Friends
We all have SOOO much to be thankful for! I hope you take the time tomorrow to tell the people you love the most how thankful you are for them! And take a moment to reflect on how GOOD God is! When we choose to focus on the good we have it draws us closer to one another & God!
I read in Luke 3 today where Jesus was baptized & his Heavenly Father audibly told him how special he was in front of a crowd of people. It's good to tell family & close friends how much we love them in public at special occasions, sure let's them know how valuable they are & it inspires others to do the same!
This week i had followup appointments with my doctors. I now have all 30 staples out of my groin, i can bend my knee all the way up! Funny how you become thankful for little things!:) I ALSO WAS GIVEN DRIVING PRIVILEGES!!! : 0 !!! (Now i won't drive Dyan crazy since i can do things & help with the kids activities!)
My wife has been AMAZING! She is the most beautiful supportive woman! We're looking forward to a few days to relax with family over the holiday! Although, we miss Chels, her band is on their way to Philly & NY to play in a Thanksgiving Day Parade!
My drain is still in, my fluid has to drop from around 90cc's to under 30cc's for 3 days. Pray that the fluid reduces by next week so i can begin my Interferon treatments in December & begin physical therapy so i can get back out on the ball court in Jan! Started doing pushups again today, shot a few hoops last night at Luke's practice & am planning to throw the football a lot this weekend!
Have a great Turkey Day! Remember, you are blessed my friends!
F
Go Bucks!!!
Wednesday, November 23, 2011
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
ALL CLEAR!!! PRAISE GOD!!!
Friends
I just received the phone call from the doctor's office that all of my lymph nodes that were taken out were clear! No cancer in any of them. They actually took out 11! Praise God! That is the BEST news i could have received!
I want to personally thank all of you for your prayers. I do believe God hears our prayers & has answered them! I can't even begin to count how many people around the world have been praying for me & my family!
Please take a moment & share this good news with someone as a way of letting God's goodness be seen. Maybe even let out a BIG, "YEAH GOD!!" with a fist pump!:) Since i'm an athlete & football player at the core i like to connect with God with high fives & TD celebrations!
Now we will look toward starting my year long treatment in December to make sure & get rid of any leftover bad guys trying to land anywhere else! The interferon treatment pumps my body with the natural alpha protein that our bodies make & bolsters my immune system to fight off the bad cells. There is about a 40% chance that the cancer will return within 5 years. Doing a year of interferon reduces that by another 10-15%. That would put it down to around a 25% chance of return. Pretty good odds!
The treatment is 5 days a week for the first 4 weeks (1hr infusions thru a pic line), then 11mths of giving myself a shot 3 days a week (Dyan & the kids might have fun taking turns sticking me!) The main possible side effects are fatigue & depression. So i might have 1/2 my energy & be a little moody!
I love how God ties things together in our life. Today i read in Luke 1 about Zachariah who was blessed to have a son John in his wife's old age & he was the for-runner to Jesus & God revealed how he was going to bless him & the world thru these two boys being born a few months apart & Zach was so filled with joy & prophetically spoke of God's goodness! Today i received some prophetic news about how God is working in my body to bring healing! He can do the same for you or anyone! I encourage you to put your faith in Christ & let him guide your life, you'll never regret it!
Let's all take some time to celebrate God's goodness & the life he's given us all today with those we love!
Thx
F
I just received the phone call from the doctor's office that all of my lymph nodes that were taken out were clear! No cancer in any of them. They actually took out 11! Praise God! That is the BEST news i could have received!
I want to personally thank all of you for your prayers. I do believe God hears our prayers & has answered them! I can't even begin to count how many people around the world have been praying for me & my family!
Please take a moment & share this good news with someone as a way of letting God's goodness be seen. Maybe even let out a BIG, "YEAH GOD!!" with a fist pump!:) Since i'm an athlete & football player at the core i like to connect with God with high fives & TD celebrations!
Now we will look toward starting my year long treatment in December to make sure & get rid of any leftover bad guys trying to land anywhere else! The interferon treatment pumps my body with the natural alpha protein that our bodies make & bolsters my immune system to fight off the bad cells. There is about a 40% chance that the cancer will return within 5 years. Doing a year of interferon reduces that by another 10-15%. That would put it down to around a 25% chance of return. Pretty good odds!
The treatment is 5 days a week for the first 4 weeks (1hr infusions thru a pic line), then 11mths of giving myself a shot 3 days a week (Dyan & the kids might have fun taking turns sticking me!) The main possible side effects are fatigue & depression. So i might have 1/2 my energy & be a little moody!
