Peace in the Midst of Trial

     I've been putting off writing this post, because it's not the best news, I'm afraid.  John is generally feeling pretty well, with no real pain, but on August 1st he had a CT scan which showed innumerable tiny dots of tumor in his lungs that hadn't been there on any previous scans.  He was put back on Tarceva, the daily chemotherapy pill that had given him such amazing results initially until it lost its effectiveness in August 2011.

     But last week's scan showed that all the spots in his lungs had grown slightly, and John's alkaline phosphatase level had risen; this is an indicator of the presence of tumor in bone.  He's been experiencing some mild pain in his back and sternum, and has lost some weight.

     Toby Campbell, our wonderful oncologist, felt it's time to let the Tarceva go, and move on to Pemetrexed, a standard chemotherapy treatment which is really the last weapon left in the arsenal.  Toby felt that if we wait too long, and the cancer grows, and John got too sick, the risk would be too great for him to have Pemetrexed.  Toby didn't want him to miss that window, and he said that window could close quickly.  So John stopped Tarceva and started Pemetrexed this past week.  It's an I.V. treatment which he'll receive every 3 weeks.  The only side effects are fatigue, and possibly anemia.  He'll have another chest scan in 6 weeks.

     All of this would be pretty daunting if it weren't for the great comfort we receive through the everlasting gospel of our Savior and Redeemer, Jesus Christ.  To us, it is overwhelming that we can pray to our Father in Heaven, and that He hears us.  I know that through prayer, we can experience His love for us.  We can feel acknowledged and accepted, cared for and supported, motivated and inspired, comforted and healed.  We can then feel ready to conform our lives to His will, not ours.  This brings enormous peace in the midst of trial.

     We went to the Chicago temple yesterday and had a most uplifting, spiritual experience there.  We'll be spending Thanksgiving at Allison and Nate's, along with Hilary and Travis and all of our precious grandchildren.  We have so much to give thanks for; our hearts are full.