Barb's Mot Recent Update

Dear Family & Friends,

It;s been awhile since we updated the blog but we have been waiting for the results of Barb's most recent CT/PET scan. On Monday of this week she saw her oncologist and received more good news. These most recent scans when compared to the ones in April showed marked improvement. Actually they were negative for any active cancer which verifies what her blood cancer count of 2.3 also indicated. Does this mean she is cancer free? No, but it does mean that the cancer is not active. In fact the scans indicated no visualization of previously seen lesions on both the lungs and liver. The cancer cells are either dead or dormant and no new ones are appearing. We praise the Lord for this incredible good news and can only attribute it to your prayers and the prayers of others in the Body of Christ around the world. Her unsaved doctor even attributed it to both the chemo and to prayer. :) He has been absolutely amazed because in December he only gave her six months to live.

Regardless of this good report the doctor wanted her to continue to take her last two treatments of agressive chemo. She had # 8 yesterday. Joan and I are on two weeks vacation and arrived here in LA on Wednesday evening having driven straight through from Vancouver, WA. We were 4 days in the Vancouver/Portland area visiting Joan's Mom, Sister Judy and Brother-in-law Jim and our son Tim and his family who are now living in one side of the duplex that we bought in Portland. We also got to see Naomi's parents, Larry and Barbara Podmore, who were visiting from Manila. They work for Far East Broadcasting Corporation, a Christian broadcasting network sharing the Good News of Christ throughout Asia.

What is next for Barb? She will have her 9th and last seheduled agressive chemo on August 1st and then the doctor will evaluate if she needs additional lower levels of some kind of maintainance chemo. Barb and Erik need wisdom as to what they want to pursue after the last agressive chemo. In addition to the chemo Barb has been maintaining a very strict diet which includes taking Goji juice from Nepal, Mangosteen juice from the Philippines, a special kind of tea from Africa and also regular amounts of fresh wheat grass. All of these juices are extremely high in alkaline as are all the other foods that she is eating. Recent studies from John Hopkins clearly indicate that cancer cells do not live in an alkaline environment. At least one of the clinics that we looked into early on indicated that this is their primary mode of treatment. They simply alkaline the body and starve the cancer. So right now we are attributing Barb's incredible progress, first of all to prayer and God's power to heal and secondarily to Barb's diet and the chemo. The combination is working and we continue to covet your prayers until the day when Barb is declared totally cancer free. It has been and continues to be a journey in which God has taught Barb and all of us new things concerning His marvelous grace. There are so many things in life that we take for granted, including good health, and it is only through these kinds of experiences that the Lord takes us to new depths of understanding concerning His love, grace and mercy.

Our daughter Amy, husband Jon and four kids, Jeremiah, Alenna, Sydney Grace & Madeleine are home for a short break from Asia. They are in Idyllwild, CA so next week we will go up to Idyllwild and spend some time with them. We will also look into working with a real estate agent to sell our Idyllwild house. Please pray about this as we definitely need to sell it in the next few months in order to pay off the Portland duplex.

On Thursday of next week we are planning to have a family time of praise to the Lord for all that He has and continues to do for all of us. We are hoping that Tim and Naomi can join us by skype for this time of celebration.

Next Friday we will drive back to Portland and then on Saturday back to Calgary and back to work on Monday morning. Our daughter Ruth will accompany us to Portland and we are looking forward to that time with her. She will spend time visiting her brother and family, grandmother, and Aunt & Uncle in the Portland area.

Immediate prayer requests would include 1) Barb as she gets beyond these first few days of chemo, especially the nerve pain in her hands and feet which is one of the side effects of one of the chemo drugs. 2) Our visit with Jon, Amy and kids. 3) Our long drive back to Calgary over a two day period and 4) Giving attention to some of the pressing needs of Wycliffe Canada upon our return. We love you all and praise God for each one of you.

Love & Prayeers

Dave & Joan