Sorry, I Did Promise To Do Better

Steve has had two more appointments with his local oncologist and one with his transplant specialist since my last post. Hi M-spike has dropped twice since then. He is now at .5! We are very pleased with the results from the transplant and the medication he takes monthly, Revlimid.

And just when he was preparing to go back to work his company closed down. So he is now one of the millions of men and women who call themselves "retired". But he is not happy to keep this title. He would like to go back to work, part time. A few opportunities came his way but they didn't work out for various reasons. They all wanted him....its just he's able to be more picky about what he'll do and when he'll do it. What a wonderful position to be in.

Since he experienced a loss of all his hair and then discovered how "great" he looks with shorter hair, he has not gone back to the hairstyle he had for, let's say...... forever!  Just kidding.....I love him with hair, no hair or with more hair then me! At this point our grandson has longer hair then his Papa! Relatively speaking.

Since March we have been very busy with little projects around the house, ministry and enjoying life. Steve has become very active with our Evangelism ministry at our church. He has a wonderful way of talking to people about the Lord. It's so sad that there are so many people who do not know the Lord. I know our lives would be so empty without the relationship we have with God. As I study the bible, read commentaries written by scholarly men and have discussions with Steve about our faith, there is nothing this world can provide that could even come close to the comfort and joy I feel, the assurance I have in my salvation and the love of God the Father, Jesus my Savior and the Holy Spirit.

I also want to share a little about the people I have asked you to pray for. Hayden and Natalie are doing so much better, each in their own way. Hayden celebrated his 6th birthday and is once again able to live life normally. Please keep praying for Tim, John, Rosemary, Howard and add Julie and Matt to your list. Steve and I thank you for your prayers and support. May our Lord and Savior richly bless you and yours each and every day with the knowledge of His will, His protection and most importantly the assurance of your salvation.

Long Over Do Update

So sorry friends for not updating the blog until now. I suppose since Steve has been doing so well, and there were no immediate prayer needs I got complacent. The anniversary of his stem cell transplant quickly came and went. We have been so grateful for the "uneventful" year that we had, the lord has been gracious to us and answered our prayers. Steve now sees his primary oncologist every three months. His last visit was in January and she told him he was considered stable due to his m-spike remaining at .7. Plus he no longer has to get his blood checked every month. He loved hearing that.

Steve went in for his "annual' physical in February (he hasn't had one in over 3 years) and the doctor discovered he has hypothyroidism. Who knew how long this has been going on, the oncologist doesn't include checking the thyroid with his lab work. The revlimid he is taking is known to cause hypothyroidism. For now he is taking some medicine for it and we'll discuss this with the UCLA oncologist later this month to see what he thinks. Needless to say Steve is doing remarkably well. Praise the Lord!

Many things have happened during the past 5 months. My oldest son got married in October so I was making many trips to and from Sacramento in September and October. I was blessed to take care of our grandson, Gabriel, while his parents went on their honeymoon. As you can see we had a good time!

Just before Steve was diagnosed with myeloma, I began thinking about having a dog, as time went by the desire to have one became very strong. You could say I became a little obsessed with the idea (Steve would). He wasn't crazy about getting a dog and I knew if he wasn't on board then it wouldn't happen. Not only did he need to agree to getting a dog but we would need to build a gate across our driveway before a dog could live here. And with his illness the doctor's recommended we not get one for a while, if at all. There were many obstacles in the way of my dog!

Well, the good Lord worked it all out for both of us. Steve and I are now the doting "Papa" and "Mama" of B. B. Liscom (short for Bounding Beast and Big Boy). What else do you call a dog that lands on your front lawn! Here is what he looked like when he "arrived" back in July.

We tried to find the owner, put up signs, notified the pound, and halfheartedly tried to give him away. But no luck............then in September he had to have emergency surgery. Up until then we had no intention of keeping him. But once you are willing to sink a few dollars into an animal.....you begin to realize how much that animal means to you. And after Steve fell in love with him it was a done deal! The only way we were going to get a dog was the way it actually happened. Thank you Lord for our new baby!

Here he is now, happy, healthy and loved a whole bunch! He is a great dog....he guards the house, keeps the bad guys out and he loves, loves, loves to play. He is so much fun! And guess what...this weekend the gate is finally going up!

I promise to do much better about keeping the blog current. Thank you again for your prayers and please keep on praying for Natalie, Rosemary, John, Tim, Julie and Howard. Our brother Ash went home to be with the Lord in November. Please keep his wife and young daughters on your prayer list.