Feed your FAITH and your fears will starve .

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Do You Believe in Miracles?

The last few days have been interesting.  I have imagined every possible scenario and what my reaction would be to the results of the scans.  Funny thing, I never could have predicted what happened today.  

On our way down to SLC I was calm, cool and collected.  Trent was a ball of nerves.  I kept telling him we were going to be fine, hoping that my calmness would rub off on him.  As usual the scan took about one minute and then the waiting began.  We only had to wait two hours today which was really nice.  When Dr. Gouw came in he did not even greet us.  He walked right by us to the computer and said, "You gotta see this!"  I knew right off it was good.  He pulled up the scan and lined it up with last month's scan so we could compare the two. Then he scrolled down through the lungs.  As I watched the scan progress I kept biting my lip trying not to cry out loud.  I was completely entranced by what I saw.  What a difference!  Last month the left lung was almost completely white, indicating lots of pneumonia, a partially collapsed lung, and a whole lot of tumor.  This time the blackness was beautiful!  It looked like a perfectly healthy lung clear up until the tumor.  Pooh, the tumor is still there but it is shrinking!  There was a big black hole right in the middle of the tumor.  Necrosis!  Yay!  The tumor is dying!  At least half of the tumor was black in the middle and that is awesome!  There are two other nodules that we couldn't really see before because the tumor was so big.  However, each are on the perimeter of the lung and can easily be resected.  We don't know yet about the tumor in the pericardium but can only assume it is meeting its demise as well!  We will know more after we get the final report tomorrow.  

Dr.Gouw was completely shocked by the results.  He said he never could have guessed we would have such good results.  He gave all the credit to Dr. D'aDamo and the Spanish trial of these drugs.  We know better though. :)  He said that he never would have thought to use that combination for Trent especially since he had already tried both drugs.  He will also be using this combination on other patients now too!  Katie and Dr. Gouw were thrilled with how well Trent is doing on this chemo.  His labs were fabulous.  Katie jokingly said, "What are you doing, eating steak every day?"  YES!  He is!  He has a steak and some potatoes almost every afternoon for a snack.  Apparently that does his body good!  

The cancer sweats are almost completely gone after I upped the dose of his Lyrica to every day instead of every other day.  Thank goodness!  That was so difficult for Trent to deal with.  Now we just need to keep his innards regular and he will be one happy camper.  We are going to try milk sugar and hopefully that will do the trick.

Dr. Gouw was saying that when he looks at a patient's labs they are color coded for low levels or high levels.  He said Trent's last labs were a rainbow of colors because they were so messed up.  This time almost his entire reading was blue (normal range).  He said whatever we are doing needs to continue because whatever it is, it's working!  We are going for four more rounds of chemo and then a scan on May 1st. 

When we went to infusion for Round 23 we saw a volunteer, Mary Ann, that we had met once before.  She and Trent had talked a little about a month ago and she told him her husband was taking her to Walt Disney World.  She told Trent she would shout hello to him when she got there.  She did better than that!  She had Daisy Duck hold a sign that said, "We love you Trent" and took a picture.  She then made him the cutest scrapbook page with some of her pictures.  How sweet!  She told us that she had recently been visiting her son in Tobyhanna, Pennsylvania.  She went to a very poor church there that she says has a very passionate congregation.  She didn't know my name so she put "Trent and his princess" on the prayer book there.  Now every time that church holds Mass, their congregation prays for us.  Again, how sweet!  

Trent, Eric (Mary Ann's husband), and Mary Ann
Trent was feeling fabulous all through his infusion.  Our nurse was new and recently moved here from Hawaii.  How convenient!  We grilled her all day for details and advice about vacationing in Hawaii.  After infusion we stopped to do a little grocery shopping and he went right down the tubes.  That's when it hit me.  Even after all the great news today, our life still consists of chemo, chemo, and more chemo.  It kind of deflated my mood a bit as I watched Trent get more and more sick with each passing moment.  He hates the physical pain, fatigue, and sickness.  I hate the mental tricks chemo plays on him.  That is the hardest for me.   Thankfully that only lasts for about a week.  It seems like each round Trent has been given a few more good days than the round before.  I am so grateful for those tender mercies!

