Happy New Year

At this point in Fred's treatments the lumps are hardly visible!  The low-dose radiation treatments will continue for three more sessions.  So far there have not been any lasting side effects from the radiation, no burning, no loss of hair, no nausea, and for this we are so very thankful.

As one year ends and a new year begins, we certainly are glad to be walking through this life with Jesus beside us each step of the way!  We thank each of you for your love and support in prayer and encouragement. Trusting the Lord will bless you!  Please continue to be prayerful for all those who are enduring the heartache of separation and all who cry out to the Lord in need.  We are so thankful that He hears every prayer and plea!

Praising the LORD!

Because Fred's cells multiplied rapidly in the lab, he has received 2 doses of the dendritic vaccine.  That therapy along with the R/C last week has produced some obvious changes in the tumors already.  They are softening and dissolving!  For this we praise God that His arm of healing is touching Fred to remove this affliction!  He still has some times of feeling queezy not sure exactly what it's from, could be the radiation as he begins his second week of treatments. The detox therapies will continue to rid the body of the necrotic (dead) cells.

Here we are enjoying some "Timmy time" after dinner. We are going to miss this little ray of sunshine! Brian & Marie and Timothy leave Tuesday morning and our prayers go with them for safe travels. We thank God for His healing in Brian's life also!

Friends and Fellowship!

We didn't have a camera until we crossed back to the U.S. this weekend, it was our first stop.  After that our dear friends picked us up and took us to dinner at Souplantation. This was a fantastic buffet! It had a huge salad line, a number of soups and breads and some dessert options too, just didn't go there! ;) We enjoyed spending the evening around the fire with the children. Sunday we felt an immense blessing from the Spirit as we sang songs for those in a nursing/convalescing home, attended morning and afternoon services, and fellowshiped with this precious congregation. We are so thankful for the time we could spend with everyone there.

Here's a picture of Fred & Brian helping set the table for breakfast :)

By the kindness of dear friends who re-arranged their schedule, we were brought back to the border at about 3:30 and crossed without any problems.  We had to take a taxi since our ride wasn't there, but this wasn't a problem once Brian could explain where we needed to go.....
God ALWAYS provides!

Prayer & Trust

Friday Update

The day passed swiftly.  Sang a couple Christmas carols around the table after dinner tonight. One of the other patients said how good that made her feel. She's been in a lot of pain and I think it helped divert her mind for a few minutes.
Many needs of prayer! Thanks to each of you for remembering us and all those who are here, all those in need of prayer, and a special prayer for those who are being asked to bear the heartache of separation.

Merry Christmas from Mexico!

Update for Thursday


Fred finally had a good nights rest.  It's amazing how much good that does a body!
It was pretty much a routine day.  We enjoyed some time in the sun again this afternoon. When Dr. made his rounds he gave us some good news! Fred is finished with his chemo!  We are very thankful!
Since it was Christmas Eve the kitchen made a special dinner for us. We even had dessert!  It was carrot cake, but it tasted more like the spice cake we had at our wedding! =)  After dinner we were able to listen in on Christmas eve services @ SanDiego. Mexican custom is to celebrate the holiday with gunfire, so there was a lot of friendly fire going on as we went to bed, thankfully we slept well.

As we know, our days are numbered. A dear man here, who quickly became our friend, is feeling the heartache of seperation from his dear wife.  Please pray for Pete as he accepts the reality of going home and living, without her by his side.

Wishing you all a very blessed Christmas!

Wednesday
We decided to make an effort to get the IV fluids in before dinner.  The nights have not been as restful for Fred and we hope by getting the fluids in earlier in the evening he won't be up as much at night. We didn't quite meet our goal, but it should be better than it was last night. He was also able to take a nap this afternoon.

The routine is pretty much the same, breakfast, detox IV, detox therapies, low-dose radiation (it is 10% of the dosage typically done in the States), lunch, detox IV, detox poultice, low-dose chemo(10%), dinner, detox bath, and to bed.  We did squeeze in some time in the sun by eating lunch on the patio by the pool.
This is his second day of R/C (radiation/chemo) so he feels a little wore down. Dr says Thursday is the last day of R/C for this cycle.  He will decide what the next week will hold after the weekend and blood draw at the beginning of the week.