I love how God ties things together in our life. Today i read in Luke 1 about Zachariah who was blessed to have a son John in his wife's old age & he was the for-runner to Jesus & God revealed how he was going to bless him & the world thru these two boys being born a few months apart & Zach was so filled with joy & prophetically spoke of God's goodness! Today i received some prophetic news about how God is working in my body to bring healing! He can do the same for you or anyone! I encourage you to put your faith in Christ & let him guide your life, you'll never regret it!
Let's all take some time to celebrate God's goodness & the life he's given us all today with those we love!
Thx
F
Monday, November 14, 2011
No Path Report yet, long day meeting Doctors
Friends
We did not hear any news on my pathology report yet! Should be in the next few days. I'll post as soon as i hear anything. Dyan & I spent 5hrs meeting with 3 Doctors & a nurse. I got half of my staples out & the doc said no driving the rest of the month! I guess Chels is gonna get lots of practice! My drain tube is averaging around 95cc & will have to reduce to the 30's for 3-4days in a row before it comes out, so will probably be another 2-3wks.
My oncologist set my Interferon treatment for the first of December. The first round will be 5 days a week for 4 weeks. I will be on a mild antidepressant to help with the effects of the Alpha Protein that will be infused into my body. Hopefully i won't be too moody for Dyan!:) They explained it could effect my sex drive, we had to talk thru that one a little!:) For guys, you don't mess with sex or food!
My healing is going well! In fact, my hardest challenge is being stir crazy! I'm not a very good patient at laying low, i just have way too much energy & enjoy being with people & doing adventurous active things so much!:) Thank God it's football season & i have a lot of games to watch!
Again i can't begin to thank all of you for your thots & prayers & meals! Thank you for how you are supporting our family! God has been so good to us thru this journey!
Thx
F
We did not hear any news on my pathology report yet! Should be in the next few days. I'll post as soon as i hear anything. Dyan & I spent 5hrs meeting with 3 Doctors & a nurse. I got half of my staples out & the doc said no driving the rest of the month! I guess Chels is gonna get lots of practice! My drain tube is averaging around 95cc & will have to reduce to the 30's for 3-4days in a row before it comes out, so will probably be another 2-3wks.
My oncologist set my Interferon treatment for the first of December. The first round will be 5 days a week for 4 weeks. I will be on a mild antidepressant to help with the effects of the Alpha Protein that will be infused into my body. Hopefully i won't be too moody for Dyan!:) They explained it could effect my sex drive, we had to talk thru that one a little!:) For guys, you don't mess with sex or food!
My healing is going well! In fact, my hardest challenge is being stir crazy! I'm not a very good patient at laying low, i just have way too much energy & enjoy being with people & doing adventurous active things so much!:) Thank God it's football season & i have a lot of games to watch!
Again i can't begin to thank all of you for your thots & prayers & meals! Thank you for how you are supporting our family! God has been so good to us thru this journey!
Thx
F
Friday, November 4, 2011
I'm Home!
I'm back home spending a lot of time on my back! Surgery went very well, i have some nice white compression hose that come up above my knees. I also have a drain tube at the base of my 9inch incision. I'm already down to Tylenol, the pain is hardest when i'm getting up & back down. I have my own personal nurse Dyan all weekend!:)
Speaking of my amazing wife, i want to share a cool story of how God used my surgery yesterday! A lady that works in the same school Dyan is a counselor happened to be in the same hospital. She is battling colon cancer & has had 6 surgeries in the past 3 weeks & is having complications the doctors can't figure out. Dyan went to see her while i was recovering overnight & the lady shared how she was really discouraged & hadn't seen her husband or son in weeks since he had to go back to work.
Dyan shared with her about God's love & how you can actually experience his presence with you & how he cares about us when we struggle then she prayed with her. The lady didn't say anything. Today when Dyan came back to pick me up she stopped by the ladies room to bring her something & the lady thanked her for praying with her & sharing. She said you gave me a lot of good things to think about! I feel a lot better today!
God will always use our suffering for good if we look for ways to be used! My surgery gave Dyan the opportunity to be at the right place just at the right time!
Thank you for all of your prayers as i recover!
Luv you all!
F
Speaking of my amazing wife, i want to share a cool story of how God used my surgery yesterday! A lady that works in the same school Dyan is a counselor happened to be in the same hospital. She is battling colon cancer & has had 6 surgeries in the past 3 weeks & is having complications the doctors can't figure out. Dyan went to see her while i was recovering overnight & the lady shared how she was really discouraged & hadn't seen her husband or son in weeks since he had to go back to work.
