This chemo complete-8/7

Hi All,

Well, I completed this third different kind of chemo on Monday. I still feel yucky from it though. I will get a break from it all next week when Larry and I go to Virginia to a Foursquare Retreat Center. It's free for the pastors of the denomination. We will be blessed to be refreshed and it all comes right around our 12th anniversary. Hooray!! We leave this coming Tues. and return the following Monday. The kids will be staying with friends and family members while we are away.

As I said before the tumor in my neck by my collar bone is less prominent. I am praying that all the others are doing the same or even more so. I asked Dr. Rigberg on Monday if the scan conclude the same thing and that they are indeed getting smaller, what is the next step. He said, "Then we will do more of the same." He said it is a big deal that after all these tries we have found something that is working. Nothing else in the past has stopped it from progressing. Not, surgeries, not radiation not two other chemo treatment. Even though more chemo sounds awful to me...it is all still very good news. I am praying that this week and the week we are away that these tumors just altogether disappear. Pray with me that God would do these miracles and that the doctors will be surprised!!

Here is my verse again that I keep claiming....

"Any plant that my Heavenly Father did not plant will be uprooted." Matthew 15:13

Lexie just returned from camp and had a great time with the other church kids. I asked if she cried this year. She said only once. She said that during worship one night she sensed that the Lord spoke to her and said that her mother is healed. And that deeply touched her. And me too!! We all just keep believing that God is at work in and around us and that all of this is to show His power and glory. We will keep trusting Him!!

We had a great time with family at my Grandpa's 90th birthday party. There were 48 relatives there. It was so good to see our Aunt, Uncles, Cousins and their families again. It had been a long time since we have all been together. We had a chance to visit the Sequoia's the next day since it was only 1 hour away. It was good to have a little vacation with at least two of the kids. Lexie was still at camp and missed this event.

Thanks for all countless prayers for my healing. We are praying for a miracle to take place and that Jesus is glorified through the process. Thanks for the faith on my behalf.

I love you all, Peggy

Hope-7-31

Hi All,

I was able to get another treatment in this past Monday. My blood seems to be hanging in there. All the levels are in a good place. When Dr. Rigberg examined the lump on my neck this time he said "It feels less diffused." He is not one to give out hopeful information readily. He is very cautious. So that was big for me to hear him stay that. If my blood hangs in there next Monday, then that may be my last treatment before being re-studied. So please keep praying!! Maybe we can pray these tumors away completely before my next Pet Scan. Together we are so much stronger.

We were blessed last Friday night by my step brother John and his wife Bonnie. They treated us to a concert at the Santa Barbara county bowl. It was Mercy Me and David Crowder. It was a lot of fun. The David Crowder Band is just wild and crazy. They even played the "guitar hero" guitar during one of their songs. They were so much fun. Mercy Me was way polished and very worshipful. The lead singer even shared about how his dad battled cancer and passed away when the singer was only 19 years old. It was very touching how he shared that God was at work through it all. He challenged us that we are going through hard times that God can do awesome things through it. It was very touching.

Lexie is off to Summer camp with the Church this weekend and the rest of us are heading up to Visalia to celebrate my Grandfathers 90th birthday. It will be a fun time to see many family members I have not seen in a long time. I'm looking forward to it and praying for enough energy to enjoy it all.

Love and blessings, Peggy

Summer Days-7/24

Hi All,

It's been awhile since my last post. Not much to report. I had a week off and that was nice. It just makes it that much harder to go back and get going again. I got started again on Monday and have felt real tired and achy this time. Today feels a bit better so I am able to get up and post something. I'm not sure if I have 2 or 3 more chemo's before they recheck me. Either way, it will be sometime in the month of August. I'm praying hard that things have stopped growing and are getting smaller.

The kids have been busy all Summer long with swimming, going to the beach, museums, golf n stuff, thrift store shopping and play dates with friends and family. I have had loads of help with them. I so appreciate it all. I have been getting meals regularly on Wed. from women in my bible study group. That helps so much. Wed. is such a hard day typically. I just want to sleep.

I just had a wonderful visit from my friend Angie that I knew from England, back 20 years ago. She was out visiting the area with her son Lucas. It was so fun to reminisce about the days when we lived in an english flat and worked at the Texas Lone Star in London. It sure did help to take my mind off my mild aches and pains at the time.

I just wanted to thank so many of you for your recent cards in the mail with notes of encouragement. The Lord has been laying me on peoples hearts and I have been so blessed by that. It is hard not knowing what is ahead in the near future. The doctor will not let me know until he gets the scan results for what is next. So I will continue to learn to be more patient.

Thanks for all the faithful prayers!! We serve a mighty God who is able to do abundantly more than we ask or can imagine!! I am so thankful for that!!

Love and Blessings to you all, Peggy

Halfway Again-7/9

Hi All,

Things are moving right along. I have had 5 infusions with this new stuff so far. So I have another 3 or 4 to go. My platelets held up good this time around so I was able to do the 3 in a row as the Dr. originally planned. The first group I only could do the two. So, hooray, I get a break next week.

I have been so blessed recently with help in various forms. My wonderful Mom has decided to bless us with a house cleaner while I am going through all of this. How wonderful is that! Having been going through this stuff for the last two years, well, things have been neglected here and there. It is so nice to get a fresh start and help to keep it up while this is going on. My good friend Chrisie of many years has devoted her Tues. to helping in any way she can. We have been having really fun Tues. since the Summer started. She works in the Elementary School system in Ventura so she is on Summer break too. My Step Mom Dorothy and my Dad have graciously taken the kids every Wed. that I have chemo for awhile now. Wed. are my crash day. I get really tired, achy and nauseous. The kids have been enjoying the pool over there on that day. Thurs. Larry's sister Lauri has been a big help watching the kids too. They just love to spend time with their cousins. We are so blessed to have family close by. I have been getting plenty of Monday help with the kids too while I get the treatments. Thanks to Kat, Aimee and La Quisha!! And the meals that have been coming in on Wed. are delicious and wonderful. We belong to such an awesome Church family that is so loving and caring. I am especially thankful for my husband who has been there going through all this with me every step of the way. It is by no means an easy journey. We appreciate all the help and prayer that you all have invested so very very much! It is all so humbling. We feel so very loved.

We will keep fighting the fight. And we thank you all for fighting this battle right along side us.

We love you all!! Peggy

Not Bald-ing, just Bald-6/30

Hi All,

Yes, it is true. I couldn't stand it any longer and I am officially sporting the "Bald Look" once again. I tried a different approach this time. I got a short cut. That was cute but still too long and messy. That lasted 4 days. Then I had Larry take it down to a 1/2 inch like Joshua's hair. That lasted almost a whole week. But just kept falling and falling and by last Friday it look very patchy. So I had Larry take it all the way down to nothing. It is much neater. Being Summer this time I am wearing scarves, bandana's and baseball caps. The two weeks of major fallout was harsh. I think I prefer just getting rid of it right away like I did last time.

If you were wondering about Larry's music poll. I don't think I have ever purchased a single anything from the artist "Lawrence Welk". Surprising as it might seem. Larry is such a funny guy. But, I have purchased just about everything "The Alarm" has produced. But it's been 20 years since any of that has happened. As of late, me and kids just love "Toby Mac". He's got it going on.

Our VBS week aka "Summer Slam" was awesome. I was able to be a 3rd grade group leader and really enjoy every minute of it. I did take Wed. night off and that worked out great. My friend Michelle was helping with the group just took over that night. Several kids accepted Jesus as there Savior and everyone had a blast Praising Him!!! We put on a high energy program and the kids just love it. Looking forward to doing it all again next Summer.

I was able to do Chemo again today. All my important blood levels were in the ok ranges. Everything seemed to go just fine. I'm hoping to be feeling good by Friday to celebrate our nations birthday. We are going to our 4th annual Santa Barbara Wolf family and friends day at the beach. Lauri and Dennis graciously go at the crack of dawn (or before) on the 4th and stake out our area. We stay all day and play and enjoy the fireworks. It is so much fun. Even if I am tired there is plenty for the kids to do and I will just rest. Looking forward to it.

Again thanks for all the blessings and especially for the mystery blessing we received this weekend! Thank you whoever you are! May God bless you back times 10!!!!

We Love You All!!! Peggy

Almost Bald Again-6/23

Hi Friends and Family,

This past week was nice to have off of chemo and all the daily shots that go along with it. However, it was not all too far from my mind with my hair falling out everywhere. Yuck!! Hats just seem really uncomfortable now that it is Summer and really hot lately. I tried to work with the remaining hair by going to get my hair cut in a cute short cut. But, it was still too long. The hair was coming out in handfuls and all over the pillow in the morning. The very worst part was in the shower, it would just stick all over me. Not very fun, indeed! So...as cute as the cut was, I had Larry get the buzzers out and cut my hair as short as Joshua's 1/2 inch cut. It's still falling out, but not as noticeable.

