...seeing you all in heaven one day....

Good evening.....after 10 here.....

These next three e-mails span from April 2005 into August 2005. I guess I start writing the rest of the e-mails beginning after these, in April of 2006. As I do research for this book, I have a lot of looking to do as far as other things written during this time in my own personal devotions, etc. During all of this, I was busy maintaining a household, going to doctor appointments near and far and keeping up with the kids and drawing closer to Mark and to the Lord.....couldn't keep up without the last part!

Hard to imagine all the "hoops" one has to jump through to get things done. One of the many things I learned through this, is about Patient Advocates. They are people that work to help people get taken care of, those that have paid for or worked for their medical benefits....such as veterans like Mark. It is an admirable job because so many have neither the strength or ability to continue to try and jump through those "hoops".

After these entries, we will be in Arizona....this is where Mark's journey goes to amazing new heights. We learn more about ourselves, relationships and faith. I hope you continue to walk this journey with us. I look forward to continuing my research on this and putting this all in book form with summary between the e-mails and other things.

Blessings this evening and the rest of the week.....debbie

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April 7, 2005
Subject: surgery went well, still a little foggy...

Here is the latest and the greatest.

We finally made it home on Tuesday, the 5th and it feels good to be back among the living. The surgery went well. It was only a week later than it was scheduled for. The good thing was my brother lives only two hours away and we got to spend Easter with his family.

Still kind of foggy from all the drugs, but I am doing much better than the first surgery. I am up and around doing something, even if it's only a walk.

The next step is to rest for about two weeks and then go and radiate the spot where the tumor was. You know, hunt for any little hidden enemies. After that same as last time, just keep looking. I know that you are getting tired of all this, well, so am I. Just hang with me a little while longer, I still need all of your prayers.

For all that you have done for me, I wish that there were some way that I could repay you all. For now, a great big thank you will have to do.

Pray pray pray
Mark and Deb
　
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July 27, 2005
Subject: let's all be ready for heaven...

To keep this short I will leave out the dates. Did a bone scan. We have been watching a spot at the L-1 for about 9 months. It appeared to have gotten bigger so they ordered an MRI. That showed what they believe is another tumor. Also they see spots at L-2. The bright side is they aren't going to do surgery. Radiation or chemo or both is the choice we have at this point. Unless we can find another way to make them little buggers go away or shrink before they eat too much bone. Any ideas?

Now for the really important stuff: Prayer...

I need lots of it. I could tell you about people that have been in really bad shape and BELIEVED what the Bible says about God wanting to heal us if we were to believe and ask for healing. For those of you that do believe we are asking God to heal me. For the rest of you, I hope that there is no rest of you, but if there is, we will pray that you find the Lord before your life is over. We would like to see you in heaven one day. There may come a time in your life when you need Him, and we would be honored to pray with you and for you. You never know, what if it is real?

I will keep you updated as we go.

Thank you
Mark
　
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August 23, 2005
Subject: new drug, Avastin...

Here is the latest news. A new tumor was found at L-1 and spots at L-2. We are not doing surgery this time. We will be doing general radiation on both spots (prayer for this is that the radiation kills the tumor, trust the Lord and believe as it is written, "I am the Lord that comes to heal you, and I am healed by the stripes of Jesus").

Also, they found a tumor on the right lung and the liver. Both are about the size of a quarter (2 centimeters). There is a new drug that the FDA has approved called Avastin. It literally melts the tumor away and there are no side effects. The challenge will be, to get the VA to pray for the drug if they don't have it in the system. It is very expensive and my Medicare won't kick in until December 1, 2005. Pray that the VA does pay for this drug.

Thank you everyone.
God Bless
Mark and Deb