Friends & Family,

We saw the surgeon this past week, and both tests were run.  The results from all of it: negative.  Marjolene's tumor is too deep and too close to both her rib cage and lung, and for the CT Scan, it mirrored everything we saw last month with all the new growth on Marjolene's lungs.

We met with Marjolene's oncologist this week as well, to follow up on the results of these tests from last week.  The oncologist wants to help Marjolene manage her pain, but he did not suggest any other ways to address the tumor.  The oncologist wants Marjolene to begin a new chemo-drug, one that is more targeted to identifying cancer cells within the body, and he wants to do more specialized genetic testing that will allow the team there to identify the chemistry of Marjolene's cancer so that he can prescribe future treatments that are more "targeted" to her cancer (meaning, these treatments will work better for Marjolene's cancer, cause less side effects, and overall be less toxic to her body).

For those of you who have not had the opportunity to connect with us personally since Marjolene was diagnosed last year, you should all know that Marjolene's oncologist began her treatment by telling her that she had a bad case of cancer with a very short time to live.  The oncologist never offered Marjolene any type of hope that she could beat this cancer.  The oncologist told Whaid and Marjolene that they should "be/get as comfortable as possible" and enjoy the time she had left.  It wasn't until after Marjolene's body responded to the chemo she received last year that the oncologist "switched gears" and began to offer our family more hope about Mom's cancer, but even then, that hope was tentative.  The oncologist's entire perspective was to help Marjolene manage her cancer and prepare for her impending death, not to try to beat the cancer.  I am not an oncologist, I'm not even a doctor in general practice, BUT I AM A DENTAL CLINICIAN who has been trained in dental hygiene, and I know that my job as a practicing dental clinician is to offer life and hope wherever possible in the midst of sharing not-so-great news!  When I see dental patients who are at risk of developing gum disease or loosing teeth, I'm required to be honest with them about how bad their situation is, but my next responsibility to that patient is to offer them hope by asking them "How do you want to approach this situation?  How hard do you want to fight to preserve your oral health?  What options can I offer to support you as you support yourself?"  We, the Rose Family, never received this approach from Dr. Kuo when Marjolene started cancer treatment with him last year, and since March, we've been looking at other cancer-care teams because we need to be working with an oncology team that will fight with and fight for us, not against us.  We know that you all have been praying this week because we could feel it, and a very close personal friend of ours told us that she got the sense that "a funeral was being interrupted" after spending some targeted time in prayer for us this week.  She's not wrong; our family firmly believes that continued care under the direction of Dr. Kuo will secure death by cancer for Marjolene, so we're looking into a handful of different options for her to begin in the next couple of weeks.

Tomorrow (Monday, April 29th), Marjolene has a consult with a new oncologist that was recommended to us by a family member, and we're praying that this doctor 1) will offer us hope, and 2) will join with us to fight this cancer, not just agree to succumb to it.  

Please continue to pray for us - we can feel the difference every time you all send up prayers, and those prayers are making a huge difference.

Marjolene sang for Lord's Supper Service on April, 21st, and for someone who can feel the increased number of cancerous nodules on her lungs, she did an AMAZING job (see the attached video for your viewing pleasure).

Thank you, again, for journeying with us and loving us ♥️

~The Roses~