Dyan shared with her about God's love & how you can actually experience his presence with you & how he cares about us when we struggle then she prayed with her. The lady didn't say anything. Today when Dyan came back to pick me up she stopped by the ladies room to bring her something & the lady thanked her for praying with her & sharing. She said you gave me a lot of good things to think about! I feel a lot better today!
God will always use our suffering for good if we look for ways to be used! My surgery gave Dyan the opportunity to be at the right place just at the right time!
Thank you for all of your prayers as i recover!
Luv you all!
F
Thursday, November 3, 2011
Surgery Finished!
The surgery is finished and it went very well! Fred will be in recovery for @ an hour and moved to his room. The surgeon said everything went as planned and he was pleased! We will find out the results in @ a week. Thank you so much for your thoughts, texts, emails and prayers! You are an awesome church - I love and appreciate all of you! Dyan
Surgery Day!
I'm just about to head out the door to my 2nd surgery in less than a month. Today i get all of the lymph nodes out in my right groin. My football coaching buddies suggested i wear a cup since there can be nerve damage & they'll be cutting so close to the guy region! :)
This surgery will be a longer recovery. I will have a nice 9in incision from my inner thigh up to my hip. I will also have a drain for about 4wks. Then i will begin interferon treatment after that for a year.
I have a peace about things that comes from God. I know he is with me & am confident things will go well today. I want to ask you to pray with me that the pathology report shows no more cancer in the lymph nodes they take out. I won't know that report till about a week after the surgery.
I was reading in Mark 14 today where Jesus was arrested & standing trial before the expert religious leaders. Verse 55 says, the chief priests & the whole Sanhedrin were looking for evidence against Jesus so that they could put him to death, but they did not find any.
As i read that verse it really connected with what i am facing. Expert doctors are looking for evidence that cancer is in my body & cancer can kill you. When i came to the last 6 words of that sentence it was like God was saying to me, but they did not find any! :)
Now i realize that many people don't understand faith & have a hard time mixing science & facts & faith. I recognize the reality of my situation & that cancer has been in my body & most likely is floating around (that's why they have people do interferon to bolster the immune system to try to kill anything left). But friends there is a God who created everything, do you think if God made our bodies as intricate as they are & put the stars in place, he can't handle a few little cancer cells?
When someone of authority speaks it has power to change our lives good or bad. The Bible is God's written word to us, it has the power to change our lives. When we read & listen to God's word & let it shape our lives it fills us with confidence, joy, peace, love, hope.
Never let situations or people dictate your life. Choose to trust God & look for the best in everything. God will use everything (good & bad) for your good if you choose to trust him! I have already had so many ways God has used my cancer for good, in me, my family & so many other people i've met!
Well, gotta go. I'll post again after my short nap!
Luv you all!
F
This surgery will be a longer recovery. I will have a nice 9in incision from my inner thigh up to my hip. I will also have a drain for about 4wks. Then i will begin interferon treatment after that for a year.
I have a peace about things that comes from God. I know he is with me & am confident things will go well today. I want to ask you to pray with me that the pathology report shows no more cancer in the lymph nodes they take out. I won't know that report till about a week after the surgery.
I was reading in Mark 14 today where Jesus was arrested & standing trial before the expert religious leaders. Verse 55 says, the chief priests & the whole Sanhedrin were looking for evidence against Jesus so that they could put him to death, but they did not find any.
As i read that verse it really connected with what i am facing. Expert doctors are looking for evidence that cancer is in my body & cancer can kill you. When i came to the last 6 words of that sentence it was like God was saying to me, but they did not find any! :)
Now i realize that many people don't understand faith & have a hard time mixing science & facts & faith. I recognize the reality of my situation & that cancer has been in my body & most likely is floating around (that's why they have people do interferon to bolster the immune system to try to kill anything left). But friends there is a God who created everything, do you think if God made our bodies as intricate as they are & put the stars in place, he can't handle a few little cancer cells?
When someone of authority speaks it has power to change our lives good or bad. The Bible is God's written word to us, it has the power to change our lives. When we read & listen to God's word & let it shape our lives it fills us with confidence, joy, peace, love, hope.
Never let situations or people dictate your life. Choose to trust God & look for the best in everything. God will use everything (good & bad) for your good if you choose to trust him! I have already had so many ways God has used my cancer for good, in me, my family & so many other people i've met!
Well, gotta go. I'll post again after my short nap!
Luv you all!
F
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