Second Protocol Begins

The first round of the second set of Chemo drugs is in the “bag” and in me.  I definitely felt this set of drugs as they were going in, unlike the first set.  The most noticeable effect was abdominal cramping.  That was dispatch with a dose atropine.  That and steroids are now my drugs of choice.  As I write this update the cramping as well as the other side effects I experienced during the infusion are things of the past.  It will take a day or two to see what additional impact this Chemo might have on me.  Tonight, as I write this update, I have not experienced any impacts.  This next set of Chemo drugs came with a twenty page manual covering the infusion pump that I wear home for two days.  Thursday at noon they will take it off.  While that may be daunting to some people, as an engineer it is downright exciting to figure out how it works.  Y’all know how I love to read manuals so I get two things I love to do with a take home, do it yourself infusion pump.

There are other warnings and obligations that occur with a take home, do it yourself infusion pump.  There is a bag of stuff labeled “Chemotherapy Spill Clean-up Kit”.  It contains such items as a Scoop and Scraper, a 21g Green-Z® Solidifier Pouch, a 12”x12” Super Barrier Zorb Sheet, and a 33”x40” Red Biohazard Bag.  I can be my own HAZMAT team if something comes loose and the Chemo drug gets out, instead of going into my body.  I find it somewhat funny that I am “HAZMATing” my body.  Additionally, while I am cleaning up the chemical spill I am to call 911 because the port that is directly tied to the vein leading to my heart would have been compromised.  I only hope I have enough time to clean up the spill before the EMT team takes me to the Emergency Room.  That would be another Robertson Adventure for sure.  You have to admit it is hilarious to think of the sight of me in the Open Back Gown that comes in the kit cleaning up the spill as the EMT cadre come in the door.  I would have to be the one to clean the spill up since I was also told by the infusion nurse today that I was to flush the toilet twice when I was through doing my thing since that is how the Chemo makes its escape from my body.  If flushing the toilet properly is a concern for the safety of my family from the bad effects of this round of Chemo then how could I ask Jan to risk her life to clean up my HAZMAT spill?  Love can only go so far.  I make the mess so I clean it up.  The EMT responders will have to wait to take me to the Emergency Room.

Additionally the drugs in this round have a seven page fact sheet with four of those pages listing, in three columns, possible Side Effects, How to Minimize Side Effects, and Possible Treatments.  As an example one of the Side Effects is Alopecia, also known as hair loss.  The How to Minimize Side Effect column starts off with “Alopecia cannot be prevented but here are some tips to help you cope with your hair loss.”.  The first tip is “Use a soft hairbrush.”. There is no Possible Treatments listed since they already informed us that hair loss cannot be prevented.  I know that it may not be cool to make light of the myriad of things that have to be considered with Chemotherapy but I have to find humor in all of this as I go through this next phase of treatments.  I certainly understand how all of this is not funny to those fellow cancer patients.  I guess I just have a different viewpoint than most people.

This last weekend had both girls in town and my brother and his wife.  It was a great weekend filled with lots of fun things to do.  It was a bit sad as everyone left Sunday.  Those are indeed precious moments.  Tonight, Melanie and Jeff brought more food over.  They said it was their favorite dish.  I cannot wait to see what it will taste like.  I have gotten used to the metal taste so it has almost become normal to me.

Since I referred to food above, let me finish this update with some more don'ts that I was informed of about one of the drugs I am taking. It contains platinum which is ironic since everything taste like metal! It also causes ice and cold to be the enemy. Cold foods and drinks, cold air to the lungs, and cold to the hands all cause negative side effects. That means to me that I will eat and drink my tepid food while breathing warm air from the steam kettle and wearing ski gloves. Another hilarious sight if I do say so myself.

As always please continue to support us in all the ways God ordains but most especially in prayer.

