Starting Year 4 Cancer-Free!

Just a quick note for those who may stop by my cancer blog.... Dan is heading into his fourth year being cancer-free! Dan keeps going periodically and a little hesitantly to have a scan and xray a couple times each year. All reports are coming back ok.
Dan is serving the Lord with his music and heart for young people at Hume Lake Camps both for summer camps and now outdoor education!

We Praise the LORD

Here it is, January 2009, and Dan's still in remission. We're told as the 2 year mark arrives, the chances of his cancer coming back drops to a very low percentage.
I know it's hard every time there's a check up with the doctor. Things get a little more tense and edgy, but one thing we've learned in all this: PRESS INTO THE LORD.
Dan's been given a great gift and a sensitivity to the Holy Spirit through all this. I'm amazed to watch his life. Pretty awesome being his dad.

9 months later...

It has been a while since writing a post....just wanted to let you know that Daniel is still cancer-free! We thank God. The last day of Dan's chemo was the day before his Aunt Jody was called home from her fight with lung cancer.
Just 2 weeks ago, Gramma Judy went home. Such a peaceful passing and on the anniversary of her husband Jim's passing in '92.
Where's God in all this, you may ask? RIGHT IN THE VERY CENTER OF IT ALL BECAUSE WE ASKED HIM TO BE IN THE CENTER OF IT ALL.
We have seen our Savior stand up in the boat and tell the waves, "Peace! Be Still".
That's right, God is in the center of it all and we thank him for it all, too. WE are more like HIM and we understand a little more because we have been honored to share in HIS sufferings.
Doesn't make sense to you? Call me and let's have coffee.

No more chemo for now...Now, Surveillance!

I apologize for the huge gap in communication..
I need to share our progress over the past few weeks..
Dan was doing well and he was responding well to the chemo. One of the tumor markers in the blood tests, namely the AFP (alph feta protein) was however creeping up ...instead of down. It has been in the normal range, but creeping up and causing a little concern.
Last week, after a chest xray and a lung test, the doc and nurse decided to hold off on the last to doses of Bleomicin chemo because it can affect the lungs and the test showed that it was possibly doing so.

We were in chemo-limbo...waiting for our appointment to discuss it with the doctor, and getting input from 2and and 3rd sources and praying praying praying.

The doctor was able to fit us in today and we also had another blood test today and the AFP was down back where it was 3 weeks ago. So here's the good news: We are in a period of surveillance. Or "watch, wait, recheck".

WE are very thankful. No more chemo for now. We are going to start by watching the blood markers every other week and a CT scan in 2-3 months depending on the results of the blood tests..

Please keep us in your prayers...Typically this could be the beginning of a 5-10 year watch and monitor...

Round Three Begins

Monday October 2 marks week 7 of chemotherapy treatment for Daniel Aaron LaPoint. It's hard to keep up this routine. Dan is growing very tired of this, but keeps pressing on. The chemo room has gotten a little bit lively with the addition of China. China is 24 and is back for round 2 of chemo. It's quite fun to see to young chemo patients, both with ADD interact. Monday afternoon turned into "thinking" as we played scrabble. It's interesting because it was interupted by bathroom breaks with IV bags in tow, which meant moving the game, chairs and all, but it was a great diversion.

Appreciate your prayers during this time. Annie's sister, Jody went to be with our Savior on Saturday Sept. 30 at 4pm. There is a graveside family service this week, but Dan and I are here for HIS chemo treatment. There is a larger memorial service in 3 weeks which we all will be able to attend (if there aren't anymore chemo rounds).

KEN

Tumor Markers in the NORMAL Range

As Dan and I entered the chemo lounge today, we were greeted with some great news. The tumor marker numbers from the blood test on Monday report Dan's Beta HCG and AFP levels are in the normal range. We are obviously very happy but in a controlled kind of way. Dan still has Bleomicin next week to finish out this cycle two and then one more full cycle (5 days of chemo next week and then once a week for 2 weeks.
We are still awaiting word from the doctor about the possible Cycle 4.
Speaking of cycles, Dan and I are going to attempt a 30-mile Tour de Menlo on Sunday. Pray for us. Ps. This picture is from September 2005.

Hydration-It's a Good Thing

We found out today that keeping hydrated is a very important thing. But it is a difficult thing as well. When not even water doesn't taste good and it makes you feel nauseous, it's not fun. Top that off with bone pain from the injections of neuprogin (day 3 of 5). Dan, I'm proud of you. H.I.T.--hang in there.
Thank you, RN Theresa for giving Dan an I-V of saline solution today. It really made a difference. And thanks for the creative hydration ideas too.

