August 18th through September 25th

Well I have intended to get this update completed innumerable times since my last post but it wasn't happening, but, at this point the good reports are piling up so fast that if I don't get on the stick and begin posting them I won't be able to catch up. WARNING: THE BLOG YOU ARE ABOUT TO READ IS GUARANTEED TO STRENGTHEN YOUR FAITH. IF YOU DO NOT WANT TO BE ENCOURAGED OR HAVE YOUR FAITH STRENGTHENED DO NOT READ THIS BLOG.

So, if you have the fortitude, strap yourself in, here is the update. In short, everything can be summed up in the word MIRACULOUS!!! God has and continues to deliver "above and beyond all that I could possibly ask or think". Had I been given a blank sheet of paper (following my visit to Mayo August 17th) and asked to write down what I was believing God for I would have fallen far short of what has actually occurred. Although I know (according to the Word and what our inheritance is as heirs to the New Covenant (salvation, healing, deliverance, prosperity and all things that pertain to life and godliness))I am incredibly humbled and "blown away" that God (according to Psalm 8) is mindful of me and this is actually happening!!!

My color (both skin and eyes, although eyes took a lot longer) continued to be a little less yellow (jaundiced) every day. NOTE: I didn't mention in my last post that a few days before my visit to Mayo on August 17th, I had a terrible attack of pain in my left heel, it was extremely sensitive to the touch and very painful to walk on. I dealt with it for a few days doing nothing, (I was already doing anti-itch and pain medications daily) figuring it came quickly in the night and would leave as quickly. After 2 days I started wearing some kind of foot brace Sherry got when she thought she had plantar fasciitis. It at least enabled me to walk because it absorbed most of the weight instead of putting it on my heal. It was bad enough that for my visit the 17th to Mayo I rode around in a wheelchair part of the day.

I went back to work on Thursday the 18th of August and there was no change in my heel. In fact by Friday it was so bad that when we went to the Steele County Free Fair in Owatonna with some friends I rented a scooter in order to get around! It was somewhat embarrassing since I really have never considered myself to be sick. By Saturday morning the pain in my heel had lessened for the first time and by Monday the 22nd, when I returned to work, my heel felt fine.

All during this time I was feeling a little better each day, but working a full 8 hours a day was quite exhausting. I'd come home each night and crash hard. The jaundice continued to lessen so that you really didn't see it in my skin tone and just barely in my eyes. Also, each time one of the multiple medications I was on ran out, I would either stop taking it or back off the dosage substantially. Very quickly I was down to taking only two pills before bed for restful sleep and the last remnants of itching. Early the week of September 12th when those last two prescriptions ran out I stopped taking all meds. All during this time my appetite vastly improved (I'm sure I have put back on a good deal of the weight I had lost when I weighed below 170 with maybe 20 lbs. of tumors in my gut) and I gained energy every day. I am back to normal color and weight-wise although I can't put an exact date on the return to normalcy.

2 or 3 weekends ago I went out and worked on a project in the garage but after a couple of hours I had to call it quits, I was exhausted! However, yesterday September 24th I got up early went and had coffee with Sherry, then we shopped for several hours, even hit a couple of garage sales, came home and tackled some projects around the house and felt great!!! Today for the first time since June 30th I went out, mowed and weed-whacked the entire yard (despite the fact that Sherry and Brileigh had tried to keep up with it, it was incredibly long) then did a brake job on my car, now I'm doing the blog. It is an awesome testimony to the goodness of God!!! I really am feeling back to normal and doing everything I was doing back in June, but certainly have a new appreciation and thankfulness for the good heath I have again (and which so many of us take for granted). But I am rushing ahead.

On Monday September 5th I felt a prompting to do a Google search on my Dr. (Dr. Eugene Kwon). What I found was amazing. If you're interested you should check out these links http://mayoresearch.mayo.edu/staff/kwon_e.cfm and http://www.minnpost.com/healthblog/2009/06/19/9659/mayo_reports_dramatic_outcomes_in_prostate_cancer_study
The long and short of it is that once again God's providence was in operation. I had initially called the Mayo Clinic and was randomly (I thought) scheduled as a patient of Dr. Kwon's. It turns out he is a leading researcher in the area of immunology as a treatment for prostate cancer. For two years I had used naturopathic treatment methods  changing lifestyle, diet and exercising more trying to boost my immune system in order to "destroy" the prostate cancer, as a result of the long-held belief that the medical profession only offered surgery, radiation and chemotherapy as options for cancer treatment. Then as "luck" would have it I am "randomly" assigned to a Dr. whose entire research focus is on using therapies which boost the patients immune system to eradicate cancer and specifically prostate cancer.

Again, things continued to improve a little bit every day I had more energy and by the time my next Mayo Clinic appointment arrived (September 9th) I was feeling really good. I went through the normal drill for my appointment (Early AM blood draw, then CT Scan with & without contrast then a 1:00 PM Dr. Appointment, following that a Lupron shot (the hormone treatment that blocks the production of testosterone). They had to wait this long (a month) to do the CT scan with contrast because my impaired kidney function wouldn't have been able to handle the contrast dye earlier than this.

Dr. Kwon was not there for this appointment so I met with his assistant Dr. Wynn. He informed me that a number of my lymph nodes had shrunk in size approximately 1" in diameter. In his words this was extremely unusual to have this dramatic a result in this short a time (just 1 month). Dr. Wynn is normally very reserved, doesn't display a lot of emotion, but in this case he was VERY animated and visibly moved by the incredible results. He went on to say that most of the time it takes up to 12 months to see any results from the hormone therapy. Needless to say I left the appointment feeling incredibly blessed and encouraged!

Over the course of the next several weeks I have continued to get stronger, feel better, look better (I'm told) and also feel the pressure that the lymph nodes were putting on my entire abdominal area, lessen. For the last 6 weeks I have been back to work full time and the only negative is the multiple "hot flashes" I get each day as a result of the Lupron therapy (basically it is manopause). But after being incredibly cold for the last year or so (I'm guessing as a result of the cancer) I'm thinking that the hot flashes will provide some welcome relief this winter.

One of the challenges is to remember those long nights of uncontrollable itching, jaundice and weight loss and feeling miserable and remember what I have been delivered from. Because God has answered my prayers for relief from all of those things. It truly is a miracle!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks to each and every one of you for all of your prayers!!! I know I wouldn't be where I am were it not for those prayers, your love and support and your powerful encouragement. While it is a bit too early to celebrate the complete victory, I would ask that you continue in your prayers for me. But, all indications are that if we continue on this course it will eventually lead to a complete healing with no lingering or recurring effects. Thanks for all of the awesome emails, texts, voicemails, phone calls, visits, letters, faxes, etc. they have been incredibly encouraging and uplifting. I appreciate them more than I can express. I love hearing from each and every one of you and apologize if during these many distractions I haven't gotten back to you in a timely manner. Just as I eventually get around to updating this blog I will eventually get back to each of you. All God's best in every area of your lives.

Paul (and Sherry)