Whom shall I fear?

“The Lord is my light and my salvation — whom shall I fear?

The Lord is the stronghold of my life — of whom shall I be afraid?”
Psalm 27:1

It was not an encouraging day. Start off with the news that Kelsey’s tumor had grown and the chemo regimen that she has been on has not been effective in stopping growth, add in an MRI, have a bit of encouraging news on her C7 and then have that followed up by a disheartening visit with an orthopedic surgeon where we learned that at this point there is only a small chance of saving any functionality in Kelsey’s arm and that the chance of recurrence with that type of surgery could be high.

Our meeting with Dr. Benjamin started off with a discussion of how Kelsey can hope to manage pain, then transitioned into options for additional treatment. He is leaning toward trying an oral chemo which has quite a few side effects. He also wanted us to try to get in and speak with an orthopedic surgeon while we were there.

Then, it was off to the MRI – that went well for Kelsey, she thankfully was not in a lot of pain during the scan.

We then raced off to meet with Dr. Brown. It was a pretty quick visit, but certainly the most encouraging visit of the day. His look at the MRI showed that the cancer has not grown at all and perhaps had even shrunk a bit. He reminded us that it is a slow process, typically taking between 8-9 months to see bone regrowth. However, he said the area where the stereotactic radiation had been focused showed up pretty clearly on the MRI.

We managed to grab a quick bite to eat (at 3:30), pick up a new pain medication prescription for Kelsey and request her MRI scans before meeting with Dr. Lin (the orthopedic surgeon). He looked at her arm and the MRI scans, checked out her arm and her hand and then shared that we need to have “modest hopes” in the event of a surgery at this point in time. He said that in order to remove the cancer fully, it may completely get rid of functionality in her arm (in which case there would not be much benefit to keeping her arm), but that a more modest removal may allow her to maintain function of her thumb and forefinger. Either way, there is possibility of recurrence and either way it is likely there would be radiation before the surgery and potentially more chemo to come.

So, in terms of medicine, hope is slim. In terms of Who we have been praying to and trusting in since the beginning, our hope has not changed. We are saddened by this most recent blow, but continue to petition God’s throne for healing and for daily strength and courage for Kelsey. We are thankful for the light, salvation and stronghold that God provides in the midst of a dark time. Your continued prayers for our family are appreciated more than you can imagine.

PRAYER REQUESTS

- Wisdom to know the best option for ongoing treatment.
- Encouragement for Kelsey.
- Reduction of the pain in her arm. It is constant and I know that it wears on her. It makes it hard to sleep and is a constant reminder of the cancer in her body.
- Full and complete healing.