Yesterday I asked for prayers, 3 specific prayers in the order of how I wanted them.
1. No cancer
2. Shrinkage
3. No progression
God said no, not yet, wait. You get what you get and you don't throw a fit. I threw a small fit.
God spoke to me through Lynn Anderson:
"I beg your pardon, I never promised you a rose garden. Along with the sunshine, there's gotta be a little rain sometime."
As far as bad news goes, it's not horrible. There has been some progression in a lymph node and a lung nodule. Every 3 months the progression has been insignificant, but comparing last November to now, it is enough to warrant changing course. Still the progression is small, 1 cm in a year, and slow. And there is no new cancer.
The cancer responded well to the current treatment for about 3 years, so that is good. But cancer doesn't quit, and eventually finds a way around the treatment. David is the only MDA patient still receiving the vaccine from the original trial he was in. Today was his last one. It is 4 years this month that they found the tumor. He has already beat the odds.
So soon David will begin a new immunotherapy treatment. He will take a daily oral medication along with an infusion every two weeks. One good thing about the infusion is that he can have that done locally so we don't have to travel to Houston every other week. This is a new trial and part of the protocol is that they only admit 3 people at a time. So we are on this list to be admitted. It will be the end of December or the beginning of January. In the meantime he will stay on the regimen he has been on. The hope is because he did so well on the first immunotherapy trial, that he will respond positively to the new one also. Apparently this treatment is very well tolerated so maybe it will actually be better for him. He's not excited that there are needle biopsies involved.
So here is where God spoke to me through the Rolling Stones:
"You can't always get what you want, but if you try sometimes, you just might find, you get what you need."
If you prefer, Philippians 4:19. All our needs are already met. Come Lord Jesus.
Finally, this happened on the way home:
Final song, courtesy of John Denver:
"Some days are diamond, some days are stone."
Today was a stone kind of day. But we press on.
Please continue to pray. Lots could happen before he starts the new treatment. Like the lesions could shrink or disappear. All Glory be to God.
Please also pray for my friend Holli and the community of Sutherland Springs.
Thank you for loving us.
