Welcome to our CaringBridge website. We are using it to keep family and friends updated in one place. We appreciate your support, prayers and words of hope and encouragement. Thank you for visiting.
I'm in my third adventure of trusting God with non-Hodgkins lymphoma. The first (2002) and second (2014) were confined to my bone marrow and relatively easily treated and removed. In January, 2020, a scan to check on a urinary stone showed several spots in my mid-section that have proven to be follicular lymphoma--basically tumors/lesions--on my right kidney, right lung, under my right ribcage and in a lymph area near my stomach. I've been seeing Dr. Alan Skarbnik since. The amazing part of the story thus far has been that I have had no symptoms or treatments until recently.
In early May I came down with a relatively mild case of shingles around my left eye--lasted 8-10 days and pretty much gone. While shaving a few days later, I discovered a lump under my right jaw and saw the oncologist within the week. He ordered a PET scan from neck to thighs and scheduled a surgery to remove and biopsy the lymph mass in my neck.
The PET scan was June 8th and revealed significant growth and activity throughout my abdominal and lung areas. I've begun to experience exhaustion and lethargy similar to the first two rounds of cancer when my blood numbers would drop dramatically. For the first time, I've also begun to experience periods of real pain--sometimes almost nauseating pain. Gratefully, they are intermittent and generally short.
Surgery is scheduled for June 17th with Dr. Hunter Hoover to remove and biopsy the lymph nodes. Under the circumstances, if cancerous as expected, the best case scenario is that it is the same follicular lymphoma as elsewhere. Because of commitments on our end (family, anniversary, Search conference) we'll see the oncologist in early July. We fully expect treatments will follow. Not knowing what those will entail, leaves more questions than answers and opens the door to doubt and fear. Though we have peeked through some of the cracks, we've chosen not to open it and walk in.
No one wants cancer and we wouldn't wish what we've experienced on anyone. At the same time, we count this to be an adventure in trusting God. Some of the last words Dr. Hoover's dad said before he passed were, "God is good all the time." We believe that and, though we would choose to be loved by God in other ways, we know he is loving us through it all. At this point, we are trusting the great God and good medicine.
I'm sitting with Kim right now, and she wants to get this word out for Ken's service on Saturday (1pm @ New City Church)...
Dress casual. 😊
She wants the service to reflect Ken's lifestyle, so please fight the temptation to wear suits/ties/jackets. She'd love to have people wear khakis/buttondowns (or the equivalent).
If you have any questions, here is the link for Jos. A. Banks website.
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