We will praise you in our storm......

So today we heard some good news and some not so good news. Good news: there are no new mets in Marcus' liver, spleen, pancreas, etc...THANK YOU JESUS!!! Not so good news: the tumors in his lungs have grown and do not appear to be responding to IL-2.

So, Dr. Kim has suggested he begin a chemo cocktail called CVD (Cisplatin, Vinblastine, & Dacarbazine)......he can possibly do this locally with Dr. Lavalais (Marcus loves her and hopes she will take this on) if she feels comfortable with it. If not, we will go to MD Anderson to get this treatment. He will go 4 days-all outpatient, have treatments for about 4 hrs each day, then get 17 day break, repeat 4 days, then 17 day break, then scan again. In the meantime, they are going to try again for BRAF testing on the cells from his biopsy in Sept..and see if they can test the cells from the fluid they removed from his lung over the weekend.

Some of you may be disappointed and feel your prayers are not working-please do not feel this way. We know that God is in control and we are waiting patiently for Him to heal Marcus-and we will continue to "praise Him in this storm"-our faith is not shaken-and we pray neither is yours. Marcus and I have felt drawn to Jesus, more than ever and we are ready to battle! So the devil better get ready-we are not letting this slow us down!

If Dr. Lavalais is on board, Marcus could start this treatment by wed or thurs-so we need all prayers to continue-this treatment is 3 different chemos all at once and it will be rough...but Marcus is ready-willing to do whatever God offers him to fight this monster called Melanoma.

So please watch/listen to the video above and do not let the devil shake your faith-Marcus isn't, and neither am I.....So stand strong with us and PRAY, PRAY, PRAY!!!!!

We love you all so very much and thank you for all the text messages, emails and phone calls to check on us!!!

Home, but not for long

well, we spent black friday in the ER at MD Anderson...not our first choice of places to be-but, Marcus was really feeling short of breath and called Dr. Kim-and of course he wanted him to come in-and i am SO thankful that Marcus agreed-he ended up having pleural effusion and they had to remove 1900ml (half gallon) of fluid from his pleural cavity!!!! i told him i didn't even see how he could breathe at all !!! anyways, good news is, since they saw he was already scheduled for CT today, they would do it all then...so about midnight friday, he got the full CT of chest/abdomen/pelvis! of course, the ER drs would not give us any insight-they want us to wait and get the word from Dr. Kim today....so today we will visit MD Anderson again and see what's going on-we are still faithfully believing that God will heal Marcus and we will not accept any bad news today! we are patiently waiting, trusting God and know in our hearts that Marcus will get through this-it is just a little mountain he has to ask God to move for him-but not impossible-nothing is impossible through Christ!!

if tumors are responding, Marcus will admit for another round of IL-2...if not, he will discuss with Dr. Kim a new plan of attack! he is NOT giving up and will NOT let melanoma win! so all you faithful prayer warriors, keep praying!!!! we love you all and thank you for your continued support of our little family. more posts to come.....

Walk by Faith-everyday

You know, living in our 5th wheel has been very interesting-some days I feel like screaming, some days crying-then other days I truly feel that we are blessed beyond words. The closeness we have felt over the past month is amazing-although I will admit, sometimes Marcus has to remind me-but we have been a closer family because of our surroundings-we have no other choice ;) But seriously, we know that this is situation is temporary, and God is working all around us, getting things in order(mainly healing Marcus by making those tumors go away!)-we just have to "Walk by Faith", even when we cannot see!! Sometimes the world (or the devil) makes it easy to get distracted or frustrated about our lives or situations-we are always so impatient and want things done our way-NOW! I admit that I am like that A LOT-but I try very hard to let go of those feelings and I pray for God to get me through with patience. I know for years the devil really worked on me and made me believe that because of my past mistakes or my genetics, I would one day, eventually, go down a path of destruction and there was nothing I could do about it.....THANK YOU LORD for showing me that this is NOT true!!! Jesus has already paid for our sins-done-we are forgiven! All we have to learn is that we must repent, ask Jesus to come into our hearts and lives-and live our lives the way He wants us to-bottom line. The devil cannot win that war-unless we let him-so I decided a long time ago that God would win me-NOT the devil!! And every day I truly "Walk by Faith" and pray for guidance-won't you join me????

