It has been far too long since we have put any news on our blog. We apologize. Life has been good here in the King household – with plenty of ups and downs – but good nonetheless. The most consistent issue has been keeping Matt’s blood levels up. Since we last reported, Matt has had two additional blood transfusions, a $6000 shot in the arm to stimulate blood production, and two rounds (4 weekly treatments each) of liquid iron infusions. Dr. Breyer still believes that Matt is losing blood (bleeding internally) somehow. There seem to be no visible signs of bleeding (blood in his stool, urine or when he throws up), so he has been in for every kind of test you can imagine. His latest, I must admit, was pretty darn cool. They put him out, then went down his throat and placed a good-sized camera pill in the upper part of his small intestine. They attached a hard drive around his waist and sent him home. It was an 8-hour procedure, with the pill traveling through his intestinal tract, taking pictures and downloading them to the hard drive as it went. Eight hours and 60,000 pictures later, we returned the hard drive to the hospital, but not the camera pill. The doctor made sure we knew he didn’t want it back! That procedure, along with another endoscopy (which, because of its name, seems like it should be synonymous with colonoscopy, doesn’t it?) and stool tests all came back negative. In February, Dr. Breyer said his blood was giving us another white flag so she took him off his chemotherapy again. That is always such a love/hate thing. We love that he has a break from chemo so that his body and blood have a chance to recuperate – and for some reason he just feels better when he’s not taking all that poison into his body! But, we hate the feeling that we are doing nothing to fight the tumors and keep them in check. As of today, Matt had gained a few pounds (yea!!!) and his blood levels have gone up enough that the doctor let him start taking his chemo pills again – at half-dose.

February was quite a month. Being immune-compromised as he is, Matt sometimes has a tough time fighting off germs and viruses with which he comes in contact. He came down with a whopper. He was nauseous with a headache, had a fever, was congested, had cold chills, and total body ache. He couldn’t keep anything down. I would venture to say that he lost close to 15 pounds in three weeks. He was so dehydrated and so weak. I had him in for fluids three times in an 8-day period. We were both more than a little concerned. We remembered Dr. Breyer telling him right from the first that there were many other things besides the cancer that could take his life. He was heading in a direction that we weren’t happy with and there wasn’t a lot we could do about it. The miracle came in such an incredible way. It came in the form of two amazing people – Conrad and Bev Smith – who scooped Matt and me up at that crucial moment and whisked us away to the beautiful islands of Hawaii. The moment Matt stepped off the plane, it was as if he received a much needed injection of “life”. I don’t know … something about the sun on your face, your toes in the sand, the tropical breezes and the sound of the sea surrounding you … magical. All I know is that Matt was a new man. We had the time of our life. Great food, a beautiful place to stay, great friends and good times. Just what the doctor ordered. Thank you to Bev and Conrad, and Gary and Linda Zambrano who joined us in all the festivities, for giving Matt what he needed at the very moment he needed it.

And so we continue on. We have just passed our three-year mark. My mom and I were just remembering the painful details of those few days when we first found out. They are a blur. It seems like yesterday, yet like we have lived an entire lifetime in three years. We have been so, so blessed. Those blessings have come about because we love our Heavenly Father and trust in His plan for us. He has blessed us THROUGH so many of you, our loved ones. Thank you for your love, your support, your service, your prayers, your hugs, your tears, your smiles, your examples and your strength. We love you.

Hey everyone!  Just a brief note to let you know how things are going with the Kings!  Two weeks after our last blog, Dr. Breyer took Matt off of his chemo again.  She watched his blood levels very closely and after a couple of weeks – when they had made meager improvement – she put him back on.  We were glad, in a wary sort of way.  We continue to test his blood levels weekly.  His blood is never “good”, but thankfully, it is holding its own, and he has been able to stay on his treatment at half dose since that time.

We went in on Monday (Halloween) for his routine blood tests and before we had left the office, Dr. Breyer let us know that all of his numbers were sufficiently low that he could finally use a transfusion.  We went directly to the hospital and did all the preliminary blood work and registration.  Matt received a much-needed transfusion of two units of blood – a 5-hour process.  It seems to have given him a more energy.

