Beach Fun and Sad News

We arrived at the beach on Sunday.  The weather has been very nice with a couple of cooling showers.  The boys love the beach and are having a great time.  We are here with Kelli's parents.  My older children Seth, Ben, and Moriah are across the street with all sorts of extended family.  Seth's wife Claire and Ben's wife Tammy have birthdays this week.

I have been in the ocean helping the boys catch waves on an inflatable raft.  After the first day I was exhausted and a bit sore.  I have taken some serious naps.

The sad news is that yesterday we found out that a member of Fellowship Community Church was killed in an automobile accident while on a mission trip to Zambia.  We met Bob Finck once at the first meeting of The Empty Chair Ministry, the orphan care initiative that FCC is doing.  Bob was interested in adoption and was full of ideas about helping foster care children who were aging out of the system.  Bob leaves his wife Sandi and three children aged 21 to 10.  This is a link to a story about the accident:  http://www.imb.org/main/news/details.asp?StoryID=8854&LanguageID=1709

One other bit of sad news:  Miles, the three-year-old grandson of the woman who partners with Scott and me to create Called to Teach, has been fighting a tumor that is wrapped around his optic nerve.  He has been on chemo for about a year and is suffering from its effects as well as the tumor.  The parents are overwhelmed.  As you might imagine it is hard for them to understand why their dear son has to go through this suffering.  I would ask that you pray for Miles and his family as well as the family of Bob Finck.

Back to Surgical Socks

By the time I got home from Little Rock (after driving to Memphis and spending the night thanks to airplane mechanical problems), both legs were swollen and my right angle was hurting.  Even my toes were fat! 

Kelli made an appointment for me with the doctor for 2:15 in Shawsville.  I got away from the airport at 1:40 and still had to drop Scott at Salem High.  I arrived at the doctor about 20 minutes late.  She said that I could start using the surgical stockings again.  If that did not work, I call back for some higher level compression stockings.  The next step would be physical therapy.

Apparently this problem is not rare.  The American Cancer Society has a book about it, so I will probably order it.

However, the surgical socks seem to be doing a great job.  After one day of wearing them, my legs and feet are much improved.  There is only a bit of swelling left.

Tomorrow morning we leave early for the beach!

Thanks to those who prayed for me while on my trip to Arkansas!

Fat Foot

My son Ben asked that I put updates on the blog concerning the trip to Arkansas for the Called to Teach Conference.  The day went quite well, but I had a little trouble with my feet.  They are partially numb from chemo and my left ankle and foot have been a little swollen for a few weeks.  I asked Dr. Schoenberg about it, and he said it is caused by the lympho nodes being removed.  I had more swelling today after presenting for about seven hours, duh!  The foot is pretty fat. 

Tomorrow, I will try to find a stool to use.  I am also going to try to elevate my foot while sleeping tonight.

Now it is time for sleep.

Successful Day 1

Ray wants me to pass along that he felt really good about the conference today and had a great time.  He's looking forward to the second day of presenting.  He was on his way to Little Rock when I talked to him, and it seems like he's having a blast.

Meanwhile, we had a fun day with dear friends here, and then went to the store to get school supplies and a few new beach toys.  :)  The boys are elated.  It's a temporary relief as they've told me numerous times, "I miss Papi."

Ray and His Conference

Ray called this morning and let me know he arrived in AK safely, and late.  They're currently in Monticello, AK, and will be leading the conference all day -- 8:30 - 3:30.  Then they take off and drive to their next location for Day 2 of presenting.  Ray said they didn't lie down to sleep until 1:00 am, and then he was so excited about today that he didn't sleep well.  He'll be back super-late Thursday night.

Last Trip to Johns Hopkins

Today's renal ultrasound was unremarkable, which means it was good!  There was a fluid filled cyst next to my neobladder, but Dr. Schoenberg says that I am allowed that. 

