. . . the journey . .

We saw Dr Matthews today for the results of Orin's CT scan expecting that the results wouldnt be so good. He just hasn't had a good month. Well there were two more new lesions in the lung ( when colorectal cancer metastasises to the lung it looks more like a shot gun pattern ...lung cancer is often just one large lesion) however the others had not changed in size ( there have been as many as 16... some of the tiny ones had become undetectable on the scan with the last round of chemo while the larger ones have remained the same size) WE SAW THIS AS QUITE A VICTORY AND A DEFINATE SIGN THAT GOD IS NOT YET READY TO BRING HIM HOME. He will restart Chemo next week. But very differently. Dr Matthews will work carefully with him to preserve quality of life. Pray this can be successful. Thank you to all who continue to lift us up to the Father on a daily basis and surround us with your presence and love. Sunday we celebrated Anna's second birthday. Last year his greatest ...

I have always loved Fall. It comes with cool breezes and the soothing sounds of rustling leaves.. the knowledge of awakening to that first snow covered morning reminding of Gods perfect quiet peace and rest. We are here again and I think of how many blessing We have today. It has been just two years since Orin and I left for the hospital at 6 am for his colonoscopy. Since he has been having problems, I was already concerned and I remember thinking as we drove out of the drive way " I wonder if our lives will ever be the same again". Well as you know they havent been. But my oh my what blessings we have seen. Yes we have had problems and tears. Orin has pain every day. The cancer isnt gone. We will know in a couple weeks just where it stands ( he is having a CT on the 11th our apt is the 16th so I will post after that) but we have discovered what is important in our time together. Orin has had the opportunity to serve God by building two needed items for the church. Go...

Its funny how you can put off attending a family reunion as not so important when all is well.... and how special they become when faced with a serious illness. So it was that we planned amd attended the Gronau family reunion in Newton this last weekend and what a joy it was to see people we hadnt seen for years. If any of you are reading this, Yea! we sure were glad to see you!! We spent Sunday with my mom and sister. Mike and Emily had also come out for the reunion so that made eleven under ten.. was a lively day but lots of fun! We both came home tired but I think Kesha ( our dog) was the worst...the little girls pushed her around in a doll buggy ALL DAY... she didnt seem to mind but she slept ALL the way home and most of today! Orin has napped quite a bit today too but really did pretty well for all the activity. We again praise the Lord for giving Orin the Good health to be able to travel to Newton for the reunion

It has been a bit longer that I would have liked since i last posted but there are times when it seems that words just dont seem to be there. This last month has been like that. We have been faced with the making the decision regarding whether to change Oncologists. Weighing all factors, including treatment philosophies, staff etc we did decide that a change was in order. Currently we have seen the new Dr and are working on treating the infection in Orin's belly before resuming chemo again and ask your prayers for success in identifying the organism as well as the right treatment. Thank you all for your support. Kathy

I bet you all thought I fell off the edge of the world or something! no... just trying to recover from a greaat weekend with out kids at Grand Lake. We left last Friday about noon and arrived home Sunday evening. Our whole family.. kids,and grandkids and dogs played, ate and spent a lot of time getting "wet" at Grand Lake.. ( Thank you so very much, David and Susan for your gracious hospitality).. On the way home Sunday six year old Blake rode with us....at one point I said "Blake, how many times do you think we went swimming this weekend?" his response: an emphatic "A LOT!!" It was a very special family time. however..we did come home quite tired and have spent a good bit of time this week resting!! not as young as we used to be!! Orin is beginning to feel some better. He is in the third week now since treatment and so every day gets better. He mostly is tired a lot.. still some stomach upset problems. He did better than we hoped over the weekend. ...

Orin had chemo this week. The last one for a few weeks at least as he will take a break after this one. He has had the usual side effects so we have been mostly home. We did hear from from Dr Williamson Friday. He had looked at the ct scan and reports and said that the abscess was not clearly visable on the scan (which means that two weeks of antibiotics has been helping.) He will have the surgeon look at the scans this next week and give us his opinion as to whether anything can be done. On the lighter side we kept Blake (6) Anna (22mo) Olivia (19mo) and Lily (3mo) last night and I have now canceled my request for "TWINS the next time". We did however enjoy them immensely, they are the joy of our life! til later, kg