We were able to take Matt in for a CT scan the first part of October.  As usual, we were a little anxious about the possible results.  The scan showed the presence of an abscess in one of his lungs measuring 4.4 x 4.8 cm.  It is not a tumor, a nodule or anything cancerous.  It’s just a self-contained infection sitting there in his right lung.  Since he hasn’t shown any signs of infection such as fever, Dr. Breyer wasn’t terribly concerned about it and didn’t put him on an antibiotic.  She said she would keep a close watch on it to see what it does.  Concerning the existing tumors in the liver and pancreas, the report said they seem to have “decreased in size and number”.  Dr. Breyer advised us not to get too excited, because the decrease is very slight and because it could simply be the angle of the picture or slice from the CT scan.  But really, we are amazed and grateful that after 2 ½ years, the cancer has not spread to his lungs, lymph nodes, kidneys, bones or brain and at the fact that there is even a possibility that they are smaller and fewer.

Randy Pausch wrote a book called The Last Lecture.  He also was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and this is a collection of his thoughts and reflections on his life.  I love Randy’s quote, “We cannot change the cards we are dealt, just how we play the hand.”  I think this describes Matt perfectly.  He has continued on with his life, with his family and his friends, with his testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ.  His reflections on life, love, family and Heavenly Father continually inspire him to be better.  He spends one on one time with the kids, he gives fatherly advice to our Courtney, he loves his sisters and his mother and loves to spend time visiting with them, he deeply cares for his friends and is truly grateful for their phone calls and personal contact with him, and continually looks for ways to better our relationship.  When some would throw their hands up in the air and wait for the end to come, Matt meets the challenge head on and becomes a better person because of it.  And we are all better because we know him.

Look to your right under “Photos” and click on Family Pictures 2011 to see some of the fun things we have done this year.

After being on Afinitor again for two weeks at half dose, we went in for our weekly blood check.  Having joined with our family in fasting and prayer, we were very hopeful that his levels would remain high enough to continue the treatment.  His levels had plummeted.  His white blood cell count was especially low, putting him at great risk for infections.  Dr. Breyer gave us a choice:  go off of the chemo immediately or give it another week to see if things might improve.  Of course we chose the extra week!  We went home fully determined to get his levels back up.  We went back on Monday and even though his platelet levels had gone up slightly, everything else went down.  It just wasn’t enough.  This will give you an idea of what his levels look like:

Normal Levels                                                              Matt’s Levels

Red blood cells             14.0 – 18.0                              11.3

Platelets                          130 – 440                                54

White blood cells          4.8 – 10.8                                1.6

So, no chemo for now.  Dr. Breyer said she might consider letting us try it one more time, but we will have to wait until his blood can recover.  We asked her if it might be a good time to try the one remaining treatment that we haven’t yet used.  She said that the “plan of attack” for that chemo is the same as the one he has been using, so that it would have the same affect on his blood.  All of a sudden Matt and I realized that we might be out of treatment options.  Dr. Breyer mentioned that we could possibly try one of the treatments we have used previously.  Matt and I agree that the first treatment we used won’t be one we will try again.  But the Avastin/Temodar that we were on for about 18 months might be.  Even if we get to start taking him in for fluids weekly again, at least it’s an option.

In the 2 ½ years since Matt was diagnosed, we have had friends and neighbors with their own diagnosis of cancer.  While some have lost their brave battle, others have gone through treatment and been cured.  We mourn with those who mourn and we rejoice with those who rejoice.  We have seen the Lord’s hand in all.  We truly see things from a little different perspective than we did before.  We are so amazed that the Lord has allowed us to keep Matt this long and so very thankful that He has.

It has been a while since we have posted anything on our blog.  When one has precarious health conditions (such as Matt) it can be a little nerve-racking for many of you not knowing what’s going on.  And it seems the longer the interval, the harder and more awkward it becomes to make that phone call to see if everything is ok.  Those of you that we see often know that Matt is still alive and kickin’.  Those of you that we are not lucky enough to see often, we sincerely apologize for the lack of communication.  To top it all off, our blog site was down for a little while.  I had more than a few of you contact me hoping for anything but grim news.  I told Matt it’s a cool thing to outlive your blog site…..and your prognosis.  Please know that we welcome your call or visit any time, any day, any place and under any circumstance.

It has been an eventful intermission.  There are three benefits that I can think of since Matt started this new chemotherapy treatment in January.  #1 – the tumors have stayed intact.  #2 – we only have to meet with our oncologist once a month; and #3 – After spending the last 18 months going in every week to treat dehydration, Matt hasn’t had to go in for fluids even once since then.  No fluids equals no IV needles and since his chemo treatment is taken orally, Matt has been virtually needle-free since January!  (We all know how much Matt dislikes IV needles).  At our May appointment, however, while running the usual blood tests, we learned that his blood was having some issues.  His platelet level was very low, as well as his red and white blood counts.  It’s normal for chemo to affect those levels and cause them to drop a little, but his levels were alarmingly low.  So low, in fact, that Dr. Breyer immediately sent us to the hospital for a transfusion where Matt received 2 units of blood.  Worried about the possibility of internal bleeding, she then sent Matt in for his first colonoscopy and endoscope.  Woo hoo!!  That was fun!

