Wednesday, April 4, 2007

Rex came through the gall bladder removal surgery great with lots of promise. He initially had less pain as he wasn't needing near the pain meds that he needed up to surgery. Shortly after his surgery, he started having pain in his spleen area and kidney/adrenal gland area. We are not sure if indeed these are the affected areas, but the pain radiates from where those organs are located.

He is losing weight again.

His pain has considerably increased in the last ten days. He has for several months now not slept more than 4 - 5 hours a night because the pain is worse at night. We originally attributed that to his gall bladder, but it has continued after the surgery. Last night was the worst night as he slept maybe 2 hours and could not get any relief from pain meds at all. He had been able to manage his pain up until this past week.

Since last week, it seems that he only gets 1-2 hours relief after taking meds; then last night, he didn't feel any relief with them.

He attempted to go to work today; it was all he could do to get up and go.

He has been discouraged these last few weeks thinking that this was too big for him to beat. This is to the point of being a total God thing for us. We have done all that we know to do to boost his immune system and strengthen his body.

This morning, I have hit my point of total reliance on God's supernatural healing with Rex' body because I don't know of anything else that I or we could be doing to help him as far as cancer is concerned. I guess in some ways, it seems, that we have been trying to heal Rex in our own strength over this past year. While that may have been a small part of our motive, I think the greater thought on our part, was that we have learned and realized more and more over this past year how very important it is to give your body the nutrients that God created our bodies to need in order to maintain health and prevent most illnesses.

I don't know if cancer is ravaging his body or not; the surgeon didn't seem to think that it was a real threat, but the pain these days has not been explained by any other fault.

If cancer is the culprit of his pain, pray for God's healing to Rex' body. If it is not cancer, pray for his doctors' to have wisdom and an alert mind to determine the cause of his pain and fix it. Pray for us to know exactly what to do each hour, each day regarding his health whether it is to take him here or there or to do this treatment or that treatment. We desperately need God's guidance, direction, and healing right now.

As always, thank you for caring and praying for us,

Donna Meadows

Thursday, March 1, 2007

We are home from Rex' surgery. God blessed and gave us our best scenario. The surgeon removed the disesased gall bladder and one lymph node nearby. He took a good look at Rex' liver, stomach, esophagus, and lymph nodes in the area and said that they all looked good and normal. He didn't see anything to really be concerned about. He was able to do this surgery by laparoscopy, so his recovery time will be minimal; The surgeon said he should feel much better in a couple of days.

Thank you for praying for us. Ever since I sent the last email, God has sent people to minister to us and especially to encourage Rex. Rex has been brought to tears many times this morning as he has just been thankful for God's goodness and mercy in his life.

To God be the glory,

Donna Meadows

Monday, February 26, 2007

Since the last update, we have learned that Rex has essentially zero function in his gall bladder. He has increasingly had more pain because of it. He has done natural gall bladder/liver flushes trying to get a handle on this, but they typically are helpful only if gallstones or toxic bile is involved. When the gall bladder ceases to function, natural flushes just don't help; they might have helped him several years ago, but I believe it is a mute point now.

Rex is scheduled to have his gall bladder removed by laparoscopy this Thursday morning at 7:30am at the Iredell Surgical Center in Statesville. He is also going to take a good look at the area surrounding the gall bladder, namely the liver, stomach, esophagus, and lymph nodes. The surgeon will not be able to look at his adrenal gland or spleen as they are not easily reached with this surgery.

The surgeon believes that 5 years ago his gall bladder was probably only functioning at 25% and should have been removed back then. It is also possible that the acid reflux developed from his diseased gall bladder, which could be a reason why the cancer developed in Rex' esophagus. We already know that there is a common link between acid reflux and adenocarcinoma in the esophagus.

While to many, this may seem like a fairly common surgery, considering all of the circumstances, we are anxious about it. There is the anxiety that we could possibly hear more cancer news with this surgery. My hope is that all of his pain will cease with this surgery, and that he will have immediate relief.

