Turning Point

hello dear friends...

we have had quite the past few days - long story short, james caught the flu which has given him some really high fevers...which was diagnosed as a "normal" flu (and not some whack-ball stuff from china) when the county health department came to our house...which then meant that james was not able to see his oncologist to get the results from his CT.  (the oncologist basically said, "you can't come here. you're too sick.")

yowza. 

so today, while we wiled away the hours at the urgent care (apparently they turn no one away - ha!), the oncologist called us to tell us the results which left me completely stunned and in shock.

james does not have cancer.

his scan looks (in the words of the oncologist) amazing, beautiful, really great, definitely different, unbelievable...nothing is worse, and everything is better. the largish mass that was remaining on the last scan is shrinking. there are a few remaining sections of inflamed lungs, but hugely decreased. the oncologist even used the word "gone" more than once to describe tumors, inflammation, etc. he sounded as high as a kite elated. he said "unbelievable" a couple of times. 

i told him i was just shocked because i thought for sure he was calling to say james had cancer. he said he was very happy to disappoint me with the news. 

james does not need any further scans (according to the oncologist) for another 4-6 months.

we will be following up with the pulmonologist & surgeon in the next few days to see what can be done with his symptoms.  (who knows but that will also include a GI guy looking at his esophagus....james didn't have GERD before cancer.)  ask that we have clear leading & direction as we continue to pursue james's total healing. 

in the meantime...feel free to join us in shouting the news from the rooftops. =)

we know this news doesn't mark the end of this whole journey...but we are thankful for the part you all played in praying for us, encouraging us, and keeping us focused on the goodness of God. i can only assume you'll keep it up until james is totally healthy. 

New Symptoms, No Diagnosis (Yet)

James is still in China, and started complaining of some new symptoms:
*difficulty swallowing & a sore throat
*chest pain
*back pain that's worse at night, when lying down.

He had been on prilosec, a drug for acid reflux. He doesn't normally have acid reflux, but between large doses of prednisone and radiating a tumor that's close to his esophagus, the doctors thought it a good idea. So while in China, he ran out and his symptoms - which sound a lot like a really bad case of acid reflux - returned. 

His symptoms could also be related to radiation - like if, say, we radiated a tumor adjacent to your esophagus and then (no one is saying it quite this way) burned a hole in your esophagus. Damn.  Oops.

Back pain could be related to sleeping on really terrible Chinese beds.

Or you know what else this all sounds like? Lung cancer. 

But there is no way to know for sure what is causing any of these symptoms, which may or may not be related, without some thorough diagnostics. So James is scheduled for a CT on Tuesday (less than 12 hours after he gets back in country) and then a follow up with the oncologist on Thursday. The oncologist will be able to prescribe next steps, whether that is chemo or a scope of the esophagus, or some different meds. Or something else entirely that only people who have actually been to medical school would know to do.

The good news is that this bumps up James's scan by a couple of weeks. (Originally we were waiting until the end of March for a PET/CT.) If it's a tumor, we will know, and can quickly get started doing whatever we need to do to get rid of that. If it's not a tumor, we can do whatever tests need done now to start getting James well. Yeah! 

For the record, no one is saying it is definitely a tumor. In fact, the oncologist said we could follow up the CT with any of James's doctors, which doesn't make much sense if you're thinking it's a tumor. (Would YOU go see a pulmonologist to deal with a tumor?)

Since scheduling those appointments, James has started back on prilosec, and has seen a reduction in some of his symptoms.  Except his back is in fairly constant pain, I think, and eating has become extremely difficult. (He ate a banana yesterday which turned out to be horribly painful.)  

So just in case you thought that was an exit ramp coming into view on the horizon...you were probably wrong. 

Needless to say, getting James well from all this, even if it is not new tumors, seems like a long haul. 

James, otherwise, is doing great, buoyed by a great visit at home - being loved on by dear family while fed the food you most enjoy is a powerful mental/emotional health boost. Beating all his brothers at cards - like he always does - brings a lot of joy. And, because it was the holidays and people have time, he was blessed with wonderful interactions...hours and hours and hours of conversations in his native tongue...with his family, friends, and ministry partners. As he said yesterday, "It's just physical pain, so I'm okay."

While we wait for next Thursday, please pray
*James will start his journey home on Sunday, arriving late Monday night. Ask for God's lovingkindness to be on display through the kindness of strangers. Based on his flight history since diagnosis, American flight attendants don't deal kindly to coughing passengers, even when they say "I have lung cancer." May God be gracious and allow him a great journey back.
*God's miraculous healing - may James experience a decrease in symptoms (a sudden decrease would be great, IMHO).
*Our continued faith in God's goodness, no matter the CT results. Together with that, pray for our willing, joyful submission to His will. Life as we want it is great, but life lived as He plans it out is best, and our greatest joy. I don't want to go kicking and screaming and dragged down this path.  But sometimes I am. Because God is gracious and ever-patient. 

Thank you, friends! You're the best & we love you! We'll let you know something when we know something. 

Here's a (Good) Thought

This year, I've been taking full advantage of the local library...not only checking out a slew of books for the girls (especially the younger two as we've started doing very basic 'preschool' at home), but also being careful to utilize the "hold" option so I can get the really good Christian books that are scattered throughout the county library system. If we wind back our lives to "normal" we normally live in a place that does not have a public library, nor does it have (perhaps more obviously) a Christian bookstore. So we're left to what can be found among our community of foreign friends, and more likely, what is available on Kindle.  But buying books to support a healthy reading habit can get pricey.  So...needless to say, landing in a place where there is just about every book you want to read...for free...even though it is a public, government institution...this is an amazing privilege that we should be taking full advantage of, friends!!  I find that the less screen time I allow myself, the more time I have to read. Shocking, I know.  And way more enriching.

So...sorry for the long lead in.  I wanted to share this thought.  It's a gem...and also puts words to why it is difficult for people like James and me to come back to the States for an extended period of time, much as we love everyone here. While we understand why we are here, and God has blessed us richly while we have been here in a multitude of ways, AND God has been gracious to allow us to minister to people here, we are still away from what we have been called to do - to reach Chinese people with the good news of the Gospel. That's hard. And it should be.

"We were made to live with no less a drama than the spread of God's eternal reign. We need adventure. We need purpose. We need the adrenaline of stepping out of our comfort zones for a purpose higher than our own well-being. We need all of that, desperately, and we need it to matter for eternity, not just for a moment or for our bank accounts, our pleasure, or our reputations...Nothing else can substitute for kingdom life, because that's how God created us."

Gary Thomas, A Lifelong Love

Okay, yes, this is in a marriage book - a great one.  He goes on to say (just in case you wanted a random, unexpected, kick-in-the-pants reminder about your marriage...)

"In Christian circles, we do a disservice if we try to "fix" marriages without first proclaiming the necessity of fixing our lives on this magnificent obsession, the kingdom of God. I have no desire to offer five steps on how to be a little less miserable in your marriage as you live a substandard, selfish life that isn't set on the spread of God's work." 

Yowza. There we go, friends. Now go out and have a great weekend!