We did have a funny little experience while there (at least I did).  After the procedure, Matt was still completely under the influence of the anesthesia.  He decided it was time for him to get himself dressed.  In nothing but his birthday suit, he stood up and attempted to put on his pants.  He picked up one of his legs and lost his balance.  He fell backwards into the curtain – the only thing that was separating him from the middle of the room where all the other patients were also recuperating!  If I hadn’t caught his fall, they would have all known Matt in a very personal way.  Of course, he couldn’t remember a thing – not the questions and comments he made to the doctor after the procedure, or flirting with the awesome nurses who took care of him, the fishy crackers and granola mix he SNARFED down and thoroughly enjoyed (he doesn’t care for either), the delightful wheel chair ride out to the car (he’d rather have IV needles than to be seen in a wheel chair), or the conversation he had with our neighbor once he got home (who knows what they talked about).

Anyway, the colonoscopy came back with the highest of marks.  But the endoscope revealed multiple bleeding ulcers.  The doctor took pictures of the ulcers and cauterized them while he was in there (isn’t it amazing what they can do).  But Matt’s oncologist had him stop his chemo until we could get a handle on his blood levels.  So we started the waiting game…a week…two weeks…four weeks….his levels kept creeping down.

June brought the High School graduation of our beautiful daughter, Courtney.  We also went on tour with the Children’s Choir.  We spent the first three days with our dearest of friends and cousins Gary & Ronnie Green in Colorado.  We watched the smoke from the “Wallow” Fire in Arizona darken the Albuquerque New Mexico sky.  We took the kids with us to check out Matt’s old stompin’ ground in Thoreau, New Mexico.  We paid a surprise visit to my parents in St. Johns and then spent a far-too-brief visit with Matt’s family in Mesa.  We finished off our tour in St. George where I spent a most delightful almost all-nighter with my dear friend Laurel Featherstone.

But still we waited.  Very concerned about not being able to combat those tumors with chemo, we questioned Dr. Breyer at our July appointment.  She explained it simply.  She said, “Matt, your body is crying “uncle”.  It needs a break.”  She sent us in for a bone marrow biopsy to see if there were more serious issues going on with his blood.  Thankfully, his blood is normal, and they determined that the low level of platelets, red and white cells is, indeed, being caused by the chemo.

So it was off to St. Johns for our Raban family reunion.  We had a family rodeo where the little ones rode sheep and steers.  Reiney tearfully attempted, Cooper rode a sheep and two steers, and Courtney rode her usual steer from top to very end of the arena.  Matt had the time of his life helping out in the arena.  We swam, had a paintball war, ate, went to the parade, rodeo and campfire circle, had an incredible talent show, flag ceremonies and had a blast at our family dance.  After reunioning with the Rabans, we drove to Mesa and were so glad to be able to spend a few days with Matt’s family there.  We stayed with Barbie who’s son, Kevin, just recently returned from his mission in Brasil,  We were so thrilled to hear him speak in church.  Matt’s other sister Sandy was there visiting from Pennsylvania and we were fortunate to be able to spend time with her and her children.  Matt and I have often commented about what incredible nieces and nephews we have.  They don’t come any better.

But still more waiting… six weeks….eight weeks.  At our August 2^nd appointment, they checked his blood levels again.  They were up slightly, but still nowhere near where they should be.  Regardless, and much to our relief, Dr. Breyer finally decided it was time to start his chemotherapy again – but only at half the dose.  We’re ok with half dose.  Half a dose is better than no dose.  So, the plan for now is to test his blood every week and watch his levels closely and pray that they hold strong while the chemo does its job.

Wow.  With April 2011 behind me, I can count 2 years, 2 blessed years since the exposing discovery of pancreatic neuro-endocrine tumors (Pancreatic Cancer). Although I have learned to live in the moment, looking forward to tomorrow,  I must take a moment to briefly reflect on that time 2 years ago when my good friend and doctor tearfully choked out the announcement that I probably had “a couple to a few” months to live.