I hate to say the "L" word. But really the haircut does look that way. A good friend said, it's not the haircut, it's the attitude behind it. So, I hope and pray I don't look very "L"ish. But, really being all bald is a little more of a spectacle. I will go there when I need to. I will milk this look as long as it doesn't look to patchy. I just might where scarves. I haven't quite decided. Last time it was Winter and all the little beanie hats worked well.

My Platelets were at a good level this week. They recovered quite well with the week off. I was at 75,000 last week and today all the way up to 312,000. Thanks for all the prayers. Normal range for platelets (according to one internet site) is between 200,000-350,000. Below 50,000 is getting in the dangerous zone. We will see how this group of chemo's goes over the next couple of weeks.

Tonight our Church is doing it's annual Summer Slam (VBS). I have volunteered to help with one of the small group of children. It's one of the jobs that you are busy from start to finish with the event. It goes all week long during the evenings. I'm going to just do the best I can. I need to listen to my body and really call it quits if I get too tired. Right now I feel just fine. But, usually by Wed. I sort of bottom out. I'm just praying for God's will to be done. He knows what I am suppose to do.

Thanks for all the love and support. A special thanks to Judie S who dropped off a Green Tea Smoothie for me while I was getting Chemo today. Is that so cool or what?? I am so blessed to have the circle of friends that I have. God is so very good to me!! I love you all!!

Blessings in Jesus name, Peggy

Low Platelets-6/16

Hi All,

First of all...Happy Father's Day to all the fathers out there. I hope the day was filled with fun, rest and family!! We had a nice day starting with Church. We did not have an evening service yesterday on account of the holiday. So we had my Dad and Stepmom Dorothy over. Along with My sister Sandy & Keith and Olivia. We did a simple BBQ and had a real nice time all together.

Today I went in all geared up for my chemo, armed with my water and reading material. And after reviewing my blood work for the morning, Dr. Rigberg says that my platelets were too low and that we will have to skip chemo this week to try to give the body time to build that level back up. So we will look again next Monday and see where we are at.

I was a little bummed because my week off was suppose to be next week. That was just perfect because I signed up to help with the Church's annual Summer Slam week (VBS). Now there is the possibility that I will be doing chemo next week and feeling way less energetic. And energy is just what a person needs when working with 1st thru 5th graders. I just have to keep giving it over to the Lord. He will make it all right in the end. Next week will just have to wait. We will deal with that then.

Thanks for all the prayers. God is so good and we have been blessed by so many people. The prayers, meals, help with kids, financial gifts etc... have meant so much to us. Thank you!!! We appreciate it all so very much and covet your continued prayers.

Lots of love to all, Peggy

Feeling Encouraged-6/3

Hi Everyone,

Not much to report. I started my new chemo's yesterday. All went pretty much the same. My veins continue to be difficult for the nurses to get into. It's hurts because she has to fish around in there to get a return of blood to make sure it's all flowing correctly. Yuck!

There is no new medical news with me. I am feeling encouraged just from the time to adjust to the new news. I have been surround with love and encouragement from so many friends. And more people than I even know about are praying for me. I keep hearing reports of people following the blog that I have not even met(...yet). That blesses me so much to know of the support that is out there. God is good!! My sister-law-Bonnie, had even sent me an email that God was putting me heavy on her heart. She sent me an email of encouragement even before she heard of my new news last week. Wow! It made me feel so special to God. She sent me several scriptures that the Lord had given her to pray over for me. I have been looking at those a lot this week.

Larry was out of town last week with the Church at the Foursquare Convention for Pastors in Houston. And to my surprise dinner showed up to my door 3 times while he was away. The week went smoothly and I was thankful that I did not have to do chemo's the week while he was gone. My energy level was higher for sure. Also all the kids got the "fifth disease" last week. I still have no idea where it came from. I am thankful that I did not get it. Not too harmful to kids a little more uncomfortable for adults and dangerous for people with suppressed immune systems. My step mom Dorothy even caught it from them. She is improving daily too. The kids looked like they had slapped cheeks with a low fever and a little tiredness. Even that was mild. The terrible thing is that once you know they have it, they are no longer contagious. So it is really hard to keep them away from others when you have no idea they had something brewing. Oh well! I am thankful the Lord protected me!

Thanks so much for all the encouraging comments. They are more helpful and healing to me that you might realize. Blessing back to all of you many times over!!

Love, Peggy

Discouraging News-5/24

Hello Everyone,

Well, we had our review of the recent scans with Dr. Rigberg yesterday. It looks like the current chemo (Hycamtin)that I am on is not helping. There is a spot under my sternum that is growing larger and also the one under my collar bone (which he was able to show me and I can feel it with my hand) and a couple other smaller ones in the chest region. So now we need to try a new chemo drug. I will start Taxol and Gemzar a week from Monday. I have done the Taxol before but was not able to do the full course because my white cells got to low when I did radiation. So he wants to try it again. That one is a hair loss one. So we will see what happens. Maybe I will go short again for the Summer.

I cried a lot yesterday. But, feel better about it all today. We were really surrounded by the love of so many friends and family that it was hard to stay down for too long. I was able to sleep in this morning and woke up to Lexie out back shooting baskets and singing "Our God is Mighty to Save" at the top of her lungs. It made me smile. I felt like that song was a word from the Lord to the family on this day. There is a line in that song that she kept singing that says "Savior, He can move a mountain, Our God is Mighty to save, He is Mighty to save!" Later in the morning I was talking to my friend Aimee on the phone and she out of the blue gave me the scripture about how Jesus conquered the grave. The other line of the song that Lexie kept belting out was "Forever author of Salvation, He rose and conquered the grave, He died and conquered the grave." So I knew that Jesus was speaking to us as a family that these tiny tumors are nothing compared to a huge mountain and He is able to do anything!!

Even when hope seems challenged there is still hope and we are all still hoping. Thanks for all the prayers and keep them coming. I was so disappointed that I will not be done with all this for the Summer. I was so looking forward to that time with the kids. I will be doing this new Chemo all Summer now. It looks like it will be June, July and August. I will have to just trust the Lord with it all and that the kids will somehow have a fun Summer. It's in God's most capable hands.

Blessings to all and Much Love too!! Peggy

Pet's and Cat's-5/14

Hi All,

No, no we are not getting a new pet that is a cat. I have a PET scan tomorrow and a CAT scan Friday. I just talked to my sister and she said her friends at work are praying for me. I thought I had better get the request out there so people can be praying. I am asking God for a clean report with no new signs of disease and improvement in the questionable areas.

I had another great answer to prayer this week too. My red cells have been getting pretty low lately. When I got checked on Monday I was expecting the number to be lower than 10 and needing some medicine to help that. But surprisingly the number was up from 10.5 to11.5. Wow! Also my white cells and platlets are doing just fine. And this Monday I get a break. I will have a week off. Hooray!! Give my body a chance to re-coop!

I'm not sure if the Doctor will be going over the results of the scans this Monday or the next. But, God willing, if all is well the plan is to just continue with the last month of chemo that I have scheduled to do. That means 3 more Mondays. I think I can, I think I can...I know I can, I know I can. I know because I am not going at this alone. God is with me and your prayers are powering that for me!!

Thank you to all of you! Especially you precious people I have not met yet! Love to all!!!

Peggy

Starting Round 3-4/28

Hi All, (And a special Happy Birthday to Dad Wolf!!!)

It was sure nice to have a week off of all the chemo and nuepogen shots. It made going in today kind of hard. But, during the time off our Church had it's annual Women's Retreat-Beautiful One! It was a great time. God is always on the move doing amazing things and this weekend was no exception.

I had a kind of down feeling come over me after I returned. Maybe it was the after camp "off the mountain top experience". Maybe it's the fact that my cycle is trying to start (which I'm thankful for after the chemo a year ago it nixed all my estrogen-thankful for all that is normal still). Maybe it's the finances. Maybe it's the fact that I had more chemo to face. Maybe it's just everything combined. I'm not sure. I know "I'm not suppose to feel this way" as a Christian. I also know that when I am weak He is strong. So why deny Him the opportunity. I guess I'm saying this here so you all can know how to pray more specifically.

