Welcome to our CaringBridge website. We are using it to keep family and friends updated in one place. We appreciate your support and words of hope and encouragement. Thank you for visiting. Many of you have asked for me to begin this page so you can stay informed of Dave's progress. I will summarize what has transpired so far and will try to add Journal Updates (see below) as things progress. On Thursday, July 19 Dave began having significant discomfort in his upper abdomen. By Friday, he could hardly talk without pain. We assumed it was gas or a gallbladder issue. On Saturday, I took him to an urgent care center to get him checked out. After eliminating some of the minor possibilities, the doctor ordered a ct scan. Unfortunately, this was not a gallbladder or gas issue. The pain was caused by a blood clot in his portal vein (the main vein of the liver) and a 5 cm mass inside his liver. By Monday, July 23, it was confirmed that Dave had cancer. A biopsy was done and on Monday, July 30 we were told he has stage 4 metastatic melanoma. For those of you who do not know, Dave had two melanoma spots surgically removed from his upper back a little over 4 years ago. At that time, the surgeon was certain that the cancer had been removed and he was cleared without any further treatment. Praise God! We took a deep sigh of relief and life moved on. What we did not fully understand, I guess, is that melanoma can rear its ugly head at a later time and find its new home in an organ. Dave's melanoma has attached itself in his liver. Because it has moved from its original location and it is inoperable, it is classified as stage 4. The treatment of choice for late stage melanoma is Immunotherapy. The easiest way to describe it is the medicine infused into his veins boosts up his own immune system to fight off the cancer. This is a recently approved FDA therapy and seems to have favorable results. Treatment began on August 14. His treatments are scheduled every three weeks and he will have a total of four treatments. He will have labs and other tests done in between treatments to monitor everything. The side effects that he has experienced are tiredness, stomach issues, loss of appetite, and rashes. The day after his first treatment he did not get out of bed. The next day he was able to work a half day. His appetite has decreased and his weight is dropping. Yesterday, the rashes came on suddenly and they cover his whole body. I assume that as treatments continue, these side effects will worsen. Now that you know the specifics, let me give you an idea of where our hearts are in all of this. We know God is in control. We know that God holds Dave's life and his future in His mighty hands. We trust that God is at work through all of this. Our family has experienced some hard things and through them we have seen that God's character does not change nor does His love for us. Because of those experiences, we can trust Him in this, too. Yes, this is scary. We have had to have some difficult conversations with the boys about the "what ifs". Conner had to go back to college in Tennessee not knowing what condition his dad will be in the next time he sees him. These are the things that break my heart for them. Dave is so strong, though. His faith is rock-solid. The outpouring of love and support by so many has been absolutely mind-blowing! We are getting the privilege of seeing God use people and circumstances to bless us. We have hope that this treatment will work. We will know more by the end of October. In the waiting, we are clinging to Romans 15:13 - May the God of HOPE fill us with all JOY and PEACE as we trust Him, so that we may overflow with HOPE by the power of the Holy Spirit. Yes, we worry. Yes, we cry. But everyday we are finding our hope, peace, and yes, joy, in the midst of this and it is only from the Lord. Only He can provide this type of peace in the unknown. Many are asking what they can be doing for us. The answer is PRAY! Pray that the treatments work. We know that this treatment is not a cure but, if effective, can prolong his life with good quality. Pray for the boys. I lost my dad to cancer when I was young, so I know how scary this feels for them. Pray for the side effects to be minimal. I want him to be comfortable. I keep thinking that the less he feels, the further away this cancer seems. Pray for Dave to have the stamina and focus to maintain business. Dave's heart and mind are heavy worrying about finances as the medical bills are coming in now. He knows he cannot afford to miss much work because of the nature of his business. Pray that God will bless his business to such a degree that bills will be covered and he can focus on taking care of himself. As his wife, this is my prayer for him. Like I said earlier, I will try to add an update each week. Some weeks may be detailed while others may be brief because not much has changed. I am just grateful that so many care. We are loved! Much love and gratefulness, Elizabeth
As I write this update, Dave and I are flying home from a wonderful weekend away up in the mountains of North Carolina enjoying the fall weather. Our friends, Ken and Keli, bought a bed and breakfast and invited us up to be their guests. The weather could not have been better, and the leaves were at their colorful peak. The best part of all, though, is that Dave’s oncologist, Dr. Grow, called him an hour before we left for the airport to fly up to North Carolina to give us the results of his PET scan. Dave’s tumors are gone! Dr. Grow saw the images before the radiologist had written his report. He was so amazed at what he saw, or rather what he did not see, that he called the radiologist to ask if he was seeing things correctly. When they compared Dave’s original PET to this new one, he said it looks like a miracle occured.
All glory goes to God! We fully believe that God answered our prayers as well as the prayers of so many. During the past three months God has allowed this treatment to do its job and He has heard the prayers of many who pleaded on Dave’s behalf.
We have spent this weekend marveling at God’s goodness, kindness, grace, and love for us. It’s a bit overwhelming at times to think of the work He has chosen to do in Dave’s body.
Dave will continue once a month treatments for the next year. This will be different than the course of treatment he just completed, which involved two drugs. This next course will be only one of the drugs and the treatments will not last as long. Dr. Grow will continue to do bloodwork every few weeks and he will have scans done every four months, unless something is questionable.
The journey looks different now and we are grateful. There is always the chance that tumors will return but for now we will relish in the hope we have been given. God worked a miracle, so we know He can do it again. For those of you who have faithfully prayed for Dave, thank you. I pray that this story encourages your faith and causes you to see His goodness.
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