Dave's cancer battle blog

A New Life Cancer Free!

2010-01-02T22:47:00.000-08:00

Well, here I am sitting and writing the final blog for Dave that I never wanted to, but he would expect nothing less. He passed away at home on Thursday, December 31, with friends and family surrounding him. I know he wanted me to thank everyone that followed along and left uplifting comments and offered so many heartfelt prayers. I will leave the blog running for a while for anyone who would still like to comment. Dave has been my life for the last 20 plus years, as we met when I had just turned 18 and he was 26. I used to joke that I had married an older man, and as the years went, that I was just married to an old man! He would laugh if he read this because he knows I said it more than once. Dave truly believed he would be healed of this cancer. Funny thing is, he was, just not the way he thought it would be here on Earth. I know he is singing and dancing now, and we can be thankful for not hearing the singing! I hope all reading this understand, the only way I can get through this is with a bit of humor, so don't mistake this as being callous. Dave and I joked many times, as the blessings kept pouring in since his diagnosis, that we should have tried this cancer thing long ago! Of course now I'd hand back every blessing to still have him here to finish the job of raising our kids together and as he always said, growing fat and happy together. But the most important thing Dave would want me to let everyone know, is that his faith in our God never waivered. What Dave wanted most was to share his faith with all. If his testimony inspires even just one person to be lead to Christ, his work and spirit will continue on. Thank you all for being such supportive friends. Dave's memorial service will be held at Neighborhood Church of Redding, 777 Loma Vista in Redding on Saturday, January 16, at 11 o'clock in the morning, reception immediately following. Please come and help celebrate his life.

Love, Donna and Boys

Doom for this Life, But Hope for the Next!

2009-12-18T14:36:00.000-08:00

I'm finding more and more through this battle the opportunities that people are having to come closer to God. I have personally witnessed to people that now have Jesus in their lives. This kind of life changing event brings people to thinking about not just the here and now, but the forever. My fear in this life is not knowing how long is left but my comfort is knowing where I am going and I will be in peace and pain free. I have days where I am alert and moving about, slowly, but moving, and days like yesterday where I sleep the day away and am alert for only short times. The hospice nurse says my body is declining, but I will be around to celebrate this great holiday with my family. Beyond that, God has the plan. Who of us really knows when our journey will end here and begin in the here after. Please visit. Even if its one of my sleepy days, I welcome the love of friends and family and the peaceful spirit they bring into our home. With that said, my family and I wish you all a Merry and Blessed Christmas and rejoice in our hope, Jesus Christ.

With Love, Dave, Donna and Boys

In God's Hands We Trust!

2009-12-08T21:19:00.000-08:00

Well we have been down this road before, stopping treatment right in the middle. Radiation was helping some but the pain of lying on the table to receive it was not worth it considering the news we were given. That news was that after the 10 radiation treatments, there would be no more of that or chemo, and hospice would be called in. So we decided to just call in hospice and get comfortable. They will come into the home any time of the day or night and adjust my medications if necessary, no trips to the hospital, but comfort at home. We are just taking each day God gives us one at a time. As my doctor said, we all only live breath to breath and have the conscious choice to decide what to do with those breaths. Now some praises. A crew of good friends and former co workers from Orchard Supply Hardware came to our home on Wed. Dec. 2 and made our front yard aglow with lights and Christmas spirit. It has been 4 years since I have worked there and the giving of their time is a testament to true friendship. Thanks to one and all. I love you guys. Tonight, the 8th, my group of Bible study men came to my house as this was easier on me. We enjoyed time together and the prayers showed their brotherly love. We will update you as events unfold.

Love, Dave, Donna and Boys

Happy Thanksgiving Weekend!

2009-11-28T19:03:00.000-08:00

The visit with my brother Forrest and his wife Barbara and their girls is going very well. They have done a little sight seeing and visited some relatives while here. They have also enjoyed meeting with and visiting some of my friends that have stopped in to visit me. They are right now at the mall on a Christmas shopping expedition with our boys that came as a welcome surprise to them! We will return the fun exchange with their girls tomorrow. Colby and Spencer went Christmas tree cutting with the Lyter and Griffith families today and brought home a nice one. We will get it ready to bring in the house tomorrow. I would have went but with my current condition that was a little too far to travel from home. Today was not a good day and I needed to stay low and rest most of the day. I am still having pain issues with eating and regularity. All of this pain medication causes the regularity problem. My struggle with eating is causing me to lose weight and I am trying hard to come up with different ways to keep the weight on. Soups, yogurts, and soft vegetables are easiest to eat but don't pack the most calories. I am trying to drink 2 to 3 cans of Ensure a day to supplement. The problem is that I barely eat anything and with the tumor pressing against my stomach I feel Thanksgiving full and uncomfortable. Then it takes a while to get past that pain hurdle. We will start 10 rounds of radiation on Monday to try to shrink that tumor along with that in my esophagus so that I can hopefully be a bit more comfortable eating and get my weight up a little. This is in God's hands and we are hoping for the best outcome with the radiation and then will see if more chemo is in store for the liver. Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving weekend and we will keep you updated as to how the radiation goes.

Love, Dave, Donna and Boys

I can't believe the support, it's strong & last long!

2009-11-18T07:31:00.000-08:00

When you go through something with strong ramifications such as cancer, heart diseases and the likes, you come in and out of realities that can lift you out of holes deeper than the Grand Canyon. Then again these realities can send you into a spiraling direction that is hard to cope with at times.

I seem to go to through these areas more now without even knowing I'm even there. So I pray with each passing day that Gods guides me through this with the long lasting support that is provided through the strong friendships that are built on His love. Now that I've given you my heart and provided you some insight to what I deal with I would like to give a special thank you to my Father In Law for his unending support through this time where I always knew he would be nothing less than the Father he's treated me like. Also he's been there for Donna and the boy's with the much needed support of a Father and Grandpa. He stayed on our uncomfortable couch while my pain medications were getting adjusted to make sure I would be ok and to be a companion to me while Donna and the boys were at school. Now they are on a Thanksgiving break so he went home to Sacramento for a much needed rest and will surely return as school comes back around. Speaking of Thanksgiving, I am really looking forward to seeing my brother Forrest, his wife Barbara, and their 2 little girls. I have never had the opportunity of meeting his family and they will be sharing the holiday with us. They are coming from way up in Washington so we ask for prayer for a safe trip and and that my health will allow for a memorable visit. Happy Thanksgiving to all!!

Love, Dave, Donna and Boys

Still alive and far froms deaths door!

2009-11-13T00:33:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone, yes I'm still here, I've been having sleep and pain problems. It's a combination of issues that have given way to a necessary trip to the hospital to get my pain medications under control. I am now on a super pump to help even out the meds, wow what a concept. I now have a nice comfy hospital bed that seems to make sleep come easier. The doctor has determined that this particular chemo is not working and we will need to scan again to determine where to go from here. He did however say that I may be able to receive some radiation to hopefully reduce in some areas so that I may experience a little relief and be able to intake proper nutrition. Getting proper nutrition is a battle in its own right now as the cancer puts pressure on my stomach and I feel such discomfort eating even small amounts. So Monday, November 16 I have an appointment to learn more about the radiation. My blogs will be fewer and farther between because this medication although wonderful for my pain, keeps me fairly tired and it is difficult to sit and do anything for very long without falling asleep. Having said that, I am not getting out very often and welcome all to come by and see me. I can sleep any time and would much prefer the company. Anyone who knows me knows how much I love to socialize! I made it to my baptism on Saturday. It went off without a hitch and I send out many thank you's for all the supporters and well wishers. It was great to see so many of my friends come together. I am now dictating my blogs through my lovely wife Donna and will keep you posted as events unfold or if I just need to vent my feelings and frustrations. Love, Dave, Donna and Family

Sleepwalking Through Life!