Thank you,
Price

God Is At Work At All Times & In All Things

While I do not have a miracle healing the results from the CT Scan show the tumors are less dense and my cancer “marker” (from a blood sample) has continued to drop. The lesser density means the tumors are dying leaving behind dead cells. Dr. Strauss decided it is time to change chemotherapy protocols, so I start next week with the protocol he first suggested way back when all this started, with some changes based on recent studies. It is great news and more evidence that God is at work that the doctor thinks my liver and kidneys can now handle the regimen. I will start this next Tuesday. The Adventure continues and we are back in the Waiting Room (Check out the Blog if The Adventure and the Waiting Room references do not make sense). Julie was a super Shadow Soldier while Dr. Strauss was with us. She has had a rough three days with no sleep and a lot of seizures. The seizures held off while we were at the doctors and started back when we got in the car. She is doing better tonight but she is still having seizures.

When I reflect back on the last four months it takes my breath away. I have experienced the closest walk of Faith in my entire life and feel closer to God because of it. That is the effect that “trials” have had in my life. When life is easy and the sun is shining, as they say, we often look up to see the sky, not to worship the Lord. Why does it take troubling circumstances for us to look for God? I know I am not the first to ask that question but I can testify that I fell into that trap more than once in my 62 years of life. I will relate a funny story that kind of illustrates my point. I was walking with a fellow worker reading a message on my BlackBerry near the old Republic building happy as a lark and enjoying the day. As I was not fully aware of my surroundings, I failed to notice that one of the iron covers that surround the trees in the front of the building had been removed. You are probably ahead of me with this already because it was just like some of those You Tube videos we all laugh over. Yes, I stepped where the grate should have been and proceeded to do a somersault onto the sidewalk. In the process I kicked a package of cigarettes out of the hand of a woman walking the opposite way with my foot. I was flat on my back looking at the sky asking the woman if she was alright while she was staring down at me asking if I was alright. I believe that situation is why the word humbling was created. She was fine and I was fine but it took a pothole for me to look up at the sky, think about others, and stop perseverating on the BlackBerry. You might ask if I learned my lesson and stopped reading BlackBerry messages while walking. Sadly I did not, but that also illustrates my point about how quickly we go back to the status quo with God.

My foundation is Christ. My worship is for God. My wisdom is from the indwelling Holy Spirit. God has sustained me and He will heal me. The verses in 2 Corinthians 1:20-22 For as many as may be the promises of God, in Him they are yes; wherefore also by Him is our Amen to the Glory of God through us. Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and anointed us is God, who also sealed us and gave us the Spirit in our hearts as a pledge. We are in the Waiting Room again but we are not alone and we are not dismayed. The Adventure continues and we are refreshed because we are not alone. We have God and we have all those who are praying for us. Please keep praying and know that your prayers make a difference. Thank you, Price

CT Scan

The CT Scan is complete and the results are in progress.  I have an appointment with Dr. Strauss (the Oncologist) this Wednesday at 2:00 pm.  That  is when I will find out the results and what the next steps are.  Thank you for all the prayer in preparation for today and during the procedure.  Matthew 7:7-11 concerns prayer and speaks about how eager the Father is to answer our prayers.  That is the comfort I feel when I think about all the people that are praying for me.  Please continue to pray as you are lead. 

Thank you,

Price

Unshakable Faith

Yesterday was the last infusion of the fifth course of chemotherapy.  This coming Thursday I will take the last oral dose of chemotherapy which will complete the fifth two week course.   They take lab work before starting the procedure and then check with the doctor to get clearance for the treatment.  My lab work came back with the hemoglobin at 7.6 which is below the 8.0 threshold that Dr. Strauss wants.  Because I have been sustained by the Father throughout this adventure I am not responding to such a low hemoglobin level in the normal way.  That is probably why Dr. Strauss released me yesterday to receive the treatment.  He also scheduled me for a blood transfusion today which is where I am as I write this.  This is the second time I have had a blood transfusion.  The first one brought my hemoglobin up to 9.6. 

