Wayne’s Battle with Pancreatic Cancer is Over

We are never happy with this kind of ending to valiant battles waged against any terminal illness. Our church prayed for Wayne.  We prayed first that initial diagnosis would be something other than cancer. It wasn’t.  We prayed that God would miraculously heal Wayne. We thought at first that He did, but He didn’t.  We prayed that the chemo and radiation would work.  We thought at first that it did, but it didn’t.  Finally, we prayed that God would be merciful and keep Wayne comfortable.  He did, and He took Wayne home just a few days ago, leaving a huge hole in our hearts, and our church.

We don’t understand why it has to be that way.  As our pastor said, we just know that God is still a loving God, and he cares for us in so many ways.  We were all blessed as we watched Wayne’s courage in the midst of his fear and pain.  We saw him share his faith in miraculous ways to people that he would not normally have even known.

Yes, we are sad and we miss him tremendously, but we know that for him, life is so much better.  Because now he is standing tall and whole, because his pain is erased, because we know Wayne has seen His face, we would never want him to leave heaven.  No, not at all.

American Cancer Society-The Answers Can Begin Here

When my mother was diagnosed with breast cancer, I did not even know enough to know what questions I needed to ask. I did know, however, that the American Cancer Society was a place to start looking for information.  I remember calling and talking to whomever would listen.

The American Cancer Society website is easy to navigate and contains a great deal of information.  I am not going to give a lot of specifics about how A.C.S. can help you in your particular situation, but I do suggest that you log on explore the contents of this organization’s website.

http://www.cancer.org/docroot/home/index.asp

Time has blurred my memory somewhat, but it seems to me that the American Cancer Society paid for, or at least supplimented the hotel costs when we took Mother to MD Anderson in Houston.

I have a friend whose husband had pancreatic cancer, and the American Cancer Society provided him with home health equipment including a hospital bed.

In my opinion, the American Cancer Society is a wonderful organization which endeavors to support cancer patients and their caretakers in many areas.  There is the support of providing knowledge and answering questions about the disease itself.  They give emotional support by listening and empathizing with patients and families.  They provide support with equipment helping to keep patients in their home as long as possible.  They can sometimes provide financial support as they did with us in helping to pay for our hotel rooms.

I know there are many many more areas of help the American Cancer Society provides that I have not mentioned, but by checking out their website and contacting them directly, you will at least find a beginning place to find the answers to your questions.

Pancreatic Cancer is No Match For God’s Healing Power

I spoke with Wayne last night.  He had been to the doctor to get the results of his latest CT scan.  The doctor told Wayne that his tumor could not be seen on the scan!!! There was considerable scarring from the radiation treatments, but no tumor!  Wayne asked the doctor, “So God performed a miracle?”  To which the doctor replied, “I’m not going to say that, but something miraculous did happen here.”  Our response? “Well, whatever.”  We are all taking this as God’s miraculous healing power.

The doctor wants to continue chemo for about three more months and then do another scan just as added ‘insurance.  He told Wayne that he was not going to say that the cancer is gone, because it could be just reduced and hidden among the scar tissue.  However, he did admit that Wane was doing amazingly well.  In the midst of the latest round of chemo Wayne has felt well, suffered no pain, and has gained weight.

We are all excited, praising and thanking God for his Grace and Goodness to Wayne and Glynn.  We all realize that because pancreatic cancer is usually aggressive, it could raise its ugly head at any given point in time, once again placing Wayne in front of its life threatening jaws.  For this reason, we are all, especially Wayne and Glynn, enjoying this moment of strength, and yes, healing which is a precious gift from God.

The Latest On Wayne and Glynn

It is so wonderful to see Wayne and Glynn each week at church.  He is continuing to teach our Sunday School Class and sing in the choir.  What a blessing!

Wayne’s chemo treatments for pancreatic cancer are continuing on a weekly basis, with a week off after three treatments.  The treatments are contingent, of course, on his blood counts, but so far, they have all been good, so there has been no delay in the chemo.