Shock. Numbness. Sadness. Concern for my family’s welfare. These were a few of the instant feelings I experienced at the onset of such a discovery.  Unafraid at that time of what awaited me beyond this life, I instantly began to miss my wife and children.  As the weight of these feelings bore down on my soul, I somehow knew that I needed to do all that I could to stay alive.  I needed the power of the Lord to help me work through this.  Although I knew that my life (and timetable) was and still is in His hands, I also felt that my life is a gift from God and because of that, I wasn’t going to just let go of it like a balloon at a carnival.  I had to hang on.  And I have, with the help of the Lord and many of you.  One thing I have learned is that we are all in this together and sooner or later, we will all need each other.

Interestingly, however, when I reminisce over these last 2 years, I scarcely remember the hundreds of I.V. needles, constantly throwing up, losing weight and lots of pain.  What I remember most is that every day somehow seems like a beautiful sunny day.  I have loved the hours spent just driving around in the car with Jodi on her errands (wow, I just love being with her), and the many wonderful people who have touched my life with their love, charity and service.  It never ceases to amaze me how the hand of God exists in the hearts of mankind.

This last 2 years has been an awesome ride, and I don’t want to get off, I just want to ride it over and over again.  This life is filled with many other rides, so for this next little while I will see what the next ride has in store for me.  And I look forward to enjoying it with all of you.

As for a brief update, things seem to be staying the same.  This new chemo treatment (Afinitor) is going pretty well, all things considered.  I’ve experienced occasional painful mouth sores that keep me from eating while they run their course, numerous boil-type sores covering my back and shoulders, and knees stiffening up with pain that sometimes make it difficult to walk.  Most of these seem to be short lived – lasting usually a couple of weeks at a time.  And although they sound bad, all and all I feel better on this treatment than any other thus far.  Since starting the Afinitor in January, the last couple of scans show that the tumors seem to have remained the same.  There has been a question about some small spots on some of the vertebrae in my back that showed up on the CT scans.  In careful study of ALL of my scans (from May 2009 to the present), the spots seem to have been there from the very beginning.  We have followed up with a bone scan and a more specific octreotride scan.  Although our Utah and Arizona oncologists concur that there are spots there, both feel that the fact that they are tumors or cancerous appears to be negative.  Whatever they might be, if they are tumors, they are slow growing, so we are not going to panic (yet) but will just wait patiently and watch carefully.

For now, life is a wonderful thing. Don’t miss it. If you’re not careful, it can pass you by.

This month has been quite an ordeal of doctors’ visits and scan analyzing.  In the beginning of January, Jodi and I had the opportunity to see Dr. Von Hoff in Scottsdale again.  He had his team, including his radiologist, review the past four months of CT scans.  Their conclusion was that the cancer tumors have unfortunately again begun to grow.  While one tumor showed a 10% growth, another measured with a 16% increase in size.  According to Dr. Von Hoff, this does not demonstrate rapid growth, however it is growth.

What this new information means is that I have finally come to the place where by body has developed a tolerance to the Chemo that I have been taking.  We have always known that this would happen at some time or another.  We are grateful that it has worked as long as it has.

The great thing about working with Dr. Von Hoff is that he not only specializes in my flavor of cancer, but he is on the cutting edge of the latest and greatest treatments out there.  Fortunately there are a couple new treatments that have recently shown promising results in clinical trials.

Dr. Von Hoff’s opinion was that both of these treatments were equally viable options.  After Dr. Von Hoff and his staff had a chance to pow-wow with Dr. Breyer (my doctor in Utah), and after Dr. Breyer had a chance to hear our two cents, we picked our poison and started down the road on a new Chemo treatment this week.

Uncertain, and maybe a little apprehensive about how things will go, we nevertheless blaze forward trusting in the Lord that He will continue to watch over us and bless our lives with what He knows we need.

I am so thankful for everyone’s prayers on our behalf.  I am also continually humbled by those people whose charity and sacrifice of service to our family is always timely and never unneeded.

Hello everyone. Matt here. Let me begin by saying life is fabulous.  But then again most of you probably already knew that.  I have to tell you this has been a great year.  Our family has been extremely blessed this year to be able to spend some real fun times together.  Between trips to Atlanta, San Antonio, and a 2 ½ week trip across the country to NY, we spent a lot of time at home, building an elaborate chicken coop, going to football games and just plain hanging out. And most recently a fun 3 day trip to Moab (rock crawling in four wheelers) with Cooper and I.  This year couldn’t have been any better.  During all that, we’ve learned to love each other and be more forgiving to one another.