2009-11-05T11:15:00.000-08:00

So sorry it's been a whole week since my last blog, it's hard to write when you fall asleep every 4 or 5 words. Between hardly ever being able to sleep and the doctor needing to up my pain meds, I nod off or just plain have trouble concentrating. It's like living in a daydream. I hear people around me but just fade in and out. I went out to try playing tennis with my buddy Greg a couple of evenings ago, trying to feel like a normal person, and forgot my body isn't up to par and a person on this much pain medication shouldn't try to be so competitive. The result? One skinned up elbow and two skinned up knees! Greg was finally able to beat me! And just so no one fears driving on the roads, I am leaving my keys with Donna for the time being. My reflexes just aren't the same right now. So this really leaves me house bound right now and I welcome home visitors and phone calls now more than ever. Don't worry about waking me. I much prefer the company. For anyone who would like to see my baptism, it will be held at Neighborhood Church of Redding, 777 Loma Vista Dr. on Saturday, November 14 at the 5 p.m. service. It has been a long time coming and I am glad this date is finally here. I have a rest from chemo this week so hopefully I will have some good days until the next chemo date, Friday, November 13. I will keep you updated as pain allows.

Thanks and Love,

Dave, Donna and Boys

More than just customers, you're my chosen family!

2009-10-29T08:19:00.000-07:00

It seems like so long ago in so many ways. That I was at work giving my best customer service to some of the greatest people in their respected businesses. It's not until your out of the loop and gone from the daily grind do you start to see the forest through the trees. It came to me yesterday as I was on a road trip with my friend Rick Smith, He is our sales rep at Ameripride and he was kind enough to get me out of the house. So we went to Chico to visit some of my old customers and sell new accounts. I had a list of some of my most favorite accounts as a guide to help with time and make sure I hit those customers that I now consider very dear friends and family. You see I've always considered myself part of my customers business, if you become integrated with a company to the point you're as valuable as their regular employees you now are part of their family, then you have a customer for life. That's where I am with a lot of my customers I have become a dear friend and family member. So yesterday was needed to let my extended family know that I was ok and that I would be continuing to fight the good fight. Also to firmly embrace them with the love that they have been showing me through this battle. A good example of Gods unfailing love from the heart of family is one of my customers actual gave me a key to his summer home in Eureka to use anytime I wanted and to just get away and not worry about a thing, just go and enjoy, Thanks Lonnie we are making plans to do just that. Gods love is meant to be shared with no boundaries or conditions and we are mandated to do this everyday, trust me I see it. Thanks one and all for the extra prayer Monday I made it through 2 very tough days of pain and its been better but I start my next chemo tomorrow. Here we go again! Love you all, Dave and Family.

Whats new! heres the skinny!

2009-10-25T10:19:00.000-07:00

Whats new? Well Thursday was a good day I felt good and pain was maintained. I got help to cover the pool and hang a bedroom door. Friday started out great, my buddy Charlie and I were going to golfing but it was not to be I through my back out unloading the clubs. So I had to go get some muscle relaxers and head to chemo. Now I'm finding that it doesn't matter when chemo is or for how long, the way I feel will only be determined by how the chemo itself. Here's the short end of it, I've been trying to write this since yesterday and I'm having problems. I'm in sever pain most of the time and uncomfortable any way I am. I have been getting some sleep once pain pills and sleep aid kick in together. Things are changing and I don't know if it's for the good. These are the most challenging times I've been through yet, and this is where God comes to my rescue. I need you all to help me get through this, Like today my best buddy Greg, took time off his route just to stop by to give me a morale boost and to pray with me, because he could tell I was at the bottom of the valley and I needed hand up to the next ledge so I could see beyond that despair. Thanks Greg!!! I have to go I've been doing this to long now. I will respond to your messages and blog short blips as strength and pain allow. Thanks and Love Dave

With this blog I thee wed you all over again!

2009-10-24T01:48:00.000-07:00

There's a lot to catch up on which I'll blog about later. I'm devoting this blog to the woman I've devoted my life to for over 20 years! She is the glue that binds this home, the mediator, the sounding board for all of life little and big problems. She is the cushion that absorbs all the wrath that I spout out at the kids, For I can't stand by and take the disrespect that I see them hurl at mom and myself. The unselfish acts of kindness that she shows to the kids and myself. She will buy the kids anything and everything to keep them groomed and clothed, while forgoing needed necessities that she could use herself! I force her to get needed items so she can maintain her girlish beauty. I believe this cancer is taking its toll on Donna mentally because of the added thoughts of the "what if" scenarios that play through the psyche. Donna has a kind heart and has the hardest time saying no, she will use" maybe" or' we'll see" instead and the kids will key in on that as a yes and you promised. I don't like to fault her she is the woman I married all those years ago and I love her the most out of everything on this earth! Her humorous side is what keeps it all worth while for when Donna is not laughing or joking then I know her world is failing. I would not stand to see her get hurt intentionally ever. Thats why, when we get in heated discussions over something that was misquoted or the the lines of communications are misinterpreted and feeling are being trampled on I must digress and take every aspect and word being said and ascertain the feelings be felt in that moment to rectify the situation now. Trying to be very clear on the meanings and intentions of any subject is key and with all that said, it must be clearly stated that as your husband and Friend I wound never do or say anything to undermined your feelings and furthermore it is my job to be your biggest strength and support. So when the kids are on you and I'm not helping the matter because they are taking me to levels of stroking out I need to count to 10, leave the room an let your loving kindness take its rightful place. So with all that is happening and the bearish moods I'm dealing with, the fear, the patients issues, the overall dealing with physical and mental fatigue. I should still be able to pull it up by the boot straps and garner the love and support you need from me. I LOVE YOU SO DEARLY THAT THE THOUGHT OF LOSING YOU THE MOST WOULD ALSO KILL ME!! So with this blog I thee wed you like it was our first time and I am giving the biggest fight of my life for you so we can live long lives together and by God mercy and grace he will grant us this prayer together. Love forever and in to eternity, Your Husband Dave

Everyone gone home,Ahh I miss them already!

2009-10-20T10:27:00.000-07:00

Thanks to all my friends and family for the extended time to visit with everyone, Donna even took a couple days off work to spend the time with the Uncles from out of state. It began Friday after Chemo when family started arriving at the house, 2 uncles from Texas (Austin and San Antonio areas) and an Aunt and Uncle from Preston Idaho came with their 5th wheel to set up camp in the driveway which was welcomed and convenient. Friday evening was a great time for all as I already blogged and Saturday was just as grand but full with the preparation for the Wedding itself and the Bride and Groom running on high emotion. I myself took Spencer to his flag football game which was one of his best performances this season with 3 touchdowns scored Way to go Spencer! We went to the Wedding ceremony that evening at the Builders Exchange and what a nice fall layout it was, beautiful in every aspect. I did have problems though myself, I made it through the ceremony but had to have my part of the family photos done so I could leave before pain set in to bad. I fought battles of pain several times as the weekend progressed and getting enough sleep is another current enemy that is keeping my focus. Just getting this blog written is a struggle as I doze off between sentences. We had some great times visiting having meals together and the kids even enjoyed playing new card games with everyone. Fun times by all, but as the Uncles from Texas left we got word they were laid over in LA and would have to take a route through Chicago to get home in time for special events back home, They probably wish they stayed in Redding an extra day. The last of the relatives left this morning now I'm lonely again, So keep the phone ringing comments on the blog going and email as much as you can so my sanity will keep intact and I won't need a doctor for that to. Scheduled events coming up include Chemo on Friday. Thanks and Love to all, Dave and Family

New chemo in action,let us Pray!