A scan was done a couple of weeks ago and though they have not received the final results, preliminary indications are that the the tumor has shrunk approximately 30%!!!! Yes, that is a big “Thank you, God”.

We are so thankful for God’s blessings on Wayne and Glynn.  We are thankful for the Grace, Peace, and Comfort which God has abundantly given them.  We are thankful for being able to watch them as they take their cancer journey.  Because of their faith, they are an example of what it means to ‘put things in God’s hands.”  Thank you, Wayne and Glynn.  We continue to pray for you.

Updates on Wayne

It has been a while since I shared with you any news about Wayne.  As you may remember from previous posts, he is my Sunday School teacher and deacon in our church.  He was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer several months ago and has been undergoing chemotherapy and radiation treatments since then.

His radiation treatments are completed as are his first round of chemotherapy.   He is currently taking his second round which began about three ago.  He seems to be feeling better and is even gaining back some of the weight he had lost.  Low white cell and platelet counts are a problem and have delayed some of his treatments.

He hasn’t had any new scans since this round of chemo has begun so we don’t know what the cancer is doing, but we are praying that it is shrinking and that Wayne will be restored to health.

He continues to teach Sunday School, sing in the church choir and is even helping to build the new addition to our church.  We are so grateful that he feels well enough to do those things

Wayne and his wife, Glynn, are such an inspiration and blessing to each of us.  We pray for God’s hand to continue to be on them, comforting, strengthening, guiding, and protecting them as they travel down this very difficult path.

Updates on Wayne

 The following email was sent to me a couple of days ago:

Hello everyone,

I have a new update on Wayne.  He and Glynn went to Dallas yesterday and this morning they had to be at the doctor’s by 7:00.

He had a nerve block done for his pain.
They did partial block instead of full block and said they prefer not to do total unless absolutely necessary.  If this doesn’t take care of the pain they may have to do the complete but we are praying this will work for him.  Glynn called me about 9:00 am and said she was headed out to get the car and bring it around for him.  They advised them to not travel today so they will return home tomorrow.  Praise God again and again, the doctor said he did see the cancer while in there and again it still looks the same, and just sitting there doing nothing!!  Hope that things just gives up and dies from lack of love and affection!!!  We still know how Great our God is and this is so Awesome.  Once again Thank You, Thank You each and everyone for being in our lives and most of all for your love and prayers.  You’re a great bunch of friends and family.

Wayne taught our Sunday School lesson yesterday.  It is so wonderful to hear him teach.   It seems to me that,  even though he has always been a wonderful teacher of God’s word,  now Wayne’s lessons have an added depth and dimension.  The lenses of his spiritual eyes are tinted by the experience of God’s love and grace along the path of pancreatic cancer.  In many ways he is not the same man that he was prior to his cancer diagnosis.  He and Glynn have been so open with this crisis in their lives, allowing us to watch and learn as they go through the lows and highs of this illness.

On Thursday Wayne begins his second round of chemo.  This time they will not have to travel to Dallas, but will be able to take the treatments in Midland which is much closer to home.  We pray that the chemo will do its job and eradicate the cancer, restoring Wayne’s health and his future.   Please continue to pray for both of them.

The Pendulum Swing of Emotions

Think of the swing of a pendulum. Its swing in one direction is equal or almost equal to the swing in the other. Our emotions during a time of crisis such as a terminal illness swing back and forth from despair to elation, depending on the events of the moment.

Last week when Wayne and Glynn were facing a series of scans and tests which would show whether or not Wayne’s pancreatic cancer was responding to the chemotherapy and radiation treatments. They were scared, nervous, emotional, worried, and any other negative emotion you can name. The morning they left to go to Dallas to have these tests run, Wayne looked bad. He was weak. He was pale. His eyes filled and overflowed with tears frequently.