I am scheduled for a CT Scan next Monday, February 4th.  As I stated in the prior update that is when the doctors will find out what the chemo has been doing to the tumors but it also is the first opportunity for them to discover God’s miraculous healing of the cancer.   That brings me to the point of this update.  If it were not for the unshakable Faith that God granted me from day one I am sure I would be anxious and concerned about the upcoming results.  That would be the normal reaction as well as worrying about what it means if the tumors have actually grown and the chemotherapy has had no impact.   Could that be part of God’s plan for me?  Would that not make the miraculous healing even more dramatic?  Is God not capable of healing terminal cancer?  Of course nothing is beyond God’s ability.  His plan for me is perfect and His timing is never wrong.  If I were to pray doubting that He will heal me then that would be an ineffective prayer.  I have confidence in the prayers I have offered to God because of the journey He has taken me on and the many answers to prayer I have already received.  I have rested in His arms and laid my desires into God’s hands through Jesus, who sits at the Father’s right hand interceding for me (Hebrews 1:1-3).

I was impressed to discuss these things before the CT scan results are known because fear of the unknown is one of the accusers most powerful tools he uses to separate us from God’s plan for us.  We must have confidence in and depend on doctors and chemotherapy as well as the vast array of options that are available to treat cancer.  That is God’s will for us.  God uses all of those range of options to heal us just as effectively as if He were to reach His hand out and remove the cancer.  In my case He has set me on a path of total dependence on God and effective prayer.  I have grown in my relationship with Him and found a much closer walk with Him through this adventure.  The accuser has been silenced from day one and the prayers that everyone has offered have had a great impact.  Please keep praying as you are lead and know that I could not be in a better place than I am right at this moment.  

There are two versus that fit the current situation I would like to discuss.  The first is Psalm 55:22, "Cast your burden upon the Lord, and He will sustain you; He will never allow the righteous to be shaken."  That speaks to the unbelievable gift God gave me with the unshakeable Faith.  I could not have made it this far or have such confidence or so successful defeated the accuser without God’s provision for me.  By praying effective prayers I am casting my burdens on Him.  He has sustained me and will continue to do so to the end.  My walk with Him has never been closer.  He truly has protected me and sustained me.  I have never been shaken in large part due to your prayers and God’s answering those prayers.  It is human nature to want to remove doubt and uncertainty from life’s equation but that is so very difficult to do without Faith in God’s provision for us.  The second verse is 1 John 5:14-15, "And this is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.  And if we know that He hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests which we have asked from Him."  This speaks to the confidence I have had from day one.  I am in His will and He sends love letters through each of you to show His provision for me.  You are a large part of the reason I am in such a good place.  Your prayers sustain me and give me confidence in the future outcome.  God hears my prayers and He hears your prayers for me and my family.  The adventure continues so please continue to pray as God directs you.

Thank you,
Price

P.S. Price and I (Jan) would like to ask for a special prayer request for our Aunt Becky and her wonderful family.  Aunt Becky is presently taking a turn for the worse this evening and the family has been notified that time is very short.  We know Aunt Becky, after 93(?) amazing years, is ready to see Jesus!  We pray for her now and all her loved ones.   
  

His Plan.

I am starting my fifth round of intravenous Chemotherapy today.  I have a CT Scan scheduled for Monday February 4th (the day after the Super Bowl).  That will be the first time Dr. Strauss (my oncologist) will be able to gauge the progress on shrinking the tumors.  That will also be the first time the doctors would be able to see God’s complete healing of the tumors.  Of course that is predicated on God’s plan and timing for my healing.  That is a great prayer to continue praying for but it also gives a specific date to pray for God’s complete healing in a miraculous way.

