Hello All

I have so much to catch you up on, so I will try not to be too wordy. I know, impossible!! But here goes..... The ski trip went well. The kids had a great time. They got to ski with friends and really seemed to enjoy themselves. I got to ski as well, but am most thankful that Tessa went with us, as well as so many friends. I joked alot about tessa being the stand in "baby daddy" for Mark I hope she wasn't offended!. I have nothing but gratitude for her. It was a huge help. Mark had a great, relaxing, quiet first day. He said he got to sit around, watch westerns, drink coffe and do nothing without feeling any guilt about it. Day 2 was a little different. He (being a man) decided he could get out and ski. It was all good for about 200 yards. Let's just say that he really doesn't have any of the energy he already knew he didn't have. But being a little stubborn, (much like myself I suppose) he needed PROOF! So after 2 and a 1/2 hours, lots of rest breaks and several discussions about pride, I threw in the towel for him and he got a ride down. TNot one of his better days. The drive was not easy, but he was glad he went and even more glad to return home to his own bed.

On Monday after returning we had the dreaded CT Scan. Always hopeful, I had my doubts about getting any good news. We have been seeing subtle changes over the last couple of months that have made me skeptical. At any rate regardless of his physical status, there is no doubt that mentally he is in a much better place. He is closer to the carefree, joking, friendly guy everybody loves to see. Wooooohooooooo.

So, about the scan..... Certainly, we did not see what we had hoped for. Everything that was there previously has grown somewhat and everything we couldn't see by scan before is now visible. Although very disappointing, we were not real surprised. And so we go back to the drawing board. I begged for a sign letting us know what we should do next. If you don't believe God hears us, then you might as well tune out now. It is no coincedence that my mother came to us to get permission to call Maisy, and Maisy in turn called us and we in turn called a doctor who happened to be in WF treating a patient, and he in turn showed up at the Uniform Shop and spent over an hour with us. Can you believe it? "A house call". Does that really happen anymore? Dr. Diaz was very interested in helping Mark if we so choose. He practices alternative medicine. He counseled us and gave us much insight that we needed to hear. While we aren't certain exactly what the next step will be, there are a few certainties.

Mark's status is changing in spite of chemotherapy.

The treatment for progression of the disease is more aggressive chemo, resulting in more misery for Mark. Basically, Mark is looking at chemo in some form for the duration of his life if he chooses that route.

There are alternative treatments available that might be beneficial in treating symptoms of cancer and possibly even resulting in remission of the cancer.

We have nothing to lose in trying something new.

No matter what decision is made we know that we are not going to impact God's plan for Mark, whatever that may be. His plan will be carried out in spite of us.

We returned to Dr. McCollum today. He was very concerned about Mark. The obvious is the scan with progression of the disease, but also his weight loss and his liver function and resulting jaundice. There was a mixup in labs that were drawn, and therefore, he was missing information that he needed. Even still, he laid our options on the table. In conventional medicine. The options are few. One chemotherapy is out due to his compromised liver, and one has been proven ineffective for Mark's cancer. The third option is to go back to the original regimen used following the initial surgery. It is a trial and error option. They offer a 30-40% chance that it would have some effect on the cancer. not in the way of cure, but possibly in providing more time. There are no guarantees, and Mark does not wish to endure that again. It certainly becomes a quality of life issue. Quality is very important to us. Even before Mark's diagnosis, he felt very strongly about being able to enjoy life and enjoy each other.

At this point, we are discussing and researching all options and are to return to Dr. McCollum on January 31st to finalize a plan.
I will do my best to keep you up to date. Love to all, Missy