"Break Every Chain..."

Thanks for your prayers!

My mom was able to go to Living Proof Live with Beth Moore this weekend. It was such an amazing time of worship and a reminder that we're not alone in this fight! God is in control and He can break every chain!!!! Here are the lyrics to this powerful song:

"Break Every Chain"

There is power in the name of Jesus
There is power in the name of Jesus
There is power in the name of Jesus

To break every chain
Break every chain
Break every chain

There is power in the name of Jesus
There is power in the name of Jesus
There is power in the name of Jesus

To break every chain
Break every chain
Break every chain

To break every chain
Break every chain
Break every chain

All sufficient sacrifice
So freely given
Such a price
Bought our redemption
Heaven's gates swing wide

There is power in the name of Jesus
There is power in the name of Jesus
There is power in the name of Jesus

To Break every chain
Break every chain
Break every chain

There is power in the name of Jesus
There is power in the name of Jesus
There is power in the name of Jesus

To Break every chain
Break every chain
Break every chain

To Break every chain
Break every chain
Break every chain

There's an army rising up
There's an army rising up
There's an army rising up

To Break every chain
Break every chain
Break every chain

There's an army rising up
There's an army rising up
There's an army rising up

To Break every chain
Break every chain
Break every chain

To Break every chain
Break every chain
Break every chain

There is power in the name of Jesus
There is power in the name of Jesus
There is power in the name of Jesus

To Break every chain
Break every chain
Break every chain

There is power in the name of Jesus
There is power in the name of Jesus
There is power in the name of Jesus

To Break every chain
Break every chain
Break every chain

To Break every chain
Break every chain
Break every chain

Hospital Week

As some of you have seen posts from my mom on facebook, and may know, It has been a week full of hospital visits. My dad was doing so well on the new protocol for his cancer. We were seeing results with his blood and he was feeling awesome. So awesome in fact, that he was talking smack at the Applewood Mens softball game! It was nice to see him back as himself, even as short lived as it was. 

On the fourth of July the family went and watched fireworks and my dad began to feel sick. That night he developed a fever and my mom kept a close eye on him. Because of his leukemia we were told that if he ever reached a fever of 101 or higher to take him into the hospital right away. Saturday afternoon my mom brought him into ER because he had a fever of 102! His blood work looked good which was a praise, but they gave him a prescription to treat pneumonia and he was released. 

Monday night my niece Shay (only 21/2 weeks old) was rushed by ambulance to the hospital because she stopped breathing! She ended up being ok, but she had to stay 24hrs for observation. My mom left my dad sick at home and spent many hours at the hospital with her granddaughter.

My dad had a fever continually for a week. My mom tried everything and his temperature would go down for an hour or two and then would spike back up to the 101-102 degree range again! My dad went back to ER on Thursday. After hours of waiting and tests, they finally admitted him. He stayed for two nights. They never gave a complete diagnosis, but they believe it was some sort of virus with an underlaying pneumonia. His chest was heavy, he couldn't talk without having coughing spasms,  he couldn't hold anything down and really didn't want to eat anything, he was on oxygen for lack of breath, his skin coloring was not normal (a hint of yellow ) , and he was so exhausted but had trouble sleeping. 

Saturday he was released! It was like night and day from when I left Dad Friday night to go home, to when I came to see him Saturday morning. His cough was nearly gone, his coloring was normal, he was eating and holding everything down. All his tests were checking out, they didn't find anything besides symptoms of the virus he caught! 

"Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless His holy name!" Psalm 103:1

Through everything that happened this week we couldn't miss the blessings that God provided and poured down on us all! The first praise is that my Dad and Shay are both ok! All tests checked out with nothing new to fear. The way we were surrounded by family and friends through visits, phone calls, texts, facebook messages, cards, etc. reminded us that we are not fighting this alone.  And little things, like the hospital room my dad was in, it had the best view of the city and mountains! My dad could watch fireworks, lightning storms, and even the super moon from where he was laying! The staff was very good an thorough as well. 

My dad still needs prayer of course, especially as he has another blood test this week, but I ask you to really lift up my mom! Pray that she'll sleep. That she'll let go of stress. That she'll focus and get everything done that is pressing her. Pray that she'll feel Gods presence. Thank you all! I don't know what we would do without the body of Christ. <3

~Cherise

"May the God of hope fill you with ALL JOY and peace as you trust IN HIM." Romans 15:13

posted on FB yesterday...

Today started off as a sick and depressing day for Steve and I. Yesterday, Steve felt sick, threw up his lunch and all the new stuff he is taking to fight this Leukemia. This can happen with this stuff. But when he didn't swing back, and felt sicker as the day progressed into the night, I got extremely concered. We were up several times, finally brought the fever down once. Later into this mid morning and early afternoon, I couldn't bring down the fever. We have always been told by the Doc if he reaches 101.? , when he is neutropenia( a part in his white blood that fights infection, but has a hard time when it's too low) to go straight to the ER. So that is what we did. Because his last blood test showed low platelets and neutrophils. While they hooked him up to an IV and took blood, urine, chest X-ray etc. We all saw that his neutrophils and his platelets were beautiful and his white and red blood counts are normal. The X-Ray looked clear and so far they did not see anything majorly wrong. So that means Steve can fight this fever normally.This is such great news that I practically skipped out to the car and almost left Steve in the ER. Steve must of caught something going around. ER did give us a prescription just in-case he doesn't feel better some time tomorrow or the next day. But we'll save that to wait and see if he'll swing this. 