Once they received the results of the tests and learned that the cancer had not spread, their pendulum of emotions swung back to the other side. The degree to which they were worried corresponded directly to the degree to which they were excited. The next time I saw Wayne, he had a big smile on his face. He no longer looked pale and he was about to eat a big plate of food.

Whenever you are in the midst of physical trauma such as this, your emotions will experience the same trauma. You may be very sad, filled with despair and without hope, and then something positive will happen. It doesn’t have to be something big. It may be a small as one meal that tasted good, or a test that came back with good results or at least no bad results. Then your emotions will ‘latch on’ to that one positive thing, and immediately swing to the other side of the pendulum.

I remember thinking about my emotions when my parents were sick. At that time I compared my emotions to a roller coaster ride which is not an inaccurate description. I remember saying that I had experienced every emotion you could name while Mother and Daddy were sick, especially during the 3 months when Daddy was in the hospital, with Mother also being in the hospital 5 weeks during that time. It was horrible.

Once we understand that these emotions will be there, we can not fight them, but instead seek to control them. It was during those times that I had ‘scheduled cries’, moments when I could let my sadness, despair, frustration, anger, hopelessness, rise to the top of my mind and heart and flow out the tear ducts in my eyes. By giving my emotions space to be in control for a while, then once I finished crying, I could then control my emotions, for a while at least.

Your emotions are going to be part of what you are enduring. You are going to feel everything you are going to feel on both sides of the pendulum. You can’t stop it. Instead you should expect it and accept it. Then you can control it.

And oh, yes, get all the ‘mileage’ you can out of good news. Yep. Let the good news carry you as far as possible. Smile. Laugh. Tell it to everyone.

Updates on Wayne

As mentioned in a previous post, Wayne was to return to Dallas, Baylor Medical Center, I believe, to under tests which will determine whether or not his pancreatic cancer is responding to chemotherapy and radiation. Wayne’s anxiety level would be ‘off the charts’ if measured.  They were both very fearful that they would not receive good news.

Well, their drive back home was more like a flight.  They were ‘off the ground’ with excitement and were praising the Lord all the way home.  The tests results showed that the cancer had not spread at all, which was a real concern given the nature of the tumor.  The doctors were unable to determine whether or no the tumor itself had actually shrunk, indicating that it had responded to the chemo and radiation, because of swelling of the tissue around due to radiation.

Wayne and Glynn were elated that the cancer had not spread and felt like that was an answer to prayer.  I agree with them totally.  The doctors have given Wayne hope for a normal life at least for a while ,and  when you are walking down the path of terminal cancer or illness, you make the most of any good news you get!

We are excited and thankful for God’s Presence in Wayne and Glynn’s lives.  We are all stronger because of it.

Wayne and Glynn

He looks weaker and sounds weaker. Because of my gall bladder surgery, it had been a couple of weeks since I had seen him. Wayne and Glynn are both showing the physical and emotional wear and tear of walking down the path of pancreatic cancer. They were in Sunday School this morning and it was wonderful to see them. They left this afternoon to drive back to Dallas. Wayne is having scans done tomorrow and then on Tuesday he will see the doctor. The purpose of the scans is to determine if the chemotherapy and radiation therapy have shrunk Wayne’s tumor.

As he shared with us this morning his fears about the results of the tests, he also asked us to pray that he will be accept what the doctor tells him. He feels he is ‘losing ground’, but knows that God is in control and wants above all to glorify Him.

We all shed tears and none of us wanted them leave. Our Sunday School Class loves Wayne and Glynn so much we would have gone with them if it had been possible. It was so very hard to say good by to them this morning.

I wish that I had words of wisdom for this moment. I just don’t. We all know and have experienced first hand God’s love and care. We understand that He loves Wayne even more than we do. We want Wayne to be well and to continue to serve God just as he has always done. We want Wayne to continue to be our Sunday School teacher just as he has always been. We want. We want. We want.

Above all, however, we want God to be glorified in life and in death.