The chemo this morning is getting more challenging to get into my veins. They are getting pretty scarred up from so much use. Just keep praying I will not need a port put in. In some ways they are easier but they have plenty of down sides too. My white cells continue to hold up with the help of the neupogen. Lately my red cells are going down from the starting 14 to 10.8 after the last round of treatments. At 10 they need to give me so other drug called procrit to help with that. Today my red cells were 11.3. So they are hanging in there. Sorry if this is all boring info. Just giving you all some more prayer points.

We are all continuing to get help from friends and family helping in so many ways. We appreciate it all from the meals to the childcare to the help with other household chores and on and on....Thank you all and may God Bless You back 10 times as much!!!

In Kids Church this Sunday the scripture to memorize was fitting...With God all things are possible! Matt. 19:26 Boy did I ever need to hear that one again!!

Love to all, Peggy

Finishing up Round 2-4/14

Hi All,

I am almost 1/2 way now. I had my 6th of 12 infusions of chemo today. I feel just fine at the moment. Thank you Jesus! Only 6 more to go. I have my week off next week. I am sure I will feel good not having to go through any treatments that week.

Last week was rough. Maybe all the fun I had with my friends the weekend before left me extra tired. But chemo last week left me feeling more tired and nauseous. I'm hoping this week I will be able to handle it all better.

Thanks for the prayers that you have been sending up on my behalf. I get compliments from the doctors and nurses of how well I am handling all of the treatments. I just give the glory to God.

I continue to ask for your prayers for my well being. Please continue to prayer for ultimate healing and long-life. We need God to come through in the area of finances as well. The past 2 years of costly & numerous co-pays, medicines, appointments etc... have drained our savings and have left things piling up. He is our provider and has always come through for us in the past. Just pray that God will help us in His own creative way. Also, just basic prayer of covering for the family.

It is always so humbling to be in need of so many prayers. But, it is so awesome on the other side to see the hand of God move. I am so thankful ahead of time for all that He is doing in our lives right now.

Love and Blessings to all, Peggy

Spring Break-3/31

Hi All,

We had our week off last week. It was perfect because I had my first break from the chemo. I had the whole week off. No poking needles...Hooray!! It was good to feel good while the kids were out. We really didn't do anything too special. Larry didn't have the time off so we did not go anywhere. But it was so nice the have relaxing mornings for a whole week!! I was able to go through all the kids clothes and hand-me-downs and get rid of the stuff they had out grown. What a monumental task. I did one kid a day. So many piles to go through. We really are blessed when it comes to hand-me-downs. And at this point, the kids love it!! Not sure what will happen in the teen years. But, we will get there when we get there.

My Dad and StepMom Dorothy took the kids overnight one night too. That was really a blessing to have a morning to relax and and just have a break from the busyness. The doctor said that I still need to rest even on the weeks I have a break. At least now I don't feel guilty when I rest.

Also, we got our garden planted!! Hooray!! We pulled out all the weeds. Larry moved some of the Strawberries that are now going gangbusters on us. Then he went and rented a rototiller. Then yesterday, He and the girls put in the seeds. I think we will be having some corn, peas, carrots, radishes, sunflowers and maybe even watermelon and cantaloupe if it works. We have not done the last two in the past yet. Later we will plant the Pumpkins since they don't need to go in until June. It is always so fun to watch them grow. The kids love the whole process!! I guess most of our ancestors were farmers at one time or another. It's just in our blood!

I started my 2nd round of chemo today. I'm feeling really good at the moment. I have noticed a pattern and this is typical. My challenging days are Tues and Wed. so far. I'm looking forward to going away this weekend the the Land of Raisens!! Selma California!! My friend Jamie is turning 40 and our friend Ann in flying out from IL on Thurs. and we will journey north for the weekend. It will be a really fun getaway and I am really looking forward to it. Pray for Larry. He is taking the kids camping to Carpentaria with his Sister Lauri and Brother Wally's families and other friends. Hopefully He will do fine with it all. He will just be spending the night Friday night. They will be back later Saturday.

As usual I feel blessed to have so many people praying for us. I know I am doing so well because God's people cared enough to pray for me. I feel so loved!! Thank you!!!!!!!!!

Lots of love, Peggy

Rollercoaster-3/14

Hi All,

It really has felt like a Rollercoaster these past two weeks that I have been doing Chemo. It's been a little hard going through all this again. I went to Church this past Sunday. One of the worship songs really touched me. I started to tear up. Then I start fighting with God about it all. Sitting in the front row with Larry, I just felt like might as well be crying on stage. But the Lord really wasn't bothered by my pride to act like I have it all together. He said it is alright to just be real. So I was weepy all day long it seemed. I'm not really sure how to explain it. Maybe God just wanted me to just get it all out of my system. I really did feel better the next day.

Chemo this past Monday was just as seamless as the last one. Only the two days following I really felt very tired. More tired than I remember. But, maybe it's just that I don't remember. Some stuff is just easier forgotten. Other than that, all seems to be going well.

I had a parent/teacher conference with Trinity's teacher Mrs. Tucker this week. Nothing out of the ordinary just the regular 2nd trimester check-in with the teacher. We talked and she had lots of great things to say about Trin's progress. She is doing great. I have been open with all the kids teachers about what is going on with me in case stuff comes up with the kids in the classroom. So we talked about how all this seems to be effecting her. She only had one thing that stood out to her months back. For a few days she came in real quiet and to herself. She is usually more energetic. Then one morning following her quiet days she came in first thing and raised her arms in the air and shouted "Hooray My Mom's Not Going to Die!" And then she went back to her normal self after that. We are thinking it must have been the time around the Surgery back in November.

It's hard to know how the kids are digesting all this serious stuff. I just keep putting them in God's capable hands. He knows what He is doing. I trust Him!! I know it is helping me to appreciate each and everyone one of these special people God has allowed me time with. Larry, Lexie, Trinity and Joshua are incredible people. Not to mention so many others so very close too. I am such a blessed person! I guess I could go on and on but I risk getting really boring. So I will sign off here.

Lots of love!! Thanks for all the great prayers!!

Peggy

My First Chemo-3/3

Hello Friends and Family,

Today began so very windy. Major East Winds blowing everything around. And of course it had to be a trash day. When I parked at the Doctors office I prayed that no big branches would fall off and hurt the car. Why not, God cares about the small stuff too...right?

I go in and the first chemo was virtually painless. The nurse got my vein the first time and the drugs did not make me nauseous at all. It took all of an hour and a half. I'm happy to report that there was nothing exciting happening here. However, when I got out to my car I was happy to see that God did answer my prayer with a YES! No big branches fell on the car! But, a flock of pooping seagulls did happen along. Yuck!!! My car and the one next to me were covered. Oh well!!

After this I went to LaQuisha's to get Josh. Here she reported that he ate a complete second breakfast...eggs, waffles, bacon, oranges and apple juice. I think the boy might be part hobbit. He was thrilled to come home and put on his swim suit and sponge bob flip flops and help me wash the car. No more bird poop!! I couldn't handle it one minute longer.

I will be going in Wed. Thurs. Fri. and Sat. to get a nupigen shot (not sure how it is spelled yet). This drug helps keep the white cell count up where it needs to be...hopefully. Still not sure how much these phramaceuticals are going to cost. We will continue to just trust the Lord!! Next Chemo will be next Monday morning.

Thanks ever so much for all the prayers!! Priceless I tell ya!!

Love to all, Peggy

2/26-The Battle Continues

Hello Loved Ones,

Hope this finds everyone doing very well. It is Trinity's "6th" birthday today!! Woo-hoo!! She is having a great day so far! She brought cookie bars to share at school. Also she's been playing with the one gift I let her open, so far, all afternoon. We will do the others when Daddy gets home from work. And she gets to pick her favorite restaurant for dinner. So far it's a toss up between Red Robin and IHOP. Personally I hope she picks the Red Robin. I love their Whiskey River Chicken Sandwich. And not just because of the Whiskey-;)

Larry and I went to the Dr. appointment this afternoon to go over the results of the PET scan I did last week. The test show that there seems to be a few small areas of re-occurrence once again. Thankfully it is all still isolated to the chest area. Dr. Rigberg said he wished we could have started the chemo earlier yet he understood our circumstances. They are what they are. The chemo regimen is still the same as it was. I will be doing an ovarian cancer drug called Hycamtin. I will be treated one day a week for 3 weeks and have the 4th week off for 4 months. The Doctors concerns are my bone marrow-white blood cell count. It went real low last time and if it goes too low they have to delay treatment until it gets higher. They have drugs that help this and they tend to be costly. He also said that the success rate is 30%. Not the best news...BUT we have God in our camp and lots of people praying!! I have had a lot of peace the last few days. I know God is by my side and walking us all through this valley. I have been totally dwelling on the 23rd Psalm lately!! Thank you all for all the prayer and support you have blessed us with. It means so very much! We will let you know in days to come of more practical ways to help as the needs arise.

