Category: Status Update

Tim has been more tired this round. He wants so badly not to be but, alas, his body just won’t let him do too much. This is very normal. The doctor said each round will be a little bit worse as his body is not able to recover as much each time. He did need to have platelets yesterday but that is all so far.

We had a good 4th of July weekend. We got to spend some time with our oldest grandson. We also go to spend time with Tim’s family in Cedar Rapids to celebrate his brother-in-law’s birthday, and the 4th with most of his siblings and many nieces and nephews we don’t get to see much!

On Sunday, Tim got the opportunity to meet a cancer warrior (also named Tim) whose cancer journey makes ours look like a walk in the park. He was very encouraged by this meeting and seeing how far Tim has come in his journey. We have been praying for him for a while now and it was good to see how well he is doing.

Just wanted to give a quick update and let you all know that we are still here and things continue to go as well as can be expected. Thank you all so much for your prayers and words of encouragment!

PRAYER REQUESTS:

We will be headed to Nebraska this weekend to help our daughter Emily and her family move back to this area. Tim will, as all dad’s do, want to do more than he should. Please pray that we will be able to keep him from doing too much. At the same time, please pray that everything goes well and we are able to get it all done!

PRAISES:

We are thankful that Tim has not had any more episodes of passing out. Despite the tiredness, he is feeling well. We have been around quite a few people recently and he seems to be handling that well also.

We just received the news that Tim’s biopsy shows no signs of the mutation NPM1 ! See what this means below:

What NPM1-negative MRD means in plain terms:

The most sensitive molecular test available looked for traces of his specific leukemia at a level far below what any standard test can detect — and found nothing. The cancer’s fingerprint is gone from what they can measure. That is the single best possible result from post-induction testing. It’s not just remission. It’s deep molecular remission.

There were also some other mutations, but from what I understand, this was the primary one.

That means that, at this time, no transplant is needed. He will continue the next two rounds of maintenance chemo and then will have regular blood tests to keep watch.

God is good! All the time! All the time! God is good!!!!!!!!

Tim was released from the hospital early this afternoon. Still don’t have a good idea of why he passed out. They wanted him to have a heart monitor at home but insurance wouldn’t cover it, so we will just be extra vigilant. He is still more tired than usual. He does have an appointment with his oncologist tomorrow so will ask about that. We figure it is normal but you just never know.

Thank you for your prayers yesterday and today. We may never know what happened but God does.

This morning while getting labs, Tim passed out. It was very brief and the really don’t know why. He was having some PCV (Premature Ventricular Contractions). These are actually rather common and can happen to anyone. Chemo patients do tend to have more episodes of them also. The ER doctor, out of an abundance of caution, decided it would be best for him to be admitted overnight for observation with a heart monitor. So, back to the hospital he went. They will keep him overnight and, hopefully, he will be released tomorrow. There is a good chance he will have a heart monitor for a week or two at home also.

While this was not in our plans, it doesn’t appear to be a serious issue for which we are grateful.

Thank you for your continued prayers!

Tim got home last night about 10:15 from his 2nd round of maintenance chemo. The week went well and he feels pretty good but has been more tired than usual today. While he is doing well, there has been quite a bit going on that brings reality into check.

This week, Cassie took a walk. It happened to be a walk alone, which she hadn’t really done since the night Tim called her (while on a walk alone) to say he was headed to the emergency room. Who would have thought that a simple walk would be so triggering.

This morning, during church we sang one of Tim’s favorite songs. It also happens to be a song that we sang with our kids during both of our worship times at the hospital. It hit different today and Tim got very choked up and had a hard time singing it.

While at the hospital this week, a patient on the oncology floor passed away and then today we heard about a dear friend that had also passed away. There are about a dozen people on our church’s prayer list with cancer.

These have all combined (along with a couple other things) to really bring home the fact that this is something we will live with for the rest of Tim’s life – however long that may be.

While he is doing well now, things could just as easily turn on a dime next week, or next month, next year, or even 20 years from now. We never know when we might leave this earth. We have taken to heart the fact that Tim might be healed on this side of earth but never truly healed until he leaves this earth.

His long term prognosis at this point in time, seems to be good regardless of whether transplant is needed or not. However, the realization that so many are battling cancer and other serious illnesses and not doing as well is very heartbreaking to us.

We thank you all so very much for your prayers for us. Your continued prayers are very much appreciated. In spite of this week’s reality checks, we do still have a sense of peace, regarding our situation, which can only come from our Heavenly Father.

We are praising the fact that our dear friend is, right now, completely healed from all that was wrong and is seeing her Savior face to face.

Tim started his 2nd round of maintenance chemo yesterday and so far things have been going well. Yesterday he spent most of the day relaxing and resting from the weekend. He has access to watching the World Cup soccer matches while in the hospital and has been taking full advantage of that.

Today he did quite a bit of walking. I stopped up after work and walked with him a bit. One of the other patients on the oncology floor stopped us to tell Tim he is impressed with how fast he walks the halls. It was a nice opportunity to meet another patient there and we had a very nice chat with him.

PRAYER REQUESTS:

Please pray for G (the patient we met). He is being treated for bladder cancer. He was given 2-5 years. He had been doing quite well and then recently his blood tests indicated his kidneys were not doing well. Please pray for his treatments to be successful and that he will feel the peace of God. I am not sure if he is a believer, but he talked about seeing all the blessings in our ‘situations’.