As we continue on this journey I have to wonder, what are we supposed to be learning?  What are we supposed to be doing?  Is Trent being spared and for what purpose?  I don't know the answers to all of these questions.  But there is one thing I do know.  Miracles happen.  Everyday.   I believe we have been granted one today.  I BELIEVE IN MIRACLES!!!

14 comments:

  1. I've checked your blog so many times today :) HOORAY! I'm SO, SO happy for you!! Happy tears all around :*) I hope the good days continue to outnumber the bad . . . until there's nothin' but good left for ever and ever!!
    I can think of no family more deserving of this very REAL miracle...Thank you prayers tonight ;) Keep squashin'!

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  2. WONDERFUL!!! That is so exciting to hear. I haven't checked your blog for a little while and I'm so happy to hear of this great blessing! Keep up the good work you two! What a tough fight, you're both fighting.

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  3. Hooray! That is fantastic news. Keep up the good work, Trent. Those steaks do a body good!

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  4. so wonderful to read this post this morning. i'm praying for trent that God will do him good and spare him so that his children have a dad and that he can see his kids grow up. it is just injustice what cancer does to so many people, so many families, all the pain that comes with it, the loss, the buckets of tears shed. no God no, not trent, take away the pain, the grip of this (manmade) disease, remember he is you child and you promised to bless him and his whole house...
    fight for trent before God's throne, 'remember' God on his own word, all his promises and thank him.

    to the potatoes. i'm a nutrition professional in germany and i encourage you to give trent potatoes as much as possible. organic potatoes. it will boost his health. also reduce things containing artificial colors and the artificial sweetener aspartame, those things are highly toxic and aspartame is causing in 60% cancer and other health issues. it's important to really know what trent is consuming. Ask God to bless what your family is eating. you guys in america are massively exposed to gmo 'food' (genetic modified organism). that so called food is destroying peoples health and it is causing all kinds of cancer. i don't want to scare you, but it is a sad fact.. and most of people do not know about or just little. it is really important to keep your family away from it, your kids. e.g. stay away from corn products, soja and eat organic meat. there is a lot of information on the internet. as you have probably already noticed, cancer is on the rise and it will skyrock in coming years. guess why. the food we eat has an emense impact on our health. As God's children we shall not live in fear, but we shall do our part to keep the body functioning.

    i luv you guys and wish you all the best. please give trent a big hug.
    anita

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  5. hey, kim's friend again! just wanted to know how awesome this is!! i will be thinking and praying and praising God for you too. thanks for being open with your story. it's beautiful. :-)

    be blessed! annie peay

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  6. This is beautiful news.. :) We are so happy for you and your family. Much love and happiness and way to go!

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  7. Yay! A-M-A-Z-I-N-G We are so thrilled for this great news. We believe in miracles and are excited to see what the Lord has in store for your amazing family. When I think of real strength, I think of Trent. I am awed by his ability to keep fighting and it inspires and strengthens me. Way to go Rasmussen family. We love you and add our faith to yours and countless others.

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  8. We pray for your miracle everyday. Uncle Tom and Aunt Sandy and all the Albaughs.

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  9. So Happy for the wonderful news! We will keep the prayers coming!

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  10. This is wonderful news! Miracles DO happen, and God is the originator.

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  11. Good to hear. Faith, Hope and Miracles. They do a body good. May light continue to shine down on you. Rena

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  12. My family and I will say prayers of thanks and celebration tonight, and prayers for a gentle hand over Trent and all of you as this next round continues.

    Warmest thoughts your way.

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  13. Your family is absolutely amazing!! You mention "What are you supposed to be learning and what are you supposed to be doing?" I truly believe that sometimes the trials we go through do more to strengthen others than ourselves. Your story has truly inspired more people than you can imagine. Thank you for allowing us to be a part of your journey and for allowing our faith and testimonies to grow along with yours. Your family is a great blessing in our family's lives!!!

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