Mike has enjoyed several good days in a row. He continued with physical therapy Wednesday morning, and again this morning. The treatments wear Mike out but we both feel they are beneficial.

We have gone over a week now with zero problems with either of Mike's biliary drains. Having the right drain function properly, has given both Mike and I a gift, few could probably understand, or even appreciate as fully as we do. We continue to pray both drains will continue functioning properly, until the regular exchange mid-January.

Mike's appetite continues to build and everything is staying down, which is a blessing. We try to sneak in a vanilla or chocolate shake now and then, to help build up calories. Mike is still hovering around 147 pounds (up from 138- but down from 175).

Mike was able to enjoy a little reloading yesterday in his shop. He said the neuropathy has messed with his fingertips a little, causing a little numbness, but not enough to prevent him from doing this hobby. It has been so important mentally and emotionally, for Mike to do things that feel "normal" for him. The changes that have happened over the past 1 1/2 year in his life, have been a lot of the uphill climb for Mike. I would appreciate your continued prayers in this particular area.

"How good it is to know that when we come to Him in our need, we are coming to The One who came and gave His life for us." -Roy Lessin

The oncology appointment this morning went smooth, and my heart remained peaceful. I'm so grateful for all of your prayers.

We discussed the past four months with our doctor, explaining all that took place at MD Anderson. He stated Mike had been through a lot over this time, by the reports he was sent, and how he found it amazing, this tumor ever got to Mike's liver in the first place. He felt the aggressive position we took the first year was helpful in shrinking the tumor, and although ultimately he would have liked to have had the tumor resected from the liver completely, he was satisfied to take a watch and see approach now.

He was glad Mike tolerated radiation treatments well in Houston, in hopes to completely sterilize or kill the tumor. The position now is to see Mike in three weeks to follow his blood work. The bilirubin count today was .8, which is very good. Everything else seemed within acceptable margins, as well. We will go to MD Anderson the middle of January for the complete workup again, and to see where we are at that point. If everything is looking good, Mike will likely wean off seeing doctors at MD Anderson, and return to only being followed by the doctors back here. Mike and his oncologist discussed the need to have Baptist Hospital in LR, talk with someone in Houston, to find what they did to make the biliary exchange less painful for Mike...and without general anesthesia, which led to the fiasco last July. A couple of simple phone calls should be all it takes. Mike plans on trying to have a conversation with the radiologists in LR soon, but hopefully well beyond the next scheduled exchange in January.

The situation regarding the blockage in Mike's subclavian artery was discussed. The oncologist told Mike that this blockage isn't affecting or involving his heart, and because he isn't showing any signs of trouble with his left arm, numbness, pain, etc,...and because a pulse can be felt in that arm, blood supply must be coming from another route, and it is probably best just to leave things alone. This was his opinion at least. Mike is scheduled to see the cardiologist at MD Anderson in January concerning this too, so we'll see what is suggested then.

So, we feel extremely grateful to everyone who has been involved in our situation, and just praise God this Thanksgiving, for being our strength and ever-present help in all of this. We have so much to be thankful for and the mercy and grace He has shown us over this year is a constant reminder He is at our side. But I just especially wanted all of you to know how grateful I am for each and every one of you too, for staying at our sides as well, and helping us face this day by day. We have drawn such strength and comfort from you, because of your prayers and love. Sometimes the hardest battle, is feeling alone in situations like these, and every one of you have reminded us often that we're not. Thank you from the bottom of our heart, and have a Happy Thanksgiving.

Mike continues to improve. His appetite seems back to normal and when he stepped back on the scale last night, it indicated he had put on about 5-6 pounds. Whether that is true weight, or water weight, doesn't really matter to me. The scale heading in that direction helps me breathe a little easier.

Today Mike resumed physical therapy, and after an hour, he was tuckered out. I worried slightly when he came home and he layed down, wondering if he might have over done things, but he seemed better when he woke up.

Thank you for checking in on both of us today. As we continue to adjust to our new life, please pray God's presence will fill any empty places we might be wrestling with, and He will leave us His grace and strength to take things in stride, and face each new day. We will be seeing Mike's oncologist here tomorrow morning at 7:30. These appointments are difficult, and a little scary for me, so I would appreciate your prayers.