Hardly seems like Christmas is tomorrow!  Thankful we had our family Christmas last Tuesday. We decided last year to celebrate it each year on Gabriel's birthday, but this year with the harvest being late it pushed some of the other field work back and we had to move it back a day. Hope you all can share many special moments with your families. They are so precious!

So appreciate your prayers!

Posting in Mexico

Wow, I started to post this about an hour ago, but have had major issues due to being in Mexico.  Everytime I went to the blog, the posts all showed up in English, but the links to login and edit were in Spanish.  You would think by trial and error I could have figured it out, but it was one of those moments were I kept hitting a brick wall.  So I concluded that for some reason the Lord's time table for this blog post wasn't the same as mine, and that it didn't matter if it was posted in the morning of Illinois time!

Tuesday morning started with a blood draw to begin the vaccine prep.  Dr. Rubio explained to us yesterday that Fred would begin his low dose radiation and chemo treatments today to kick start the attack on the cancer.  The treatment center for the radiation is off site, so we went there around 10:30 a.m.  The actual amount of treatment time was about 30 seconds! It doesn't sound like much time, but around 4:30 this afternoon Fred began to feel a dull pain in his neck and noticed that the site seemed swollen.  Dr. explained that this was exactly what was expected to happen and that in a few days the swelling would recede.  After supper he received his first bag of chemo.  He has not felt any nausea or sickness and later in the evening during his final IV of the day, he said the pain from the tumor site was gone. Besides the poultice applied to his neck to help pull out the toxins, he was also receiving an IV of Mannitol which promotes the excretion of toxic waste.

Oh, and for those of you who know my love for drinking hot water... they have one of those cool dispensers that instantly gives hot water 24/7, how sweet is that?  Now Fred doesn't have an excuse to not be drinking hot water! ;)  This is one of the tips I've learned in my schooling this year, that hot water is a good lymph stimulator. Since the lymph system is our body's  "drains" for taking away toxins, it's a really good idea to keep it flowing! =)

That's the report from yesterday. I'm off to get caught up on my schooling that has fallen behind since the middle of November. 
Thanks for caring and praying!

We're here and the action's begun!

Just as they promised, once we arrive, they would begin Fred's treatments. Yesterday we arrived about 12:30 and went right to the dining room where we enjoyed a lunch that was not so uncommon to have been found on the Leman's table!  It included a lettuce salad, black bean soup, and chicken.  Then came the tour of the clinic, at the end of which Fred began his detox therapies.  He will have a variety of daily detox therapies as a part of his treatment.

We met with Dr. Rubio to discuss Fred's cancer and the protocol/treatment plan. We are very satisfied with Dr. Rubio's apparent knowledge and his approach to work with Fred's body, specifically the immune system, to destroy this cancer.  We have great confidence that God can work through Dr. Rubio, as it would be according to His will.

We enjoyed dinner with Brian & Marie and Timothy.  Before retiring, Fred received his first detox IV and a nightly detox bath.  We were exhausted, so it was easy to climb into bed early!

My goal is to update with posts in the morning, we'll see how it goes. =) 
Thanks so much for all the support and prayers that have been posted and those who have come to read and support us in prayer without posting, I've been in both spots! =)  Trusting in His power to bless each one of you for your love!

Gabriel's Birthday

Today would have been Gabriel's sixteenth Birthday.

Who would have guessed that fourteen and a half years after his precious life was taken from our arms, that I would be starting a blog about his Daddy and the journey we face through the enemy's land of cancer.  But we don't go in fear, we go in an abundance of peace from God our Father, by whose Grace alone we will walk one step at a time. 

So pray for us that~

• we will daily feel His Holy Spirit as our Faithful Guide
  
• we don't borrow trouble from tomorrow
• we thank Him daily for His will and His perfect love

Whatever the Spirit prompts you to pray, do so in faith that He knows our needs better than we do ourselves.

Lord-willing, we fly out Monday, December 21st.  We should arrive in Mexico by early afternoon.  From the latest report from Marie Ricketts, they will still be at the clinic...and I'm sooo thankful for this, although I know they are anxious to return home!