Thanks again we can count on our friends and loved ones!! We love you all!!

Peggy and Larry

Round 2

Hi All,

Thanks for all the prayers during this waiting period. Some days I would forget about it all together. Others were not that easy. But, all in all here we are! We have successfully changed from Blue Cross to Health Net PPO. We haven't really used it all that much yet. I'm hopeful that all will go smoothly on the insurance end of all this now. I got my numbers last week and with that was able to give them to the Dr.'s office manager to start setting me up with getting approvals and appointments. Today I heard that Health Net approved my PET Scan. I am set to go next Wed. the 20th. Then we will meet the following Tues. the 26th to go over the results of the scan with Dr. Rigburg. I am assuming I will get going on Chemo the following Monday. I will update that info. once I have that information.

Meanwhile, just keep up all that praying you are so faithfully doing. It is helping this family get through this crisis without too much drama. We really want the Lord to carry the burden and to direct us and for us to clearly know what He wants us to do. Pray for good news on the PET Scan. Pray for peace, as we have been waiting extra time to get to things with the insurance change over. Pray for finances to work out and all doctor bills to be handled with ease. He is our Peace, our Provider, our Healer and our Salvation and so much more.

Thanks you all so very VERY much for all the prayers and support!! I keep praying back that the Lord will bless you much more that you have been a blessing to all of us!! We love you all very much!! Until next time!! Pray for good news!!

Love you, Peggy

A Time to Wait-1/11

Hello,

We have ended up deciding to wait for the insurance situation to be resolved before we continue with further treatments. Right now Blue Cross wouldn't even approve a necessary PET scan I need to get started anyways. Since my cancer is A-typical it doesn't fit into the typical cancer mold. So they think stuff the Doctor requests is not necessary when in fact it really is. So we just continue to pray that this switch over happens soon and works out much better for everyone.

Thanks for all the prayers and concern. Just continue to pray for peace in this in the between time. The doctors are really not too keen on waiting. But, it looks like that is what needs to happen and we will just trust God is in control as He always is.

Lots of love to all!! Peggy

Happy 2008!!

Hello All,

I hope everyone has had a very merry Christmas and a wonderful New Year so far! We headed out to AZ after Christmas, as usual, to see Larry's family for the holiday. We had a great time and rang in the New Year with the Wolf's and several of their AZ friends! Even the little one made it to midnight! Uncle Danny was crankin' all kinds of popular tunes on the loud sound system and Joshua and Trinity were impressing the masses with their talented feet. They danced the night away. It was really cute!

Back home again and I was off to see Dr. Rigburg the day after I got home. He is the Chemo doctor. He said my Ct-scan and x-ray I took on Christmas Eve just showed more scarring and stuff from the new surgery. No evidence of new disease growth. I guess it's difficult to track the disease without the growth's. They like to watch them shrink and disappear. Dr. Kerr was the one who recommended the surgery and just get the bad stuff out of there. So now the best way to track things is to just keep taking periodic scans and make sure nothing new shows up. Just like what we had to do before.

Dr. Rigburg would like me to do a PET scan before I get started. We are having a few hang up's because we have not changed from Blue Cross yet. This may not happen for another month. The Doctor recommended that we did not wait that long to get started. Now is the time to treat when the cells are dividing more actively and are more receptive to the chemo drug. The problem is Dr. Rigburg went out of network with Blue Cross the end of October and now all my visits and treatments are at an out of network expense. Three other of my doctors did the same the end of 2007. We are too far into the process to be changing doctors now. We are trying to get the insurance changed, meanwhile the cost of chemo and scans could be substantial. No one would give us exact figures when we were researching this earlier on. I guess it's all the upside and down side of insurance.

So basically we feel it is important to get going on treatment but we are completely in the dark with how much this is going to cost us. So we are going to have to proceed with faith that God will provide and it will all work out. It always does. He is our provider!!

Dr. Rigburg wants to start me on a drug called Hycamtin. It is used to treat relapsed ovarian cancer patients. It has alot of the same side effects as the last chemo I did. Yes, including hair loss. Boo-h00, I just was almost at the point of needing an actual haircut. The treatments would be every Monday for 3 weeks and the 4th Monday off. That would be considered one treatment. He wants to do 4 treatments. So that would be 4 months. Not too much different than the time frame I was on last year at this time. I completed my treatments last April. We will see what happens.

Prayer Requests:
That this will once and for all get the cancer-kill it and it will never come back!
That my blood stays good with WBC's and RBC's-I need healthy counts to stay on course.
That the family stays strong through it all.
That I am able to tolerate the treatments well.
That all the insurance and the expenses work out.

Thanks for all the love and support. It really is priceless!! Thank you Jesus that you are bigger than any of this!

Lots of love, Peggy

12/14 - December is Flying

Hey everyone, remember us? Yea, sorry about that, it has be a long time since we last posted anything. Peg is doing good, recovering well. Last Friday we had her 3 week follow-up with Dr. Cameron at UCLA. It was a good meeting, he said that she was healing up well, that everything looked good, they got all that they needed to get with good margin. One of the 3 spots was nothing, just benign, but the other two showed more aggressive tumor cells than the first tumor removed.

That was a little disheartening, to say the least! However, I am glad that they are staying in front of this, and maybe this could mean that they really got all of it. However, the surgeon is suggesting we discuss follow-up treatments with the possible chemo and radiation. We are trying to stay positive, but I know Peg is feeling frustrated that this thing is not ending.

We meet next week with these doctors, plus our family doctor to discuss what steps would be next.

And of course to make things more complicated, all three doctors are dropping our insurance provider in January 2008! It is going to be another interesting year!

She is feeling good, moving around, driving the car, and off pain medications. We were very blessed to have Mom Wolf out last week to help with the kids and stuff around the house...and friends have been bringing food for the last 10 days or so!!! We are eating high on the hog!

Anyways, please continue to pray for Peg, for encouragement, and supernatural wisdom for us, going into this next year. Also, for complete restoration to her body and strength for this next year.

Blessings, Larry

12/02 - Woman Thou Art Blessed

Well, ladies and gentlemen, she made it to church today! Peggy was up and cruising to church with Grandma and the kids. Thanks to Aunt Lauri, and me a little bit, she was able to arrive at church without much incident. A lot of you may not know this, but I guess she is kind of a celebrity, since she was worn out with hugs and love, before she even got inside the church.

Next time, we're using a secret entrance to whisk her in and out, with dark sunglasses to avoid the publicity. We're going to have body double all over the place to try and decoy people. But seriously, she enjoyed seeing all her church family, and was well worn out by the end of the morning. I told her to remain seated during the greeting time, because she was already tired. But all in all, she loved getting all the prayer, love, support and encouragement from everyone!

Thanks to all you who have been praying for her. She is recovering well! We are supposed to meet with the surgeon this Friday, down in Santa Monica, as a follow up to the surgery. We are praying for continued good result and feedback from all the doctors involved.

Also, be praying for us, if you think about it. A number of our local doctors are dropping our insurance plan, Blue Cross, come January 1st, 2008. This could be a challenge because it puts our local doctors "out of network" making it more expensive for appointments. Since she has a "pre-existing condition", it could be difficult for to switch to a different health insurance provider.

God has it all in control...I'm not going to loose any hair worrying about it (partly because I don't have any to loose!.) Anyways, thanks again for all the prayers for us! Blessings, Larry

11/29 - It's Still November

Ok, ok, sorry, sorry...wow, there are alot of angry people out there starving for information on PEG! :-) She is doing good, recovering everyday, feeling a little stronger, she is bench pressing about 390 right now, which is way lower than before the surgery, but we are taking it slow and easy right now.

Seriously though, she is feeling better, the 3 iron pills a day routine, is tough for her, mostly the morning one, gets her a bit queasy. She has been walking around, helping where she can and doing too much around the house. All in all, we have watched a lot of Christmas movies and been enjoying the time to slow down a bit as a family. Friends have been bring the meals, which has been sooo awesome. Thanks everyone, please no liver or sardines. :-) (PICTURE IS OF JOSHUA - 3yrs old)

She went to her first family Doctor visit today and all was looking good. They said the pathology report came back great, and that all the spots removed had full and clean margins. They took about 6 lympnodes around those areas and 4 were affected, 2 were clean. All in all Dr. Kerr seemed quite pleased with the results. We have a copy of the report, so I will have more to share on that in another post.

On a family note, Lexie has started her first organized sports team, at her School, girls basketball and her first game is this weekend. She is ready to go and doing quite well. She's doing single handed dunks right now, but we are working on the reverse dunk and the Jordon dunk. I was supposed to coach the team, with another father, but our wonderful city league put all the games on Sunday mornings. Don't get me started...I am a bit steamed.

