The kind of surgery you want to have

Last Thursday the 14th Karen was scheduled for surgery - to have the chest port removed that delivered chemotherapy. This means that she has made it to a point where the risk of recurrence is much lower. We remain humbled by the fact that ovarian cancer has a high recurrence rate, as high as 90%, but after two years that drops dramatically. This is the best kind of surgery we could ask for!

August 2010 - still cancer free

About three weeks ago the latest round of tests came in and Karen remains cancer free! This is 2 1/2 years since chemotherapy ended. God is so good!

It was about three years ago now that Karen started seeing doctors about what appeared to be a very large tumor in her abdominal area. These were dark, painful days in our lives. The darkest day was August 28, when her surgery lasted over three hours and I sat in a conference room to have her surgeon come in and start with the words, "the news I have is not good". Then a round of phone calls to our daughters and other relatives and close friends, followed by seeing Karen come out of surgery, awaken and ask me, "so what's the prognosis?", and to tell her: "They found cancer", watching helplessly as the woman I love cried about how she would not see her daughters' weddings.

We endured this dark valley and have come to a more stable, secure place in life, but our security is grounded in God alone. There is no security besides Him.

Thank you for continued prayers....and check out our Facebook page.

2 years since chemotherapy - STILL CANCER FREE!

Karen went in for her most recent blood work. This is the first time she had done so since April 2009, close to 9 months ago. The CA125 test came in at only 4.3. It doesn't get better than this! She remains cancer free!

It has now been two years since Karen had her last chemotherapy treatment. We have been told that the first two years are the most critical in terms of a recurrence of ovarian cancer. It shows no signs of returning.

We are thankful! But we are mindful that this is against the odds. Ovarian cancer is a very tenacious disease. We have prayed for healing...but know many others have too, with different results. We can only rest in the goodness and will of God. He knows what He is doing, even when we don't.

Thank you for continued prayers...we are keeping this blog up as long as we need to, but you can also go to our Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/#/profile.php?ref=profile&id=1821552779

The good news continues

The latest blood work came back today. The CA-125 test was down to a 4. It doesn't get any lower than that, according to the OBGYN/oncologist.

As grateful and thankful as we are, we know this can always come back. Statistics aren't good. But you can't live by the statistics. That's not living; that's slavery.

Thank you for your ongoing prayer support and encouragement. And for rejoicing with us.

Prayer needed - tests tomorrow

Here's a photo of Karen with her mother last weekend. Her mom was so happy to see us!


We've all been so busy and caught up in life...yet I hear from many who read this blog regularly. Thank you for your messages here and e-mails to us. They mean a great deal to us.





Tomorrow Karen goes in for the next round of blood work. Though every test has come back at the lowest level possible, nothing is taken for granted. When we're caught up in carting children around to skating and dance lessons, going to church, hosting Easter dinner, seeing extended family, it's easy to forget that around the corner is cancer. The statistics aren't good. You would think after a year and a half of it being gone, we'd be thinking, good, it's over...but we're nowhere near that point. It seems with every few months that goes by, we're a little more nervous each time.





So please keep Karen in prayer. We never take for granted being able to come back with good news, as we have been able to so many times so far.



Thanks and God bless, praying for more good news...

Remembering Cathy Zander - one of our prayer warriors

We just learned today that Cathy Zander, one of many prayer warriors for us, passed away suddenly yesterday. No one is sure how, but we believe she had a stroke. She was 54 years young. Cathy was much loved by her children Laura and Matt, her husband Paul, many close friends. We met Cathy and her husband about a year ago and were moved by her energy, vivaciousness, and non-stop attitude toward life. Please keep her family in prayer during this painful time.

As for us, Karen continues in excellent health. We have also moved to a beautiful new and spacious home here in Burnsville. Please e-mail us at soulwise@msn.com if you want the new address.

Good news to start a new year

Hi all: We just got the latest quarterly test results back. The CA125, the benchmark for measuring cancer activity, came back at 5.3. This is even lower than the last time around. We are rejoicing!

We know you all rejoice with us and wanted to share this news as soon as we could. Thank you for your ongoing prayer support and kindnesses to us.

We don't pretend for a minute that the battle against cancer is over. It always lurks right around the corner. As these test results approached, I was in a veritable state of panic and fear, because the last three sets of results had all been good. Each time the rollercoaster seems to go a little higher.

Thank you again for your support and love

John & Karen