My whole point to this update is something is working! God has shown us a way to help Steve's terrible cancer. We do not believe that he is cancer free but he sure looks good. This protocol is costing around 2000 a month plus other things that have come up like today,going to the ER. We can not do this alone! That's why I am thankful to God first and to all of you, our friends and family. With all of you, Steve just might have a few more years than what we were told. Thank you with the biggest tears rolling down my puffed up cheeks. Steve and I are honored and so so grateful to have such caring and awesome people in our lives!!! Sincerely from my joyful heart ,

 Robbin

June 30th Update

June 30, 2014 Update

Hello everyone, This is Joy writing. I thought I would write an update on my Dad to keep you all in the loop. 

But first here is a picture of him with his newest granddaughter Shay! :) AWWWW! 

Okay.....

So, my Dad hasn't been able to go to work for a few weeks now because of his blood levels. One week his immunity will be great but his platelets (that help to clot your blood) will be too low to risk getting cut or hurt at work. Or his immunity will drop. This fluctuation isn't normal in most patients that go with the medical route of chemo, pills, etc. This has his cancer doctors baffled because they expected his blood to go so crazy with Leukemic cells that a bone marrow transplant would be the only answer. However, since Dad has chosen to go the alternative route of taking enzymes, vitamins, and bloodroot his blood levels are getting better! It's going to take time for them to stabilize (at least two months) but he is making small improvements that we were told were impossible from the cancer doctors! 

God is so good! 

My Dad has another blood test tomorrow (the 1st). Please pray that his levels will be good enough for him to return to work. The stress of this process has really gotten to my parents. My Dad really wants to get back to work and my Mom is trying to make sure Dad takes all his enzymes, eats when he should, rests when he needs it, keep the budget, and so much more. I think Mom needs prayer and support just as much as Dad does. 

Along the lines of how you can help, please keep praying. We know that "where two or three come together in HIS name, HE is there!" God can do anything and without Him we are nothing. So pray, pray, pray!! You can also repost this blog and the fundraising site on your Facebook pages, twitter, or email it. We want to gain more awareness within the Christian body. And finally if you haven't already, you could help by giving financially. No one dreads asking for money as much as my Dad does. But we truly need help. His pills that he takes every day, multiple times a day, and increases in amount every day, cost my parents OVER $1,000 A MONTH! That is a lot of extra money to pay. Please visit the How You Can Help page for a link to his fundraising site and other ideas. 

Matthew 18:20New International Version (NIV)

20 For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.”

The shortened story thus far...

Steve's diagnosis came in January of 2011 after months of not feeling well. He had been struggling with learning new concepts, a shorter attention span, and pains in his arm and eventually his chest. Also, his joints began to hurt more and more and even had bruising on his body.

He was rushed to the hospital near the end of January because of chest pains. After hours of putting him through heart testing the blood test came back with extreme amounts of immature white blood cells. It was then he was diagnosed with CML Leukemia. CML stands for "Chronic Myelogenous Leukemia".

His doctor started him on a drug that would attack the rogue chromosome and inhibit the "BCR-Able" malfunction. The drug lasted just over 2 years.

April/May of 2012, Steve fell out of remission and the doctor started the second drug. After a few weeks of complications, Steve reacted well with the second drug. Unfortunately, this inhibitor only lasted 1 year.

NOW, Steve is out of remission again with his bone marrow even weaker. His immune system has been too low to go to work or be around crowds. He has been advised by his oncologist to switch to another drug, plus visit a Bone Marrow Transplant Hospital. He had the appointment and the information was very disheartening.  The transplant would consist of a year off of work, only receiving 60% of his pay. He would be in one room for 4-6 weeks because of the high chance of infection. They would flush his marrow out completely with chemo and radiation, and then put the donors marrow into his blood to begin producing new marrow in his bones. He would then have to take anti-rejection drugs and anti-biotics to keep him alive and have around the clock care for months. Little by little he would be weaned off of the anti-rejection drugs. Every year of survival would be cause for celebration as CML patients only have a 20% chance of surviving the bone marrow transplant process.

Finding a donor is another hurdle. Steve's siblings had the highest chance of being a match, and even that chance was only 25%. All 3 of his siblings were tested and none of them are enough of a match. The next step would be to open up the search to the National Blood Bank of willing donors.

On the other hand, Steve has started nutritional and alternative measures to help kill the cancerous cells and give his body life. He has ceased the conventional protocol (some of that due to a delay in the new drug arriving). He has another blood test this week and if he has optimistic results then he will continue to naturally kill his cancer and will not take the new drug. Each time Steve's body rejects one of the drugs and starts another one, his cells and his bone marrow weakens and if his cells and marrow continue to weaken then he'll have an even lower chance to beat this disease.

Where Steve is now is very scary. His life is on the line. We're asking for PRAYER, WISDOM, and HEALING. There is more out there than the traditional way. More than we ever knew! There are many doctors taking an alternative approach toward body alkalinity and nutrition instead of chemo, radiation, and surgery as the way to fight cancer.

We are under a lot of stress, emotions, and concerns. We need God's guidance and answers. THANK YOU all for your love, friendship, prayers, help, and resources. We know you care!

For ways to help us through this you can click on the tab "Ways to Help."