Sorry that it has taken so long for this update. Our family is doing really well. However, Catherine, who has been the only one in the family that has not been sick, caught a bad cold last week and is still fighting it.  She was planning to come to Dallas for a visit last weekend but she cancelled that flight and re-scheduled.  The rest of the family is healthy.  Jan gets her second review, with x-ray, of her foot the first of February.  Hopefully, she will be released to full use of her foot with no boot needed.  Another great prayer request.  Carol is now settled in at Cal Farley’s Boys Ranch, located north of Amarillo, for her internship.  She will be there till midsummer but graduate from UT with her master's degree in social work in May.  She will be flying to Dallas on Southwest for extended weekend visits. Julie continues to be our faithful shadow soldier. My brother and his wife will be coming to Dallas the weekend of February 8th.

On Monday, January 14, I turned 62.  That is when I told Mike that I was going to retire April 1st after 38 years with Oncor.  That is a great life milestone to make and I thank God for his provision in getting me to that momentous point in life.

God’s provision in our life is a wonderful thing, that we sometimes take advantage of, as we hustle through our daily life.  We need to draw upon it, thrive from it, and thank God often for it.  In the interim, from the last Update, I have see God’s provision more clearly in my life than ever before because I realized the power that it brings.  Because I am still in the Waiting Room I have the opportunity to quietly interact with God.  I do not have any need to dwell on the cancer inside me, or fuss about not knowing about the progress, only pray for healing by God in His perfect timing.  I can simply wait with God and grow my relationship with Him.  That is possible only because of the unshakable Faith that He has provided for me from the very beginning of this Adventure. All the prayers from all the people who have been led to pray for me have been with me during this time as well.  There are days when I have felt a specific prayer for me through the quickening of the Holy Spirit.  Thank you for your diligence in lifting me with your prayers.

I have two verses that I want to share for this Update.  The first is Micah 7:7 "But as for me, I will watch expectantly for the Lord; I will wait for the God of my salvation.  My God will hear me." The second is Jeremiah 17:14 "Heal me, O Lord, and I will be healed; Save me and I will be saved, For Thou art my praise." I am, I have, and I will watch for those times that God lets me know that He cares about me on a personal level, has a plan for me, and wants me to talk to Him.  My prayer from day one has been for a miraculous healing from God that all doctors would proclaim could have only come from God.  I was strongly lead to that prayer and God has not shown me that I need to pray differently.  It is a bold, provocative request by me to God. I would never presume that I know when God will heal me but I do feel confident that healing is part of His plan for me.  That confidence comes from all the answered prayer, protection from the bad side effects of Chemotherapy, the mostly daily love letters He sends, and His provision for me.  Learning what His plan for me is a process of getting to know Him by growing my relationship with Him.  We cannot know His plan completely because we would not be able to handle it correctly.  Those are the reasons I included the versus from Micah.  I am to continually thank and praise God and never get ahead of Him.  I do that when I listen, watch, pray and seek a closer relationship with Him.  The verse from Jeremiah speaks to the miraculous healing I have been praying for.  The vital part of that verse is "For Thou art my praise". It speaks to my relationship with God.  I am to continually praise God, not because He commands me to but because He deserves it. I should want to, and He responds to my heartfelt expression of all He has done for me because He loves me.  I say all this because the Waiting Room experience has shown me that I may not be happy, patient, long suffering, or even nice on a day to day basis, even with unstoppable Joy.  That is part of being human.  How we react to those times, the lessons we learn, and reconciling the hurt we cause during those times with those we hurt is vital to moving forward.

Please continue to pray for my family, and me.  I will attempt to be more frequent on the Updates but I think God used the time to bring me to a higher level of understanding.  I tried several times to start an update but the spiritual message was always vague and not ready for prime time as they say.  This one was a totally different experience so I will say it was written in God’s timing.

Thank you,  
Price

A New Year.

Jan here! I know it has been a while since we have made an entry. Our Christmas was wonderful here in Coppell. We had a rare snow covering that made everything look white and so beautiful. I had the song "Jesus Paid it All" in my mind all day. Especially the line that says, "sin had left a crimson stain, He washed it white as snow." The holidays were especially blessed with all the wonderful family and friends who came to town including our brothers and their wonderful wives, and our dear friends Cathy, Janice, Micah, Maddox, Marti and Gary. Our girls were here often. They are a help, blessing and great joy. The text messages, emails, cards, and letters were appreciated more than you will ever know. I am always amazed at the providential timing of them all. Also, the practical help from our dear friends here in the area with meals and such as that are dear helping hands much appreciated.