Thanks for all the pray, love and support. Peg has been reading your comments, now that she is feeling better, so keep those remarks, comments, attitudes, and general love, coming!

Blessings, Larry

11/22 - Happy Thanksgivemas

It seems that Christmas is quickly overtaking Thanksgiving, so I am proposing that we change the name of Thanksgiving to Thanksgivemas. Oh and happy Festivus to everyone too!

Anyways, just wanted to update you all while you are writhing in pain from too much Pumpkin Pie...Peg is doing good. The nights have been tough, since she is supposed to be taking pills every 3-4 hours, and well, you have to sleep too! She is staying on the Oxycodin until the pain subsides. She is still having a fair amount of pain between dosages, but generally speaking she is not having the nausea she encountered after the last surgery. She has to take iron, and sometimes, even the SLOW FE type are hard to keep down. She is on Protonix which helps to reduce the nausea. Don't you love all this talk of Meds!? (Picture is of two love birds...sounds sappy, eh?)

I have had to scold her a few times about bending down to pick-up toys or laundry or whatever...but for the most part she is laying low. We got a walk in this morning which was really nice. The kids are with Nana for a few nights, so that will make things easier around the house. I'll try to post some fresh pics tonight after the Thanksgiving festivities.

We have been praying for her hospital roommate at UCLA Medical Center, Ashley, so we called her mom on her cell phone. She was very blessed to hear from us and we were able to encourage them again. We figured out something amazing about God's timing. Ashley got moved from the ICU floor to the 4th floor prior to Peggy arriving. She was there for 7 days and then when we left, she got moved to the 7th floor, the Orthopedic floor. I think God wanted to encourage and strengthen Donna (her mom) and Ashley and let them know of his love for them! I think the 4th floor, that she was on, was more for heart and lung patients (like Peg).

The number 7 in the bible, refers to God's completion. God is doing a work in their hearts and lives and we feel privileged to be there to pray and encourage where we can.

Blessings to all of you, have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Larry

11/20 - Jack Frost Roasting On An Open Fire

I always like to sing that song backwards..."...chestnuts nipping at your nose..."

Well the first night home was very enjoyable for all. We had TWO meals brought over by friends last night! Is that insane or what? God is so incredible, he wants to do exceedingly, abundantly above all that we can ask or think.

We enjoyed a great family dinner and time around the fire (man it was cold last night...for California!). Peg slept pretty good, a lot of pain in trying to get comfortable. It didn't help that the local pharmacy was 4 1/2 hours behind in filling prescriptions...and then couldn't make out the doctor's name on the note. Anyways, we got settled in and it was nice to be all back together as a family. Little Josh got to sleep in the sleeping bag on the floor in sister's room, which he had fun with, while Nana is here staying with us.

Peg told me this morning she might just stay in pajamas all day...I told her, go for it!!! (PICTURE IS FROM LABOR DAY WEEKEND.) Patsy had everything under control when we arrived and it was a blessing to have her at the house. Thanks again to Nana, Cara, Dad & Dorothy, Lauri & Dennis, Mike & Candice for all their help with the kids during this time. And to our neighbors Grace & Larry for watching our house, paper, trash cans, mail, etc! We feel richly blessed and touched!

Have a great day...Don't forget to make God's Word first place in your life today...Blessing, Lar

11/19 - 8:34pm - Red Shoes

There's no place like home, there's no place like home (click, click)...yep we are home. The kids were very excited to see us and it was fun to see them. We had two people bring meals tonight, wow, that was crazy. So many have been willing to help it has been truly amazing!

Here are some photos from the hospital. The top photo is Peg's roommate Ashley and her mom Donna! They were so sweet, and have been through a lot. Ashley works for Universal and has been getting "production" credits on a few projects lately. We have been praying God's blessing and speedy recover for her from the terrible motorcycle accident.

Also pictured is one of the many nurses who we made friends with and we felt like they became part of our "family". Maria was a lot of fun and a blessing to Peggy!

Thanks again for all the cards, letters, flowers, meals, and help with it all. The next couple of weeks will be a bit of a challenge as Peg works through the recovery. Peg's mom Patsy will be with us for a few days this week to help around the house and with the kids!

Blessings to all!! Lar

11/19 - 2:00pm - Elvis Has Left the Building

We are departing UCLA! All things are green light...should be home around 4pm... Blessings! Larry

11/19 - 12:30pm - Departure

Here's Peg resting in the room, after a good meal and everything has happened according to schedule. She is doing great and ready to be discharged from UCLA. It looks like we will be out of here in the next hour or so. Thanks for all the prayers, love and support. You all, through God's guidance have made all the difference in our lives. THanks so much, I will provide another update once we are home and settled in!

Blessings! Lar

11/19 - 11:30am - Monday

Well things are progressing along very well. Peg continue to get better, she has already walked about 3 times, been taken for a full X-ray. She is eating well and had the last chest tube removed this morning. So she is cableless, or I guess you can call her wireless. She still have vital monitors but they are wireless so, she is fully mobile. (Picture is Mom & Peggy, yesterday)

There is talk of going home today, she just needs one more thing to happen...I can't get into details, just to say, Raisin Bran cereal is beneficial. :-)

I suspect by the time all the paperwork is done, it will be this afternoon before she is released. She is feeling better today, coughing is understandably difficult because of the incision. Got to see the incision and well let's just say, it's no paper cut! But as always, they do an incredibly great job here and just like the last one, I am sure it will heal up really nice.

More to come, in about 1-2 hours...

Your Blue Gown reporter, Larry

11/18 - 5:30pm - Sunday

Hey all! Well Peg is doing great. We have taken 2 walks so far, the last one she did, was just a few minutes ago, and we walked the entire length of the floor in 3 directions! It was also just Peggy & I this last time, so she is definitely feeling more stable. They have her on a new pain medication, Oxycodone, which is some strong stuff, hopefully only for 24 hours or less. Remember Rush Limbaugh? Yea, that stuff.

Peg's good friend Molly stopped by to say hey and hang out, which was a blessing! Also, her mom stopped by again to check-up on her baby! This day has been an excellent day and a great turning point in Peg's recovery.

Please continue to pray for her roommate Ashley, who is a sweet girl and still dealing with alot of broken bones pain. I pray God would give us another opportunity to share and prayer with her and her mom, before we leave here.

Blessings, Larry

11/18 - 12:00pm - Sunday

Ok, sorry for the delay. Yes we are still here and Peg is doing great. She walked twice yesterday. A couple of praise reports...

* No need for blood transfusion
* Heart rate & blood pressure have normalized
* Pain is subsiding
* no more nausea

She got two of the three chest tubes out and they have been starting to give her pills, instead of injections for her medications. They have cut off the epidural, partly because it came out and partly because she doesn't need it any more. Here goals today include, 3 walks, pain control with pills, and regular, well, um, just being regular, you know. :-)

I personally was feeling wiped out last night and actually sleep alot this morning. That's why I got delayed in updates.

The doctor says that maybe the other chest tube will come out later today, which is a major step towards going home. Two friends stopped by yesterday, Julie and Amy. It was fun for Peg to spend some time with them. They have been praying and encouraging Peg along the way.

Thanks for all the love, support and prayers!

Blessings, Larry

11/17 - 5:30pm - Video Post

Ok, never done this before, and the audio is bad, but hey, modern technology still needs some work! Anyways, this is an attempt for Peg to greet everyone via video to thank you for all the calls, cards, letters, friendship, thousands of dollars (ok maybe not that one :-), love and visits, everyone has been giving.

We are working on a few things to make sure the kids are covered on Sunday & Monday, since we didn't expect to stay that long. According to the doctors, she might be here until Monday, so we will see.

They gave her some medicine to help with her heart rate and it seems to be working well. She is hoping to get a walk in, tonight! Thanks for all the prayers and comments...

Blessings, Larry

11/17 - Noon - Update

Hey all, just sitting around on a foggy Saturday and hanging at UCLA Hospital! This is definitely not a 5 star resort hotel, and at about $10,000 a night, I think it is probably a little expensive for even the fanciest hotel room. But all in all, Peggy is getting good care!

She is still feeling a fair amount of pain and discomfort but was able to sit in a chair and get repositioned. We have been able to talk more with Peg's roommate and her mom. I got the great opportunity to pray for them and with them and just provide a lot of comfort. The daughter is out here in Los Angeles, but all the family is back east, so her mom is here by herself. It is amazing how God puts people in our lives and in our paths to be Jesus to them! (PICTURE is Peg with her childhood friend, Donna, who stopped by to visit!)

