“I waited patiently for the Lord; he turned to me and heard my cry. He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand. He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see and fear the Lord and put their trust in him. Blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, who does not look to the proud, to those who turn aside to false gods. Many, Lord my God, are the wonders you have done, the things you planned for us. None can compare with you; were I to speak and tell of your deeds, they would be too many to declare.” - Psalms‬ ‭40‬:‭1‬-‭5‬ ‭‬‬

I am so excited to share that the long-awaited PET/CT scan on Monday showed that my Dad’s body is responding to the radiation and chemo treatments! While both the spot in his lung and the area of cancer in his lymph node are still there, the lymph node has decreased in size and activity and the original lung spot has decreased in activity as well. Though I can’t give you a full scientific explanation of what that means, I can tell you these results were communicated to us with great excitement and positivity on Wednesday by both Dr. Steber (Radiation Oncologist) and Dr. Huang (Primary Oncologist)! There is also no sign of additional metastases or spread of cancer either, which is GREAT news. Both doctors are incredibly pleased with these results and said that the treatment, specifically radiation, will continue to work even though he is not actively receiving that treatment. All this to say, thank you Lord!! And thank you to all of you for drawing confidently near to the throne of grace on my Dad’s behalf. We are so grateful for how the Lord is working healing against this terrible disease, and though we know it is not technically curable, we continue to petition the Great Physician for continued healing and many more years of quality life for Jimmy.

You might remember the PET/CT doesn’t capture the brain, so our next step scan-wise is for him to have a brain MRI on August 31. Please pray that this too would show excellent results and eradication of the lesion in his brain, as well as no new lesions. 

In other great news, you may also remember that my Dad is eligible for a relatively new treatment called targeted therapy. This treatment comes in the form of an oral pill and there are different drugs for different mutations. The one he will receive, called Capmatinib, is specific to the type of mutation present in his cancer cells and it works in a (you guessed it) targeted manner to attack those mutated cells. He will take the pills twice a day and they, of course, could cause complications and side effects - which I won’t detail in length here, but would ask you to pray that he has no complications and no or minimal side effects. He should start this treatment next Wednesday and will visit the oncologist weekly for the first few months, and then he will make monthly visits. He will also have scans - both PET/CT and an MRI - every 12 weeks going forward, with the next set of scans happening the week of November 6. Please go ahead and circle this week on your calendar and pray toward it with expectation that we will see even further decrease in the cancer cells and no new areas of cancer.  

Now for some frustrating news, first, my dad has been extremely tired the last few weeks. This isn’t unexpected, but it is discouraging for him. Please pray he will gain much of his energy and strength back so that he can return to most of his normal activities. Additionally, in the words of Jimmy, as he has been saying all day today, he has “the double C - Cancer and COVID.” This is partly why I haven’t posted until now, as we were awaiting results. I will say, he made it 3.5 years without ever catching Covid - even when I accidentally brought it home for Christmas one year! He struck a fever Wednesday followed by a sick visit to UCBC yesterday, and today we got word of his positive test. All things considered, he is doing really well and his only major symptom is a fever, which is thankfully responding to Tylenol. Please pray that Covid will make a speedy exit and that no new symptoms appear. Please also pray for my Dad’s spirit. This has put quite a damper on his good report Wednesday and while we are celebrating and grateful for good scans, this has definitely been a gloomy cloud over things.   

While we are on the topic of cloudy days, the next few weeks are also heavy for us as we approach 10 years of my mom going home to Heaven on September 3rd, and what would have been her 65th birthday on September 2nd. Please keep us in your prayers as we remember the amazing woman that was Joni Odum and also as we mourn these ten years and the ones to come without her until we get to Heaven too. Thank you Lord for a Mom who loved you dearly and for the hope of eternal life in Heaven!

Now to end on two more positive notes and prayer requests, my Dad will have his port removed in the next few weeks, which he is excited about - especially because it currently sits in the way of him being able to use a deer hunting rifle. (Cue, a chuckle from me). Please pray that procedure will go well and have no complications, though we don’t have the date for it just yet. We also have plans to go to the Georgia game on my mom’s birthday, which we are both really looking forward to. However, I am a bit concerned my Dad’s fatigue will linger and interfere with his ability to enjoy the game, so please pray that he has the stamina and energy to have a good time. 

If this post has felt all over the place - a rollercoaster of highs and lows - that is likely because that is the reality of everything right now. Thankfully, we have a God who is with us both on the mountaintops and in the valleys!