Please watch the Jeremy Camp video attached-he is very talented and I have not found a song that I didn't like from him-he is truly blessed with a unique way to get the message and word of God out to people through his music. Thank you Jeremy Camp for following through with the path God has for you!!!

TOTALLY THANKFUL

 

So, we have been home a few days now and trying to get back to normal life-whatever that is ;) Marcus is doing good-still pretty tired and coughing some-but he is just trying to enjoy every second he has home-before we go back nov. 30 for another week of IL-2. Things are going well with the girls, but it is still a struggle to get Sela to discuss her feelings-her teachers told me today that she had a rough day today-and I talked to her this afternoon-she is just so worried about her daddy. Marcus and I will talk to her again together, but I simply reassured her that God is in control and we just have to pray for strength and peace to accept whatever comes. Her main worry is about losing her daddy. Which I completely understand, because of course, that is my main worry too. But I explained to her how I pray daily (sometimes several times a day) for God to grant me the strength to get through all this and the peace to accept whatever happens-even if that means God needs daddy in heaven more than we need daddy down here. I explained to her that God doesn't always answer our prayers the way we pray them, but He always has a plan and He will always take care of us. No matter what, we will be ok. Sounds like I have it all together, huh? NOT REALLY-you should have seen me saturday when I had a mini-meltdown on the way home! BUT, it doesn't mean I don't completely trust God in His plan-because I do-I just keep prayin for the strength to accept whatever plan that is. And, like I told Sela, none of us is guaranteed one second on earth. We all need to enjoy each other and the time we have because cancer, or no cancer, we could all be gone from here tomorrow. I am so thankful for my sweet girls. God truly blessed us with some angels. So I am attaching a few shots of Sela & Sloane from this afternoon, being silly girls, like normal! Thank you God for letting me enjoy them on earth-however long that is....

Ready to go!!

Marcus is feeling MUCH better.  He hardly slept last night, so this morning he felt bad.  But got him a nap and we walked around more and he is better.  He just ate supper and is ready to go home!! Dr says he can tomorrow as long as he continues to lose the fluid and his levels stay good-and so far so good!  We are so ready!!  Thank you all for your continued prayers-we appreciate them so much!!!

What faith can do

Click and enjoy!

This morning has been rough. Marcus had 6th dose at 2am and all was well until 4am. Nurse came in to get vitals and made him stand up for weight check. Afterwards-everything went downhill fast!! All at once chills/rigors started and at the same time he got nauseaous-vomitted and nose started bleeding-BAD scene in room P1004. He has totally had enough! Says when doc comes in this morning he is telling her he is done-that last dose really worked him
over. This whole round over all hasn't been too bad, but his swelling started sooner
and it just seems his body is done.He is finally peacefully resting-thank God. So I decided to share the video above because it helped me so much this morning. Real hard to see the man you love suffer like this. But I know God is working-I have complete and total FAITH!

Moving all the while

5th dose down! Marcus had 5th dose of IL-2 around 6:30 and as of 8 no chills/rigors.  
He even ate supper and is watching
the world series now-he is super swollen with 
all the fluids and feels like crap-but he is hanging on and not 
complaining one bit! He is such a fighter-I admire his strength 
so much. So next dose scheduled for 2am-then see doc in morning-
and will let him know if he'll go more-or not-keep the prayers coming!!!!!
So far they have helped him so much-so please don't stop!! God is "Moving all the while"-listen to this song by sidewalk prophets and u will know what I mean ;). Love u all!!!!

Restin and rocking along!

Sorry I have been bad about posting today-BUT it is only because we have nothing to post-THANK GOD-Marcus has been resting all day after his 1st dose this morning around 9:40-he will receive his 2nd dose about 6pm.  Just need tons of prayers-we know the tumors aren't gone yet-BUT- they WILL be soon because God is running this show-not IL-2, not the docs and not MD Anderson-ONLY God has the power to heal-and we are patiently waiting for Him to do His great work!!!!!!!  We love u all and thank u so much for every prayer u send our way! 

