I just wanted to share a note that Nancy sent out a couple of weeks ago, concerning Aaron’s fight with Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma. They thought they were clear, until the results of a PET Scan came back. Many things have happened since this note, and they have decided to forego the surgical biopsy, as they decided to head to Chicago and are there now at the Cancer Treatment Center of America, where they will be seeing a lymphoma specialist. Please be in prayer for them.

Aaron had a PETscan this past Monday, June 7. He went to meet with a radiologist to discuss when radiation would start. However, he will not be able to start radiation at this time.

The PETscan came back showing that there is significant activity again. That means it is most likely that the cancer has come back. The options that were given to us was that 1) it is the same cancer that built up a resistance to the chemo and although it didn’t show any activity back in April when he had this scan, it was able to grow and come back (according to the dr., this is the most likely what happened)…2) There were more than one kind of lymphoma, so the chemo treated the one kind, but now this other one is growing…or 3) It could just be an infection (according to the dr., there is a less than 1% chance of this, but we are hoping and praying for it nonetheless).

So, we are back to the waiting game. Aaron has to have another surgical biopsy to determine what exactly is going on. He has a consultation with the surgeon on June 16. We will set up whatever further scans they may need and the time for surgery then. Then we wait for the results. If they find it’s just an infection, that would be wonderful!!

If they find that it is cancer again, then he will undergo a stronger chemo. This one would require him to be in the hospital for 3-4 days for the chemo treatments. He would only have 2 cycles of that though. But it would be really harsh and knock him out for a while. Then he’d have another PETscan to see if there is any activity left. If not, then he’d have to go to the hospital again and they would give him something that would boost growth of stem cells in his bone marrow. That would then go into his blood stream. They would hook him up to a dialysis type machine that would take the stem cells out. They would freeze them and then basically get rid of all his bone marrow. They would then thaw and reintroduce his stem cells back into his bone to grow new marrow again. This is a long process and he’d be in the hospital for at least 4 weeks if everything goes smoothly.

The dr. said that without this stem cell transplant procedure, the cancer would continue to come back.

Prayer Requests:

Please continue to pray with us. We’d love for this to just be an infection and for him not to go through any of that other treatment. It will be rough on his body. But we know that God is in control and already knows what will happen.

Pray for our testimony through all this still. In a way, it was easy before because everything was going so smoothly and we thought we were about done with this. Now it seems to be going on longer. We want to bring glory to God through it all and not get bogged down with our limited vision on what may happen.

Pray for Aaron as he faces more surgery and the possibility of more chemo.

Pray for Nancy and Rebekah as they continue to support him.

Please pray for finances as Aaron may end up being out of work for quite some time.

PRAISES:

We still have much to praise God for. PRAISE God that it has not spread. Everything is still in the same two areas it was before.

Praise God that the dr.’s are able to catch it early and have a plan of action.

Praise God that it is still treatable and curable.

Praise God that He already knows and we can trust Him through it all.

Thank you very much!

UPDATE:

Just to give a quick update….

After we were given our options the other week, Aaron decided to pursue a second opinion. That led him to the Cancer Treatment Center of America in Zion, IL (north of Chicago). They have a lymphoma specialist here and will run their own tests and biopsy.

We took Amtrak out here. So thankful we didn’t have to drive through Chicago, construction, or wait in traffic due to a beer truck that tipped over and spilled beer all over the road. CTCA had a driver meet us at the train station and drive us to our hotel. He knew his way around and could avoid the trouble spots.

Tomorrow at 10:30-ish, Aaron will head to the Center for registration and then meet with the dr. later on. After that, we will know more of his schedule and I will do my best to keep you updated as we know more.

In the meantime, please continue to pray for wisdom for the dr. as they try to diagnosis this again. And for wisdom for us to be able to follow God’s leading and direction on treatment and our next step in this process.

And praise the Lord with us for:

a safe and fun trip out here…
a wonderful hotel where Rebekah has her “own room” (her own bed tv off the main room)…
God’s direction this far…

Thank you!