Pressing On

Friday, September 15 marked the end of a 5-day chemo treatment for Daniel. I am very proud of how he presses on. He's been maintaining a good attitude. Yet, after 5 days, he does feel it. Not much is tasting very good, he's feeling tired and tiring quickly, on verge of nausea, and tired of the routine.
The doc and nurse are hinting at a possible 4th cycle. I guess it depends on the HCG and AFP marker levels. I'm sure we'll have his blood levels checked this week and next. So even though we hope this is the mid-way point of his chemo, we press on.
Due to a slightly lower-than-what-the-docs-want level on his white blood cell count, Dan is getting neuprogin injections for 5 days to promote white blood cell growth. The secret to kicking T.C. is to treat it agressively and promptly so they want to avoid waiting until his white blood cell count climbs back to the proper level on it's own. So we press on. And we press in- in to our Savior for strength each day.

Thank you for:
: your visits at the chemo room
: your prayer support
:taking time to read this

Ken

Cyle Two

Dan's second cycle has begun. Dan's head is pretty billiard-ball-esque these days. His hair had begun falling out and he decided to just be done with it.. Please pray for his white blood cell count. It has dropped slightly below what they want. This means it is reaching his bone marrow and we need to be careful. He's on cipro for a preventative anti-biotic and will be getting shots at the end of the week to help boost his white blood cell count.
Special thanks to all our visitors. It really is a blessing to be able to make conversation with our friends. Time goes by alot slower when no one is around. It truly is a blessing. Special thanks from the dad.

Good News Friday

Praise the Lord for good news today. Dr. Marcus' office called and Dan's blood marker HCG level has decreased to below where it was at the beginning of August. It has dropped from 50 down to 18...thank you for this blessing today, Lord! Amen Click on the chart on the right to see the latest.

Oxygen Therapy, Cycle Style

Daniel has been doing pretty well. He has noticed some nausea and lack of energy toward the end of the first week of his 21-day cycle. But Dan has started a new cycle as well. A Bi-cycle cycle. What started out as a walk through our rural neighborhood turned into a road cycle ride of at first 5 miles, then 7, then 9, then 11, and last Friday we took "the loop" through Portola Valley and Woodside- a 20 mile ride with rolling hills. I kept looking back over my shoulder and asking, "You doin' okay?". Dan always casually replied, "Yeah". I'm afraid soon I'll be slowing him down because of my pace.
I am thrilled to share my passion for road cycling with my son. For the past several years, I've enjoyed 2-3 outings a week, but most times by myself. Well, Dan's caught the bug and now with full LiveStrong Foundation regalia, he's making a statement. And that statement is: "I'm fighting this thing". He really does notice a difference when he exercises. He's not as tired and his spirits are better, too.
Dad is proud of his son and is honored to be alongside him in this journey. Any of you cyclists that want to catch a 14-15mph ride for an hour in the evening.. send me an email and you can join the TC-Cyclers! By the way, thanks for supporting us in prayer.

Refiner's Fire

While reading "Streams in the Desert" today, I was reminded of God's refining fire. Today's reading was on this very subject. The writer shared how steel is tested to find it's breaking point. ""Some pieces had been twisted until they broke and then labeled with the level of pressure they could withstand. Some had been stretched to their breaking point, with their level of strength also noted. Others had been crushed to the crushing point and measured. Because of the testing, the manager of the mill knew exactly how much stress and strain each piece could endure if it was to be used to build a ship, building, or bridge." To be tested and know that we're going to be able to withstand the pressures and to be used of our God to BUILD.
I'm thankful for all of this around us. Dan, Jody, Judy, ..all of it.
"Many of us need no other argument than our own experiences to PROVE that suffering is indeed God's testing room of faith. It is easy for us to theorize about faith, but God often puts us into His crucible of affliction to test the purity of our gold and to separate the dross from the metal. How happy we are if the hurricanes that blow across life's raging sea have the effect of making Jesus more precious to us! It is better to weather the storm with Christ than to sail smooth waters without Him". Praise my Savior and Lord, the Manager of the mill!
Dan has a few well-deserved days of rest from chemo. As expected, it's made him feel pretty lousy. Chemotherapy is designed to attack and kill rapid-dividing cells in the body. These include gastro-intestinal, blood cells, and hair follicle cells. Join us as we pray over his systems and organs for protection from lasting damage and side effects.