I am working on a possible video clip, I think I can take and upload, we'll see how that goes, but give me the next update, in about 1 hour to be able to give it a go. Lar

11/17 - 11:00am Update

Ok so a few prayer requests for you. Peggy is doing good, she saw Dr. Cameron again this morning and he said it might be Monday morning before she is able to go home. Her heart rate is a little high, her blood pressure a little low, and she could use some more iron. They might want to do a blood transfusion, although if things get better they may forego that.

She has been having more pain today, we are thinking the Epidural is not working properly, since she is feeling mid-section pain. But all in all, she is smiling and enjoying visits from family and friends. (This picture is from last night, Rita, Lauri, Wally and Peg.)

Hopefully she will be able to get up and moving today. She had a small fever, but they are managing that, and it sounds like the recent temperature check is back in the normal range.

Thanks for all the prayers...Larry
More to come!

11/16 - 6:00pm - Larry The Cable Guy

Ok for the record, it is insane the number of tubes, cables, devices, monitors, tags, masks, boxes, bags, containers, hoses and general "appliances" hooked up to the average patient. I think the nurses know what everything does...atleast I hope they do (sorry to all those nurses out there.) I am doing my best to help "route" and "manage" cables.

Peggy was able to get up and out of bed, and stand, but walking was a bit much at this point, so they may try again later tonight. Her voice sounds strong and she has been enjoying a few calls and visits from friends and family. She is eating well, and enjoying a few bouquets of flowers. Well, she's not eating the flowers, but they smell nice. The nurses and team of doctors are awesome. Her goal today on the white board said, "up out of bed". There are a few friends out there that need to have that goal..naw I'm just kidding! :-) Anyways, she accomplished that well and was working on walking next.

Still not sure when she will be released, possibly tomorrow night, but I am guessing Sunday morning. She is accepting visitors if you want to drop by...unless you live in like, Illinois?!

She's in room 415B at UCLA Medical Center on Conte Dr.

Take care, Lar

11/16 3:00pm - Update

Ok, Peg is doing better, they have continued to reduce some of the pain medication. She has been able to sit up and eat both breakfast and Lunch today. They said they want to get her up to walk either before or after dinner tonight. She is resting well and experiencing some pain. Peg's brother Jeff stopped by on lunch break to check in on her, so that was very cool and she was blessed by that. (Here is another picture, she is reading the blog entries and comments.) A friend also send a boquet of flowers, which she is enjoying!

Also, if you have an extra prayer to throw out there, Peggy's roomate's name is Ashley, she is 24 years old and sustained a traumatic and debilitating motorcycle accident. She was wearing a helmet, so thankfully no head or spinal cord injuries. However she has had broken legs, arms, collarbone, hand, knee, etc. She has had numerous surgeries, and has been in the hospital for 2 weeks. We have had the opportunity to share and pray for them. God is good and I know he wants to show his love, salvation and healing to this entire family.

Thanks for all the prayers, we love you all. Larry

11/16 10:30am - Update

Ok, so Peg is doing good this morning. She had a chance to talk with the doctor this morning, he stopped by. He said that the surgery actually started about 2:00 pm, so it did go as planned with timing. Apparently they had a delay in the start time from the other surgery he did in the morning.

He said they didn't have to take any part of a rib, or diaprapm but did take a small bit of the right lung again. She is recovering well. The epidurial is really helpful in managing the pain, although her blood pressure was a little low, so they had to back off the dosage a bit. They are bringing additional pain medication for her a little later.

She said she slept ok last night. I think because she was sleeping all day yesterday during the day! But all in all, her voice sounds good, her color looks good, her hair looks good and she is feeling pretty ok. She is up in a chair this morning, eating oatmeal and keeping it down. (Here she is this morning.)

The room is a little cramped but the staff and nurses are doing an awesome job. More to come in the next hour or so.... Larry

11/15 11:30 pm - Progress

Ok, finally got hold of a live nurse about 8:45 pm, they said they were moving Peg to a room. Well, it took them till 10:15 pm to move her. I finally got to see her about 10:30 pm. She said that she started coming to about 7:00 pm, and was amazed that she was out for that long. The moved Peggy to room 415B (east wing of the hospital). I got to talk to her, she looked great, had dry mouth and was feeling ok. Apparently when she came to, she had alot of pain, so they had to deal with that before they put her in a room.

I left the hospital about 11:00 pm, so she could sleep and I could sleep back at the motor home. Right now I am borrowing someone's free wireless internet somewhere in a business nearby, to write this blog. It was a long day and I am praying that she sleeps really well, without too many interruptions.

Have a great night...Larry

11/15 7:45pm - Update

Ok, back online, cell phone and computer is charging...

We talked to Dr. Cameron about 6:30pm and everything went well. They were able to remove the 3 nodules as expected. They had a little challenge with the upper one, because it was a ways above the incision. We are not sure why the procedure took 5 hours, but they said she is doing well. They expected to take out the breathing tube around 6:30pm and start bringing her to. They expected about a 2-3 hour "recovery" before they move her to a room.

As of now, she still has not been assigned a room and so we wait. We don't know anything about the pathology report yet, but are prayerful that they were able to remove everything. Dr. Cameron didn't mention any complication, or having to remove any structures. There was some initial concern going into the procedure about having to remove part of a rib, diaphragm or a part of the lung, but it sounds like none of that came in to play.

There will probably be one more report tonight, hopefully I will have talked to Peg after that point. (Picture is of Lauri Stevenson & Mom Haeussler.)

Reporting from UCLA, Larry Wolf, PNN News (Peggy News Network). :-)

11/15 5:30 PM - Phone call

Well got a phone call from the O.R., one of the doctors said they are "closing up" and finishing up, and Dr. Cameron will be up to talk to us in about 30 minutes. They said Peg is doing great. I'm running low on laptop and cell battery life and left my charger in the motorhome in UCLA long term parking. Next update might be in 1 hour.

Thanks for the prayers... Lar

11/15 4:55pm - Update

Well no news yet. Peg is still in surgery. We are thinking they started later than they expected and often they are only able to give an estimate of time, not an exact amount. But all is good, God is still in control and things are going to turn out great.

Thanks for all the prayers and fun comments on the blog. I will let Peg read them on the laptop when she comes to. Here's Mom Hauessler having fun in the lobby. Larry

11/15 3:00 PM - Update

Nothing yet, still just waiting in the lobby...Here's a photo of Peggy in pre-op. Yes this is the latest fashion outfit...You'll see it on the runways on the E! Entertainment network...

Larry

11/15 2:00 pm - Update

Ok, sometimes I don't like Verizon Wireless. Today is one of those days. I can barely get cell service anywhere in this Hospital. I know UCLA is #3 in the nation for hospitals, but for cell service, it's alot WAY lower. But on a good note, they have free wireless internet for family of patients.

Anyways, onto Peg! They were a little delayed in getting her into surgery, which she went in around 12:30 PM. Wow, talk about forms, documents, and stuff to fill out! She probably was talked to by about 30 people before surgery today. There is a medical nurse, technician, assistant, doctor for everything. I think if you sneeze here, they have a doctor of sneezology to take care of you. Anyways, you feel well cared for, that's for sure.

They said the procedure would be about 3 hours, so we may be hearing something around 3:30 PM. She was in good spirits when they were rolling her across the hall into the O.R. Mom (Patsy) Haeussler is here, she got here about 10:30 am. Lauri Stevenson (my sister) was here for a little while before having to leave to pick-up her mother-in-law at LAX. All in all I know God has it all under his hand, and in his control. This photo was one a friend sent Peggy yesterday, who has been through cancer treatment and surgeries.

More to come...

Blessings! Larry

11/15-9:15am - Arrival

Well it took us 2 hours and 10 min to drive 50 miles today...to get to UCLA! Wow, we arrived in ok time and peg is check-in and waiting to go into pre-op.

She is sporting her designer hospital gown! She feels good and at peace!

Thanks for prayers...larry

11/14-Surgery Tomorrow

It's official...Peg will check in at 9:00 am tomorrow at UCLA. Surgery begins around 11:00 am. It's about a 3 hour procedure. Thanks for all the prayers...we love you guys.

Larry

11/9-UCLA Surgery

Hello,

It looks like I will be doing the surgery on Nov. 15th next Thurs. at UCLA. I have completed my pre-ops which was just an EKG and some blood work. Dr. Cameron thought this visit would be about 3 days. I will make a list of a few prayer requests.

