Hi friends! I know it has been a few weeks since I updated you all. After Greg's last appointment, we were given a few options for his treatment. We prayed over them and asked God to guide us to the right form of treatment. We felt a true peace about choosing immunotherapy. The best way we can describe this therapy is to say that this drug goes into Greg's body and paints (for lack of a better word) the bad cancer cells. This alerts his immune system that all of the "painted" cells are bad and it attacks them. We have been told that most people tolerate this drug quite well, with few if any side effects. He will receive this every other week. We would ask you to pray specifically that his body responds well to this therapy and he has no side effects. We would also ask you to pray that as we walk this journey you would help us to keep our focus on the Lord.
As we look back at our lives a year ago we can see the Lord's hand on our lives in so many ways. It was a year ago today that we were told the dreadful news that Greg had a brain tumor. Our lives changed that day and will never be the same. However, with every hurdle we were faced with, the Lord 's presence became even more evident to us. We would never have chosen to have cancer, however we also wouldn't want to give back all of the blessings he has bestowed upon us because of our cancer battle.
I remember when I was little we had a dog. Her name was Maggie and we loved her! However, she had a bad problem with biting. So, my father decided it was time to get rid of Maggie. He found a good home for her on a farm. I remember trying to decide if I wished I never had Maggie in our lives because the pain of having her only to lose her made it that much harder. I decided that having Maggie as our dog for even a day was so much fun, it was worth being sad once she was gone.
One thing about this journey is that it is hard. God has blessed us with meeting so many wonderful people we never would have met had we not had to walk down this path. However, walking down the cancer path means sometimes we will have to say good-bye to some of the most precious people. But just like Maggie, just getting to have them in our lives for a short time is worth the pain of having to say good-bye to them. Our dear friend, Mark shared the same diagnosis as Greg and they would talk on the phone quite often. They walked the path together. However, God decided to call Mark home on Thursday night. Please pray for his wife, Ann and his sons, Ryan and Adam.
Greg and Mark true brothers in Christ
Although some days we may struggle with our cancer walk, there are many days when God shines a huge light on us to make sure we know He is still in control and He still loves us so much! Over Thanksgiving, He definitely showed us how much He loves us!
If you know Greg, you know what a huge Colts fan he is. A few months ago I decided to write the Colts and ask them for a favor. I simply told them our story and wanted to know if they could bless us with tickets to a game. I prayed over the email and hit send. A few days later I got a sweet email from a girl named Kelsey. She told us they had 2 tickets for us. We were so excited. Then once the big day came, it got even better. Kelsey let us know that Chuck Pagano (head coach for the Colts) had said he wanted us to be his special guests. He treated us as such as well. We had amazing seats and he came over and talked to Greg for about 5 minutes about his treatment, his diagnosis, etc.. He genuinely cared! I know very little about football, but I know this man is a class act! He hugged us both and said to stay strong. I will never forget that and neither will Greg.
One of the things we weren't expecting was to see Peyton Manning there! It was neat to be able to get him to sign Greg's football as well.
Our kids all got to see the game as well, however, their seats were just a little bit higher up! ;o)
We celebrated Thanksgiving and Annie's birthday on the same day! Our baby is now 13!
We had a lot of fun on Black Friday! This is how this kids shopped at Old Navy.
Alex modeling a Santa hat from American Eagle
Saying good-bye at a gas station at the end of our trip.
We love you all and thank each of you for walking with us on this journey.
