Riverside #3 - and thank you to our Montecito Heights friends!

Madeleine’s Blog 

July 31, 2012

So do not fear, for I am with you

Do not be dismayed, for I am your God

I will strengthen you and help you

I will uphold you with my righteous right hand

Isaiah 41:10

Arriving at Kaiser Riverside

We're back in Riverside for Round #3 of Bio-chemo. When Madeleine walked in to check into her hospital room, all our familiar nurses at the nurses' station were just about cheering when she walked in and were so excited to see her again! (They told us that they love to see patients come in for round 3 because it means that the treatment is having a measurable effect on the melanoma.)

Having an extra week in-between rounds this time was so nice. Not only did Madeleine get to go spend time up at Mt. Lassen, but she also got to go to San Diego for a wedding and some relaxation (and shopping) too! She has found that for the first week after treatment she is pretty tired, but then she soon bounces back and is back at the gym and enjoying all her favorite things again...and then, it is time for another round. :(

Before she left for treatment this time, Madeleine got the amazing news that her friends from Montecito Heights Health & Racquet Club had raised almost $2000 dollars for her by organizing a Spin-a-thon on her behalf. As she opened the cards and saw the generous donations, she was moved to tears by such an overwhelming outpouring of support. What a blessing - here she had been unable to work like usual this summer because of having to do chemo...but the folks at the gym worked together and really helped make up for that. Thank you everyone ~ we are all so blessed by your generosity.

Thank you again to all of you who have been praying for Madeleine. Please join us in praying that this treatment will continue to be effective, and that these next two treatments will bring even more success in this battle against melanoma.

Scan results

Madeleine’s Blog 

July 25, 2012

So do not fear, for I am with you

Do not be dismayed, for I am your God

I will strengthen you and help you

I will uphold you with my righteous right hand

Isaiah 41:10

The results from the latest scans are in. As Madeleine wrote on Facebook:

In August 2011, I was told I would need surgery to remove "possible" melanoma in my neck. Four months after that, I was diagnosed with melanoma and underwent an eight-hour surgery to remove it. Two months after that, I received radiation and interferon treatments. Two days before graduation, I was told my melanoma had spread to my liver. A month ago, I began a series of bio-chemo treatments down in Riverside. Here I am, almost a year later. Today my doctor called to inform me that the treatment has reduced some of the melanoma in my neck, and that the melanoma in my liver has not spread anywhere else. I am grateful to finally hear some semi-good news for the first time in a year. I will be receiving another two treatments and then will be re-evaluated. I am thankful to everyone who helps me keep my head held high and encourages me when I feel weak. Never give up!

So, we will be going to Riverside on Sunday, and Madeleine will check into the hospital on Monday to begin another round of bio-chemotherapy. Thank you all for your prayers and encouragement!

Mt. Lassen

Madeleine’s Blog 

July 24, 2012

So do not fear, for I am with you

Do not be dismayed, for I am your God

I will strengthen you and help you

I will uphold you with my righteous right hand

Isaiah 41:10

Having a great time at the cabin up at Mt. Lassen ~ here are a few pictures:

Made it to the top of Mt. Lassen - beautiful view!

Having fun with little Finn - riding "horses" down a forest trail :)

With brother, Max

Recovery & more encouragement

Madeleine’s Blog 

July 13, 2012

So do not fear, for I am with you

Do not be dismayed, for I am your God

I will strengthen you and help you

I will uphold you with my righteous right hand

Isaiah 41:10

Madeleine is continuing to rest and gain strength, and her appetite is coming back. She has the PET scan scheduled for Friday the 20th, and the doctor says it may take until well into the following week before results are available. During that week, she will be away enjoying one of her favorite places at a cabin up near Mt. Lassen and is really looking forward to that. :)

In the meantime, I thought I would post a few more of the encouragements we have received from people. Last Sunday morning, a church that we have close ties to did something kind of unique. During their worship service, they had several easels set up with poster paper & pens for people from the congregation to write words of encouragement to others who were in need (the people in need had a connection with the congregation). One of the easels was for Madeleine; one was for the bicyclist from New Zealand who was recently hospitalized here in Santa Rosa after being hit by a car; and one was for a children's orphanage in Juarez, Mexico. Adults and children alike joined in and there were about 6 posters worth of drawings & encouragement for Madeleine (I enjoyed seeing the drawings by the little kids on the bottom of the pages, and the encouragements from the adults as well).