-Peace for the entire family.
-For the kids to feel confident and secure during this time while being placed elsewhere.
-For Dr. Cameron to get every tiny cell of disease existing.
-For clear margins around the small masses.
-For no complications & quick healing.
-For us to be witnesses for Jesus whenever possible.

Thanks for all the faithful prayers!! Love to all!!!

Peggy

11-1/Surgery Info.

Hi All,

All I have is a tentative date at the moment. So, I might be going in for surgery November 15. That's two weeks from today. Dr. Cameron at UCLA has been called in for jury duty and it has messed up his surgery schedule a little bit. Hopefully I will get this date firmed up by tomorrow. It is hard to get the kids schedules arranged without a firmed up date. But, I do know that he does surgeries on Thurs. So that helps. That way I will hopefully be home the following weekend. And in plenty of time for Thanksgiving.

I hope this surgery will be easier to heal up from since they will be going under the ribcage and not through it this time. But, still it is major surgery and I need to keep that in mind too. I know God will work out all of life's details. It can be so overwhelming trying to think of all that you do and wondering how it will get all done. But that is all part of the be anxious for nothing verse. So I am trying my best. On top of that I am trusting Him for complete health. So much is out of my control and now in His control. Such a better place to be anyhow.

Again and again and again Thank You so much for all the prayers. Through them all God is getting us all through this very well!!

Lots of Love to all, Peggy

10/27-Another Surgery

Dear Friends and Family,

My appointment with Dr. Cameron at UCLA went as expected. He would like to do the surgery. It will be less involved than the other one. But more involved than what I was expecting. I will get cut under both breasts this time. So my scar will go horizontally rather than vertically. He said that the hospital stay would be about 3 days. If the area in question, that is up higher, is touching my rib I will have to have some bone cut away. But, when all is healed it won’t even seem any different. There is a possible need for radiation when I’m done. If all the margins are clear, no sign of disease anywhere on any of the edges, then he said he would be reluctant to recommend radiation. I just found out this time that you have a lifetime maximum amount of radiation you can receive. But, if it is positive anywhere I will definitely need more radiation. Chemo is unlikely since it is only moderately helpful with this kind of cancer. My neuroendocrine cancer is intermediate. The high grade kind responds well to chemo and the low grade kind doesn't respond at all. So I'm somewhere in the middle and we just did chemo and stuff still came back.


So after talking to Dr. Cameron-who by the way bears a remarkable resemblance to Napoleon Dynamite-we have decided to schedule the surgery. We can't do this until the office manager returns next Tues. They said that he is working about 2-3 weeks out at this point. I'm hoping to be all done and home healing before Thanksgiving. It will be interesting to see how it all works out this time. I know God will organize it all out perfectly.

Prayer Requests:
-That the margins are all clear on the tissue that is removed.
-That all the child care gets covered without too much hassle.
-That our family is drawn closer together through it all.
-That we are all drawn closer to God too!
-That we do not get discouraged and keep hopeful attitudes.
-That God will use us in the midst of this trial.


Thanks you so much for all your faithfulness to us all through it all!!
Lots of love and blessings, Peggy

10/19-Giving it to God

Hi Guys,

I have been needing to update this blog for days. I have been busy with just normal life and the new added twists too. The doctors wanted me to do a PET scan too. This would somehow help them to determine exact locations of these new spots. So I did this scan last week. I happened to have an appointment set with my primary doctor Dr. Kerr. I had him copied on the report so I knew he would be able to give me the info. from the PET scan. He talked to Dr. Rigberg(my oncologists) who had talked to Dr. Lum (my radiologist) and they agreed that radiation would be the next course of treatment. All the new spots are outside the area that I had radiation on earlier this year. Then Dr. Kerr proceeded to tell me that he strongly recommends that I set up an appointment with Dr. Cameron (My UCLA surgeon) and see if he could just remove these spots altogether. Dr. Kerr said he wants to take the aggressive approach and get to CURE! I said Me Too!! Am I throwing out enough Dr. names at you???

Both Larry and I talked at length about this and we agreed that seeing Dr. Cameron would be a good idea. So, I have that appointment set for next Fri. I thought that was amazing enough in itself because last time it took 6 weeks to get an appointment with him. I prayed to God if this is the right course please let it be sooner than the last 6 week wait. An sure enough it was. Last time all the test were old and needed to be redone. So thank-you Jesus for that!! Last time he saw me he had me in the next week doing surgery. So, please pray that this is clear to us. Dr. Kerr said this surgery would be way less invasive and I would heal up much quicker! They would not need to open up my sternum this time. They might even be able to remove the spots with some kind of a scope thing.

Thanks for all the great prayers. We have been experiencing peace through it all. We have had moments of challenge, but we have been able to overcome that. Keep the prayers coming. We will have schedules to work out with the kids. Also, of course, all the decisions we need to make and prayers for complete healing. I just want to be a light to others of God's great love. Hoping I can let my light shine wherever I go. Thanks again and again for the prayer support you give to me and my family.

The kids are doing great! Lexie even got "Peacebuilder of the month" in her classroom this past month. It's a big deal at their school where they have an assembly and the principal announces the kids chosen. We are so proud of her. Trinity was move up from kindergarten to a new K/1 class. She was observed as being ready for a little more challenge. We are so proud of her too! She is doing great in this new class! Joshua continues to thrive in his pre-school class! He is making lots of new buddies!! We feel so blessed to have the kids that we do! They truly are gifts from God!

Lots of love to you all!!! Peggy

10/5-Thankful

Hello All,

I had my octriotide scan on Wed. This scan is specific to Neuroendocrine Tumors. The isotopes they inject uptake to the neuroendocrine tumor areas. Dr. Rigberg my oncologist reviewed the results of the scans with Larry and I yesterday. I was thankful to see that they were not picking up any other problem areas other than what was already discovered with the cat scan a couple weeks ago. Dr. Rigberg is a very thorough kind of Doctor. He showed us the May cat scan and the Sept. cat scan. We could see the new tumors in the Sept. scan. They are 2 and 3 cm right now. One is right behind the ziphoid process which is at the end of the sternum. This one is right by my heart. The other one is close by but going more toward my liver.

The next step is to wait for the two doctors to confer with each other. Dr. Rigberg wants to make sure that these new tumors are indeed outside the port of radiation from my last treatments. If not, he mentioned a possible need for more chemo. Dr. Lum seemed fairly certain this is not the case. I see Dr. Lum next Tues. Hoping to have more information by then.

It has been a little tough emotionally with all this. We are not sure why God is allowing this to continue. But, we know that He knows why. We trust God and we know He is faithful. Pain always teaches us how to be more compassionate. Look what Christ Himself endured for us. We have a compassionate God!!

Also we do have an issue with blue cross our insurance carrier. A lot of my doctors are dropping them. If I continue with an out of network doctor we will get hit with much higher doctor expenses. So please just add that to the prayer list. I know God will work it all out somehow.

Pray for all the family. The kids seem to be just going with the flow. We talk about it all with them so they know what's going on. Pray the just give it all to the one who can really heal and comfort!!

Thanks for all that you all do!! Lots of Love, Peggy

9/24-Hope

Hi All,

I had my regularly scheduled CT-scan last week. They are checking me every 3 weeks. I wasn't able to set up to meet with Dr. Rigberg my Oncologist until next Thurs. I happened to have a post radiation check up the Dr. Lum today. So he was able to go over my Ct. Scan with me.

It looks like there are some new spots that have developed since my scan 3 months ago. It's just below the radiation field on my chest. Everything in the radiation field is clear. This is good to know, this means that the radiation did it's job. Both Dr's talked and they agreed that radiation will most likely be the best course of action and no chemo. I do have to do another octriotide scan to make sure that this is all that is out there right now. Both Dr's feel that it is most likely all they will find. So I do not have any of the new course of radiation confirmed or scheduled yet.

I am praying that they find nothing more or just plan nothing at all. My God is a healer and I know He can heal me head to toe. Thanks for all the prayers and support.

We love all of you!! Peggy

8/30-School Days

Hi All,

It has been too long again since I have updated my blog. No good reason really. The girls have finally started school this past Monday. Trinity is officially a Kindergartener. She really loves it!! Lexie is in the third grade and they are both at our local public school, Rio Del Norte. Joshua will start PreK next week at Our Redeemer preschool where the girls both attended. I will for the first time in 8 years have a couple hours to myself two days a a week. Hooray!!

I have been feeling pretty good with my health lately. I am getting back into my old excercise routine and feeling ok. For a while there it would really burn me out. It would take away all the energy I had for the day. But I feel good now. I saw Dr. Handley the Pulmonologist this week. We waited 6 weeks and did nothing. And nothing looked worse. Hooray!! So, they tried antibiotics and steroids and that did not make it go away. And they did nothing and it did not get worse. So he feels pretty comfortable that the spot on my lung is just a scar from the radiation. Thank you Jesus!!!