2009-10-17T06:54:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone, we met with the doctor again to go over the scan and I now have the visual of it to describe. When we looked at the picture he is able to roll up from the feet toward the head looking at the cross sections as you move along. First the pelvis rolls through then each cross section of the stomach till you start to see the bottom of the liver, where 2 lesions appear. As he slowly scrolls up those spots disappear and several more come in to view as those leave the picture even more appear, large and small in size. He stops at the top of the liver to show me some of the bigger ones and several new ones. the one the blew me away was the one on the lymph node behind my stomach it is about 6 cm in size and is larger than any of the other tumors. It's the one that gives me the most pain, it pushes against the back of my stomach to where I get a fuller feeling when I eat and it also causes bad pain in my back, when I start to feel it there I know its pain pill time again. He doesn't know why I'm getting relief in my esophagus since the tumor hasn't chance and the lining has gotten thicker, but we're giving good status at this point. As for surgery to remove the lymph node if they open me up they would have to take every thing effected or it will start sending cells out to other areas because it is under attack and it spreads elsewhere. Also the exposure to air for a long length of time will cause it to start to gel so it's hard to cut it all out and with all the spots in the liver there's not enough time or liver to even do it. So now that I visualized this I can see why the doctor wanted to start the new regiment right away. I sat In the chemo chair for about 3 hours and then will be heading back next Friday for session 2. We have a full weekend ahead with Donna's brother's wedding and reception, all the uncles from out of town made it in safe. We had a pizza wedding party with everyone, then took the out of town folks to our biggest landmark, the Sundial Bridge, which they thought was incredible. We will be busy with family through Monday. So we'll blog you later and keep the prayer chains going now more than ever. Thanks and love to all, Dave and Family

David Crowder band concert or E.R. you pick!

2009-10-14T14:51:00.000-07:00

Hello out there! Thanks for tuning in to my blog. Once again we contemplate life's ever growing questions like, why does hair grow out of the top edge of your ear? or why dust bunnies multiply faster than real rabbits? I don't know these answers but I do know there is God in Heaven And he loves us all, we just need to accept Him! Now to the story at hand, I had my scan done at MD Imaging at 9 am and then had an uneventful day. I was invited to the David Crowder concert with Rob Griffith, but a wrench was thrown in gears, I started to have chest, neck and arm pain and had to go to the Emergency Room. So Rob and my brother in law Ron sat with me while Donna sat with our little nephew. Rob surprised me with the fact I was going to get front row tickets, back stage passes and a meet/greet with the band where they were going to pray with me for recovery. The pain did not subside in time to go, so I told Rob to go and let the band know I was not going to be able to make it. Rob came back afterward to bring me 2 autographed CDs. I want to thank Rob for the effort and thoughtfulness that went into everything he did. It was determined that I did not have a heart problem and it was radiating pain from the cancer. They gave me 2 shoots of Demerol and sent me home. They told me to contact my doctor the next morning to fill him on what had happen. So by 9 am we were in with the doctor and he said I would have more of these incidents if I didn't manage the pain pills better. He also got the preliminary report back from MD Imaging and went on to tell us some disturbing news. Basically the chemo regiment that we've been doing has been tearing me down and not effecting the cancer in the liver in fact the spots have gotten bigger and there is more spots. I told him that the tumor in my esophagus has shrunk because I have not experienced any pain or problems eating. He told me that we would take that as good news and we were going to discontinue the current chemo therapy. He said we would attack the cancer with 2 different types of chemo drugs,a type that was less harsh but would attach itself to the tumor then cut off its blood supply. I asked if the tumors were bigger why we couldn't use the cryo surgery and freeze them off the liver. He explained it like this, say you have an expensive watermelon and it is infested with bugs, you have to cut away the spots where the bugs are you wouldn't have any watermelon left to eat. So here we are' he will go over the full scans with us on Friday and start the new drugs immediately after where I will get 2 intravenously once a week for 3 weeks then rest for 7 days. We will do this for 2 cycles then scan again. At this point I'm not giving up and we will do only what God has in store for me because it is up to him and no one else and by Gods grace I will live, if he has other plans for me then thats how it will be, for we can only live in this moment because the next moment is the Lords until it is given to you. Remember to leave your comments on the blog and I will reply back. This has a very hard blog to post I started to write it around 2 pm and now it's 10:30pm. Prayer is the strongest weapon we have so wield it mightily for me please. Thanks for your loving support, Dave and Donna.

Par fore the Cause!

2009-10-13T03:42:00.000-07:00

Hi to all you caring souls, God really blessed me Monday very unexpectedly! I got a call from my friend JD needing to borrow my golf shoes. When he got to my house he told me that our General Manager from AmeriPride out of Sacramento needed him to fill in at a Par for the Cause Charity Pro-Am Golf Tournament At Sevillano Links, put on by St. Elizabeth's hospital and our company was a major sponsor. When JD explained that he was not really looking forward to this because he was way behind on reports that were due and he would be totally stressed out the whole time. So I joking said,"I'd love to fill in for you, I'm feeling real good and just sitting around doing nothing. JD contacted Jay Luck our G.M. to ask and he thought it was an awesome ideal to have me come down and join them. Talk about God blessing me in such a way! I got down there in time to get to meet with Jay and Tom Raffa our sales manager for this area, where they introduced me to our Pro, Dane Jansken from Brentwood Country Club in the L.A. area. It was a best ball tournament Where we had a team score and the Pros were playing against each other. We shot a 7 under as a team and Dane came in second for the pros at 2 under. What a fabulous day filled with fun, prizes, a lunch BBQ and a buffet dinner banquet at the end. It was cool at most of the holes they had volunteers working and I saw several of my customers off my route. At one hole they had skeet shooting for a chance to win a prize and where I got to impress the guys by shooting both of my clay birds and while none of them could hit theirs. I got a nice Cool Pix digital camera at the banquet and had a wonderful meal before the ride home. But the best part of the whole day as watching our Pro play golf up close, I've never saw someone with that level of skill play in person and best yet he actually applauded me on chip shoot that landed close to the pin on one hole, applauds from a Pro, it can't get any better than that! I would like to thank Jay, Tom and Dane for making this day stand out as one of the best days I've had since my cancer battle started. Once again God shows up to provide his goodness and blessings on me and I must give praise to this testament of is love. Thanks again, Love Dave

Big pain in my Gas!

2009-10-08T13:59:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone, Once again I'm sorry for not blogging but there hasn't been much going on and the pain management has taken on a whole new meaning. I've been dealing with so much and different kinds of pain it's been a none stop juggling act. Believe me if I miss a certain time to take a pain pill and get out of sync I pay dearly and that's not good specially because it takes the missed dose time to kick in. With these new pain pills, I don't take them before bed because they jazz me up. I have to piggy back the different pain pills just right to make it work out. I've been dealing with such a bad case of gas that it causes great pain in the digestive tract that it's also been hard to deal with the spontaneous gas emissions that I've actual chased Donna out of bed one night not realizing that I was happening in my sleep. My chosen mother Carole turned me on to this probiotics called pearl IC that has really helped my digestive tract feel much better and the pain from the gas is gone, I still have some gas but rest assured that if you're standing down wind I do take your feeling and nostrils into considerations, no bombing raids here. Today is the last day for taking chemo pills for this round 7 days of glorious,much needed rest. I finally got my scan date and time which is Tuesday 10-13 at 9am, so the prayers are for a great scan with shrinkage of all existing cancer and that none has spread to other areas. That will be the focus and Gods will shall be done as we head toward my next round.The doctor will get the scan by my appointment on Friday 10-16 with my next round of chemo to follow immediately the same day. So Friday is the make or brake day, so pray,pray, pray!

