Dear friends and family,

I apologize for not updating sooner.  Life has been very busy this spring.  I'll do my best to give you the highlights of the last several months

December/January: We visited David's family for Christmas and had a wonderful time.  

Late January, we celebrated my mom's 85th birthday.

I also started working, at the girls' school, as assistant golf coach.  I applied to do this job because of the need, and I know the coach personally, as we previously went to church together.  Megane is on the team.  We had a great season and I really enjoyed coaching.  (I played golf in my 20's)

February: We got Sam tested for a variety of emotional issues.  Bottom line is she is very intelligent but suffers from anxiety and has ADHD.  We have been seeking answers for a long time and glad to finally have them.

I was driving around like crazy as we were juggling golf practices and drama rehearsals.

March: Megane performed in The Sound of Music at her school. She was a nun and a duchess.  

April: Golf season wrapped up as our girls team went to state, and we had one Junior boy competing as well.  The girls team placed 3rd and we had one girl win state individually, and our boy won individually too.  We spent 3 days in Waco at the tournament.  It was so fun and I'm so proud of everyone's hard work.

David applied for and got a new position at Lockheed.  It is a promotion and he is changing departments.  He has been very busy shifting over to the new position and learning many new things.

David and I got to attend the E1A (https://www.e1a.org/) Adoption Couples retreat.  It was such a refreshing and encouraging weekend away with other adoptive and foster families.  

May: Girls finish school on May 13/15th.  Lots of school activities to finish out the school year.

It was 3 years ago, this month, that my cancer was first diagnosed.

Health update:

Bottom line: I'm relapsing.  My oncologist mentioned this in January and my numbers continue to climb.  She is really pushing me to do CAR-T cell therapy, but we are declining.  It is very involved, harsh, and the results are not certain.  Regardless of what treatment I choose, my oncologist would like me to start this summer.

Yesterday, I spoke to Dr. Berensen office in CA and made an appointment to see him in a few weeks for a second opinion.  We also booked flights for this trip.  He is a myeloma specialist and has a great track record.  He has different protocols and tends to opt for lower dose chemo when that is used.  We are hopeful that he can help me.

I have been trying a variety of natural methods, but nothing has made a big enough impact yet.

I have an MRI on Monday to check for lesions on my right hip.  I've had pain in my hip for months and if I have lesions that will cause me to start treatment asap.

Praises:

1. David got a new job/promotion
2. School is almost over; looking forward to summer break
3. Girls are doing well
4. We still have options for treatment

Prayer Requests:

1. Pray for no lesions on my MRI on Monday.
2. Pray for wisdom as we determine next steps in my treatment
3. Pray for my mental health as it is hard to be relapsing again.  
4. Pray for David as he is juggling a new job and family life, plus my health challenges
5. Pray for our girls as we walk this road.

John Piper

Occasionally weep deeply over the life you hoped would be. Grieve the losses. Then wash your face. Trust God. And embrace the life you have.

Romans 8:37, ESV

37 No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.

38 For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers,

39 nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.