Great is Thy Faithfulness

I spent this week in Haiti - picking up Ariana and Vienna, working with the Hojaras, who are sitting in for us at the orphanage, and spending time, worship and prayer with the amazing staff and children af Maison de Lumiere. At first, I didn’t want to go. I didn’t want to leave Susette. If it wasn’t for the fact that she would be in the care of our dear friends the Bohlingers, she encouraged me to go and the fact that she is doing so well, I would have never gone. I made sure that the trip was scheduled between chemo treatments.

It was an incredible week but I missed her tremendously, The children love her so much and their prayers and worship times – when they lifted her up – brought tears to my eyes.

Susette & I would talk on the phone, email or IM daily. The constant communication helped put me at ease as I got encouraging daily updates… “I’m feeling great.” “Better than ever.” “Drawing closer to the Lord each day” It made me so happy to hear from her. But the most incredible news came Friday, after she met with her doctor.

She was going to meet the doctor to question some of the treatment regimens that he was employing, that did not make a lot of sense. At the meeting, her questions were adequately answered and she ended up feeling better about the doctors approach. But here’s the amazing thing… the doctor looked for and tried to feel the original lumps in her neck (there were three). To his surprise, he saw and felt nothing. He was perplexed. After only 2 (out of 12 scheduled) treatments, the lumps in her neck were gone. He didn’t understand – but, of course, Susette did. She knows that this doctor is not the only physician working on her healing. Another Physician (being spurred on by the prayers of the saints) doesn’t need 12 treatments or chemo therapy at all for that matter. She has the Great Physician on her case.

"I am the Lord, your God, who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you." Isaiah 41:13

When I received the news I was beside myself. I praised and thanked God for his faithfulness. And when i led worship at our little church in Haiti and shared the news, the church broke out in praise, worship and shouts of praise. For the next 45 minutes, the Spirit poured into the church for one of the most awesome worship times I’ve seen in the nearly 4 years we’ve been attending. Praise the Lord!

So here’s the deal… In one month, she is scheduled to go in for another PET scan that will detect traces of cancer. It is our prayer (and we invite you to make it your prayer) that the doctor will be totally blown away to find NO TRACE OF CANCER ANYWHERE! We know our God is capable and faithful and in Him we put our trust. Please join us in praying for total healing for Susette in the name of Jesus! Amen.

Haircut and Chemo Number Two

Yesterday, Susette cut her hair. It is the shortest haircut she has ever had. About an inch in length. She did it because it is already starting to fall out and she didn’t want to face waking up to big clumps on her pillow.

Susette is about as easy going as anyone; however, it was not easy to do. Susette’s hair is beautiful. She is known for her beautiful long full golden curls. If fact, I remember when we started at a new church many years ago. We would always sit up front and as we got to know more and more people i became known as the guy with “the girl with the hair” who sat up front. I was famous.

When we moved to Haiti, the heat and humidity made having long hair a challenge but she never cut it, even though I know she want to. I think she kept it because she knew I loved it.

Funny thing is, now that it’s short, I think she’s more beautiful than ever. She looks great with short hair. And when it all goes, she’s going to be even more beautiful. She is drop dead gorgeous! Sorry guys, but I have the most beautiful gal on this planet!

This morning, we had chemo treatment number two.

We were blessed to have our son Jordan join us who took the day off of work to share the time with his mom. Sweet kid, huh?

Even though it is only the second treatment, we were ready for it. It went much quicker than the first treatment because they didn’t have all the education and training. It went fairly smoothly although they did have some difficulty finding a vein. They are trying to encourage us to have a “lance line” installed (I think that’s what it’s called). The lance line is a permanent line that runs in a main vein to your heart. It is surgically implanted and has a soft end where they insert the needle. Whenever they want to draw blood or inject for treatment, they just plug in to the soft area just beneath your skin. I know it sounds gross but when can’t reach veins any more, it is a good alternative.

After her treatment, we went into a shop in UCLA hospital called Reflections. They specialize in items for cancer patients and have a great selection of cute caps and scarf. We almost bought the place out. Susette looks so pretty in her new hats, caps and scarves. If she’ll allow me, I may include a photo on this blog.

She’s feeling pretty good today (THANK YOU, JESUS!) and we’re praying that this will continue. She’s resting all weekend, drinking lots of juices, supplementary shakes and trying to keep the human contact to a minimum (she is very susceptible to infection and disease because her white cell count is very low.)