"We never need to be without hope. For as we look into the future with the eyes of faith, we will see that God is already there." Roy Lessin

We're grateful for another good day for Mike! Once again, he was able to eat and keep all of today's food down, and he said he felt better than he has in a long time. Thank you for continuing to think about us and praying. Mike's looking forward to going to church tomorrow.

"Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and He shall sustain thee." Psalm 55:2

Mike kept everything down Friday, which was such a blessing. Thank you for praying for him. He didn't adhere to his self-imposed liquid diet either, which makes this even more of a blessing. He asked me to make him some mashed potatoes for dinner, which he hate maybe a 1/2 cup of, and he had some applesauce. Then around 8 p.m., he got hungry and had me make him some scrambled eggs and a piece of toast, which all stayed down. He also had a good nights rest (and so did I), so we have much to be grateful for.

Thank you so much for praying us through this bad spell.

"I pray that you will begin to understand how incredibly great His power is to help those who believe Him...." Ephesians 1:19 TLB

Mike ended up vomiting again last night and had continuous indigestion and hiccups until morning. We both got very little rest. I tried talking Mike into seeing our family doctor today but wasn't successful. He finally allowed me to call the oncologist's office here in town. His nurse called about 20 minutes ago, after speaking with the doctor, and told us if Mike vomits anymore, we are to go to the emergency room and have him get an IV. He has an appointment to see his oncologist Tuesday. In the meantime, Mike has put himself on a liquid diet. I'm praying whatever this is, will fix itself quickly, so we don't end up with him in the hospital for Thanksgiving.

Thank you for continuing to pray for us.

"The Lord is our strength and our song." Exodus 15:2

We made it home safely this evening from Houston. Mike had the right tube exchanged on Wednesday and handled everything well. Thank you for praying us safely down and back. I only missed a turn once and the car came back home without any scrapes. ;)

The Intervention Radiology team increased the size of Mike's right tube, although to the naked eye, it's difficult to see any change. So far, everything is working well, and Mike has not been in very much pain from that procedure. We were in and out of MD Anderson within 2 1/2 hours. We didn't want to risk Mike traveling, just following the procedure, so we waited until this morning to head home. Everyone is hoping we won't have any trouble until we see them again in January.

I do have a special prayer request for Mike though, concerning his weight. Since Sunday he has dropped another 8-9 pounds. He has been having trouble with his stomach feeling full even though he's hardly eaten very much, and last evening, he couldn't keep his only meal of the day down. I'm concerned, so I would appreciate your continued prayers for him in this area.

I would also deeply appreciate your prayers for me, for an extra measure of God's strength and grace. The past few days particularly, have been a little hard, seeing Mike so sick.

"I pray that you will begin to understand how incredibly great His power is to help those who believe Him...." Ephesians 1:19 TLB

We are heading back to Houston tomorrow morning. Mike's bilirubin count was 1.8 today, which indicates possible blockage. We will be driving down, and the procedure will be Wednesday morning. We would appreciate your prayers.

"When we are going through tough times in our lives, Jesus doesn't stand on the outside of our difficulties. He is in the midst of each thing we walk through in life. He is there to speak peace to us, to calm the storm, to assure us of victory, and to walk with us into a new day." Roy Lessin

Mike isn't feeling well today. He woke up with a queasy stomach, and with the exception of going to church, has slept most of the afternoon. We have reason to believe his right biliary drain may not be functioning correctly. We're doing all we know how, but we're feeling pretty certain that bloodtests tomorrow will show that we'll need to return for another biliary exchange. The big question for us, is whether to chance a successful exchange in LR, or to return to Houston?

We would appreciate your prayers for strength, and a lasting solution to this reoccurring problem.

"So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with My righteous right hand." Isaiah 41:10

Mike continues to work hard at physical therapy. Today's session was a little longer. We went to Lowe's afterwards, to give him a large, warm area to walk around in. Since we've returned from Houston, Mike has had trouble warming up and staying comfortable, so this gives us another outlet to give him exercise.

At one point today when we were outside Mike looked a little jaundice to me. After my bringing it up, Mike shared he was concerned he might be a little yellow himself, so we called the doctors office to see if they might want to do some bloodwork to make sure everything is okay. Mike doesn't have the other general symptoms he usually gets when his bilirubin count begins to rise, so we're both hoping we're over-stressing and things are fine. The low fevers continue to happen at night but seem to be gone by morning. He will have some bloodwork done Monday morning just to be sure everything is okay.