I have seen the toll that this pain in the area of his gall bladder has taken on him these last few months as it has increasingly gotten worse. The pain has been unbearable for him at times, yet he continues to work and relatively carry on as normally as possible. I have seen the exhaustion from the lack of sleep at night; he is in more pain lying down and typically is up several hours at night. Sometimes, he resorts to sleeping in a chair which is less than desirable. I have seen the side effects of the pain meds cause other issues, specifically, tremendous constipation. There have been times that he has had to resort to tolerating overwhelming pain by not taking any pain meds just to get his bowels to move. He has tried over the counter stuff, prescription stuff, and natural stuff trying to combat his constipation while taking pain meds. The only real relief comes when he abstains and gets off of pain meds for a period of time. I have seen him rise to fulfill his roles as provider, husband, and father when he has felt like staying in bed and/or doing nothing. He has truly exhibited himself as a survivor this last year and into these last few months of difficult living.

I would be lying if I said that this hasn't taken a toll on me because it has in a different way.

Emotionally, I think we are both concerned that the surgery will not alleviate his symptoms. Logically, his symptoms are consistent with the zero function of his gall bladder. I would not be surprised if all of the anxiety, pain, and emotional toll with Rex' gall bladder has not given the cancer an advantage in his body. When the body is under stress or pain, it is hard for the immune system to stay strong. At this point, if there is no alleviation, we don't know of any other alternatives. We have done all that we know to do to build his immune system, get the nutrients in his body in balance, and detoxify/flush his body of impurities/toxins. The chemo has already damaged his heart to a degree (he is considered a cardiac risk), so that is not really a helpful option either.

I am not trying to paint a picture of doom and gloom. We have thought of this from the best scenario to the worst scenario; we are very aware of the importance of Thursday's surgery to Rex' health and future with us.

Pray that God will protect the surgeon's hand throughout this entire process. Pray for God's wisdom to be imparted to the surgeon as he takes a look around at the surrounding organs and tissue. Pray for protection from all of the various complications that can arise during surgery, and that they will be able to do this successfully by laparoscopy. Pray that Rex' gall bladder is without a doubt the main culprit of his pain and that Rex will have a full recovery to health. Pray for our emotions. Pray that we will give God glory no matter what we learn. Pray for Rex to be encouraged in the time leading up to this Thursday and also afterwards.

Donna Meadows

Friday, January 26, 2007

This is really just a prayer request. Of course, all of my updates are prayer requests, but this one has a little more ugency with it.

Rex has had a really hard week this week. He has been in quite a bit of pain around the clock. At the beginning of the month, we and his oncologist thought that it was consistent with gallbladder trouble; then, he had the ultrasound that didn't show gall stones. So, Rex, in his mind, reverted his thinking to the cancer causing the pain. Now, he has decided that his gallbladder is the culprit of most, if not all, of his pain. When we first thought that the problem was his gallbladder, he started doing gallbladder flushes daily sometimes twice daily; his pain level went from an 8 to around 2-4 and even no pain at times. Then, after the ultrasound, he quit doing the flushes and his pain increased again to a consistent level of 8. So, whether his gallbladder is involved or not, the flush was helping.

Since everything is connected, when one part of our body is out of sync, it affects neighboring body functions. The excessive bile being produced is affecting his acid reflux which adds to his discomfort and is not good considering he had cancer in his esophagus (which commonly afflicts people with acid reflux). As he is trying to cleanse his gall bladder and empower his body with massive doses of vitamin C, his body is resisting because of the side effect of constipation from his pain medicine. At this point, everything he eats is bothering him now, producing pain and nausea. Then, he doesn't want to eat, and he is weak from not nourishing his body.

On top of that, Rex' job (which only has about 10 employees in their branch) is more demanding these days. They just recently lost two of their employees, which has put a bigger load on the rest of them. He needs to just have several days where he can get his body back in sync and functioning better, but it's hard when he really can't take more than a day here and there which he has had to do the last couple of weeks just so he can function the rest of the week.