Thanks for all the prayers. Please if the Lord puts it on your heart, lift up my dad in prayer. His heart needs some major work. Being a parkinson's patient it makes it very tricky to do the by-pass surgery that he really needs. So He will be going in tomorrow for a less invasive angio-plasty(roto-rooter) and have some stents put in. Pray with me that he does well with the procedure and his safely home by Saturday as planned. God knows all the rest of the technical stuff!!

Thanks so much for all the love and friendship, Peggy

7/9-Feeling good!

Hello,

Summer is moving along just fine. We are all getting used to a more relaxed schedule. We already had our Church's VBS program called Summer Slam. The theme was Treasure Island. It was all week long and the kids had a great time and learned lots of great stuff. We also had lots of our AZ relatives out for the 4th of July celebration. We spent a really fun day up in Santa Barbara playing at the beach, eating, riding bikes & scooters and of course watching the fireworks. We are doing the library on Tues. and Park Day on Wednesdays so far. Also, we will be going for Forest Home at the end of the month for a week with Jeff and John's families. We are all looking forward to our official family vacation.

I finished my tapering dose of Prednisone. I saw Dr. Handley last Thurs. The new x-ray didn't show any changes in the spot on my lung at all. He asked how I was feeling and I told him that I definitely do not feel worse. And as for better, well I never really felt that bad to begin with. He said I never looked that ill either each time that he has seen me. So We are going to just watch things over the next six weeks. If things get worse sooner, I will call. The spot may just be a scar as I have mentioned before. They just want to make sure it is not some other kind of infection going on.

Thanks for all the recent prayers. I am happy to be feeling better.

Lots of love to all, Peggy

6/13-Prednisone

Hi Friends and Family,

I saw Dr. Handley today. It's been 2 weeks and I just finished my last of the antibiotic today that I was taking. I got a chest X-ray first. Dr. Handley was able to compare that with my last CT scan. He said he did not see any changes. When he listened to my lungs he did hear some rattling from both lungs. I don't feeling any worse and even a little bit better. He was able to rule out Valley fever and a couple other lung problems from the blood test I had done. So this leaves me with Radiation Pneumonia. Since the lungs are sounding worse I need to treat it with the prednisone steroid. I will take a dose that tapers down until it is done. Then I will visit the Dr. in 3 weeks and do another x-ray and a breathing analysis too. So right now I am praying for all the side effects to be null and void in me. I believing for it to do it's job and nothing else. This steroid is meant to treat any inflammation in my lungs. Thanks for praying with me through this new little mountain I have to climb. All and all we are doing good. Lexie finishes 2nd grade on Friday and Trinity is graduating from Pre-School tomorrow. We are all looking forward to a fun Summer.

Blessings to you all!! Glory to God!!!!

Love, Peggy

5/31-Pulmonalogist Appt.

Well Wed. I went to see Dr. Handley my new Pulmonalogist. It used to be Dr. Paladino, but he moved back to NY. He seems like a great Dr. He was brought up to speed about everything and then listened everywhere to my lungs and didn't hear anything concerning. He said it all sounded clear. He was concerned about the shading in the upper left lung( which was in fact a radiation port) and the pain I have been feeling with a deep breath and the tiredness. He didn't want to start the prednisone without first running a blood test and also check for valley fever too. So he has me taking an antibiotic called Biaxin for 2 weeks. It is used to treat just regular pneumonia. So, after 2 weeks I go back to Dr. Handley and get an X-ray and another check-up. So, if the Lord brings it to your mind to pray, please pray that this antibiotic works and I do not have to take the "Stinky Prednisone" as my wonderful friend Julie O put it in the last comment field. All this must sound all to familiar to you dear Julie!! Thanks for all the prayers!! Thanks to everyone!! I love you All!! Jesus is my healer!!

5/29-Scans and More Scans

Hi All,

Sorry I took so long to write back about the results of all the 6 week post treatment studies. It's been a little crazy with Dr. stuff and we went to visit family in AZ for memorial weekend in the middle of it all. It was a wonderful time in AZ visiting Larry very fun family!!

First of all Dr. Rigberg called me Tues. after the Monday CT scan of my chest, abdomen and pelvis. He said I had a condition in the small bowel that showed part of it going into itself, like a telescope, he described. So he set me up for a barium study on Wed. to check closer in that area. And, thank-you Jesus, it showed all looked back to normal. Also the CT scan showed that my left lung looked like it was showing some shading. It could be scarring from the radiation or another condition called Radiation Pneumonia. He asked if I had a fever or if I was short of breath. I was not. While in AZ I started to get a low fever in the 99's and low 100's with achy joints and pain in the lungs with a deep breath. So I called Dr. Rigberg and he told me to take an anti-inflammatory Aleve. He said if I get short of breath and start to run a fever over 101 then go to the ER. I thankfully did not need to do this.

Today I had a scheduled appointment with Dr. Rigberg to go over the study results in detail. The bone scan for my hip all looked just fine. If I keep getting pain in my hip I need to do an MRI on the hip next. Also the MRI on my brain was all right with no problems. Probably just allergy related headaches like I suspected. Dr. Rigberg is ultra thorough. Back to today. Dr. Rigberg listened to my lungs. Didn't say anything sounded bad or good. Asked where the pain was specifically when I took a deep breath, my lower right back and whole lung area. He wanted to rule out a pulmonary embolism. This is a very serious thing I guess. So he sent me to get another scan right away called a CT angio gram. It was basically to get a closer look and the arteries in the lungs to make sure there are no blood clots. Since no one has called me telling me to get right to the hospital here 4 hours later, I think it is safe to assume I do not have that in Jesus name!!

Tomorrow he has me seeing a pulmonary specialist to see what is up with the shading in the left lung. If it is an infection it will need to be treated with a serious steroid called prednisone. I really do not want to take this. I was reading about it and it sounds yucky!! I am believing for the Lord Jesus my healer to make this all go away. I am reporting this to all of you to believe with me in the Lords healing.

Thank you all for bearing with me for such a long update. I appreciate all your prayers and faith!!

Love and Hope, Peggy

P.S. Is. 53:5&6..remember folks, because of His wounds I am healed!!!!!!!!

5/21- 6 week Post check

Hi Friends,

Just a quick word to let you all know that I am feeling good and growing lots of curly hair back. It is very strange to have such curly hair. The Dr. warned me that it would grow back this way.

I saw Dr. Rigberg early last week for my 6 week follow-up. I had mention having headaches, but I was fairly certain that they were related to seasonal allergies. But, he is a very thorough guy so he sent me in for a brain scan and the regular CT scan of the chest and abdomen to check the regular spot. Also tomorrow I go for another bone scan because the ache in my left hip continues. I do not know what that is about. We will find out I am sure. Please pray it is all a bunch of nothing. I am so done with treatments and surgeries. Thanks so much for all the love and prayers!!

Lots and lots of love, Peggy

4/6-It Is Finished!

Dear Friends and Family,

I couldn't think of a more appropriate day to be able to use this title. What a wonderful thing Jesus did for all of mankind this day 2000 years ago. Because of His wounds, I am healed!! Thank you Jesus!!! Just yesterday, I finished my final cancer treatment! Hooray!!!

Monday I went to Dr. Rigberg and again my white cells were too low to do my last chemo. So I was able to forgo it. I do not have to make it up, so that was that!! Hooray, again. I think it was God's way of saying you do not need anymore! On Tues. the radiation machine was down so they did not treat me. So instead of being done on Wed. I was done on Thurs. They even presented me with an official graduation certificate. I was so happy, I even got a little teared up.

That is all the treatments that they have scheduled for me. I am going to just be watched from here out. I get my blood checked in two weeks to make sure my white cells are bouncing back. And in six weeks I go back to the radiologist to make sure my healing is going well. Right now I'm just looking forward to getting more energy and for my esophagus to heal. Swallowing has been painful. They said give your body about 10 days. They said with the swallowing to be careful because I will feel better before I am all better and some rough foods could re-injure my esophagus. Hopefully I will remember to take it easy there. Also, sometime in May they will restudy me again. I'm believing that God has totally healed me.

Thank you all for all the prayers and support you have given me and my family during this time of challenge. I feel this has been a total group effort. I have not felt all alone in this process by any means. I have felt so lifted up and loved. It has helped me, for the most part, just keep doing all the stuff I normally do. I'm looking forward to getting on with life with a little more energy now. Words cannot express how deeply grateful I am to all of you for all that you have done for all of us.

Lots of love and lots of blessings, Peggy