Hello everyone. We can't believe that it is our turn to write again.
We pray that everyone is doing well.
Linda has been going to the Cancer Treatment Center of America (CTCA) in Zion, IL (one hour north of Chicago) since March 09. They have given her lots of hope. They treat the whole person not just the disease. She received 30 treatments of radiation, which went well, and is receiving chemotherapy every three weeks. She had scans on May 6th. Her doctor informed her that the tumor in her lymph nodes by her right lung had shrunk and was no longer ("glowing") cancerous. Also the cancer count has decreased. Linda returns to Zion on June 1st to meet with her radiation doctor to see how effective the radiation treatment was to the cancer area on her stomach, right side. That is the only place there is/was cancer.
Her doctor in Cincinnati told her that there was nothing else that could be done. That continuing with chemo would slow down the cancer from going inside her body, but that it would eventually get there. He told her that the average life span for someone with inflammatory breast cancer (the cancer she has been diagnosed with) is about 30 weeks. She decided to get another opinion, thus going to the CTCA.
She has been taking Naturopathy medicine to help with the side effects from chemo, to give her energy and boost her immune system. She has been feeling very good since starting on these meds.
Thank you for all of your prayers for her and her family.
Dave is still working for Roadway. He celebrated his one million miles, injury free! His company had a special luncheon for him and a cake. They sent him a plaque and gave him his own parking space, very close to the terminal, with his name on a sign.
Roadway merged with Yellow trucking and are now called YRC, Yellow Roadway Corp. They asked all the workers to take a cut in pay. They took a cut of 10% in pay. It is better than a 100% cut, anotherwords, no job at all. Dave has said he would like to retire, but he is not old enough yet. If he retired now he would get penalized due to his age. He just hopes there is some retirement when he is eligible.
Sarai is as smart as ever. She is 9 years old and is in 4th grade at St. Susanna. She really loves her school. It is nice for her to attend a small school where there are 75 kids in her grade instead of 750 kids in her grade (Mason public schools) She is a member of the American Heritage Girls, a Christian based group for girls through school. They collect money, clothes, diapers, etc. for the pregnancy centers, visit the elderly, collect food for the poor, etc. They sometimes work with the Boy Scouts on some community service projects.
She played volleyball and softball for St. Susanna school this year. She loves playing those sports. She wants to attend volleyball camp this summer. She is also considering going back to horse camp this summer. She just loves horses. She was voted in again, by her fellow classmates, to represent their class, as a member of "Peacebuilders". This is her third year being chosen. She loves her teachers this year.
Sam is a second grader at Mason's Western Row Elementary. He attends a typical and special education class. He is verbal, off and on. He using a magna doodle to write down what he wants, says the word(s) (sometimes) or points to pictures to communicate. We have limited his intake of gluten and milk products. That seems to help with his attitude/temper and also makes him more verbal and sociable. It is hard to stick to this diet when the food items he eats are very limited and most of them have gluten or milk in them.
Sam was awarded an IO waiver from the state of Ohio. He is able to collect assistance from the county for camp, respite care, home improvements, communication devices, etc. He also has a medicaid card which helps with his medical visits, therapy and medications. He has been fortunate to have a case worker who has helped a great deal.
He still likes Veggietales. He usually has one of the aides, at school, draw him a veggietales picture, based on a video story. He likes to run around in his 6ft, privacy fenced in yard. He runs bare footed on the round stepping stones with little rocks in them. He swings and climbs on his playset.
Please pray for Sam that he may conquer this autism.
God Bless Everyone!
Linda, Dave, Sarai and Sam
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