Thanks for the calls and comments, Love Dave and family

Long and busy weekend!

2009-10-05T07:35:00.000-07:00

Hi to all, sorry I haven't been on in a couple days but it has been a busy weekend. Saturday we had a birthday party for my youngest son Spencer(10-5) he's 12. So Friday we shopped for party stuff and Saturday it was prepare, then party down. Sunday was a full day watching our 14 month old nephew for half the day then a band performance at the High school for my oldest son Colby. He is in so much of the music program I don't see how he keeps it all together. He performs in the PEP band, concert band, Jazz band, Choir and the Enterprise Starship Variety group which is a singing and dancing program that travels all over the country doing shows. Ah to be young! As for his old dad I made it through but was battling be sick and tired a lot. All I can say is this round of chemo is kicking my butt! I feel more like a cancer patient now! I guess that the more of these drugs I get in me the more it will tear me down but it better be tearing the cancer out also, time will tell! Like this morning I woke at 5:30am ate, read the paper, took my meds, got the wife and kids off to school and now I'm blogging,then it will be time to take a nap. I can't get use to this it's not what a man that's use to working all his life is suppose to be doing. I find it impossible to be like this for anybody the world is going on out there and I'm missing it. My schedule for this week looks like; take pills and more pills till Thursday. Friday I start my rest period, Thank you God!! and Friday I hope will be my scan, no confirmation on that yet, I have two call in wanting to know the schedule. So pray, pray and more prayer for strength and vitality and keep calling, writing and communicating with me and I will be fine.

Thanks and love, Dave and family

Visit with old friend along with pain!

2009-10-01T10:18:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone, It was nice yesterday to visit with an old friend that stopped in from Shingletown. I've known Mark since Donna and I got married, Which is over 20 years ago. He moved to Shingletown quite some time ago and we don't see each other as much. Mark is going through some of his own medical issues, nerve system problems that keeps him from working also. He's been going through it for several years now with no fix in sight, so please send prayers out to him and his family for pain management and that the doctors can find out answers to his medical issues. We discussed a lot of things like what it does to us not to work, we were both 120% work full out kind of guys and now we pay for it just to do the least bit of work. It attacks our manhood to not be the guys God meant for us to be. We discussed our faith and both agreed that if you don't have Christ going through an illness you have no hope. We talked about families in our situations and how it's best to keep everyone involved with all aspects of the processes that we deal with and answer the questions as we go leaving no one behind, carry each other through. Also we need to fill in the gaps in our histories that my benefit the kids, like telling them the triumphs and pitfalls of our past that they may encounter as they get into young adulthood and marriage ages that seem to far out in the future to think about. Give them a written history of the things that seem almost forgotten in your own mind so they add and pass on to their own when the time comes. Mark, thanks for your insights you are a wise man and your life experiences will help me be a better man to my off spring, stop by more often and as much as you can.
Now we get to the real pain in my life, Pain! I have been dealing with what seems to be a change in my system as of 3 days lately. I hope that this only do to the fact that the chemo is attacking the cancer and not the cancer attacking me! we will find out after the next scan scheduled for Friday 10-9-09. The Doctor has prescribed a stronger pain medication to help cope with this because right now I can only sleep on my right side and I had to cancel a golf game today and believe me I won't stand for that, I could sleep on my right side for ever if I had to. More later.

Thanks one and all. Love Dave and family.

Pray for strength!

2009-09-29T12:46:00.000-07:00

Hi out there, I'm coming to you today for selfish reasons. This round of chemo is affecting me worst. I've been extra tired and I've had more pain with this round in my back and liver regions. So please send extra Prayer my way and let God sort out the rest, I'm leaving it all to him. Also the bad news I got to today was I was approved for Medi-Cal. That's right bad news, I have a share of cost with Medi-Cal and for 3 months it's more out of pocket than a whole year of out of pocket expense with my private insurance. So I told them to forget it we are better off with out government help. I keep chugging along despite the effort that has to be put out, all I know is it's in his hands and I will persevere. Thanks for the added prayers keep them coming, I appreciate you all so much!

Love Dave, Donna and boys

Up in the air and hot!

2009-09-26T19:56:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone, It's been quite the ride! I had chemo yesterday and was not feeling well all afternoon, which is different than the first time so I can only say this will be a crap shoot with each roll of the dice. I mustered up the energy to walk my two little dogs which they enjoy. I take one at a time and walk a large city block so that's two laps for me and that qualifies as exercise. This morning I had to go in for my blood count booster shot, then we had flag football pictures and it was off to the air show, talk about a full day. Thanks goes out to Rob for the tickets and the main man with the golf cart. We felt extra special coming and going because Rob was helping at the air show and we got free rides to and from the parking lot. Thanks Rob you saved us. Talk about a cool show on a blistering hot day. We had fun but even with all the free water and food it was almost unbearable. We made it through, but when we got home I became sick to my stomach and was miserable for a short time. Water and a protein shake later I feel better, could of been the heat or maybe not getting my nausea pills timed right it's hard to say. I'll figure it out and stay cool, but the poor pups won't be going on their walk tonight, sorry!

Thanks to all of you caring friends that read my blog and leave messages. Also for the cards of well wishes, it all helps more than you know! Love from, Dave, Donna and the boys

A roller coaster ride of emotions!

2009-09-24T11:39:00.000-07:00

Here we go again! The amusement park is open for business, but it seems like only the roller coaster is all that's running and I keep getting back in line. A roller coaster has a lot of emotions and psychical feelings attached to it. First is the anticipation as you wait your turn. I wait with anticipation to how this next scan comes out. Frustration creeps in as you wait in the long line. I do get frustrated at the process and the hoops you have to go through to get things going. Anxiety sets in as you get strapped in to your seat. I have anxiety over the fact that is this working, could I be doing something more! Next is the adrenaline rush as you climb that first big incline and crest the peak to start the descent. As I go into a procedure I get keyed up on adrenaline the blood starts flowing and the mind reels with excitement that something is getting done. Fear is next with all the other emotions put aside this is the one I deal with the most, as you race down the rails to the bottom of the hill your mind reels with the thoughts of what if the car flies off the track and you face deaths door. I feel this most often as it haunts you day in and day out, because you don't know and always wonder what if. Dread is there as you head for the next drop or cork screw. I dread the next round knowing that putting these drugs into my body is like taking poison. Sickness as your body is tossed about the ride is the psychical part that comes with the treatments. Happiness when the ride comes to a stop and your emotions fade away to anticipation of trying it again. My happiness comes from so many things, first it's in the knowledge that I have a God that is all powerful and loving and I'm his no matter what happens, next is the loving family that I have and can't live without. Also the love and support I've found from all the friends old and new alike. It brings me so much happiness that it trumps all the other emotions and gives me the strength to continue to keep putting one foot in front of the other to battle on and defeat this disease. So with that I'm ready to board that roller coaster tomorrow as I start my next round.

Thank again for the support and may God bless on and all!

with love, Dave and family

Hair today, gone today!