Happy-but not

Well we are finally settled in our room-thank you Lord for getting us into P1004 and not ICU!!!!! Tonight Marcus will get fluids and antibiotics but won't start treatments until tomorrow morning. We met with Dr. Kim today and found out some news that fustrated us a little-Dr. Kim wants him to do 4 rounds of IL-2 no matter what. We are scheduled to come back Nov 30 for scans and then admit again for 3rd round-then, even if tumors are
gone, he still wants him to come back for 4th round-if tumors are not gone, but responding, then he will go 6 rounds. We totally misunderstood all his before-but now we know the full game plan-4 rounds of IL-2 no matter what-possibly 6! We were so happy to get this room-but then not when we found out about the additional treatments-BUT Marcus says he will do whatever it takes to get all this melanoma out of his lungs!!!! So keep the prayers coming prayer warriors-Marcus needs them!!!!!!!!

PSALMS 40:1

"I waited patiently for the Lord; He turned to me and heard my cry."  Psalms 40:1

So today we were scheduled to be at MD Anderson and Marcus would have already received a dose of IL-2; BUT, when we were there yesterday, they didn't like the way his PICC line looked-said it showed signs of infection-so they had it removed, swabbed to find out what type of infection and started him on antibiotics.  So, now we are scheduled to come back 11-2-09 to start Round 2-a week delay-but we are not discouraged-we are being patient.  We know that God is bigger than this infection and cancer and He will get us through this.  
Marcus was a little disappointed-he was ready to get this mess over with-but understands that the doctors just don't want any infection before they start the IL-2-they need him to be healthy and ready to fight!  So we are counting this extra week home as a blessing and trusting God with the rest!!!!!
Thank you to all you faithful prayer warriors out there-we truly appreciate every prayer sent to our family-we are blessed-and so grateful-we love you all!!!

1 Timothy 6:8

"But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that."  1 Timothy 6:8



So this morning I am awaken to another blessed day living in our 5th wheel!  We are finally settled and we are pretending we are on a permanent camping trip!  It has been amazing to see all the JUNK we have accumulated over the past 10 years and now have in storage.  Ridiculous is really the best word to describe it.  There is NO way that we need any of that-and we have realized now, that we have taken for granted the simple things in life-and like most people, have filled our home and minds with useless material items.  So as we begin this new chapter in our lives, we are starting our journey with a new declutter ritual and mindset.  We will not bring useless items into our home that we do not need.  We will learn to enjoy each other and what we have and be grateful for it all.  And like the scripture above says, we will be content with that.  


Eventually, after Marcus is done with treatments and on the recovery track (I am expecting God to heal him completely), we will find ourselves either building or buying a new home.  But we have committed to continuing this new lifestyle in a new home as well.  Not only for ourselves, but for our girls.  They need this example to see that material items may only bring you joy for a moment, but it is the simple things in life that will keep the joy in your heart for a lifetime.

Life is good for us-and we thank God for every second.

Sidewalk Prophets – Christian, Pop, Rock – The Words I Would Say

Just wanted to share and thank Aunt Kel and Carrie St. Cyr for sharing with me!!!


Sidewalk Prophets – Christian, Pop, Rock – The Words I Would Say

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Marcus-"Mighty Warrior"!!

So today was filled with lots of packing-thank you all the family that came by to help: Mom & Dad Stanley, Mom & Pop Dubois, Granny & PawPaw Viator, Shannon, Ben, Amy-and thank you Aunt Kel for lunch!!!! While I was packing I ran across a little wallet card that I must have bought Marcus a long time ago (we have been in this house for 10 yrs so you can only imagine the treasures I found today!) and the card read like this:


Marcus
"Mighty Warrior"
Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go. Joshua 1:9

Nothing more to say really, except, WOW-our God is an awesome God!!! I have attached a pic of Marcus on his b-day-he is holding the little frame the girls and I made for him to give him inspiration while he is taking his treatments!!!!


We love you baby! Keep fighting!!!!!

Calling all house packing party people!!

You are invited!  House packing party starting Wednesday! Please report to supervisor Marcus Stanley and he will give u instructions then sit back and watch u work ;) 

So I will be starting to pack a few things myself tomorrow-but Wednesday I am requesting any available help -all u folks that kept offering-I am holding u to ur word ;). Since Marcus can't do any of the work, he says he will gladly supervise this operation!! ;) So please make sure ur ready before u come on over ;) lol! 

Things are going well-Marcus is feeling better but not 100%-Although u would not know it-he hasn't complained one second-he is enjoying every second he has with his girls-thank u Lord!  

It was so sweet tonight at the dinner table, Sela said grace and she asked God to please make daddy's melanoma go away forever-I know God was listening to her sweet voice and believe He will-Marcus will be healed-we just have to believe and trust the Lord and we do!!!