"Don't worry about anything, but in everything, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God." Phillipians 4:6

Thank you for praying with us about Mike's appetite and nausea situation. That seems to be improving, and Mike is keeping more and more food down. He is trying to add some snacks in between meals and seems to be tolerating it well. We don't believe he is gaining any weight yet, but we think he is maintaining his weight, according to our scale.

Tomorrow will be another physical therapy workout for Mike. He's been moving around slowly today because of Wednesday's PT workout. They had added a couple of exercises for him to do and he was pretty tuckered out by the time we left. I think more than anything, just having this to go to and do, helps motivate Mike. He's never been one to just lay around the house.

His energy level is still running low though, and that is causing some frustration for Mike. Little maintenance projects have been pushed to the side the last 1 1/2 years Mike has been sick, and even though I try to do as much as I can, there are a lot of projects just way over my head. Mike has tried to do some of the easier tasks, but wears out very quickly. Today, he was trying to repair something and was having the worst luck. He ended up having a mini-meltdown and it hurt to see him so frustrated.

Mike has been running low grade fevers almost every evening. So far, they have never been over 100 degrees, but they are enough to make him hurt all over, and concern me. We know if we were to call Houston (who have been involved in the last 3 biliary exchanges) they would probably have us come in to check for infection or even redo the tubes. That's not easy to do living here in AR. But both Mike and I are worried about returning to LR where previous exchanges have been done, because the last one there in July, put him in the CCU for several days. So, we're kind of feeling caught between a rock and hard place. We would appreciate your praying with us, that these fevers would stop! And that we can get through until January with no major infections.

"O Lord, be our rock of refuge, to which we can always go; give the command to save us, for You are our rock and our fortress." Psalm 71:3 (Praying God's Word)

Leaning.........

Mike is doing okay. He has had some difficulty with his stomach feeling normal since we've been home, and has also experienced some eating changes, possibly due to a delayed reaction from the radiation and chemotherapy treatments he took for three weeks. He has experienced some instantaneous vomiting when he's feeling fairly well, and other times he'll have a craving for a particular meal at an unusual time of day, for example at 11 p.m. It's been pretty hard to plan meals, so we're trying to stay flexible until things level out a little for him. We're weighing him regularly and we don't believe he's lost any more weight since he's been home, but we'd really like to be adding a few pounds soon.

Mike began physical therapy Monday morning and will continue every Monday, Wednesday and Friday for at least three weeks. They are needing to take things slowly because Mike tires quickly. But he is getting a good hour workout, with scheduled rests in between.

Being home has been wonderful, but it is also becoming an adjustment for Mike. Not being able to do very much is frustrating him a little, and I can tell he is missing his job. Being in Texas was enough of a distraction that he never really dealt with the loss of his job until now. This week, he's just feeling a little out of place and discouraged. Please pray for God's peace and comfort, as he tries to make the adjustment to all of this.

We continue to lean on our faith to guide us through this journey and to work out every little detail that's before us. We would appreciate your continued prayers for protection, discernment, and wisdom.

"Lean on, trust in, and be confident in the Lord with all your heart and mind and do not rely on your own insight or understanding." Proverbs 3:5 (Amplified Bible)

Angels In Our Midst

(Nedna)
(Margaret)

(Mei, Mackey, and a student nurse on far left)

I am posting a little late, but we're home safely. We arrived in close to midnight Friday evening. We spent most of yesterday washing laundry, opening mail, and loving on kids and grandkids. It is so good just to be home.

Mike is feeling good. Monday morning he will begin physical therapy and hopefully we can begin to put some weight back on him. He has about 25-30 pounds to add.

On Mike's last day of treatment Friday, they have this celebration where you ring a bell when you complete radiation treatment at MD Anderson, so I have included a picture of this. The people in the picture with Mike are the technicians that worked with him. There is one picture of a woman by herself. This was the radiation receptionist who greeted us everyday...twice a day....for three weeks. These dear people were "angels" in Mike's and my eyes. They all had such a loving, encouraging spirit about them, and they helped keep Mike's and my chin lifted daily. We felt so blessed by them, and just wanted you to have a chance to meet them too.

