Weight Gain!!!

Exciting news!!!  Fred has gained 5 lbs!!!

Today, one week and 3 days after surgery, he spent a couple hours at the farm in the office....I think! ;)

It's another beautiful, crisp, autumn day! We plan to spend some time in town at the "house."
Actually the "house" looks like this...

We have a little walnut grove on our property, so picking up walnuts and soaking in the oxygen is what's on tap for this afternoon! :) Well...I'm planning to pick up walnuts... Fred might need to be the site manager! :)

Praising the LORD for each step forward!!!

New Day...New Hope

Thanks for the extra prayers and support through your comments, emails and text messages!

Ready to face another day!  Plan to spend some time outside in the sun soaking up the brilliant yellow color bouncing off the golden trees in our yard! :)

Waiting

Our days are passed by doing daily stuff, following our protocol at home, and waiting....this part can kind of get to the mind!
Please pray that we can submit to the waiting.
Actually, we must be in the right place because the enemy has ramped it up a notch!
Covet your prayers!

Day 5 - HOME!!!!

Day 4 - FOOD!!!

Another gift!!!

Dr. came in and said Fred's bowel was awake enough and he could order anything he wanted!!! But just to go slow on the quantity, stop when his body tells him it's full!!!  Soooooo here he is... he just finished placing his order...an egg omelet and hot chocolate!

If all goes through without difficulty, he will soon be heading home!!!  Possibly as soon as tomorrow!!! :) We are VERY HAPPY and THANKFUL!!!  GOD IS SO GOOD!  Thanks for continuing with us in prayer for his healing and recovery!

Special Blessing on the LORD'S DAY

Praise the LORD!!!  HE has blessed us again with the evidence that HE has healed Fred's intestinal blockage.  Not only are all liquids going in without difficulty....but as of this morning... things are moving out as well!!! :)

Please join us in thanking and praising GOD for this very special blessing on this VERY special day...HIS day!  We look forward to a day of WORSHIP!

Day 3

The Dr. came in and...he said the NG tube could be clamped for 6-8 hours and Fred could start on clear liquids!!!  So we ordered up some chicken broth to start off his day, then took to the halls to do a couple laps.  Was up in the chair for the next 6 hours.  At 2:30 the nurse came in to see how much residual fluids were left in the stomach, then went to call the Dr.  At about 3PM the NG tube came out!!!  Fred was very relieved!

The rest of the day has been spent sampling little amounts of clear liquids so he doesn't overdo it.  Thankfully he has not had any nausea and his bowel sounds are getting stronger, which means his digestive tract is "waking up" as the Dr says.

Praising GOD for HIS peace and love that surrounds us! So thankful for all the love and prayers that bring us these blessings!

p.s. last night the aide came in & said "I have something for you." I said, "For Fred?" and she said, "No, for you!" It was a bed!!!  Soooo I'm looking forward to my second night in a bed! ;)

Day 2

We started the day off by doing 3 laps around the halls before nine o'clock!!!  When he got back he thought he'd try a couple hours in the chair.  Well, that turned into 5 hours!  He really tolerated things well today!

Dr. has said as soon as there is indication that things are starting to move in the colon, he will get to have the NG removed and begin clear liquids.  So prayers for this would be appreciated.  He also mentioned that belching was a good indicator that things were starting to move in the right direction.  Fred hadn't done any yet but within the next half hour, he belched twice.  Amazing the things that delight us! And by the end of the day the count was 3 that I heard!

Dr. Wieland came in and removed the dressing and the site looks real good. The incision is only 6 inches long, all nicely stapled back together.

It was a delight to have our grandchildren pay us a visit! As well as the others who offered encouragement!
Well I think that's it for today.

Day 1

Today, after "dangling" (as the nurses call it)  he got up and walked 2 laps around the hall!  The surgeon came in and told us that the portion of small bowel that was removed was only 6 inches!  Because it was so tightly concentrated in that small area, that was all that needed to be removed.  The other area of tumor growth is not something that can simply be cut out.  So our focus needs to stay on getting Fred healed so he is strong enough to fight! He worked on that by taking another walk before bed, doing one lap around the hall. :)

Post-Op Updates

Fred had a good night of rest.  His pain is being managed very well by the medication.  His lungs are clear, his color is good, and he still has an NG tube.  He was left on O2 from surgery according to Dr. Wieland's orders to help keep his body oxygenated which aids in the healing process.

Dr. says recovery takes 4-5 days in the hospital and 3-6 weeks at home.  My goal is to give an update at the end of each hospital day.  So that's all for now until this evening.  And for those of you who know me real well, "the end of the day" isn't until midnight! ;) ....but I'll do my best to get it in before that!

It's Done!

The surgery started a little later than what was scheduled, but was done quicker than what we expected!  The blessing is that Fred's small bowel is now repaired.  The blockage has been removed and the Dr. stated it was a very straight forward operation.  He could see exactly what needed to be done... and did it.  The blockage was due to a cancer that was growing inside his small bowel and pinching off the passage.  He also found another area of tumor growth so he did a biopsy of both.  We are extremely thankful that the blockage was small, could be removed, and that we can anticipate a full recovery of his digestive tract.  The other area we will deal with later.

We are praising GOD for his tender mercy and faithfulness...

Thank you all for your support in prayers and love....we continue to feel an amazing peace as HE covers us with HIS love through each of you.

Thanks!

Some of you said you were having difficulty leaving comments on the blog, so I've tried to check everything and it appears that it should work...we'll see.