He said that he believes the cancer is behind me.  He continued that the chance of recurrence is in the single digits.  Dr. Schmidt will take over the follow-up for the next four years.  I see him this Thursday.

I asked Dr. Schoenberg all my big questions.  One was about my feet being numb.  He said that was a result of the chemo.  The reason it didn't show up until surgery is that the chemo pounded the nerves and did most of the damage while the surgery finished it off.  He indicated that the feeling should return within a year.  I forgot to ask him about the ringing in my ears that began with chemo and continues.  I have an appointment with Dr. Fintel at the end of August, so I will ask him. 

Obviously, I feel like we have reached a long-awaited goal of getting the this chapter behind us. I recognize the multiple roles these experiences play in shaping me to become more like God intended me to be.  It has been quite a ride.  I thank God for Kelli and for all he has done and is doing in our lives.  The door is not quite closed, but it appears to be just clean-up now.

First Day Back to the Gym

I was up until 2:10 a.m. last night working on the PowerPoint for my afternon session in Arkansas.  I wanted to get it out by today because some of the participant folders are beginning to be made.  I forgot I had a slide in the presentation that I did not want to use, so I had to send it again this afternoon.  I hope I didn't mess up any of the good people in Monticello and Little Rock.

We went to church again this week.  It was tough getting up at 7 a.m., but we made it on time.  Then we had our small group at our house. 

After lunch, I had a much needed nap, and then I went to the gym.  Somebody told me that they were glad to see me getting back in the groove.  I said that I could see the groove, but I was not back in it yet.  I did 25 push ups, so I have a long way to go to get back to where I was.  I did some machines and a half hour of cardio.  I had to tone down the difficulty level a bit as the half hour progressed, but I am back in the gym and it is all uphill from here on out.

Kelli and I take off for Johns Hopkins tomorrow for what should be our last trip there.  Then Dr. Schmidt here in Salem will take over.

Physical Therapy Continues

The strange theme of physical therapy is that I was trying too hard.  With electrodes in place, I practrice using only the pelvic floor muscles.  That is accomplished by flexing these muscles only enough to get the blip-o-meter to between 5 and 10 millivolts - no more, no less.  It is pretty humbling since I am supposed to hold it constant.  Instead, my blip-o-meter is all over the place, but at least it stays between 5 and 10 millivolts.  I hope I can improve.

I think this could be the beginning of a new video game.  Well, probably not.

Life is returning to normal.  I took my car for an oil change yesterday and drove to Camp Bethel to pick up Matt this evening.  They fed the families and had a little program. 

Life is getting pretty busy.  I am working hard on getting PowerPoints ready for the presentations in Arkansas.  Nick Vujicic is coming to FCC next weekend, then Arkansas, then a week at the beach.  As soon as we get back from the beach, the freshmen teams at Salem High will conduct their summer workshop.  I still need to meet with Wes Lester to plan that. 

I also just finished reading Radical by David Platt.  It is pretty hard core about turning away from the American lifestyle and replacing it with service to the those in need of physical and spiritual salvation.  It is a very challenging book.

Physical Therapy and other new steps

I was at the RAC this morning for my first physical therapy appointment at 9:30.  Most of the time was spent with questions about my progress.  Then there was a little indignity as she checked out my pelvic floor exercises.  Of course, I need improvement.  Apprently, I am using the correct muscles, but I am also using other muscles.  Next time, I get hooked up to electrodes that will give me bio-feedback about the muscles I am using.  I am wondering about the electrodes, but we will see.  The PT sounds pretty optimistic about success.  She said that men usually have an easier time than women with the physical therapy for this surgery. 

Today marks my return to driving.  I had no problem driving out to the Tanglewood area for the appointment.  Also I am no longer wearing the surgical socks, and I can begin exercising today.  I probably won't have time to get to the exercise today.  Kelli and I need to go to the church to check out the room where will be have the first Empty Chair Ministry meeting.  We are excited about that.  I also have a bunch of work to do on the preseentations for Arkansas, so the days are getting full.