We had a great Thanksgiving this year.  Despite an illness that is running through our home, all five of us were able to make it to not only to one, but two Thanksgiving parties!  It was great to see our family.  We were at Dusty’s dad’s house for lunch.  It was a great time, but it was different this year without his mom.  It felt like someone was missing. 

Things have been going okay for me.  I’m having a day or two a week where I feel pretty good.  Other days I’m anywhere from uncomfortably nauseous to horribly nauseous with a headache sprinkled here and there and a good dose of fatigue. 

I’m particularly anxious right now because I have multiple appointments at U of M on Thursday for scans and a meeting with the doctor.  I’m having an MRI of my head,  CT scan of my chest, abdomen and pelvis and a bone scan.  When those are complete I meet with Dr. Schott.  Please pray that all the scans are clear, show no signs of new cancer, the brain tumors are gone and that I will have peace about this appointment.

This holiday season seems more special than ever.  We have so much to celebrate and give thanks for.  I cherish every moment with my family.  On the Ver Beek side of the family instead of the adults trading gifts, we give money to a charity or organization.  This year we purchased two goats and four chickens for families in Africa through World Vision.  I can honestly say that is the craziest Christmas gift I ever gave someone.   

We’ve been contacted by a few organizations about bringing our family a holiday meal or toys for the kids.  We are very blessed with Dusty’s full time job and insurance.  We do not need holiday meals or toys for the kids.  The money from the fundraisers people so graciously organized for us, is being strictly used for medical expenses that insurance does not cover.  We are able to provide for our family and appreciate being thought of.  If you wanted to bring a toy for the kids, please donate a toy to Toys for Tots or a similar organization. 

I hope you had a good Thanksgiving too. 

Stable.  That’s what they call my cancer.  Stable.  I feel everything except stable.  Sick, tired, nauseous, sad, scared, annoyed, angry, grateful.  What’s stable?  Yes, I meant to write grateful because in the midst of misery I’m thankful for a lot of things.   

I went to U of M last week Thursday and met with Dr. Schott.  The good news is that we clarified my adrenal glands will work they are just sluggish and that’s why they put me on Prednisone.  Just when I think I’m done with steroids, I get another one.  It’s working though, so I’m thankful for that.  Everything else checked out fine.  No new lumps or bumps were found.  Lab work looked good.  The bad news is that we can’t fix my nausea.  I feel like I have the stomach flu everyday.  Some days are better than others, but at some point during the day I feel really sick.  We’re trying a new medication for it. 

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – I’m sick of being sick!  Some days it’s more a mental fight than a physical fight.  Either way, it’s hard and I’m tired of it.  I just want to feel better. 

I return to U of M on December 2 for scans.  Please pray they don’t find cancer anywhere in my body.

If I don’t write again, I wish everyone a happy and blessed Thanksgiving.  Gobble gobble. 

For I will restore health to you and heal you of your wounds. – Jeremiah 30:17

Prayer Requests:

• Returned strength and energy
• No more nausea
• The scans on December 2 are clear
• My family – Dusty, kids, our parents, siblings, etc.
• Thanks for our support system. 

The last couple weeks have been miserable.  I didn’t feel well.  I couldn’t eat.  I was running a low grade fever.  I felt nauseous all the time.  I had no energy. It took everything I had to do anything. 

Last Friday, after consulting with my favorite nurse at U of M (Sarah), I went to Spectrum’s ER.  Jill was kind enough to drive me there.  The down side is that Jill doesn’t work at Spectrum so I didn’t get the star treatment like I do at Holland Hospital.  I must say we arrived at the perfect time because we could walk right in.  They took an MRI of my noggin and found no new activity and the other tumor spots were non existent.  Praise God!  I called Sarah at U of M the following Monday to find out if this means I’m in remission and it doesn’t.  It means my disease is stable. 

I still felt sick this past week and began vomiting again with low grade fevers, slight headaches, fatigue, etc.  On Friday I called my favorite U of M nurse and she insisted that I come to their Urgent Care.  Jill and I hopped in the car and off we went.  It’s a 2 1/2 hour drive, but an easy one.  It was fun to go with Jill too.   She has quite the singing voice. 

When we got there I had a blood draw.  It was a type of draw I hadn’t had before.  Lots of blood and they had to draw from two different sites.  Then I went for a chest x-ray.  Finally up to the infusion floor where they pumped me with two bags of IV fluids and some meds.  The best news of the day is that the blood work showed what was wrong with me!  I have adrenal insufficiency.  They adjusted my meds, gave me new ones and I feel much better already.  Thank God!  I can’t completely describe what it feels like to have that insufficiency, but at times I felt like I was suffering.  It’s horrible.  I’m so thankful God put the right people in front of me to urge me to get help (Dusty and Jill), led me to the right place (U of M), ordered the right tests (lab work) and presented the diagnosis to the PA.  God is awesome.  Oh and the chest x-ray was fine. 

So that was my life the last two weeks.  Not fun.  Miserable. Challenging.  But I got through it and feel so much better!

I was happy to make it to Crazy Horse.  That was a great night.  To see all those people and the kindness of the owner, manager, waitstaff and everyone who works there to donate their time and wages.  It was amazing.  Thank you to everyone who came, ate AWESOME food and had a good time.  It was nice to see some of you. 