 We just want to thank each and everyone of you who have offered your support of love and prayers! The many emails and text messages have been so encouraging!  Please forgive me if I haven't answered yours yet, I'll try to keep up as best I can.

Sounds like the surgery has been bumped up to 10AM.  I'll post as soon as I can after we get the results, it will probably be mid to late afternoon.

Resting in HIS peace

Fred & Brenda

SURGERY

We have seen both the GI Dr. and the Surgeon today and they both agree that exploratory surgery is the next step, to which Fred and I have agreed also... he can't go on living like he has the past couple weeks. We are very blessed to have Dr's we feel very comfortable with and trust...leaving all the rest to GOD!

We continue to look to HIM with unreasoning trust....

Good Results on Friday...but We're Back in the Hospital

Our hearts are so thankful that the colonoscopy on Friday concluded there was nothing wrong in the colon but, after the weekend, we're back in.
Fred got sick again late this morning so after a phone call to the Dr.'s office we came down for an appointment which led to his being admitted to St. Jo.
An NG tube is soon to be put in for suctioning the stomach contents and help relieve the pressure.  Last week after this was done it relieved his pain fairly quickly, so we hope for the same results!
We plead for prayer! And thanks so much for all the support we have been shown! We feel HIS love through each kind deed and word of encouragement!  GOD is good!

It's Time to Blog...

Fishing at our pond in July

2011 has been a year of changes! 

The first change came when Reuben asked me to inquire of a friend of ours whether she would be interested in selling her house in Strawn.  Long story short she was, and at the end of June he moved out into his own place.  But prior to that, the Lord brought about an opportunity in May for Fred & I to purchase a piece of property in the little Village of Forrest! The first weekend of June Reuben was baptized and then the 16th a delightful change came when we welcomed Kyson into Seth & Renee's little family.  We started "day"dreaming about house plans, but not too much until Caleb came around in August with his engagement to Shannon!  We thought we would start in earnest preparing the ground to build in the spring, after the wedding, but Sunday night Fred got sick and it was apparent we needed to see the Dr.

Monday, October 10th he was admitted to St. Joseph's for a small bowel obstruction.  After starting the fluids to flush his system, the pain returned.  With no change during the night, an NG tube was put in place at 6AM Tuesday morning, the pain subsided fairly soon and then we waited... and PTL things started moving @ 4:25 that evening.  The next 24 hrs kept showing improvements, the NG tube was removed around 11AM and at 4:30 the doc came in and said we could be discharged but that we needed to schedule a colonoscopy for Friday.  So with great delight we were headed out of the hospital parking lot about 6PM. We had a good night and today has been free of pain.  He's started his flush again in prep for the colonoscopy which is scheduled for 12:30 tomorrow.  

A Year Later

Praising the LORD for the privilege of posting our family picture in completeness a year after we headed to Mexico for Fred's cancer treatments! Giving glory to HIS name that Reuben has confessed his need of JESUS! Other exciting news....Sophie's to become a big sister in June!  =)

2nd Check-Up = Good Report!

We have been to Mexico and back.  Just got the results from the bloodwork this week, no active cancer!  We are very thankful and continue to live in the moment, thanking the Lord for each one!  We are blessed!

We appreciate your every prayer and thank you for checking the blog.  Sorry we didn't get a post in while in Mexico!  Then after we returned home it took a while to make connection with the Doc which is the way it goes sometimes.

We also want to praise the Lord for HIS providence in regards to the insurance company.  We would have been covered 100% if we had went with the traditional US treatment, but were told it was highly unlikely that they would cover our expenses in Mexico, even though it was miniscule compared to the cost we would have incurred here.  Fred went ahead and sent in the paperwork with a request that they would consider paying on our expenses.  This week we received a check from the insurance company that was more generous than what we had hoped for!  While it doesn't cover all the expenses, we have been blessed!

Great Report from Mexico!

We're down in Mexico for a routine check-up, we leave today around 10 AM.  Dr. Rubio saw Fred yesterday and reported that he is in complete remission, no live cancer cells in his blood!  We are very thankful....to GOD for HIS power and will in our lives to heal Fred.... to Dr. Rubio and his son Jr. for their mission to work with your body to bring about restoration of health....to each one of you for your thoughts, prayers, and support as we walk this path... a journey by faith in HIS perfect love !!!

We will be going home without the central line (yeah!) but with several different injections to be done weekly until we return for our visit in April.

So until further change of events I will leave you with these words of praise from the WORD~
Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, unto him be glory in the church by CHRIST JESUS throughout all ages, world without end. Amen.  Ephesians 3:20,21

---

BEFORE AND AFTER PHOTO

Well, I'm finally getting around to posting this pic!  Life has been going at a pretty fast pace and thankfully Fred is not having any trouble keeping up!  All continues to go well.  We are scheduled to return to Mexico for a check-up the 24-26th of this month.  I will probably post an update after that visit.
We're living in the moment! ...Thanks for your support!

HOME!

We arrived home last night around 6:30 pm.  It felt soooo good! =)

We've already completed our first day with pills, dressing change, detox bath, central line maintenance, detox cabbage poultice, and to top it all off..... Fred put in a full days work!!!  He feels good and is glad to get back to the farm!

We expect the weeks until our return visit to Mexico to pass uneventfully.  I will update if there is any change to that.

Again, we thank God for His healing and your prayers!  And know that he is abundantly able to bless each one of you for your support!