2009-09-21T21:49:00.000-07:00

Well the doctor was right again! today was a sad day for me. I started the day out good, did a little work out side early, burned my self out and then took a nap. Later I went to Lowe's with the neighbor to secure some marked down fence panels to complete our common fence line. That is when I noticed it happening I took my hat off and notice a bunch of hair in my hat. I thought oh it's just collected there over time so I grabbed a handful an pull it right out. Freak out! I knew it would happen but not like this and why today? I've always had a full head of hair, I even have to have it thinned every other time I get it cut. So it is a sad day but a new beginning, because of not wanting to be shedding like my Akita guard dog, I had Donna take me to the dog Groomer, Oh! I mean the hair stylist to shave my head to the bone. Now I'm proud to say I'm going through my Telli Suvalles days. With all that said and gone, no pun intended! I have some blessings and some Thank yous to get out. First I was blessed Saturday night to have a great group of guys get together for poker night at Scott's house, we had a great time. I was blessed with tickets to the air show for myself and family and a wonderful chili, salad and dessert meal from the Griffith family thank loads, It's the gift that keeps on giving, I mean the air show, Oh that's both gifts. I'm crying I'm laughing so hard! Thanks to one and all for the continued Prayers and I'm hearing from people all over about the different prayer lists we're on, how wonderful.

That all for now Thanks and love from the Walpole Family.

Then there was seven days of rest!

2009-09-19T16:23:00.000-07:00

Hello out there, I went to Dr. Mahajan's office Friday, it was a routine check before the next round of chemo starts. Everything looks great the doctor said my blood counts were so good that he said I could donate blood if I wanted. I told him I was happy that my hair hasn't started falling out, he just commented that's going to change real soon. He was not happy that they scheduled me for chemo to start on Monday when he wants me to have a full 7 days of rest off the chemo drugs, so my next treatment starts Friday 9-25-09. I told my Doctor I seemed to be getting some relief when swallowing and that I thought it was a good sign. He said yes but don't get my hopes to high. I told him that I have big faith in my God and that I have a strong God. He shrugged it off, you have to understand that he is from India originally and he must not believe in Christ. So let it be known by the time I am though this he will know who our God is and he is the great Physician. Also yesterday I had a visit with my primary Doctor about my Diabetes and all is well, my blood sugars are well under control. I can even stop taking one of my pills and start cutting back on another if my readings stay good. Today I had 2 blessings, first a friend of the family, Ashtyn took me to Bethel Church's healing room they hold every Saturday morning. What a nice feeling to have Gods people praying and laying hands on me to have God heal me. I did leave with my sore throat and headache removed. I told the servants there that I believe God will heal me in his time frame and when his work for me is done in this chapter of my life. I believe that God is helping people in a different way everyday and I to will be healed. I also had some good friends from the church come by today to give us a special gift that People Encouraging People (PEP)ministry group had collected to help out with costs of treatment. What a great group of people we have in our church body!The blessings flow out and and we return them to God in our prayers and thanksgiving. So once again thanks one and all for your love and kindness, it can not be repaid here but only through God when we see him face to face.

Love and thanks again,

Dave and family

Sick and Tired! but APPROVED!

2009-09-17T12:42:00.000-07:00

Hi all, Lately it's been the same old same old, yesterday was not a great day though. It started out ok, my golfing buddy Charlie treated me to another round of golf (THANKS!) and the day looked like it would be good. Not so, my game was off and I started to feel bad on top of it so when I finally got home I laid down. Three hours later I felt better but was still tired,so after dinner I went back to bed. It's amazing how I go up and down at different times with no rhyme or reason to why. I am glad to report I am getting some relief when I swallow food now. I was able to eat a sandwich with no fluids to help and no pain but I was on pain meds so that does help! So that might be a good sign that things are working, we'll see I have an appointment with my Doctor tomorrow at 9:15 am. I've been off my chemo pills starting today to get a rest period before the next round which starts 11am Monday the 21st. I have great news! I called the Roche company to check my status and I'm please to report that I've been accepted in their drug program and they shipped out my next 30 day supply free of charge. they aren't even charging my insurance and I'm able to receive the pills at no charge for the whole year. God is amazing at how he works, through every avenue of life he is there. All we need to do is believe, pray and receive his blessings. I've had people ask me why I thought God was putting me through all this and I came across a verse in the bible that sums it up; (John 9:2-3) His disciples ask him, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?" "Neither this man nor his parents sinned," said Jesus, "but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life." Jesus went on to say more then proceeded to heal the blind man. So people can be rest assured that God does not just give someone cancer or any disease to cause them harm. No, we live in a sin filled world that has diseases and we as mortals will succumb to our environment. If Adam and Eve had not sinned then this world would have been as God had planned with no sickness and death. That's why God sent his one and only son to die for our sins and be reconciled to him through the resurrection of Christ from death, so we can live with God after we leave this world. There is only three things we must Pray to gain this free gift from God (1) Admit you are a sinner born in a sinful world, (2) Believe that Christ died and rose again the save us from sin, (3) Confess to God from your heart, mind and soul that you accept Jesus as the only way to heaven. You do this and you can rest your mind that you will go to heaven when you die. I have this assurance that's why if this cancer thing goes the wrong way I will still be ok with no more tears and no more pain. So don't leave earth without Jesus. If you haven't done so please do, if you do let me know so I can celebrate with you and help lead you on your spiritual journey and mature in your faith in Him!

Thanks for everything and Love from myself, Donna and the boys.

Picture this with a Purpose Driven Life!

2009-09-13T21:06:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone, just a quick note and something special that was emailed to me I had to pass on. The family and I managed to get some family pictures done this evening. It was planned but took an act of God to pull off. I was hoping to post some to the blog but they hadn't made it to my inbox yet, maybe tomorrow. Other than that I had a great day feeling good and got to go to a church guest ministries luncheon for greeters, ushers, info and coffee services volunteers. What a great fellowship it was, Thanks Pastor Jim and Jackie. Now for that email, it is wonderfully written message from Pastor Rick Warren, it is a little long but worth the read;

