Spoke with Trena last night...here is the latest on Evan in a nutshell:
He is in the comfort of his own home! Mom has to administer 4 different chemotherapy medications to him orally every 6 hours. This regimen began on Saturday night, and will continue until Wednesday morning. So far, he is tolerating the medications well.
Tentatively, they will go back to Seattle on February 1 for his first IV chemotherapy treatment. On February 15, he will have another round of IV chemotherapy, prayerfully at the Children's Hospital in Tri-Cities.
That is the news for now. I will keep you updated as I can. Trena is currently without computer.
Please continue to keep the family in your prayers.
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Prayers for Evan
Evan is having the port placed today for his future chemo treatments. Please keep him in your prayers.
Friday, January 8, 2010
January 8, 2010
Dearest Family and Friends~
Just thought I would give a brief update concerning Evan. We went over to Seattle for an appointment with Evan's oncologist today. The prognosis is that we will be starting chemo on Evan next week. David and I plan to go over on Wednesday afternoon as Evan has an out-patient surgery to put in a port for the chemo. Then on Friday afternoon, the plan is to have labs drawn, see his oncologist and then have his first chemo treatment. After Evan is stable, we will plan to head back home. These chemo treatments will take a period of 1 year. I don't have the complete schedule, but that will all be made known and written down next week when we get started.
Seattle Children's hospital is starting a pediatric cancer treatment wing at Kadlec Hospital in Richland. AND, Evan's oncologist is the one that is going to be supervising this new addition to Kadlec Hospital. So, when Evan needs to go in for his IV chemo, we will be able to go to Richland, rather than Seattle! But, his oncologist still wants us to return to Seattle Children's Hospital for his MRI's and the special eye test that he will have to have every 3 months. We are thankful that a majority of Evan's chemo treatments can be in Richland, rather than having to drive over to Seattle.
Evan's medical insurance will cover all the medical expenses, but will not cover the "outside" expenses, so to speak. He will continue his herbs and nutritional supplements from his natureopath, also.
As you can see, lots going on and we continue to trust God, even though we don't understand or even know why..............we are not called to understand or even know why, just to walk close to God and completely trust Him with everything that we have and everyone that we know and love.................This is something that one can talk about, but where the "rubber meets the road" is when something or someone is threatened or even taken away from you and you have to ask yourself, "Am I living what I am preaching?" We pray that our lives are doing just that.
With all that said, we still don't hesitate to ask you for your continued prayers and support.
We appreciate your thoughts, prayers, encouragement and support. We thank God for the network of people that he has placed in our lives! God's richest blessings to you all!
Blessings,
David and Trena
Just thought I would give a brief update concerning Evan. We went over to Seattle for an appointment with Evan's oncologist today. The prognosis is that we will be starting chemo on Evan next week. David and I plan to go over on Wednesday afternoon as Evan has an out-patient surgery to put in a port for the chemo. Then on Friday afternoon, the plan is to have labs drawn, see his oncologist and then have his first chemo treatment. After Evan is stable, we will plan to head back home. These chemo treatments will take a period of 1 year. I don't have the complete schedule, but that will all be made known and written down next week when we get started.
Seattle Children's hospital is starting a pediatric cancer treatment wing at Kadlec Hospital in Richland. AND, Evan's oncologist is the one that is going to be supervising this new addition to Kadlec Hospital. So, when Evan needs to go in for his IV chemo, we will be able to go to Richland, rather than Seattle! But, his oncologist still wants us to return to Seattle Children's Hospital for his MRI's and the special eye test that he will have to have every 3 months. We are thankful that a majority of Evan's chemo treatments can be in Richland, rather than having to drive over to Seattle.
Evan's medical insurance will cover all the medical expenses, but will not cover the "outside" expenses, so to speak. He will continue his herbs and nutritional supplements from his natureopath, also.