Day 5 with the Help of friends

Praise you, Lord for gettting us through the first week. Thursday and today were tougher but made easier by having friends come and visit. Today started pretty groggy for Dan, but it picked up as friends started to come to visit. At home, Dan was feeling fairly lousy and we're glad that he's done with this week's "blasting".
Daniel gets 2 weeks off, other than Tuesdays for a 30-minute Bleo drip.
Thanks so much for your prayer support. You don't know how much this means to Dan and family.
Dan will be at home for the next two weeks with only a shorter Bleomicin treatment on Tuesdays. Then on Sept. 11 (Jojo's birthday) he starts cycle number two.
Pray for us. We are amazed at all the crisis in our lives right now. But God is our refuge and strength. I don't know how those that don't have a personal relationship with Jesus...I mean a real, living, daily, and personal one... I don't know how they could face this kind of stuff.
God's refining fire has been turned up a few knotches... I know he will remove more of the dross. Thanks for your prayers.

Visit from a Survior-Day 4

As Dan and I walked in to the "lounge" (the treatment room), we were greeted by RN Sherrie and a good friend of hers that was a former patient named Dave. He attends the same church and wanted to come and share his story of his cure with Dan and I. Dave had a very large tumor in his abdomen and it was even pressing against his spine. But the chemo treatment shrunk the tumor to operable size and he's got the scar to prove it. The good news: that was 11 years ago!
Thanks to all who have been coming by to visit! You know who you are and we love you for your presence with us! Thanks for sharing your love with the other patience there too!
Praise the Lord for this man and his story. Thanks Dave for your heart to share it with us!
We ask you to be praying for Annie's sister. She's taken a tough turn in her fight with lung cancer. Pray for God to be loving and gracious with her and her dear husband Scotty.
Thanks for your prayers on their behalf.
KEN

Good Report on Dan's MRI

Our nurse, Diana Goodenough (that's sounds just like it's spelled), came in and read us the MRI report from yesterday. "Well, good news! Dan's actually got a brain in there"! ...followed by "the MRI came back clear!"
Praise you Lord, for a quick and positive answer to this piece of the process!
The report reads: " FINDINGS: No abnormal low-intensity, high-intensity or enhancing intra-axial foci are visualized. No evidence of midline shift or mass effect. No abnormal extra-axial fluid collections. The ventricles are normal in size and shape. No abnormalties are identified. IMPRESSION: 1) Normal MRI of the brain" CELEBRATE WITH US!
Please be praying for this series of treatments to be the end..we've been sharing the room with some other patients with other cancers (they are all wonderful people and very pleasant and really tolerate Dan's humor and visitor load). But each one of them is getting treated because the cancer had come back again.
After treatment today Dan said, "I hope this series of treatments is the cure."

Dad's Thoughts on A Son's Journey with Testicular Cancer

I thought our life was being tested and tried enough back in May 2006. I thought I was learning alot from walking daily with my Savior, but he knew that there was more to come. On July 9, 2006, after having the blessing of leading worship for the first time in over 2 years, I came home to find my son needing to be taken to the E. R. (emergency room) at Stanford. After more than 10 hours(mostly waiting) in the E.R., Dan was having surgery -a Radical Orchiectomy (complete removal of one of his testicles) the next day.
On July 27, physicians at the Cancer Center recommended either an RPLND surgery which is a major surgery to remove abdominal lymph nodes and disect them to look for cancer, OR what they termed "grueling chemotherapy". We immediately took wise advise to get second opinions and do all our homework on this subject.
By August 10, Dan's Beta Hcg marker in his blood began to slowly rise, which meant surgery was out of the question. It further meant that chemo was on the horizon.
Praise the Lord for his quick process at Stanford, but praise Him EVEN MORE because he led us away from Stanford for his treatment. Stanford does certain things very well, but you really begin to feel like you're a cog in a machine when you get there.
We needed the personal approach and God led us, after a search that even included a very serious look at Oasis of Hope Hospital in Mexico (http://www.oasisofhope.org), we found Dr. Fred Marcus in Redwood City.
Dr. Marcus is finishing up his own lung cancer chemo and Dan was one of his first patients since his return to work.
Dan is in chemo as I write this and I hope to put my thoughts and prayers and what ever else happens on this blog.
Feel free to post comments. I'd love to hear from you and we all here at the LaPoints covet your prayers daily...