I ask you to pray for his strength as he is going to try to work today (he stayed home yesterday and felt lousy all day and really felt lousy this morning too); please pray for their office to have a time blessing; pray for God to show us what to do to get Rex' body functioning better. Pray for Rex to be encouraged today.

As always, thank you for caring for us and praying for Rex so consistently,

Donna Meadows

Thursday, January 4, 2007

Today marked the one year anniversary of finding Rex' cancer. In some ways, it seems like this year has flown by, but in other ways, I think we have experienced more this past year than I have experienced in many years of my life. I know that there has been growth in our lives; it is easier to see this growth in Rex than myself obviously, but I know that I have grown if nothing else than I know my thought processes are different about what is important and what's not so important.

The last few months have been marked with intermittent to around the clock pain for Rex. It first started in October and was occasional. It progressed to a daily pain through the holidays. He has been combating it with pain pills, some over the counter and some prescription. It has been somewhat discouraging as his pain has been very severe at times. The bad thing about having cancer is that you assume everything is associated with the disease; it really doesn't leave an open mind to other issues. I have found that this thought process carries over in the medical field, as well. Doctors also usually treat pains as probably cancer related once you have the "diagnosis."

We have been praying about what to do about this pain. Even though we have been given very little hope with chemo (not that it is anything fun to consider in the first place), we have found ourselves doubting what we have thought we are to do prior to this pain; we've found ourselves asking if Rex should take chemo after all. It's really just panic talk. It is sometimes hard to think clearly in the midst of trials.

One of the main reasons that we have thought that it was related to Rex' cancer is because of the location of the pain. It is through the area where his affected adrenal gland is and also his liver area. However, we just realized tonight that it is also the area affected with gall bladder disease or attacks. I personally believe that this is exactly what his pain is coming from. I feel in my heart that this pain he has been having is related to his gall bladder and not the adrenal gland. We finally figured out that it hits him most of the time after he eats; the middle of the night attacks were the ones throwing us off about this. We also know that his healthy eating went downhill to a certain degree once we got heavily involved in The Promise (play at our church). And, with him having been pretty strict up to that point, it probably didn't take much to throw his gall bladder for a loop. We also know that his white blood cell count in his November blood panel showed elevated levels; this is consistent with gall bladder disease, as well. We didn't put all of these pieces together until tonight. Of course, I have no medical confirmation that this is his gall bladder acting up, but that will come soon enough as Rex has a dr. appt. on Tuesday so that we can explore this option.

Natural treatments for gall bladder issues include drinking lemon juice with extra virgin olive oil. Mighty tasty concoction I'll say! Juice fasts of carrots and apples help this process along. So, Rex is enjoying this wonderful mixture in the meantime to see if he has any relief.

Our pastor has encouraged us over the years to ask God for a verse each year to mark that year. This year Rex believes that our verse is Ephesians 3:20.

Ephesians 3:20 Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us,

I usually try to set at least one specific goal each year and try to encourage our children to set goal(s) whether they be as simple as making their bed everyday or no whining. This year as I thought about what goal or goals I would like to set for myself, I really just didn't have any great things come to mind. I think I am asking God for a year of miracles for us. I think the goal that comes to mind the most for me is just to embrace each day to the fullest. Carpe diem! This is not a specific goal unlike my usual goals. Nevertheless, it is a goal.

I remember last year as the year was getting ready to turn over to 2006, Rex and I sat down one afternoon and just talked for several hours about our desires and goals for 2006. We wrote them down, prayed over them, and felt really good about them. Little did we know that just a few days later we were going to face the biggest trial we had ever faced. I am so glad we had that time together that afternoon. It was unpolluted and sincere. I think that it had a huge impact even on how we handled the news of Rex' cancer.

I hope that you make it a common practice to do goal setting and achieving. It doesn't have to be a once a year thing. Some goals may only take a few months to master, so you can set new ones mid-year. My biggest thing about setting goals is that I try to be realistic about them and not set something unachievable. As we grow and mature as people and as Christians, our goals can be set higher to coincide with our maturity.

2007 is a new year! We are looking forward to God doing "exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think."

Where does God find you in 2007?

Donna Meadows