PRAISES:

Tim’s back is feeling much better after getting the rest and relaxation of yesterday. Thank you for your prayers!

Our conversation with the fellow patient reminded us of just how many ways we have seen God’s hand in all that has happened. We are so thankful that we have a good and loving Father that cares for us. We have been shown time and time again that He will never leave us or forsake us!

It has been awhile since we last posted. Tim has been doing quite well. Has been feeling good, his blood counts have come back like they should and in general, has been boring. We needed a little of that in our lives!!

He had a great Father’s Day weekend. We had many of the kids home over the weekend and got to host all his siblings and their spouses (and a few kids) today. It was the first time they had all been together since 2023.

Tim starts the 2nd round of maintenance chemo tomorrow. If all goes as it should, he will get out of the hospital Saturday evening. This morning he had another biopsy. The results will take about a week to a week and a half. This one will tell us whether we will be continuing with more rounds of maintenance chemo or whether he will need a transplant.

PRAYER REQUESTS:

Tim’s back is bothering him again. We ask for prayers that it clears as quickly as it did the last time and that he won’t have trouble with it while in the hospital.

We ask for prayers for good results on the biopsy. While chemo is never fun, the alternative (transplant) is so much more daunting. It would require a very aggressive round of chemo, 4-5 weeks in Iowa City, many trips back and forth, and, likely, at least a year of recovery. It would not be the road we want to have to go down.

PRAISES:

Tim (and I) are very thankful for all of you that reach out with words of encouragement and telling us that you are praying for us. We have mentioned this before but we really are very grateful for all the love and support we have received since this journey began. It is very humbling to know people all over the world, some that don’t even know us, are praying for us!

For family that is close. We are so blessed to be able to have our immediate family close by and to be able to see them as often as we do.

Tim has been feeling good despite his blood counts dropping following chemo. He did have to have platelets yesterday, but that is all he has had to have (so far) this time around. We are praising God that things have been going much smoother this time.

Tim had an appointment in Iowa City today with the transplant doctor. She gave us a very brief rundown of how things would go should Tim need a transplant. She was not really interested in going too deep as she feels it is still premature to talk about a transplant. Once the results are back from Tim’s next bone marrow biopsy, which is currently scheduled for Monday, June 22nd, we will have more information on the next steps. Seems like we keep saying ‘After this next test, we will have more information’, but that does seem to be the way this goes!

We did find out that, based on the testing they have done so far, there are 2 donor matches that are 10/10 and 12 donor matches that are 9/10. She thinks Tim would be a good candidate for a transplant based on age and overall health. Obviously, if a transplant is the direction we need to go, there would be lots more testing to make sure she is correct.

The rest of this week and next are his rebuilding weeks and he will just have lab work. He pretty much goes 3 times a week for those. He is scheduled to start the next round of chemo on Tuesday, June 23rd. If we continue with just the chemo, he would have 2 more months of these rounds. If, the results of the BMB indicate he would be better off with a transplant, that will likely start pretty quickly after this next round of chemo.

PRAYER REQUESTS:

For Tim to stay healthy while his immune system is currently significantly compromised. He has done well so far and we are working to keep it that way.

Prayers that he won’t need the transplant. While that may be the way we need to go, we are praying that the chemo does what they are hoping it will do and he won’t need a transplant.

PRAISES:

That Tim had insurance when this happened! The first hospital stay (basically a month) was a rather LARGE amount of money.

We want to thank you again for all the prayers, cards, words of encouragement, and gifts that we have received. While we may not be able to respond to them all, they are all VERY valued and VERY appreciated!!

Tim had a phone appointment with his oncologist in Iowa City today. She told him that now that all the information is back from the last biopsy she still believes he is in the favorable category. She also believes that his cancer can be treated/cured with just the chemo. (There are still 3 more rounds.)

He will need to have blood tests (frequently for quite a while and then yearly for the rest of his life) but that is a small inconvenience to make sure the leukemia is kept at bay.

They will still continue to move forward as if he needs a transplant so that, if something unexpected should happen, we are not starting at square one. We will meet with the transplant Dr on June 10th in Iowa City.

They are still very interested in the results of the next biopsy which should occur around the end of June. It typically takes 1-2 weeks to get all the information back from this test.

PRAYER REQUESTS:

While this information all seems very positive, there is always the chance of something changing. We ask that you continue to pray for Tim to be able to be healed with the chemo only.

PRAISES:

This optimistic report deserves a lot of praise! It is sometimes hard to feel good about a report knowing that the other shoe could drop at any moment but for today, we are choosing to celebrate this victory.

Tim’s back seems to be back to normal;) He is feeling good. He had bloodwork today (part of the normal protocol following chemo) and it was all good enough that he didn’t need any transfusions. That is a praise as well.

Praises that this round of chemo was much less taxing on his body than the last time. That is a HUGE morale booster.

Today was Tim’s 5th & 6th rounds of chemo for this time. He has felt quite good this whole week and was able to leave the hospital tonight about 9:00 p.m. His white blood count had dropped by about half this morning (to be expected) and will drop more this next week (and possibly longer) before starting to recover again. We are extremely grateful he has felt so good all week!

It will be important for him to stay as well as possible this next week, so he will likely not venture too far from home, except for the Dr. visits.

PRAYER REQUESTS:

That Tim stays healthy and that he feels as good as possible all next week (which could be the worst week for him).

PRAISES:

That Tim is home! Although this trip to the hospital was MUCH less eventful than the last one, it is always good to be home and to have him home!