Price's cough is better! Carol, Julie, and I are all over a prolonged virus. With all the airplane flights and being around all of us, I can't believe Catherine did not get sick! I am very thankful we had one Robertson left to man the ship hospital. I go today at 3:30 pm to get the post op x-ray on my foot. I am happy to report that there have been no complications or cause for concern thus far. Looking forward to throwing my walking boot and it's associated Velcro in the trash!

Price is currently in the middle of chemotherapy course #4. He continues to tolerate it well. However, with each course he feels the effects in a greater way with regards to energy levels. We are happy that his blood count is holding since he received 2 units of blood the first of December. Even though he had the prolonged cough, he never had the accompanying cold-like symptoms the girls and I had. Depending on scheduling, he will start chemotherapy course #5 on January 18th. After that, we plan on having his 1st CT since the initial diagnostic CT. That will hit around the first of February. We are patiently waiting to hear the good news of that report!

Price is a brave, courageous, steady example of persevering while maintaining his joy and his kind, calm, benevolent spirit. After our desktop computer crashed, there were some brief moments with the computer tech support folks on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day where the girls and I saw him not himself. But I am happy to report that Price and the tech support guys eventually got it all worked out!

I am so grateful for each of you! We love you and are thankful for your persevering with us on this "Robertson Adventure".

-Jan

COUGH # cough CoUgH! COUGH cough! COUGH

Jeremiah 17:14 Heal me, O Lord, and I will be healed; Save me and I will be saved, For Thou art my praise. Jeremiah 29:11-13 For I know the plans that I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope. Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.

While Jeremiah 29 is speaking about the nation of Israel after the seventy years of exile in Babylon I feel like it applies to any Christian who needs a closer walk with God when circumstances separate us from His perfect plan. God does have a plan for each of us. It is the best plan we could ever hope for. I have found that the time we can best understand His plan is when we are in the waiting room when all the world’s pressures are somewhat isolated and we can listen and learn. The same applies when we are in the middle of trials and tribulations. We have the hardest time understanding God’s plan for us when life is good because we tend not to listen to God as closely or as often. In my case, I recently learned that God wanted to use a severe and persistent cough and the inability to carry on long conversations to reveal a more complete picture of God’s plan for me. I have many times spoken of the unshakeable faith that God provided from the first day that I was told I had pancreatic cancer and that it involved several different organs. I did not go through the various steps one would normally go through with such a disheartening diagnosis. The ability to approach “The Robertson Adventure” as just that meant that I could meet each doctor, each test and test result, and each procedure with an expectation of how it would fit in God’s bigger plan for me. A little more explanation of the Cough and what it is all about is in order. On November 12^th I started to cough. That in itself is not significant. What makes it relevant is that two times in the last two years I had a persistent, often times unrelenting, dry Cough. The first time it started with a small cold and ended eight weeks later. The second time I coughed for ten weeks. During the second time my doctor took me off Lisinopril thinking that may have been the cause. When the Cough started in November (eight months after the prior episode) I was concerned it was back and I could not blame the drug. As it turns out the Cough was back. I immediately blamed the accuser of a front-on attack to shake my confidence and weaken my resolve. The Cough progressed until last week it was impossible to talk in sentences longer than ten words without the Cough appearing and making it very uncomfortable for everyone around me. An appointment with a Pulmonologist was in order. The Cough had gotten so bad that at night I was unable to even silently pray without coughing so violently that I would lose my train of thought. At those moments I was sure it was the accuser. Finally, I just thanked God for the Cough because I would give no ground to the accuser and God could heal me if He wanted. The appointment with Dr. Weinstein (Pulmonologist) was this last Friday. He determined that the Cough was caused by irritation from sinus drainage and aggravated by talking. I have a regime that I follow twice a day to stop the drainage and clear up the cough. So far it’s working.

