterday to OD on magnesium until I have diarrhea and then to back off. We'll see if that works at all. Constipation has been a life long problem, so it is nothing new, but now it worries me a lot.

When we finish the radiation treatments this month we plan on driving to Southern California and then to Gulf Port for the convention there. On the way we plan on stopping and seeing Dr. Bryzinski in Houston for his medical clinic. I have decided to give him a try. We should return home by the last weekend in March.

That's about it for now. I probably raised a lot of questions in people's minds, so send me some emails and ask!

For now, thank you all for your prayers and good thoughts.

Rom 13:9-14
Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.
10 Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.
11 And that, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep: for now is our salvation nearer than when we believed.
12 The night is far spent, the day is at hand: let us therefore cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armour of light.
13 Let us walk honestly, as in the day; not in rioting and drunkenness, not in chambering and wantonness, not in strife and envying.
14 But put ye on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make not provision for the flesh, to fulfil the lusts thereof.

Chemo and Radiation Update

Sunday, December 18, 2011

I started radiation treatments on Thursday and chemo the night before. So far all is going OK. I have a "hint" of nausea in the night about the time I need to take a sleeping pill to get through the night. I take the pill and I'm off to dream land again.

I did feel a little tired yesterday, but I also got up at 4:00 a.m., so that was probably a factor. I had an hour nap after lunch and made it until bedtime just fine. Hopefully things will continue to go great like this, but who knows.

I was talking with Carolyn Fiorillo's daughter, Melanie, yesterday about Dr. Burzynski's clinic in Houston, TX. She is sold on it and sent me links to his movie again. I did take the time to see it and I am impressed. I think I will look into the possibility of treatment there as soon as the radiation and chemo are over. Perhaps it will be worth the expense. I just need to be careful.

Certainly his "cure rate" mentioned in the movie exceeds the chemo and radiation rates of others. I think it has potential.

The man is getting old and hopefully he has a system in place that is impeccable. It would be great for his system to actually "beat the system." I certainly appears to have the hallmarks to accomplish that.

I will also be talking with my Naturopathic doctor on Wednesday and ask her what she knows about Burzynski. Surely she knows something, so it will be interesting to see what she has to say.

In the meantime, for those wishing to see the movie, you can access it at the following address:

http://www.forbiddenknowledgetv.com/videos/cancer/burzynski-cancer-is-serious-businessfull-length-documentary.html

Copy and paste the above into you browser and it should take you to the movie. There is also a version available on Netflix.

by grace,
Wade

Chemo Began Last Night - Radiation Begins Today

Thursday - December 15, 2011

Well, the Radiation/Chemo journey has begun. I survived last night's bout fairly well. I woke up around 1:00 a.m. feeling slightly nauseous and just lay there awhile. It was too early to take the 1/2 have of a sleeping pill and I was reluctant to get up and take a full one. I lay there for 1/2 hour before finally getting up to take the 1/2 of a pill. It worked pretty fast and I was asleep in not time, but then woke up again at 4:00 a.m. and stayed awake until I got up at 5:00 a.m. The good news is that the chemo affects seem to have been fairly moderate. I do have a slight headache now, which is unusual for me. I hope it is a temporary thing.

Today we will see what effect the Radiation treatment has. My appointment is at 11:00 a.m. and from there we will set up a regular treatment schedule for the next six weeks. It won't finish until the end of January (around the 24th). After that it will be chemo only for six months with one week on and three weeks off. Apparently that will be for as long as is needed.

So far, I need to continue to count my blessings. All is going well. Exercise is making me feel better and stronger. My diet has not become tiresome and I continue to follow it religiously. The only variant that I worry some about is the consumption of alcohol. I have a beer when we go out to Mexican food and sometimes a small glass of red wine at home if I have not had another drink. I do not think I am overdoing it, but who knows.

For now, I guess I worry most about the hair loss from the Radiation treatments! :=)

by grace,

Wade

Another Good Doc - Cynthia Bye - Naturopath

Saturday, December 10, 2011

Yesterday we went to a doctor recommended by Nathan as a result of discussing my case with his chiropractor. Her name is Cynthia Bye and she specializes in working with Cancer patients and with their Oncologists and other doctors. She was exceptional in my opinion.

From the beginning, the first day I called her, I could tell that she knew what she was talking about. One of the main areas is "digestion" verses "what we eat". We are what we "digest" and not "what we eat". In my case, I knew that intuitively to be the case and I was intrigued to see what she said about the matter. One of my chief concerns has been constipation - over a lot of years - and to find a person that could understand that and make appropriate suggestions for remedying the situation makes a lot of sense to me. I have heard, too often, "stool softeners", "fiber", etc., etc., but nothing has worked. Give me something that works!