As you can see, lots going on and we continue to trust God, even though we don't understand or even know why..............we are not called to understand or even know why, just to walk close to God and completely trust Him with everything that we have and everyone that we know and love.................This is something that one can talk about, but where the "rubber meets the road" is when something or someone is threatened or even taken away from you and you have to ask yourself, "Am I living what I am preaching?" We pray that our lives are doing just that.
With all that said, we still don't hesitate to ask you for your continued prayers and support.
We appreciate your thoughts, prayers, encouragement and support. We thank God for the network of people that he has placed in our lives! God's richest blessings to you all!
Blessings,
David and Trena
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
January 6, 2010
Please pray for David, Trena, and Evan as they travel to Seattle today for another appointment with the oncologist, which will be on Thursday. Pray for safe travels, and that all would go according to God's awesome plan.
Thanks much!
Thanks much!
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
December 2009 Update
Evan's last appointment in Seattle was on December 2. Brently, Evan and I all went over the day before as his appointment day at Children's Hospital consisted of 6 different appointments. It was a very long day and I am thankful that Brently was there to help me and keep me company.
The day started with an appointment at the Opthalmology Clinic at 9 a.m. for an Electroretinogram. This was to get a more accurate measure of Evan's vision. His exam entailed the doctor putting several electrodes on his head to get a reading when he looked at a screen for contrasting and I think, perefial (sp?) vision. This doctor did not talk alot of details but did say that he even doubted that Evan even had counting fingers vision in his left eye, if any vision at all. His right eye, as we found out later from the test results, showed that there are also concerns with his "good" eye. Either the tumor or his surgery from 2 1/2 yrs. ago has probably done permanent damage to his good eye. His acuity vision is about 20/30 but the contrasting and perefial (sp?) vision is almost non-existant.
Evan's 2nd appointment was with the opthalmologist where they dialated his eyes for more vision tests. The diagnosis was pretty much the same as was in August. The doctor would like to follow up with another electroretinogram the next time we return.
Evan's 3rd and 4th appointments was Radiology Anesthesia and his MRI. He wasn't real co-operative as he was so hungry. His MRI was at 11:30 and he wasn't able to have any food since 6:30 a.m. I am going to insist on a morning MRI the next time we have to do this. It took him a long time to wake up from the anesthesia, making him a bit late for his last two appointments. So, the nurses called the Neurosurgery Clinic to send someone down to where he was waking up from his MRI so that they could program his shunt. They have to do this every time he has an MRI.
Evan's last appointment was with his oncologist. He stated that there were not any significant changes that showed up on the MRI, so his recommendation would be to do another MRI in 6 months. But, he said that he would have to put this before the TUMOR BOARD and see if everyone was in agreement with this.
We left with pretty high spirits and headed home from Seattle.
On December 11 I received a phone call from the oncologist telling me that the TUMOR BOARD along with himself had a change of plans and wanted to get Evan in soon to start chemotherapy. I was totally not expecting this, so needless to say, I was in tears. It was explained to me that because of the concern of the bad results from the eye tests that something needed to be done.
So, here we are, today, waiting on things to get set up for another out-patient surgery for a port to be put in Evan's chest where they will be able to administer the chemotherapy as needed. Our hearts are heavy and we feel like our faith is weak.
We will try to keep better postings concerning Evan's appointments and such. Until then, we would truly appreciate your prayers, support, encouragement and hugs. We know that God has a plan, but right now, we don't have a clue what it really is. We thank God for each moment of each day we have been given.
Blessings,
David and Trena
The day started with an appointment at the Opthalmology Clinic at 9 a.m. for an Electroretinogram. This was to get a more accurate measure of Evan's vision. His exam entailed the doctor putting several electrodes on his head to get a reading when he looked at a screen for contrasting and I think, perefial (sp?) vision. This doctor did not talk alot of details but did say that he even doubted that Evan even had counting fingers vision in his left eye, if any vision at all. His right eye, as we found out later from the test results, showed that there are also concerns with his "good" eye. Either the tumor or his surgery from 2 1/2 yrs. ago has probably done permanent damage to his good eye. His acuity vision is about 20/30 but the contrasting and perefial (sp?) vision is almost non-existant.