Here are a few excerpts from those posters:

 

"May you have peace in the center of your storm" ~ "faith, hope, love"

 

 

"God is holding you in the palm of His hands"

"Your face is so beautiful" --written by one of the children  :)

Home again

Madeleine’s Blog 

July 6, 2012

So do not fear, for I am with you

Do not be dismayed, for I am your God

I will strengthen you and help you

I will uphold you with my righteous right hand

Isaiah 41:10

It is so nice to be home, sleeping in our own beds! We drove back from Riverside on the 4th of July, and got home in the late afternoon. While the chemo treatment wasn't easy (and it was hard to be away from home again), it seems like Madeleine did a little better with the treatment overall this time. She was much more at peace throughout the process, in part because she understands a little better about what to expect, and she also knows what to ask for and what to avoid.

Now that she is home, Madeleine has been taking it easy and trying to regain her strength and appetite. She still fatigues easily, and her blood counts are down a bit (this is an expected result of therapy) -- so she has to rest often and avoid being around anyone who might be sick.

She is scheduled to have a PET scan on July 20th, and that will give the best indication of the effect this treatment is having on the melanoma. We are praying that the chemo will stop the melanoma, and that the immune therapy will strengthen her body's own ability to fight off the cancer as well. The result of the scan will determine whether to continue the same therapy or to change to a different treatment. (One way or another, she is scheduled to go down to Riverside for another week on July 30th.)

So, during these next weeks she will be working on regaining her strength and enjoying summer. Thank you all for your prayers and concern.

Riverside - thanks everyone!

Madeleine’s Blog

July 1, 2012

So do not fear, for I am with you

Do not be dismayed, for I am your God

I will strengthen you and help you

I will uphold you with my righteous right hand

Isaiah 41:10

I am sitting here watching Madeleine get some much-needed rest.  She had a fever (and ice packs to help) again last night, but it was better than the night before. As the week goes on, more tiredness and other symptoms tend to set in, but the good news is that we are over half-way through this stay, and we will be able to celebrate heading for home again on the 4^th of July.

During these long hours at the hospital, I have had some time to think about the many people who have gone out of their way to help make our life a little easier over these past months…Honestly, I don't know what we would have done without all of the kindness we have encountered.

I am so thankful for the many people from our church (“The Cove” Presbyterian), and also fellow teachers, neighbors, and friends who have been making and bringing home-cooked meals for our family every week for the past several months (!). How can we say thank you enough? (And a special thank you to our friend Kirsten who organized so much of that). I can’t tell you how comforting and helpful those meals have been for us as a family during this time.

When we have been weary from long, daily appointments and the ups and downs of this season, we are so thankful for the various groups from the school community where I teach who pooled together to give us gift cards to restaurants, as well as gift cards to stores that have delicious already-prepared meals (such as Olivers, Whole Foods, and Pacific Market). What thoughtful, practical gifts people have given. 

There have been friends who have run errands, weeded our garden, baked us cookies, packed up special goodie bags for chemo trips, taken my place during swim lessons, and helped accompany Madeleine during her chemo or radiation appointments. There have been fellow-teachers and assistants who have helped me out in my classroom during the intense times of these past months. There have been teachers at Montgomery who have given Madeleine extra grace on assignments, offered encouragement and “pulled for her,” or who even helped by doing extra tutoring when she wasn’t well enough to make it to class. There have been employers who have graciously given time off, as well as extra grace for some of the challenges we have had to face during these times. And there were other friends (from David’s old office) who, when they found out there was no Wi-fi at the hospital in Riverside, loaned Madeleine a Wi-fi equipped laptop and I-Pad, and then gave her an I-Pad as a gift when she returned home from her first round at Riverside. Finally, there have been family and extended family who have helped out as well -- I want to especially thank my sister (and her family for encouraging her in this) for all that she has done to support us. 

At the gym where Madeleine works, and where we've been members for years (Montecito Heights Health & Racquet Club), they even did a "Spin-a-Thon" yesterday in order to support Madeleine. Thank you to Robert and Cindy for organizing that; to the gym for agreeing to host it; and to everyone who participated!

Finally, there have been countless people who are praying for us and for Madeleine. Some of these are people we know well, others are friends of friends, some are a part of the church we attend and others are members of other church groups---or are people we may never meet. Thank you for those ongoing prayers! (Thank you also to the pastor and elders of City Life Fellowship who came over to our house and prayed with Madeleine the day before we first went down to Riverside for treatment.)

While this has been a difficult season, these are the things that have made it more bearable. Thanks so much to all of you.