Thanks again for all of your prayers, love and support. You too, have been angels to Mike and I, in so many ways. Every single card, note of encouragement, drive to the airport, puppy care, gifts, calls, meals, love offerings, care packages, visits, and hugs, blessed us more than you could ever know. Your prayers have held us up and kept us going. We are deeply blessed to call you family and friends.

"And whatever you do or say, let it be as a representative of the Lord Jesus, and come with Him into the presence of God the Father, to give Him your thanks." Colossians 3:17

Thank You

Thank you for praying for Mike and I today. Mike came through his biliary exchange well. Why it failed so quickly, they really aren't sure, but they have given us some suggestions we can try to help keep things from escalating so quickly the next time, and the change out wasn't as difficult for Mike today, which lightened my heart. The important thing is that radiation treatments didn't get missed, so we will be heading home tomorrow afternoon following his last two. Oral chemotherapy will end tomorrow as well. We won't return for scans or exchanges until the third week in January.

Mike and I are very exhausted, but it will be so good just to be in our own home, and to be near our family and friends. We want all of you to know, your prayers and help, have carried us through these past six weeks. We never could have made it without you. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts.

Love,
Mike and Beverly

"Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light." Matthew 11:28-30

Repeat Procedure

Mike will need to repeat the biliary exchange tomorrow at 2:30 because the right drain continues to malfunction. It has been a rough day, and I know tomorrow will require a lot from us. Thank you for continuing to keep us in your thoughts and prayers.

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, Who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God." 2 Corinthians 1:3-4

Good Outcome

Thank you for praying for Mike and I today. It was a little rough waiting and wondering what might be going on with Mike's right side, wondering what the diagnostic doctors would decide to do to correct the problem, and if whatever they decided to do, would make Mike miss his afternoon radiation treatment.

Mike had his procedure a little later than scheduled. (around 1 p.m.) They suspected either the tubing was too close under the surface of the skin, or the radiation treatments might have been causing inflammation. They decided to go ahead and completely redo his right biliary tube, but they were able to keep Mike comfortable during the procedure, and hopefully we'll get the results they are looking for. He had to remain in recovery longer than we wanted, but they called ahead to radiation on the main campus, notifying them we would be getting to treatment 2 hours late. Mike and I didn't breathe a sigh of relief until he came out of his treatment, realizing at that moment, we were going to be able to keep on our schedule to come home this weekend.

Again, thank you for praying us through today.

"Blessed are those who keep His testimonies, who seek Him with the whole heart!" Psalm 119:2

Blessed!

On Saturday, Jeff and Lisa treated us to Houston's famous Burger spot, Pappa's Burger's. It was such a great time and the burgers were delicious!

Our friends and family have been such an incredible blessing to us. It has certainly made all of this a little less frightening to endure, and God has shown himself to Mike and I, through all of them. How incredibly blessed we are!

Mike began running a fever early Sunday morning (4 am) and having some discomfort on his right side. We got nervous and attached the drainage bag to Mike's right biliary tube, even though the clinic here taught us to keep it capped off. But we were worried there may be some infection. It could be that tube isn't in the correct position so that might need to be exchanged tomorrow around noon. If that happens, it is going to be causing us a little trouble getting to Mike's afternoon radiation treatment on time (2 p.m.). So please pray with us that all of this will work out as best as possible, and all of this won't delay our coming home Friday.

I'm SO ready to be home! I have already been packing which Mike has been enjoying teasing me about. He's convinced I make too big of a deal out of this process, and he's probably right, being I brought so few clothes for myself this last trip.

It will be wonderful seeing our family and sleeping in our own bed, but I may actually kiss my washer and dryer, once we reach the house. That's one item I've definitely taken for granted over the years, and missed down here.

Thank you for continuing to encourage us and letting us lean on you. Our hearts are so incredibly grateful and your prayers keep us going.

"But I will hope continually, and will praise You yet more and more. My mouth shall tell of Your righteousness and Your salvation all the day, for I do not know their limits. I will go in the strength of the Lord God; I will make mention of Your righteousness, of Yours only." Psalm 71:14-16

Answered Prayer!

Overnight, the reservation office extended our stay to the length of time we needed it. What an answer to prayer! This is such a blessing and will make things so much easier and safer for us. Thank you for taking part in lifting this request to God.

"Thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." 1 Corinthians 15:57