Evan's 2nd appointment was with the opthalmologist where they dialated his eyes for more vision tests. The diagnosis was pretty much the same as was in August. The doctor would like to follow up with another electroretinogram the next time we return.
Evan's 3rd and 4th appointments was Radiology Anesthesia and his MRI. He wasn't real co-operative as he was so hungry. His MRI was at 11:30 and he wasn't able to have any food since 6:30 a.m. I am going to insist on a morning MRI the next time we have to do this. It took him a long time to wake up from the anesthesia, making him a bit late for his last two appointments. So, the nurses called the Neurosurgery Clinic to send someone down to where he was waking up from his MRI so that they could program his shunt. They have to do this every time he has an MRI.
Evan's last appointment was with his oncologist. He stated that there were not any significant changes that showed up on the MRI, so his recommendation would be to do another MRI in 6 months. But, he said that he would have to put this before the TUMOR BOARD and see if everyone was in agreement with this.
We left with pretty high spirits and headed home from Seattle.
On December 11 I received a phone call from the oncologist telling me that the TUMOR BOARD along with himself had a change of plans and wanted to get Evan in soon to start chemotherapy. I was totally not expecting this, so needless to say, I was in tears. It was explained to me that because of the concern of the bad results from the eye tests that something needed to be done.
So, here we are, today, waiting on things to get set up for another out-patient surgery for a port to be put in Evan's chest where they will be able to administer the chemotherapy as needed. Our hearts are heavy and we feel like our faith is weak.
We will try to keep better postings concerning Evan's appointments and such. Until then, we would truly appreciate your prayers, support, encouragement and hugs. We know that God has a plan, but right now, we don't have a clue what it really is. We thank God for each moment of each day we have been given.
Blessings,
David and Trena
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
November 17, 2009 Update
Evan is scheduled for another MRI and several other appointments on the 2nd of December. I will plan to go over the day before as his first appointment of several will begin at 9 a.m.
Evan also has a natureopath appointment in Hemiston on November 30.
Evan continues to take 7 different special herbs, vitamins and such for his well-being, prescribed by his natureopath. Evan is such a trooper to take these capsules several times a day, mixed with applesauce. He sometimes like to alternate bites with a smoked oyster. He loves oysters, so we don't mind that he eats them as long as he also gets his meds. Some of these meds are taken 6x a day!
Prayer Requests would be for safe traveling to Hermiston, Seattle and back home; good reports with Evan's doctors (ophthomolgist, oncologist and natureopath); God's peace for the "what-if's" that seem to be bombarding my mind.
The on-going prayers, support, encouragement and donations have been so appreciated and felt by our family. THANK YOU so much! Evan's insurance continues to cover his medical appointments but nothing is covered for the natureopath and all that is being prescribed. We are so thankful for many people's donations to help pay for these "extra" expenses.
Until next time,
David, Trena and family
Evan also has a natureopath appointment in Hemiston on November 30.
Evan continues to take 7 different special herbs, vitamins and such for his well-being, prescribed by his natureopath. Evan is such a trooper to take these capsules several times a day, mixed with applesauce. He sometimes like to alternate bites with a smoked oyster. He loves oysters, so we don't mind that he eats them as long as he also gets his meds. Some of these meds are taken 6x a day!
Prayer Requests would be for safe traveling to Hermiston, Seattle and back home; good reports with Evan's doctors (ophthomolgist, oncologist and natureopath); God's peace for the "what-if's" that seem to be bombarding my mind.
The on-going prayers, support, encouragement and donations have been so appreciated and felt by our family. THANK YOU so much! Evan's insurance continues to cover his medical appointments but nothing is covered for the natureopath and all that is being prescribed. We are so thankful for many people's donations to help pay for these "extra" expenses.
