Eating is Important

From Mary .. 

Just a note to update you on all that is going on. Don's treatments are coming along. We have two and a half weeks left. Daily radiation treatments - most of them at 8:30 am in Durham. It's a nice drive every morning, Don and I get exercise power walking over the sidewalk bridge. 

His neck is getting red, kinda maroonish. He is starting to have really tender skin at the bottom part of the radiation area cause that has not been callused by the sun. I heard at church that we need to get some medicine on it right away to avoid complications.  

He doesn't eat or drink two days after his chemo (treatments once a week) . His appetite is better today - meaning - he has eaten 3 or 4 cups of food. I'm not sure how much water, but it's better then it was. Now he drinks maybe 3 glasses in a day. He has been taking his vitamins, I pull them apart and put them in his smoothie. Except for the red ones (they are the omega vits) . They do not mix well at all. The last couple days he has been happy with Gold Standard vanilla protein powder and vanilla ice cream (that has whole milk, eggs, sugar and vanilla beans) half and half - with a dash of cream. 

So fattening - but even then, if you only eat a cup or two - a couple times a day - you are good - you can eat whatever you want. Last week Don was out pounding hubs with Benjamin in the field. He is still working at his desk most of the day, making calls, drawing plans - managing stuff. He gets tired in the day, frequently - but that is a side effect of all his treatments. He might sleep in his chair at the desk or sometimes lays down on the couch with his new blanket. 

His throat is a constant pain, about a number 6 (out of 10 - 10 being crying out in pain) but the meds help bring it down to a 3. The three is probably what most of us have when we have a sore throat. He is lethargic sometimes and other times he gets up and does stuff around the house. He gets tired easily when driving so I do a lot of the driving back and forth to Durham. 

I have been putting coconut oil on his neck but I hadn't put it towards the bottom, we will have to see if it improves when I put it on there. I have not been faithful putting the oils on his feet. Sometimes he goes to bed and before I realize it he is settled in and I don't disturb him. 

That is our general schedule. I need to get better at being more consistent with his meals. 

Benjamin has been really handling the field work for the survey business for Don. He gets workers, talks to the clients, decides how the job needs to be done. Pretty impressive. 

Elisa is sad these days but she is seeking the Lord to help her get her heart on track with Him. Same with Ben Keenan. They have broken up and that has caused heartache in the family - cause Ben has become part of our family. But we all are trusting the Lord with their futures and we just know that God is going to do a good work.  

We are all really appreciative of LifeWay, Elisa's work. They have been so supportive of her and our whole family over the last month or so. Helpful with scheduling and working with our different dramas going on in our family. 

Antioch, our new church has been very encouraging to Don. He feels really loved there. I think we all do. The folks keep pointing us always to the Lord. All the little kids put a smile on all of our faces. So many kids in that church! Mark has great sermons and I really appreciate how he talks to and challenges the men to be the spiritual leaders in their families. There are a lot of men in that church that are serious about their roles as a husband and a father. The single men seem to be serious about their walks with the Lord and the direction the Lord is pointing them. And a lot of the women love ... whole foods!! We speak food to each other. Fun. Plus, there is fresh milk to buy and fresh eggs from the homeschool families. Pretty cool place. 

(http://sermons.antiochchurch.cc/sermons/listen/342) This is a sermon about Joseph and his faithfulness - his character. 

That is a short rundown. We still have a lot of emotions running high around here. With Don's cancer treatments there is the unknown about weight loss and they keep threatening him with .. some terrible thing if he loses to much weight. A few other medical things that make me nervous but none of it makes Don nervous. He just keeps walking forward. Amazing. 

High emotions regarding Ben's departure but we are confident that God will take care of us all. Here is a verse that applies to our lives these days. 

Psalm 139

For the director of music. Of David. A psalm.

 ¹ You have searched me, LORD,
   and you know me. 

² You know when I sit and when I rise;
   you perceive my thoughts from afar. 

³ You discern my going out and my lying down;
   you are familiar with all my ways. 

⁴ Before a word is on my tongue
   you, LORD, know it completely. 

⁵ You hem me in behind and before,
   and you lay your hand upon me. 

⁶ Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
   too lofty for me to attain.

 ⁷ Where can I go from your Spirit?
   Where can I flee from your presence? 

⁸ If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
   if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. 

⁹ If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
   if I settle on the far side of the sea, 

¹⁰ even there your hand will guide me,
   your right hand will hold me fast. 

¹¹ If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me
   and the light become night around me,” 

¹² even the darkness will not be dark to you;
   the night will shine like the day,
   for darkness is as light to you.

 ¹³ For you created my inmost being;
   you knit me together in my mother’s womb. 

¹⁴ I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;
   your works are wonderful,
   I know that full well. 

¹⁵ My frame was not hidden from you
   when I was made in the secret place,
   when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. 

¹⁶ Your eyes saw my unformed body;
   all the days ordained for me were written in your book
   before one of them came to be. 

¹⁷ How precious to me are your thoughts,^[a] God!
   How vast is the sum of them! 

¹⁸ Were I to count them,
   they would outnumber the grains of sand—
   when I awake, I am still with you.

 ¹⁹ If only you, God, would slay the wicked!
   Away from me, you who are bloodthirsty! 

²⁰ They speak of you with evil intent;
   your adversaries misuse your name. 

²¹ Do I not hate those who hate you, LORD,
   and abhor those who are in rebellion against you? 

²² I have nothing but hatred for them;
   I count them my enemies. 

²³ Search me, God, and know my heart;
   test me and know my anxious thoughts. 

²⁴ See if there is any offensive way in me,
   and lead me in the way everlasting.

I still have yet to take the Christmas stuff down - I will get to it, I know I will. 

Lots of things to do and funny thing - we will get to them, if the Christmas stuff is up a bit longer then it should, that is OK. 

Ben K. and I have a joke about how long will the Christmas wrapping be left out upstairs - who knows? I am confident at some point it will be put away. Too bad he's gone, I'd ask him to do it. hahaha Ben.

Still in the middle of this journey, still walking on auto, taking everything one day at a time. 

Thank you for all your prayers and support. 

Can you believe it .. the Lord just gave us over $100 worth of farm fresh Angus beef?? 
If you would like to pray for something, please pray that Don will be able to eat. That he would be hungry, and that he would be able to drink water!! 


We love you all.