Clinical Trial and Family Update

About a month ago now, Carey stopped the clinical trial drug.  It was making him too sick, and it became very difficult for him to live the life that he wants to live.  It was an incredibly tough decision that came after lots of time, prayer, tears, counsel and mixed emotions. 

But we both have a good amount of peace about where we are as a family now.

Moving forward from here Carey will continue to be scanned every three months.  His latest scan in mid-December showed no change so that was very exciting news.  There is still a grapefruit sized tumor in his right leg, a golf ball sized tumor on his adrenal gland and some smaller tumors in his lungs and lymph nodes.  He has transitioned his diet to strictly vegan and consumes little to no processed sugar.  It’s an all-natural approach to fighting off the tumors, and the only side effect thus far is he has lots more energy!  His body has had some time to recover from chemo treatment and he’s feeling great.     

This past year we experienced some of our highest highs and lowest lows:  Carey’s treatment taking him to the hospital more times than we can count, not knowing if he was coming home from the hospital, searching for a new job, the cancer spreading, starting and stopping the clinical trial.  But we’ve also experienced a fresh renewal of our faith - which has been amazing, and it’s why we’re still standing.  We’ve had the opportunity to spend a lot of quality time with our family, and be a part of my sister’s beautiful wedding!  We’ve been given the gift of friendship, and experienced God’s provision during the toughest times.  And Carey now has a job that he loves and he gets to have a positive, encouraging impact on families.  So now we have the chance to ring in the New Year with an exciting fresh start. 

Eli will be starting up pre-school through the public school system here which will be so wonderful.  We’re thankful that he qualified for this program - it will be a tremendous help to him and me both (he gets pretty bored at home with just momma and little bro).  It will also give Carver and I a chance to interact one on one.  What a blessing!

We are looking forward to leaving 2015 in the books and jumping into 2016 with great faith and great hope.  Your continued prayers for our family are so very appreciated.

Happy New Year with lots of love from our family to yours.