 

trying to get moving......

so we got home yesterday afternoon and we couldn't have been happier!!! we spent the afternoon/evening at the in-laws, eating gumbo and visiting...then picking up our girls. it was such a relief to finally be home and out of MD Anderson....if we never had to set foot there again, i would be happy. BUT, we will be going back, Oct. 26 for round 2, SO, i am praying for strength-i need it bad!!!!

today has been slow going-trying to get things back in order and getting ready to get the house packed up-gotta be out by oct. 19-so strange how things happen....but we are trusting that God has a plan and we will eventually end up wherever we are supposed to be. :) until then, we will just be pretending like we are camping in our 5th wheel ;) so please pray for ALL of us, because we are gonna really give the words "tight knit family" a whole new meaning ;)

anyways, just wanted to let everyone know we made it home and we are so grateful for all your continued prayers and support. we are amazed more and more everyday the people that God has sent to us-to fill every need. thank u Lord-thank you family-thank you friends-we love you all!

One day closer to home!!!!

So now we are in a regular room-hopefully going home tomorrow-Marcus' electrolytes were low and dr didn't want him going home until everything returned to normal.  

We were so glad to get to new room-had enough of ICU-we are prayin we can come here next time and not ICU-gonna ask/beg dr ;)

Marcus is doing great-back to his old self-just bored and ready to go!!!  He is feeling good-not really excited about coming back oct 26 !

Thank u all for your contined prayers and support-they have helped us oh so much on this first round!!!!  Love u all!

Good Friday morning!!

Sitting in waiting room until they let me back in around 8-slept pretty well from about 12-6, then I was politely awaken and told I had to leave for shift change :(.  Marcus seems to be doing a little better-electrolytes are down-not sure what they will do but hope it doesn't delay him going home saturday.  I have to go to a cath. Class today to learn how to take care of cath in his arm-he has to keep it in until next treatment.  
Met a wonderful lady named Tammy-her little brother is in room next to Marcus-he is 34 and just discovered 2wks ago he has cancer-it is all in his lungs, but they are still trying to determine what type of cancer-he went to another hospital first-they biopsied a mass -but didn't have the proper tools and the wound became infected-he came to mda Monday - please help me pray for this family-they are going through some hard times-the unknown-until they determine what type of cancer they don't know how to treat.  Ms. Tammy was great to talk to-she feels the same as I do - we are all gonna get through this and have a great testimony after about how great our God is!!!

Round one-DONE!!!

Dr just left and confirmed dose 7 was the last one for this round-she says she wants him to come back for second round so she's kicking him out on Saturday :)  she said he has had enough-7 doses @ 80 million units-and his body is showing the signs-fever even with Tylenol & naproxen, swelling, decrease in potassium and calcium... All these things tell her he has had enough on this round-she called it the warm up round!  Anyways, hopefully tomorrow he will be moved to a regular room and get to leave sometime Saturday-not sure what time yet... Thank u all so very much for your continued prayers and support-we love u all!

7th dose complete!

Marcus was finally able to take his 7th dose of IL-2 around 1:30pm and finished about 1:45pm.  They had to give him potassium and calcium this time in IV.  Dr days this may be his last dose-just have to see how this 7th one goes-even if this is the last one, he will still have to be here at least 2 more days. Hopefully not in ICU but I don't know yet. He is so ready to be done-sad thing because he knows he has to come back for round 2 oct. 26-but he is ready for the break-and I am ready to see him unconnected to IVs.  Keep praying please-we need it!  Love u all!

Leviticus 14:7 -Seven is a great number to finish on!!

"Seven times he shall sprinkle the one to be cleansed of the infectious disease and pronounce him clean..." Leviticus 14:7

Dr came in about 20mins ago-Marcus is really feeling bad-he is achy, skin is tight and he's just tired.  He hasn't urinated since 3am-they measure intake/output very closely- and he can't get another dose until he does-he just ate a little breakfast and drank several glasses of water, but still doesn't feel the need to go.  So dr says he won't get a dose at 10am-may get one this afternoon-but she wants him to at least get that 7th dose before he calls is quits.  He is getting 80 million units per dose.  It is really taking a toll on him.  I told him 7 was a great number to finish on!!  So we are praying he will be able to handle at least that 7th dose and then let God finish the rest!! Keep prayers coming please!!  Thank u-we love u all!