Just yesterday we received the latest results from my CT scan, telling us where the cancer is and what it is doing.  (Insert drum roll here) The answer is “Nothing”.  The cancer remains “stable” (not in remission as some have asked).  This means that although it is not shrinking, currently it is not growing or spreading.  I am still taking chemo every other week for 7 days.  After 7 days of recovery, I start again for another 7 days.  The side effects are tolerable.  While I fight nausea, appetite loss and just overall feeling sick, it wears off after the treatment.  The good news is that I usually have a few days of feeling good with good energy and I try to be as productive as possible getting as much done as I can.  I am truly blessed.  While the chemo seems to be working for now, I attribute this extension of time to the blessings of the Lord.

I am continually astonished at all of you who pray for me and my family regularly.  The other day I was talking to a good friend Fred, in Alabama.  When a friend of his whom I didn’t know, walked up, he just handed him the phone.  The guy said to me “Hi this is Marty” and I said “Hi this is Matt King”.  When he heard my name he said that he knew who I was because he and his wife pray for me every day.  To think that a perfect stranger has such a tender heart as that.  He explained that he, Fred and their whole congregation pray every week in church for me and my family.  Tears welled up in my eyes as I gratefully thanked him and told him that I know those prayers are being answered.

What’s more, every Sunday the High Priests in the St. Johns LDS church pray for me and my family.  Interestingly, most of them don’t even know me – bless you all, you humble men!

Along with that, my friend and neighbor, a non-church goer who doesn’t belong to any church, told me quietly one day that he now knows that God is there and that he hears our prayers.  As tears started to dampen his eyes he continued to explain that the reason he knew this was because he asked God for a personal favor about a year and a half ago and so far he has granted that prayer.  I can not hold the tears back even now as I retell this story.  Thank you Chuck for your exercise of faith.

So many stories, and so many of you who are so special to me.  I appreciate your love, concern and prayers, but also your great support as friends and family who truly have shown us your love.

I am grateful for this season in my life.  I have seen so much greatness in all of you and your examples, that my perspective has changed.   It’s so much easier to not take things for granted.

But before I stop, I can’t leave this blog without telling you how much help I get every day, from dusk to dawn and later, from Jodi.  I could never make it without her.  She is incredible! (but you already know that).  She is truly my angel here on earth.  I love her, and will truly miss her.

PS – I hope many of you feel free to leave a comment with a story or thought of your own to share with all of the other readers here.

CHECK OUT OUR PICTURES UNDER ‘A SEASON OF THANKS’

Hello Everyone!

Sorry it has been so long between entries on our family website. Our chemo and scan schedule has been consistent since last fall – two months of treatment followed by a CT scan. I’ve tried to post news every time we get our new scan results. This last round was a little different, however. Our last scan was the end of April, and we should have had the next one the end of June. But after 13 years of asking  we finally talked Matt into going with us on tour with the Utah Valley Children’s choir. This year we did all of the church history sites. Matt had never seen them, so we convinced him this was a great time to go! We left on July 6 and returned on July 22. For some reason, Dr. Breyer wanted to do Matt’s scan when he got back, rather than before he left. Courtney sings with the choir, so we brought Cooper and Reiney along, and it was a great family trip! Here’s what we did in a nutshell:

We met up with 4 buses full of choir kids and chaperones in Kansas City. We visited Independence, Missouri and the Liberty Jail. We were asked to participate in one of the worship services held by the Reorganized LDS Church in their temple in Independence (the one that looks like an upside-down sea shell). I enjoyed playing on the 9-foot Steinway grand piano there! Then we went on to Farr West, and Adam-ondi-Ahman. We took a little detour from the choir and spent the afternoon in a little Amish community.

From there we visited Chicago. Matt and I took Cooper and Reiney and went sight-seeing. We went up the Sears Tower (which is now the Willis Tower). We also visited the famous water fountain there and ate at the Hard Rock Café. Then we headed east over to Kirtland, Ohio. We were given a half hour early the next morning to sit in the Kirtland temple and have our own personal concert. The kids sang “Praise to the Man” and “The Spirit of God” (which was written for the dedication of that very temple). That was a very special opportunity. We visited the John Johnson farm a few miles away. While we were there, we ran into Sister Talbot, the niece of our good friend Scott Lindsay, who is serving her mission there. She was darling and added a very sweet testimony at the end of her excellent tour of the farm.