Thanks and love,
Dave and family

Rick Warren?(REMEMBER HE WROTE 'PURPOSE DRIVEN LIFE') You will enjoy the new insights that Rick Warren has, with his wife
now having cancer and him having 'wealth' from the book sales.
This is an absolutely incredible short interview with Rick Warren, 'Purpose Driven Life ' author and pastor of Saddleback Church in California ? In the interview by Paul Bradshaw with Rick Warren, Rick said: People ask me, What is the purpose of life? And I respond:In a nutshell, life is preparation for eternity. We were not made
to last forever, and God wants us to be with Him in Heaven. One day my heart is going to stop, and that will be the end of my body-- but not the end of me. I may live 60 to 100 years on earth, but I am going to spend
trillions of years in eternity.. This is the warm-up act -
the dress rehearsal. God wants us to practice on earth what we will do forever in eternity. We were made by God and for God, and until you figure
that out, life isn't going to make sense. Life is a series of problems: Either you are in one now,you're just coming out of one, or you're getting ready
to go into another one. The reason for this is that God is more interested in
your character than your comfort. God is more interested in making your life holy than
He is in making your life happy. We can be reasonably happy here on earth, but that's not the goal of life. The goal is to grow in character, in Christ likeness. This past year has been the greatest year of my life but also the toughest, with my wife, Kay, getting cancer. I used to think that life was hills and valleys - you go through a dark time, then you go to the mountaintop,
back and forth. I don't believe that anymore... Rather than life being hills and valleys, I believe that it's kind of like two rails on a railroad track, and at all
times you have something good and something bad
in your life. No matter how good things are in your life, there is
always something bad that needs to be worked on. And no matter how bad things are in your life, there
is always something good you can thank God for. You can focus on your purposes, or you can focus
on your problems. If you focus on your problems, you're going into self-centeredness,'which is my problem, my issues, my pain.' But one of the easiest ways to get rid of pain is to get your focus off yourself and onto God and others. We discovered quickly that in spite of the prayers of hundreds of thousands of people, God was not going
to heal Kay or make it easy for her.. It has been very difficult for her, and yet God has
strengthened her character, given her a ministry of
helping other people, given her a testimony, drawn
her closer to Him and to people. You have to learn to deal with both the good and the
bad of life. Actually, sometimes learning to deal with the good is harder. For instance, this past year, all of a sudden,
when the book sold 15 million copies, it made me
instantly very wealthy. It also brought a lot of notoriety that I had never had to deal with before. I don't think God gives you money or notoriety for your own ego or for you to live a life of ease. So I began to ask God what He wanted me to do with
this money, notoriety and influence. He gave me two
different passages that helped me decide what to do,
II Corinthians 9 and Psalm 72 First, in spite of all the money coming in, we would not change our lifestyle one bit. We made no major purchases. Second, about midway through last year, I stopped taking
a salary from the church. Third, we set up foundations to fund an initiative we call The Peace Plan to plant churches, equip leaders, assist the poor, care for the sick, and educate the next generation. Fourth, I added up all that the church had paid me in the 24 years since I started the church, and I gave it all back. It was liberating to be able to serve God for free. We need to ask ourselves: Am I going to live for possessions? Popularity? Am I going to be driven by pressures? Guilt?
Bitterness? Materialism? Or am I going to be driven
by God's purposes (for my life)? When I get up in the morning, I sit on the side of my bed and say, God, if I don't get anything else done today, I want to know You more and love You better. God didn't put me on earth just to fulfil a to-do list. He's more interested in what I am than what I do. That's why we're called human beings, not human doings. Happy moments, PRAISE GOD. Difficult moments, SEEK GOD. Quiet moments, WORSHIP GOD. Painful moments, TRUST GOD. Every moment, THANK GOD.? NOW ... PLEASE SHARE THIS WITH?YOUR?FRIENDS

Strong heart for chemo and God!

2009-09-11T20:55:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone I went to an appointment yesterday for a nuclear medical scan. Very interesting process where they draw a small amount of blood then infuse it with a radioactive substance and then put it back into the blood stream. They then use a scanner to do motion pictures of the substance being moved through the heart with each beat. They wanted to make sure that my heart will handle the stress of chemo for the long haul. The guy said it looked good and the reports would be read and forwarded to my doctor. Lately it has been dreadful even to think about eating, it's not the physical act but the why I feel when I'm done and I don't eat a lot at a time so I've got to figure out what is goning on. Please continue to pray for me in this area! I have been studying the Bible a lot lately and found I love reading about Gods plan and will for us. As I go further into his word I realize that how can we honestly say we know what God wants for us when most of the time we are so wrapped up in daily living that we don't spend the time getting to know him. The Bible sometimes speaks of God as a place to live;"Lord you have been our dwelling place in all generations" (palsm 90:1). *If we learned to live by faith in the the One who outlasts and uplifts us, who is "our dwelling place in all generations" (*sept. upper room daily devotional) we would be in closer harmony with what he wants. What does it mean to live by faith that God is our dwelling place? It means to be mindful that we come from God, we belong to God and we go to God with all things. So It benefits all to spend time in God's word to build a relationship with and learn more about our own faith in him. If you need to find out more you can call or email me or dial 1-888-needhim

Thanks and love Dave and family

Get it done while the feelings good!

2009-09-08T20:49:00.000-07:00

Not much on the day to day front. I've been feeling pretty good most of the time, though I have been very tired in between. I told myself that as long as I felt fine I would get my skinny ass up and do things that needs to be done and around here that's a lot. I have to remember to stop at a descent time and not burn myself out. So that's where I need the help, I would like people to call me from time to time and just ask, "Dave what are you doing and how long you been at it!" then talk me down, I get real intense and can't shut down without pressure from others. I have some blessings to be thankful for; Saturday JD and his Daughter came by with a trailer of pea gravel to finish around part of my Pool. Surprised, I was sound asleep not feeling well and here comes part of Gods soldiers doing out of the kindness of their hearts something that no one mentioned needed to be done and Boom! Done! How sweet is our God, it shows though random act like that! Thanks! Sunday was a sick day and nothing was moving me most of that day, I did manage to get some fence boards and stringers up on the back of the property But maybe 2 hours out of me that day. Monday we watched our nephew till 3pm. what a kick I haven't seen him much lately. Then my brother in law came by and put up some fence boards, it's coming along one board at a time. Thursday I have an appointment with nuclear medicine doctors for tests, more on that later.

Remember call me! 221-0259 or 917-6094

Love, Dave and family

Two days after....blah!

2009-09-05T10:38:00.000-07:00

I went back yesterday to get a shot to help my white blood cell count to stay up. I felt pretty well all day just a little tired. I've been getting ok rest, but I woke up about 3:45 this morning not felling well so I took meds and went back to bed. I then woke about 7:30am and felt like a Mack truck hit me. I think I'm in for it for awhile we'll see! I'm going to cut it short and go lay back down, Thanks for the prayers and please pray extra for Donna and the boys since they are the ones that have to put up with me!

Love always, Dave and family.

We're off and remember please don't eat that orange snow!

2009-09-03T19:33:00.000-07:00

I'm here, I made it, and not so bad yet! I started chemo full speed ahead, I arose this morning and took the first regiment of pills. Along with the chemo pills I took nausea pills to decrease the inevitable. I am happy to report that I only was sick feeling once and it left me quickly. Other than that I was very tired and dizzy, a little more than usual. So I took a cat nap and it helped. We went to the Solace cancer center for the next step, we arrived at 1:50 and was finally hooked up and running by 2:40 after they did their regular battery of blood work and vitals. They hooked me up with 2 nausea meds, 1 steroid and 2 chemo drugs. Most of the program was fine but I got real tired during parts of it and snoozed off and on. One of the chemo fluids was a dark orange in color, it was strange to see it being funneled into my body. We were about done when I had to go pee really bad so I told the nurse that I would hold it because we were almost done. They said no, no you don't have bladder cancer and I needed to get it out ASAP. On the way in they told me not to be shocked and I thought why did in fall off or something, No that was not it. She said, " your pee is not going to be normal for a couple days." So as Frank Zappa might put it, "Don't you eat that orange snow way out back where Dave Walpole goes!" Ha, I could write my name in orange out in the snow if I could find some.

Thanks goes out to more of our Christan family for the onion/potato soup and salad it was great and I had very minimal pain getting it down, chalk it up to excellent food selection.

We'll see how the next couple days go, prayers are launched and I'll take it easy for now, fatigue will be my worst enemy.

Thanks and love, Dave and Family

Can you hold please!

