It has been a very hard week for us! We have gone from planning on 3 more months of chemo - with the the finish line in sight (although we never expected the beast to go that easily) to a totally new treatment plan. We have reminded ourselves that while we fully trust and believe in God’s healing power, we need to trust in His timing. We have had a difficult time “rebooting” ourselves as we seemingly will be starting right from the beginning again, with surgery and more chemo cycles. Another cycle through the wringer! It was interesting for us to hear from our kids that they had no idea what Loretta was talking about when she said that I was putting us through the wringer before I get better. They have now seen pictures of wringer washers!
The last blog post asked that you pray that we could be courageous and hopeful as we await the next treatment plan, and that the Tocagen clinical study (http://tocagen.com/) would be reopened, and that I would be deemed to be a suitable candidate. We expected a timeline of 2-3 weeks before hearing back about the study and about my possible involvement. Thank you for your prayers as we had a meeting this past Friday with the head of the study in Edmonton. The study has been opened again, much sooner than expected and the doctor thinks that I would meet the study criteria - tall, dark, and handsome! The trial involves an initial surgery to remove the tumour, which is much smaller than the initial one, and then the injection of a virus into the tumour that can’t be resected. From there it goes Star Wars-science as the Tocagen treatment seeks out the virus and interacts with it to create smart chemo (only 50% of the study participants receive the tocagen drug) that will attack only the GBM in the brain. Many of you fine friends have suggested that I can ill afford to be losing brain cells! We have decided to take part in the clinical study, if I get accepted.
We sense strongly that God is directing us in this direction. This will likely mean a surgery in November. It amazes us on a daily basis how God is directing us through this beastly fight, with prayer, support and all kinds of small miracles and Godly fingerprints. We have the following prayer requests for the next steps (this always seems a bit unnecessary/weird to be so specific when we trust that GOD knows His plan and OUR needs; yet we know that God also invites us to pray with passion and purpose):
Pray that we continue to trust God on this journey and that we move from “can we do it again?" to “we can do it again”.
Pray for God’s continued presence in our life, giving us daily strength and courage.
Pray that the surgery will go well.
Pray that I will qualify for the clinical study and then that I will receive the Tocagen medication.
We will have a number of treatment option/decisions ahead - please pray for God’s clear hand of direction and guidance and for us to listen carefully.
The last blog post asked that you pray that we could be courageous and hopeful as we await the next treatment plan, and that the Tocagen clinical study (http://tocagen.com/) would be reopened, and that I would be deemed to be a suitable candidate. We expected a timeline of 2-3 weeks before hearing back about the study and about my possible involvement. Thank you for your prayers as we had a meeting this past Friday with the head of the study in Edmonton. The study has been opened again, much sooner than expected and the doctor thinks that I would meet the study criteria - tall, dark, and handsome! The trial involves an initial surgery to remove the tumour, which is much smaller than the initial one, and then the injection of a virus into the tumour that can’t be resected. From there it goes Star Wars-science as the Tocagen treatment seeks out the virus and interacts with it to create smart chemo (only 50% of the study participants receive the tocagen drug) that will attack only the GBM in the brain. Many of you fine friends have suggested that I can ill afford to be losing brain cells! We have decided to take part in the clinical study, if I get accepted.
We sense strongly that God is directing us in this direction. This will likely mean a surgery in November. It amazes us on a daily basis how God is directing us through this beastly fight, with prayer, support and all kinds of small miracles and Godly fingerprints. We have the following prayer requests for the next steps (this always seems a bit unnecessary/weird to be so specific when we trust that GOD knows His plan and OUR needs; yet we know that God also invites us to pray with passion and purpose):
Pray that we continue to trust God on this journey and that we move from “can we do it again?" to “we can do it again”.
Pray for God’s continued presence in our life, giving us daily strength and courage.
Pray that the surgery will go well.
Pray that I will qualify for the clinical study and then that I will receive the Tocagen medication.
We will have a number of treatment option/decisions ahead - please pray for God’s clear hand of direction and guidance and for us to listen carefully.
Courage and Comfort
This past week God directed me to this song - Comfort My People - from one of my favourite musicians, Steve Bell.
The lyrics remind me of the powers of God - He seems to be nudging and reminding me:
Doug, do you not know, have you not heard, have you not understood... that I can do this and will provide all that you need!!
I also see God’s creative hand in the Tocagen treatment as well.
Comfort My People
Do you know
Have you not heard
Has it been told you from the first
Have you not understood
From the forming of the earth
He sits enthroned
Above the world
And sets the heavens like a tent
A place for us to live in
A place for all to live
Who has measured the waters
In the hollow of His hands
Do you know
Who has marked off the heavens
With the breath of His word
Do you know
Comfort my people
Comfort my people
Says the Lord
He brought out
The starry host
One by one He called them by name
Why do you still complain
That He doesn’t know your ways
Lift your eyes
And look to see
Who created all of these
And never more complain
That He doesn’t know your ways
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