Please continue to keep her in your prayers for healing, strength and encouragement. Also, she is really missing our Haiti kids and the realization that she may be in the States for a while is just starting to hit her. Please pray that the Lord will comfort her and our kids at Maison de Lumiere.

God bless.

bill

Rod & Brittany's Wedding

We attended Rod & Brittany's wedding last weekend and it was beautiful! One of the most beautiful weddings we have ever seen. There were some incredible slide and video presentations highlighting Haiti that brought tears to our eyes. Susette and i saw lots of friends we had not seen in years. And, by the grace of God, Susette felt great the whole weekend. God is so good!

Congratulations to Rod & Brittany! See ya back in Haiti!

Good Days and Bad Days

Since we found out about Susette's condition, we have spoken with many cancer survivors or members of families who have experienced the chemotherapy treatment process. One thing that seemed to ring consistent with everyone we spoke with was that the chemotherapy patient has "good and bad days."

Well, yesterday we experienced our first "bad" day as Susette felt nauseous, weak, achy, lacked appetite, and just felt all around awful. It pained me so much to see her hurting knowing there was very little i could do to make her feel better. Knowing she had taken her medication, i continued trying to get her to eat and drink to keep her strength up (she's down to 110 pounds). i made sure she was able to rest and just tried to make her as comfortable as possible.

At one point, she regained her appetite and i was ecstatic. She was craving cheese and pasta. So, we broke her tight veggie/vegan diet to order Italian -- pizza and raviolis. It was so great to see her eat, even if it was only two raviolis and half a slice of pizza.

Please keep my precious flower in your prayers -- for more good days than bad.

(Her next chemo treatment is scheduled for February 15)

First Chemotherapy Treatment

First, the great news – the bone marrow biopsy returned negative! Susette’s bones have no signs of cancer. PRAISE GOD!

Today, we awoke before sunrise to make sure we could beat the traffic from Newport Beach to UCLA for our 8:00am appointment.

Susette was in pretty good spirits. On the way to the appointment, we prayed, read the Bible and excerpts from the book Christ the Healer by F.F. Bosworth. It is an incredible book. We were encouraged and optimistic. We also received a call from Elaine Simpson, a friend from Georgia, who had recently gone through chemo. She offered words of encouragement and inspiration and prayed with Susette.

We were scheduled for blood to be drawn at 8:00, followed by the chemo therapy at 9:00. Unfortunately, because of a misunderstanding with our new Medical coverage, they almost didn’t take us. I called our case worker and, by God’s grace, she took care of the problem and we were approved for treatment. The blood test was delayed about an hour and a half. (The blood has to be drawn first to assess the white cell count. If it is too low, there would be no chemo.)

After one hour, the blood results were in and the chemo was a go. They began administering the various “pre-treatment” drugs (Tylenol, Benedryl, antibiotics, anti-nausea and other drugs) before the actual chemotherapy treatment began.

We were assigned a nurse to be with us for the entire treatment. Her name was Sarah. She was very nice and took her time explaining the whole process and what to expect. Susette hit it off real well with her. (Of course, who doesn’t hit it off well with Susette?) The nurse was fascinated with her stories about Haiti and she kept asking all kinds of questions. We don’t think she is a believer but she sounded very interested to hearing more about Susette’s story and her motivation for living in Haiti.

When she was ready to administer the four chemo drugs, she came over in full protective gear -- face mask, rubber gloves, etc. She said she dressed like that to prevent contact with these dangerous drugs. And all I could think was, “in a few minutes, those dangerous drugs will be flowing through my wife’s veins.”

A friend of the family, Parker, a young man from Peter Bohlinger’s USC Bible class, came to help out, offer encouragement and pray with us.

The chemo administration was not as bad as we anticipated but the Benedryl and other pre-treatment drugs kicked in and Susette fell asleep through much of the chemo.

It was nearly 4pm by the time we were finished and Susette was pretty drowsy. We went to meet with our oncologist, Dr. deVos and then drove home. We prayed on the way home, thanking God for allowing us to receive this treatment, for having the first session go so well and for the very nice people at the hospital.

After three more treatments, they will do another PET scan to check her progress. It is our prayer that the doctor will be blown away by the total disappearance of Hodgkins from her body. Please join us in this prayer. God bless you.

Bless the LORD, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name.

Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits:

Who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases;

Who redeemeth thy life from destruction; who crowneth thee with lovingkindness and tender mercies;

Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things; so that thy youth is renewed like the eagle's.

Psalm 103:1-5