2009-09-01T12:14:00.000-07:00

Sorry that it's been some time between posts but I've been a busy guy. Not only that but with the kids back to school I have to get on during the early part of the day because the kids have a lot of homework that involves the computer.
Sunday was a great day for removing myself from the battle. I had an excellent day of golf even though I played fairly awful, all aggression was transfered onto little white golf balls and it felt good. Then my family and I went to our baseball game/potluck, it was so much fun I even play on the kids team as catcher to help even things up. I had the best hit out of all the grown ups, I was 3ft. from putting thge ball out of the park and I only made it to 2nd base because I was wearing sandals. We lost 10 to 7 but everyone had a blast and I was exhausted, hey doc I got my exercise.
Monday was also exhausting mentally. I sent 4 straight hours on the phone, mostly on hold trying to working out copay relief for my pills. Talk about a maze of info and people to deal with, It's amazing though how much is out there to try. I was not able to get relief on this round but things are in the works for help on the next round pray that god helps us here. When my Service Manager from work that's out of Sacramento heard the price of the copay he called the Teamsters to tell them to look into it I immediately got a call from them saying that they was calling my health plan for answers. Later that day they got back to me to say it was correct that they pay 70% I pay 30%. My father in law drove to the Sacramento pharmacy since he lives there and paid for them which I told him he is now on the creditors list to be paid back first since this is the most important steps to get the treatment going. the pills arrived this morning about 10 am. the best part of yesterday was I met with Pastor Jim Botts and taped my testimonial story of how I came to be a Christan and why I wanted to be Baptized it was great to get that ball rolling, thanks Greg in your help on that also. Were on for chemo starting 2 pm. Thursday,please pray that all goes well and remember if you call me and ask me if I can please hold you may hear an explosion on the other end of the line.

Thanks for your continued love and support,
Dave and family

Ps.I have people asking everyday if they can help us,please direct email requests to Debbie Grigsby; debgrigsby@yahoo.com she is coordinating all help. Thanks Again!

Major project complete, several more to fix including me!

2009-08-29T21:39:00.000-07:00

Thanks go out to the guys form work and our bible study group for completion of the deck project! We also got started on 32ft. of fence now that the jungle was removed. A lot of fixing to be done still but it will go smooth from here. I just pray that I get good news on Monday with the "pill people" they hold all the cards right now, with me so close to the fix but so far from the cure it is frustrating to be drug down this emotional road. I can rest assured that friends and family are not stopping short on the love and support that has been so generously easy for all, this is true community in the Christian kind of way. Tonight after church my most beloved surrogate Parents took my family to dinner at Olive Garden which is a rare treat, for the whole family to fellowship and enjoy each other was worth more to me right now than most things you can dream of. I got to meet Pastor Jim from Neighborhood Church tonight, we discussed taping my testimonal on Moday for my up coming Baptism that I've been whating to do for years. This is an area of my christain faith that I should have done, it's a statement of faith that you share when you truely love God and you shouldn't be holding it back from anyone, let the world know!

I'm being treated to rounds of golf at Rolling Hills tomorrow which was donated by the fine people there, it's to help free up some space in a mind that is so clogged with everything. Then off to a coaches vs. kids baseball game/potluck with the family for an end of the year Jr. Giants season. My weekend has been full of great stuff and I owe it all to you my friends and family.
May the Lord bless you all!

Love, Dave and family
Ps. Great breakfast at the work party this morning, Thank You so much!

Another blow to take, but our God has deep pockets!

2009-08-28T20:31:00.000-07:00

When you think you're down lower than ever and you pull yourself up by the God straps your given a blow that knocks you down to your knees once again! Well I start with the bad news then head into the worst news then to the I can only pray news. The pills did not make it to me this afternoon so I called Solace Cancer care to inform them. They got on the phone to the pharmacy in Sac. to find that they did not have all my info. They put my appointment off until Thursday 9/3/09, they said I should get the pills by Tuesday at the latest. Disappointed to say the least, I was bummed out. Then I got a call from the pharmacy needing insurance info, while waiting they got back with me saying that it was approved and my co-pay was the price of a cheap apartments monthly rental. I told them I didn't have the money for it I would have to call them on Monday after I processed what was discussed. The lady was very nice and said that if I called back 8am Monday I could take to an advocate that would see if they will be able to base my co-pay on income and get it reduced some. So here we are Donna and myself in deep thought as to how we'll get through this. We have to do this prescription every 21 days. Donna went out with a friend for dinner to escape for awhile, I went to Little Caesars to get pizza for the several kids at our place, when God sent me a gift of encouragement and hope. He knew I was down and who did I see walking in front of me, none other than a friend and his family going to get a pizza also. They asked how it was going and they loving let me vent to them about all that had happened. Boy does God know the right place and the right time to sent his message of encouragement. They lifted me up with the words I needed and wisdom that I will share with you. I am play hard ball with the devil because I am giving God all the glory an this does not set well in the devils camp, but as my friend said God is still in control and our God has deeper pockets. Thanks JD & Jammie I needed that boost!

We will survive yet another attack because our God is greatest over all!

Love Dave & family

Spinning Plates in the what if part of life.

2009-08-28T10:27:00.000-07:00

First of all I got a call yesterday telling me that my appointment was moved up to 1:15pm on Monday and to call them if the chemo pills did not make it to my house from Sacramento by today. It is important that I have those pill to start at the same time as the rest of the treatment, so I have to call them by 4pm today if they don't make it and we'll have to move my start date to Tuesday instead. So God please clear all avenues so the pills come today!

So now you wonder, "the what if part of life"? What can I mean by this, let me just say that we all do it and most can't control it but it's that part of life that we worry about instead of letting things be and taking action on things as they come. I know that I try to anticipate future problems and try to avoid or just worry that the what if scenario will come in to play and then get caught up in the plate spinning aspect of it. You know the performer at a side show that has plates on sticks and he races back and forth spinning the plates trying to keep each going without letting one stop and fall to the ground, well that's what I seem to be doing more of lately racing back and forth spinning plates in the what if part of life. As I reflect back on bible verses that I've read this one comes to mind (Psalm 55:22) Cast your cares on the Lord and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous fall. For this I must hold true to keep sanity in check, besides I have enough spinning plates to keep up in this part of life.

May the Lord be with you as you keep your spinning plates going.

Love Dave and family.

The date is set.

2009-08-27T07:35:00.000-07:00

I will be starting chemo treatment on Monday 8-31-09 @1:45pm this is the beginning of to the end of my cancer if all goes as planned. I am praying that my side effects will be minimal or nonexistent we'll see. Some of the most common side effects for all 3 drugs given are; diarrhea/vomiting which should be no more than 2 to 3 times a day, if any more than that it's a problem. Hair loss, low white blood cell counts, mouth sores, fatigue, pain and numbness in hands and feet, fevers/chills. They told me that if my body temp gets more than 101.5 then I need to call the nurse and head to the hospital because there may be a serious problem going on and it needs correction now. This is just a small list of what each drug may cause. They gave me a full pages of stuff you may experience for each drug and that I may or may not get that sick, time will tell. I will be able to judge for myself if the treatments are working before the scan is done because if I start to get relief when food passes through the the esophagus then the tumor there is shrinking. I also found out that the cancer in my liver is not considered liver cancer but is still esophageal cancer because that is the type of cell that was transported to the other areas through the blood stream, I found this very interesting. Well I hope I didn't bore you but the educational benefit from all this would cost you a lot if you had to pay to go to college to learn it.

You will see some amazing things that God is doing through all this very soon because he is working through so many people behind the scenes that I haven't even begin to imagine the possibilities of what our true and loving God is capable of, but it is a blessing to his name to see the wonderful things that is happening though the love I've seen so far. A lot of people want to be nameless through this so God receives the glory for the love that is being shown, but rest assured he knows and sees all and the rewards are great for kindness shown in love and mercies name.