So, how has this latest experience given me new insight into God’s plan for me? As I stated earlier, I filter everything that occurs against how it fits into God’s plan for me. I did not immediately filter the Cough in that manner. It took too long to realize that failure on my part. The last part of the Jeremiah 17:14 verse For Thou art my praise ties into the last update I did on Thanksgiving. We praise God when we give thanks, we praise God when we ascribe things to Him, we praise God when we pray to Him, we praise God when we tell others of the things He does in our life, we praise God when we teach our children about God, we praise Him when we worship Him with fellow believers. I failed to praise Him when I did not immediately thank Him for the Cough. Part of God’s plan for me is to praise Him every way, every day. That is a key action for me to remember during this process as I receive healing and am saved from calamity, but they are not things I can make Him heal me from or save me from in my own strength. God has the power, the plan, and the unmanageable love for us. Prayer is also a way we can praise God. Prayer is a way for us to let God know what our needs are. He already knows what we will pray, but we have to take the action and invoke the relationship we have to Go through His Son Jesus. Jesus sits at the right hand of God and intercedes for us (Hebrews 1:1-3- please look it up, great verse). That is the power that I failed to invoke by not turning the Cough over to God at the very first. That does not mean that I wouldn’t have gone through all the trouble if I had turned it over to God sooner. It means that I was outside of God’s plan for me and working on my own strength. That is not a good position to be in. What I learned is that even while in the waiting room where I am somewhat protected from the pressures of the world I can get lost. In the larger picture while facing major life issues, we need to work in God’s plan for us, praise Him, and make it a daily activity. It will not make life easier, or guarantee we will be healed, or even give us more control over our destiny, what it will do is put us in the hands of God which is the best place we could possibly be.

Now for The Robertson Adventure update. The Cough, in different forms, has visited all three of us this week. Jan got the bad one where she feels bad, coughs a lots, has aches and pains and a low grade fever. Julie just coughs every once in a while. Maybe she is sympathetic coughing since I practiced so long and so often around her. We do not see the nasal involvement or any fever in Julie. Since the Thanksgiving update Jan has been to the doctor for her foot to get the stitches out and was released to bear full weight on it. They will take another x-ray in four weeks when she goes back for a checkup. She is not having any pain so we may be on the road to recovery. Julie has her up and down days but is playing the Shadow Soldier very well. Carol’s back is back to normal. I am still progressing with the treatments and will have a transfusion tomorrow to bring my hemoglobin above 8. Even though it was 7.9 they did my infusion today in spite of the below 8 reading with the knowledge that I will get the transfusion tomorrow. That should bring my hemoglobin back up nicely.

Not much else to report on my status. Still all the same effects of the Chemotherapy, all of which are easily handled with none of the really difficult impacts. Still no pain and no effects of the cancer. Carol and Catherine were in town this weekend which is always such a blessing. Jan’s best friend since 6^th grade, Cathy, is staying for a few days with us. She is such a beautiful sister in the Lord. I love talking with her about how God is working in our lives. It is a real blessing for Jan when Cathy visits.

You can pray for continued healing for Jan’s foot and now her sinus “whatever it is” sickness. For me, please continue to pray for God’s provision in healing the cancer and helping on a daily basis with my general health. I think the Cough is almost handled but it would be fine with me if you wanted to throw that into the prayer mix as well. It looks like I will finish this current round of Chemo and have one more before the CAT scan. That scan will tell the Doctors what progress has been made on the cancer. Prayers are in order for that as well. It never hurts to pray for far off events as well as current ones. Prayers of support and protection for my family are coveted by me so please add that to the list. All the prayers are coveted and very much appreciated. I cannot begin to describe all the love letters from God that have come from your prayers including the many answers to prayer that have already occurred. Each one is a gentle confirmation that God is working.

 

COUGH