The next day, Matt and I sped ahead of the buses to visit Niagara Falls. We took a ride on the “Maid of the Mist” which took us on a ferry right up to the foot of the falls. Yup – we got wet! Then over to Palmyra. We spent the next couple of days there – singing on top of the Hill Cumorah, inside of the Sacred Grove (I can only imagine what it was like for other visitors who were meandering around inside of the grove to hear those beautiful young women voices ringing through the trees singing “Joseph Smith’s First Prayer”), visiting the home where Joseph and his family lived, and watching the Hill Cumorah Pageant.

We visited Fayette, New York and the Peter Whitmer farm, where the church was first organized in 1830. The missionaries invited us to sing in the chapel that the Church has built there next to the farm. The acoustics in that little church are amazing and the children sang beautifully. We then went down to Harmony, Pennsylvania. We were a little behind the choir that day, which made it nice when we visited the Susquehanna River. Reiney was asleep in the car and Matt and Cooper were able to spend some very special one-on-one time together there in that peaceful setting where the Priesthood was restored to the earth. We had a concert in Owego, New York and it was special for Matt, because his sister, Sandy and her children drove over from Philadelphia to spend some time with us that evening. That was a highlight!

From New York, we started heading back west. We had a concert in Lafayette, Indiana (home of Purdue University). We then headed over to Nauvoo, Illinois. We visited Carthage and the jail there where the prophet Joseph and his brother Hyrum were martyred. There is always such a special spirit there and Cooper and Reiney both chose it as one of their favorite places that we visited. From there, we drove to Winter Quarters, Nebraska. We had a concert in Omaha, then Matt and I drove back to Kansas City to catch our plane, and the buses drove back to Utah. When we turned in the rental car, we had put over 4000 miles on it!

Matt was a trooper during the entire tour. We went hard for 16 days starting at 5 or 6 a.m. and going until 11 or 12 midnight every night. We had all the supplies with us for him to get fluids while we were gone. Tracy Cowley, one of the chaperones, happens to be a registered nurse and hooked Matt up while we rested at a hotel one evening. He handled the rigorous schedule beautifully. But it did take him a good week or so to recuperate after we got home. It was worth every minute. We will always have those beautiful memories of being in all those special places together as a family.

So three days after we returned, we went in for his scan. He actually missed a round of chemo while we were on our trip, so we were a little concerned that that would have made a difference in the scan. By the time we did the scan and had an appointment to discuss the results with Dr. Breyer, we were way into August! The good news is, that the scan came back looking great! No new tumors, no spreading of tumors to other places, and no growth in the existing tumors! We talked with his oncologist about how Matt has beat all odds and has continued to amaze us. He has really skewed the statistics! And that’s a good thing. We are thankful for your continued prayers and that the Lord has allowed Matt to stay with us for a while longer. It is such a short time for Him, but every day for us is a gift. We love you all and love it when you keep in touch with us.

Jodi

p.s.  Check out our pictures in the “Choir Tour Photos” Gallery

Dear Family and Loved ones,

Thank you for keeping up on Matt’s progress.  What a journey we are undertaking.  Matt and I were just visiting the other day about life at this time last year.  Our prayers were focused on “making it” to Father’s day and our anniversary in June.  Then our focus changed to Cooper’s baptism in August.  Here we are a year later, blessed to have our little family still intact.  We received the results of Matt’s latest CT scan.  I have to admit that both Matt and I were preparing ourselves for unpleasant news.  His oncologist had recently increased his pain meds because of increased abdominal pain.  We figured things had started to change on the inside.  To our surprise and delight, nothing had changed!  Our oncologist looked at us almost with a bewildered look on her face.  She seemed somewhat puzzled that the “shrinking” treatments we’ve been taking since last August seemed to be instead “maintenance” treatments.  Even though they had successfully (but briefly) shrunk the tumors, they seem to be quite successful at hindering their growth – and for quite some time.  We’ve been told that the tumors will eventually develop a tolerance to the treatments and statistics suggest that it should have happened long before now.  So it looks like we’ll continue on with these treatments for now.  Even though medically we’re not sure why they’re doing what they’re doing, we continue to see the Lord’s hand in this whole process.  We were given a small plaque with a quote from Neil A. Maxwell on it.  It says “Faith in the Lord includes faith in His timing.”  That’s where we are right now.

p.s.    With all of our efforts at weight gain, at one point last month, Matt was up 11 pounds.  WOO HOO!!!  Thought you would all like to know that!

p.s.s.  Check out the new pictures I posted here.  I think Matt looks great!