God Bless! 

P.S.  I’d like to give a special shout out to Mr. Lowe’s seventh grade class! 

After several days of vomiting, fever and more intense headaches, Lindy’s doctor at University of Michigan requested that she get an MRI of her brain today.  She’s currently at Spectrum-Butterworth awaiting that test, which is scheduled for 4 PM.  Please pray that this is just simple stomach flu and not more tumor growth causing the symptoms.   Our hope is that she’ll also be able to celebrate Brooklyn’s 7th birthday tomorrow.    Please pray for us, we need to feel peace. 

It was nice not having a doctor’s appointment for two weeks.  Yesterday I snapped back to reality.  My dad and I had a fun road trip to U of M for my first meeting with Dr. Schott.  Just so you know, you will never be starved for conversation when you’re with my dad.  He knows a little bit about everything (except computers – he could identify one, but not know how to turn it on).  We talked about many things and it was great to spend that time with him.  I even had a small lesson about chopping corn. 

Dr. Schott is a lovely woman.  I will spare you all the details of how we came to the treatment plan, but this is what it will be.  I am going back next month to monitor my headaches and my orthostasis (new development for me, but not a big deal).  I had my labs drawn yesterday so I will get the results of those as well.  In December I will have an MRI of my head, body scan and CT of my abdomen.  We pray that no tumors/cancer is picked up on the scans and the brain tumors have disappeared.  We’ve decided to hold off the Xeloda chemo pill at this time.  Not only because I don’t show evidence of cancer anywhere else in my body, but also because I finished whole brain radiation 1 1/2 months ago and finished Gamma Knife two weeks ago, so I need to fully recover from those procedures until we begin anything new.  I need to regain my strength, let the brain swelling go down and recover.

Speaking of swelling, some of your jaws may have hit the ground when you saw me in person or in pictures lately.  I don’t look like myself.  My face is very round and I’ve gained a lot of weight.  The doctor’s tell me this is normal and because of the Dexamethasone (steroid to keep the brain swelling, headaches and nausea away) and it’s just a nasty side effect from it.  That being said, I thank all of you for the delicious baked treats and desserts you’ve brought my family lately, but in an effort to be healthy, I ask that you bring your wonderful treats to your neighbors, friends or family. 

Well…I’m off to buy fat pants.  Wish me luck.  🙂

Here’s a couple of videos of this past Saturday’s Community FUNDay hosted by Elhart.  
We made some great memories together.  Thank you to all who took time out of their schedules to drop by.

Five tumors were “zapped” today.
The comprehensive MRI today picked up remaining tumor tissue that didn’t show in the last scan. We’re so thankful that these additional tumors could get the Gamma Knife as well. Lindy is resting and doing quite well considering what just happened.

Due to inbound nasty weather, we are flying back home late this afternoon. it’s amazing that we’re able to leave so soon. We’ll have to wait a couple of months to know if this worked, but at least it’s done. Now we live.

For all those that are praying for Lindy today, we thank you. Her surgery is underway. They called up to me and said it was going to take longer than previously thought. Not sure what that means, but will not speculate until I hear more.

We arrived safely in Rochester, Minnesota and had a great flight.  Randy is an excellent pilot and I think Dusty is going to enroll in flight school now.  Thank you Randy for taking us. 

I had four appointments today to prepare for tomorrow’s procedure.  I’ve been blissfully ignoring pictures of the head frame they’re screwing on me.  Today I saw pictures of it.  That is the one thing I look the least forward to.  Everything today went well and I feel like I’m in good hands for tomorrow. 

I don’t have a specific time the surgery will be performed.  I need to report at 5:30 a.m. (6:30 a.m. Michigan time) at which point they will take me down to the surgery area and they’ll bring Dusty to the waiting room.  They will put the frame on my head, send me for an MRI, doctors will discuss how to best treat me and then I’ll go have the Gamma Knife procedure. 

Gamma Knife is a very precise instrument that uses high levels of focused radiation to treat the brain.  Using this method, neurosurgeons are able to focus radiation directly, and very precisely, on the targets in the brain without affecting surrounding healthy tissue.  Over time, the radiation will react on a molecular level with the cancer cells and stop their reproduction, which in turn kills the cancer.  

When the procedure is finished (they don’t know how long it will take until they have the MRI results), they will remove the frame, bandage my entire head and send me to the day ward where they will make sure I’m okay and send me on my way.  I can’t believe it’s an outpatient procedure.  That seems crazy to me.  Amazing. 

I am so humbled and grateful to know there are people praying for me around the clock on Wednesday.  Thank you to everyone who is going to take time out of your busy schedules and maybe even lose sleep to do this.  It means so much to me and my family. 

Thank you to everyone who is participating in the Susan G Komen race this Saturday.  I think our Laps for Lindy team now consists of more than 70 people.  Thank you for supporting this cause.  

Prayer requests:

• Guidance for the surgeons, doctors, nurses, techs and everyone who will be in my path tomorrow.
• COMPLETE and continued freedom from cancer.  That tomorrow’s procedure successfully removes all tumors and the tumors DO NOT return.
• Strength and energy for our parents, family and friends.