Once again thanks and love to all,
Dave and family

On board with chemo

2009-08-25T19:29:00.000-07:00

OK, this will be long lots of stuff to cover. We got to the appointment and they sent the financial girl in to go over the dreaded cost of treatment. I'll leave out the gory details,but I told Donna that we had already heard the worst news what else could there be. then the money bombshell dropped, dang what a blow. They did say they would never cut me off of treatment if we couldn't keep up on payments so thats good news! Then we meet with the nurse in charge of chemo treatments, she explained the chemo regiment which will include 2 of the most potent intravenous drugs every 21 days along with a chemo pill every day for 14 days, then 7 days off.
we will do 2 cycles then have a PET/CT scan to see if there is the needed progress that we're praying for. I'll get to the side effects later as I am going through them to save time. Then the main clinic nurse came in to explain her role in my program, which has to do with specific needs dealing with getting sick while on the chemo. As each person gave their spiel I told them that I must see the doctor before I leave today. I did not have a time scheduled to see him but I was very verbal in the fact that it must happen before I leave the office today! He did come in to see us on his way to a meeting to discuss new cases with the whole team of doctors from that group. Donna said, I grilled him first on his background, which is very impressive (details later) then about his reaction to the PET scan and then about other treatment options that I posted about earlier. I let him know that I was not happy with the prognosis that I received on Friday and that I wanted him to know I was going to give it the biggest fight possible and I expected him to be on the same page as I was or it wasn't going to work! He agreed with me and said we could look at all options available once we got the chemo treatment working in our favor because it is not what he thought it was going to be from our original appointment. Now that it has spread to other areas and because it is dramatically in the liver we must kill off some of cancer there before other options are workable. So with all that now said I now know that the most effective treatment for me is going to be the love and support that you all are showing me though this and the prayers that I've been told has gone out to so many churches across the USA that God is with me and If I didn't have him I would be lost in deep depression. If anyone out there keeping track of my journey needs to know more about the God I know and love, you can contact me personally at davewalpolescancerbattle@gmail.com or dial 1-888-needhim and you can know the love and peace that God has for us all, forever!

Thanks one and all for the kindness you've shown to me and my family!
Dave

Ps. Thanks to the taco salad connection it was great stuff.

Sunday was a good day despite---

2009-08-24T11:10:00.000-07:00

We had some good info given to us from Donna's dad about a new procedure that they use on prostate cancer it's called Cryosurgery. Donna found out it is very effective in liver caner also. another person told us about treatments involving lasers that we are looking into and I will ask my oncologist about also. I will be at an appointment tomorrow about the Chemo and will get to see the doctor at that time so we can discuss the findings and game plan then. We had to pick Colby up from Star-ship band camp 1p.m. Sunday and was expecting a great performance by the kids to kick off the new school year. Colby is signed up to be a singer/dancer this year instead of playing sax in the band part of Star-ship. When we got there here comes Colby limping up to us he had sprained his ankle during outdoor rec. time. Despite the injury It was still a good show and Colby got to sing in one song. more to come as things progress.

Dave

brothers in battle!

2009-08-22T22:20:00.000-07:00

Today I saw what Christs love looks like for sure. Most of the guys from our men's bible study group came over to my house today to provide me with assistance on 2 very daunting projects that I have been stuck on for a long time. We tackled a jungle of blackberry,wild grape vines and brush that took over my whole back corner of my property. Also an unfinished deck that I started but could not finish myself. The progress was more than my imagination could fathom. These men showed unselfishness that Christ would be proud of! I was able to BBQ for them to show that their hard work was greatly appreciated and not one of them got sick! This is how brothers in Christ should battle the odds together always! As I get weaker from treatments, I can now know that these two jobs had a boost to completion, as it also gave me a boost in faith that I can win this battle with the support of my Christian family.

THANKS AND MY PRAYERS ARE WITH YOU ALSO!
DAVE

No radiation at this time

2009-08-21T17:34:00.000-07:00

Donna And I saw the radiation doctor today. She said that they decided to go with Chemo only, she believes that the chemo is the best option at this time. After many minutes of beating around the bush she finally told us that the cancer is not confined to just the esophagus. She said that I have a lymph node behind my stomach and the liver is affected also. She told us that the our oncologist was not in today and he needed to examine the scans to make his determination of which and how much Chemo we will start with. I know it sounds worst than before but I still have faith in my God that he will do his healing in his time not ours for only God knows the complete story that he has written and I know that we all have important parts in it. So lets pray together and let God give the doctors wisdom to do his will.

Port installed!

2009-08-21T11:26:00.000-07:00

I went yesterday and had an access port put in so the doctors would have a place to draw blood and administer the chemo medicine. It feels like a horse kicked me in the neck, boy is it stiff and sore. they told me no lifting or staining for 5 days so I couldn't work today. they have a new guy for me to train to do my route until I can come back after surgery. Hopefully I will be able to go to work Monday. Well I'm off to my Radiation consultation soon write more later.

Got the call from S.F.

2009-08-20T13:14:00.000-07:00

Just got the call from San Francisco. My doctors name is Dr.David Jablons I'm scheduled to be in S.F. on Friday 9/11/09 at 11am. it will be a 2 to 3 hour appointment. We will find out more on that date as to when the surgery will take place.

2009-08-20T11:36:00.000-07:00

Hi to all,

Well I had the PET/CT scan yesterday and won't know the results until probably next Tuesday. I had my port put in today, it went pretty well. I'm sore and stiff in that area, I was told to not do any physical work For seven days. I'll be able to go to work Monday because I will have a new guy training with me so he will be able to do the heavy work for me. I actually got some good sleep last night, I took some Tylenol P.M. and it worked well.

upcoming schedule; Fri 8/21 radiation orientation
Tues 8/25 Chemotherapy orientation

As of this posting still waiting to hear form doctors in San Francisco

Keep up thanks and prayers to God he will provide the strength and guidance needed to pull us through

The story starts here.

2009-08-19T20:34:00.000-07:00

You must know the story of how I got to this place to understand the battle I now face.

It started out with heartburn problems while I was in high school. Years of dealing with this with over the counter stuff or just dealing with it seemed to be the norm on through my twenties. It wasn't until my early thirties that I decided that I couldn't handle the problem anymore. That's when I had my first upper EGD scope job done and found out that I had a condition called Barrett's Esophagus,(www.gicare.com/diseases/Barrett-esophagus.aspx) Since that day I've had regular scope jobs and had good reports. On 8/6/09 I had to have it checked because I was having trouble getting food to pass and needing lots of fluids to get it down. This time Dr. Namihas said we have a tumor blocking the way. He went into the procedure on it's removal and had myself and Donna scared waiting the whole weekend to find out it was cancer. On 8/10/09 the word can down that it was Esophageal cancer, which is a very aggressive type and that we would be taking very aggressive action with treatment. On 8/14/09 we met with the Oncologist Dr.Mahajan, he told us that I would start with Chemo and radiation and would be having surgery at U.C. San Francisco. He told us our first step would be to get a full body PET/CT scan and have a port put my chest to have an access point for the Chemo treatments.

I'm positive that things will work out and that I will come out of this just fine. So far I've been receiving lots of support from every one. My work has been great working around my many appointments, people within the company have been donating sick and vacation time to my accounts to help off set some pay I may miss. I chalk it up to God showing me grace through this hard time. I've also received calls and emails from our church family showing love and support and my men's bible study has been praying hard and fast through all of this I really appreciate their love and support.

Please follow my updates here and pass it along so you can watch as God works his miracles and wonders in these trying times.

Keep praying for I have my full faith in God.