Hello everyone,
I'm sorry for not posting more frequently, but as I said in my last blog entry, I have kind of learned to live with my cancer and not let it take up as much of my time and thoughts as in the past.
The Whole Brain Radiation (WBR) treatments that I went through in December 2014 are now just a distant memory. My hair came back for the most part but is now much more gray and sparse especially on the crown of my head. I didn't realize how cold winter winds are until there was no (or little) hair on my head to keep it warm... thank goodness for stocking caps!
What prompted me to post once again is to pass along some great news that I received in November. In late October, I went in for an MRI and a PET Scan. If you're not familiar with a PET Scan, they gave me a shot of a solution that contains radioactive isotopes. Then, after a half hour or so, they do the scan. The isotopes seek out the areas in your body where there is rapid cell growth and/or rapidly dividing cells (i.e. "hotspots").
In mid November, I went in for a follow up with my oncologist, Dr. Mazri and we reviewed the results of the tests. The MRI showed two small spots in my brain that were considrably smaller than they were in my last MRI. They are actully dead cells (from the lesions that the radiation killed) that are in my brain and now my body is slowly absorbing those dead cells and eventually the spots will disappear completely.
The more exciting news was that the PET Scan showed NO hot spots!! In other words there are currently no active cancer cells in my body! All that Catherine and I could say was, "Awesome!", immediately followed by, "Praise God!". The first question out of my mouth was, "Does that mean that I can stop taking the chemo pills?!". Dr. Mazri said, "No... the reason you have no hot spots is because of that treatment and you need to keep taking it to maintain (hopefully) that status." That was a bit of a let down but none the less, I am still currently cancer free!!
This news did nothing but confirm the awesome power of God in my life! As I said in my last blog entry, "I believe that my only hope (or the hope for any of us) is to put my life in God's hands and to savor each and every day. I will continue to worship and praise God and thank Him for everyday with my familly and friends. I will continue to use whatever gifts He has given me to glorify His name and help in bringing more people into His Kingdom. And, whenever He decides that I my time has come to join Him, I know that I will be in His Kingdom because I am justified through my faith in Christ."
I will end close with this... If you have given your life to Christ, thank and worship Him often, pray endlessly, and use your talents to glorify His name. If you haven't accepted Christ, or if you have but are not really "walking the walk", I ask you to turn away from you sin and apathy and turn to Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. In Him is your, my, everyone's only hope for salvation.
God Bless you one and all,
Jace
Monday, December 28, 2015
Monday, May 25, 2015
05-25-2015 Monday
Hello everyone,
I'm sorry for not posting more frequently, but to be honest, I have kind of learned to live with most of the discomforts and my body is handling current treatment much better than past treatments. With feeling better, I don't let the cancer take up as much of my time and thoughts as in the past.
In my last entry (in Nov '14) I was starting Whole Brain Radiation (WBR) on Monday, 12-1-2014. I received 10 treatments over a two week period (one per day) and they were each only a few minutes long. For the first few weeks after treatment, I was achy (or maybe that's because I'm an old fat man), had more dizziness, and was pretty fatigued. But to be honest, compared to IV chemo, it was not bad at all.
I did have some radiation burn (felt like a mild sunburn) on my scalp and after about 3 weeks or so, my hair did fall out. I was put on a prescription drug called Namenda which is given to Alheimer patients to help prevent short term memory loss. I don't know if it actually helped or not but I don't seem to have lost any short term memory (at least not that I remember... hehe).
I'm sorry for not posting more frequently, but to be honest, I have kind of learned to live with most of the discomforts and my body is handling current treatment much better than past treatments. With feeling better, I don't let the cancer take up as much of my time and thoughts as in the past.
In my last entry (in Nov '14) I was starting Whole Brain Radiation (WBR) on Monday, 12-1-2014. I received 10 treatments over a two week period (one per day) and they were each only a few minutes long. For the first few weeks after treatment, I was achy (or maybe that's because I'm an old fat man), had more dizziness, and was pretty fatigued. But to be honest, compared to IV chemo, it was not bad at all.
I did have some radiation burn (felt like a mild sunburn) on my scalp and after about 3 weeks or so, my hair did fall out. I was put on a prescription drug called Namenda which is given to Alheimer patients to help prevent short term memory loss. I don't know if it actually helped or not but I don't seem to have lost any short term memory (at least not that I remember... hehe).
My hair is just starting to grow back in but it is too early to know if it will be patchy, thick or sparse, or what color it might be. The good new is that the WBR seems to have done it's job on the brain lessions! As of my April '15 MRI, the small lesions are gone and the large ones are half the size they were when treatment began. Praise God!!!
As I said in my last entry, I believe that my only hope (or the hope for any of us) is to put my life in God's hands and to savor each and every day. I will continue to worship and praise God and thank Him for everyday with my familly and friends. i will continue to use whatever gifts He has given me to glorify His name and help in bringing more people into His Kingdom. And, whenever He decides that I my time has come to join Him, I know that I will be in His Kingdom because I am justified through my faith in Christ.
I will end with the same closing words as my last entry because they still ring true, "I would like to add a word of advice in the form of a request to those of you who may not have a church home and family. My advice is... choose a church home, worship regularly (i.e. don't just 'attend'), study God's word, welcome that church family into your life, and lastly, savor each day of your life most of all the love of God. Nothing is more precious."
God Bless you one and all,
Jace
I will end with the same closing words as my last entry because they still ring true, "I would like to add a word of advice in the form of a request to those of you who may not have a church home and family. My advice is... choose a church home, worship regularly (i.e. don't just 'attend'), study God's word, welcome that church family into your life, and lastly, savor each day of your life most of all the love of God. Nothing is more precious."
God Bless you one and all,
Jace
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