Until next time,
David, Trena and family
Friday, October 16, 2009
Update from August - October 16, 2009
Evan's MRI on the 28th of August was done in Seattle at Children's Hospital. He also had an appointment with an opthomologist in Seattle at Children's. It was a very full day of appointments and then having to drive home in rush hour Seattle traffic!
His oncologist said that there was not significant growth from the MRI that was taken in August to the one taken in May. So, his recommendation was to do another MRI in 3-4 months and continue with this routine until we see significant growth (to which we would have to start chemotherapy) or decrease in size (which would hopefully over time, stretch out the time span that we do the MRI's).
His opthomologist appointment brought some surprises for us that we were not aware of. Evan has 20/40 vision in his right eye (not abnormal for his age) and "counting fingers" vision in his left eye. The dr. said that this was most likely caused from the tumor itself and/or from his surgery 2 years ago. She said the damage was permanent. The dr. checked his retina and eyeball and everything was normal.
Yesterday, the 13th of October, we had an appointment with Evan's natureopath. Since there were not any significant changes from the two MRI's, he changed some of his natural meds and is putting him on some stronger anti-oxidants and such.
We are so thankful for God's faithfulness in our home, family and Evan's life! He has proven His faithfulness again and again! We are also so thankful for everyone's prayers, support, encouragement and monetary gifts.
Evan's bank account funds that are set up in his name have been such a blessing. So many people have been generous and have donated on his behalf. What a blessing this has been!! We have used these donations to help pay for the nutritional supplements that his natureopath has him on and that his insurance will not cover.
Evan is on 6 different supplement/natural meds and one of them he has to take 2 capsules 6 times a day! When we went to his appointment yesterday, the bill was over $250. I have estimated that it costs approximately $300 per month just for these meds/supplements. Sometimes a little more and sometimes just under that amount.
Again, we are so thankful that we have the funds in these accounts to cover his expenses. Thank you so much for donating and remembering to pray for us and Evan. We feel our lives being bathed in them and the sustaining power of God's love overshadowing us each and every day!
Our prayer is that God would use our lives, home and family to glorify Him in all that we do and say and all that we go through in this life here on earth. May God ALWAYS be glorified!
Blessings,
David and Trena
His oncologist said that there was not significant growth from the MRI that was taken in August to the one taken in May. So, his recommendation was to do another MRI in 3-4 months and continue with this routine until we see significant growth (to which we would have to start chemotherapy) or decrease in size (which would hopefully over time, stretch out the time span that we do the MRI's).
His opthomologist appointment brought some surprises for us that we were not aware of. Evan has 20/40 vision in his right eye (not abnormal for his age) and "counting fingers" vision in his left eye. The dr. said that this was most likely caused from the tumor itself and/or from his surgery 2 years ago. She said the damage was permanent. The dr. checked his retina and eyeball and everything was normal.
Yesterday, the 13th of October, we had an appointment with Evan's natureopath. Since there were not any significant changes from the two MRI's, he changed some of his natural meds and is putting him on some stronger anti-oxidants and such.
We are so thankful for God's faithfulness in our home, family and Evan's life! He has proven His faithfulness again and again! We are also so thankful for everyone's prayers, support, encouragement and monetary gifts.
Evan's bank account funds that are set up in his name have been such a blessing. So many people have been generous and have donated on his behalf. What a blessing this has been!! We have used these donations to help pay for the nutritional supplements that his natureopath has him on and that his insurance will not cover.
Evan is on 6 different supplement/natural meds and one of them he has to take 2 capsules 6 times a day! When we went to his appointment yesterday, the bill was over $250. I have estimated that it costs approximately $300 per month just for these meds/supplements. Sometimes a little more and sometimes just under that amount.
Again, we are so thankful that we have the funds in these accounts to cover his expenses. Thank you so much for donating and remembering to pray for us and Evan. We feel our lives being bathed in them and the sustaining power of God's love overshadowing us each and every day!
Our prayer is that God would use our lives, home and family to glorify Him in all that we do and say and all that we go through in this life here on earth. May God ALWAYS be glorified!
Blessings,
David and Trena
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