Dr. Bye's prescription seems to be in good stead and her understandings were well explained by her. She both understood "anti-nausea" and "constipation" as serious issues to remedy first and then to get started on other stuff once those things are dealt with. She was impressed that the radiation is IMRT, a very specialized form of radiation, and that the side affects should be minimal. There are other specialized treatments, but none seem to necessarily be better.

She also was concerned about the side affects of nausea and her suggestions for "anti-nausea" medications sound good too. One of the problems, not "anti-nausea", is sleeplessness. I explained that I use Melatonin and she like that a lot. She prescribed four times the Melatonin that I have been taking, so I took it last night and it did help. I slept fine until midnight and then had to take a sleeping pill. I managed to get through the night and I feel fine today.

I am quite pleased with the prescriptions she has prescribed for me. I am hoping they work fine.

I am also quite satisfied with the "hope" of success for this program. One of the good things I am doing, confirmed by her, is walking and getting exercise. This should also help a lot. I have a feeling that things will continue to go well and that is a good feeling.

"My times are in God's hands."

by grace,

Wade

Two Weeks Since Surgery - Getting Stronger!

Dear Brethren and Friends,

Today is now two weeks since I left the hospital after my tumor was "re-sected." I had another MRI of it take today and the original small tumor is still present (but somewhat beaten up by the biopsy), and the larger tumor is mostly gone, but there is a clear outer ring where it does tend to grow. I go to the radiologist today with the latest image and he will develop a plan of attack using radiation on both tumors. Dr. Neuwelt, my Oncologist will direct the chemotherapy and generally be in charge of my case. My radiation doctor's name is Dr. Aaron Hicks. I also have a neurologist in the area, Dr. Lupu, and he will supervise the Kepra dosage that arrests seizures and related issues.

I continue to be thankful for the work of Dr. Samuel Hughes for discovering and identifying the tumor together with his staff!

The next stage of the treatment, in my opinion, begins today with a visit to Dr. Hicks' office to be fitted for a radiation mask and then analysis for treatment. Since radiation is for 5 days a week, I presume that I can begin on next Monday, December 4th and then continue through the second week of January. Radiation is five days a week and can result in hair loss. YEAH! - I always needed a good reason to be totally bald! Chemotherapy, on the other hand, lasts seven days a week and is a pill that is taken at night before bed and hour after taking an "anti-nausea" pill. It is supposed to be a fairly routine pill to take, limited nausea and the expectation is that all will go well. I am crossing my fingers on that one. Once the 6 weeks of treatment are finished, then I will continue with chemotherapy for 6 months and see how things go. It is the expectation of the doctor that it will continue longer than that if it is doing its job because of the nature of my tumor. It grows in "tentacles", not in a "mass", and how to keep it under control will be the issue.

My prognosis given the art of the treatment is for one good year and then maybe a bad year before dying. But, that could also change. I am healthy and doing pretty good over all. 20% of the patients live beyond the 2 years - up to five years. Lots of things can happen in five years, so we will see.

I continue to be thankful for the prayers of my friends and brethren and well wishers everywhere. I am convinced that the arm of the Lord is not shortened in these things and he does listen to the sincere, and honest and righteous prayers of those that have faith in him. I will today begin to do my best to write to all of you now that I have some time and I am getting caught up on my chores.

We had a blessed Thanksgiving Holiday with my family here in Portland. Stephen and Vanessa picked up my father and they all flew in on Wednesday before Thanksgiving. My brother Dewan from Seattle drove down and spent several days with us before driving my father back to his house for an evening. We drove back half way the next day to pick him up. We spent a lot of time with them and at Nathan's home. It was a good weekend of games, watching TV, fellowship and making some music with our guitars.

Today I begin preparation for an "extravaganza" at the main house on Saturday. It is Sr. Kathy Brooks' "Candlelight Dinner." It has gotten quite popular over the years and Tim and Dawn will not be able to attend to coordinate the music this year. So, Sr. Sarah Lightfoot and I are coordinating the music and I think it will work out well. The evening will start with an hour of "horse' d'ouvres", followed by an hour meal and then culminating in a musical program for the holidays to be enjoyed by all. We are expecting about 70 brethren in all to attend.

The blessings of the Lord continue to shower upon us all even as the turmoil in the world continues about us. Some of us are struggling and some of us not so much, but most of us are getting by and rejoicing in the overruling providence of God our Savior. We studied Psalms last night and the scripture of note is

Ps 18:46-50

46 The Lord liveth; and blessed be my rock; and let the God of my salvation be exalted.

47 It is God that avengeth me, and subdueth the people under me.

48 He delivereth me from mine enemies: yea, thou liftest me up above those that rise up against me: thou hast delivered me from the violent man.

49 Therefore will I give thanks unto thee, O Lord, among the heathen, and sing praises unto thy name.

50 Great deliverance giveth he to his king; and sheweth mercy to his anointed, to David, and to his seed for evermore.