CANCER FREE!!!!

Today is a day of celebrating as we are first-hand witnesses of the miraculous hand of God in the life of Andrea. We visited the doctor this morning to ask a few questions and to find out the details of the results. He told us that she has no sign of thyroid tissue or thyroid cancer in her body. This means that she will not have to go back for another 6 months at which time they will do an ultra-sound and blood-tests as an out-patient. If everything remains clear, she will only have to go back on a yearly basis (every 2 years with more involved testing, but still as an outpatient). Every 5 years she will have to have the small dose of radioactive iodine and stay for a few days in the hospital for the whole-body scan.

We felt so relieved after talking with the doctor today—to actually see the pictures from the scan and to have our questions answered. There are many cultural differences even in the way they communicate with patients, so it has taken a bit of bending on both sides to learn how to understand what we are trying to say to each other. We prayed that God would make things clear today and that our Dr. would have time for us. These prayers have been answered and we are so grateful.

We are going to enjoy our weekend with 4 other families as we head to a place a few hours from Prague (Cesky Krumlov) where we will spend Saturday rafting (drifting). Not B.C. rafting, but it will do.

Thanks again to those of you who have continued to keep Andrea in your thoughts and prayers and have helped our family in practical ways.

Our love to you all.

Al, Connie, Andy, Mark and Sara

GOOD NEWS!!

It has been an incredibly long few days as we have been anxiously waiting for the news of Andrea's CT and Whole Body Scan. Initially we were expecting the results this past Thursday, when we picked her up from the hospital, but the only result shared with us at that time was the thyroglobulin levels - encouraging news, but inconclusive. At that time we were told that the complete results would be available on Monday morning. We finally got a hold of the doctor on Monday afternoon but he did not have the reports prepared yet. So we waited again - now more anxious than ever! We were expecting a call at 11.00am today......... finally at 3.00pm we received Andrea's results from the CT and Whole-Body Scan. GOOD NEWS!! The Dr indicated (over the phone) that all was normal - that the levels of remaining thyroid tissue are "normal" and that there is no metastasis (spreading of the cancer) to the lungs or lymph nodes. All looks good. Praise God!

We will meet with the Dr on Friday to see pictures of the scan, discuss the report, and ask more questions about the plan for future monitoring. We will write an update after this weekend.

Once again we thank you for your prayers and support. We continue to trust in God's faithfulness and take comfort in his sovereignty.

Thursday, 15 May 2008

We went to the hospital this morning to get the results of Andrea’s tests and to bring her home. Unfortunately the doctor did not have the results of the whole body scan (scintigraphy) prepared. We were very disappointed as it is not fun to wait for results!! We are told that these results will be available to us on Monday.

We were however, encouraged by the results of a blood test that determines the level of thyroglobulin in her system. Thyroglobulin is a protein produced by normal thyroid tissue. Thyroid cancer cells may continue to produce thyroglobulin and levels may be markedly elevated in patients with active thyroid cancer. Theoretically, a patient who has undergone thyroid surgery and effective treatment with radioactive iodine should not have any remaining thyroid cancer cells or normal thyroid tissue present. Andrea’s thyroglobulin levels have fallen to a very low level since her treatment with radioactive iodine in October and we are told that this could be a good indication that any remaining thyroid cancer cells have been destroyed. This is good news! Of course the results of the whole body scan will be essential to determine what, if any, further treatment is needed.

Thank you for praying.

Wednesday Update

Good morning!

It is 10am on Wednesday morning and I just finished talking with Andrea on the phone. She has been a very brave little lady and we are so proud of her.

Yesterday at 7am we brought her into the hospital where we checked her in to the Nuclear Medicine Dept. and then had to leave her there at about 9am. She was full of hugs as we said goodbye, but she just followed the nurse to her room (we are not allowed to go into the area where the rooms are- but have a little spot in the entryway where we can sit and visit with her) and held her head up as she went—we were amazed at the strength God is giving her to get through this. Her day was filled with tests (blood tests, EKG, etc) and then she did some reading, watching movies and smiling at her two ‘only Czech speaking’ roomies. Not even the nurses speak any English this time, so she is in a challenging situation where she has to try to guess what they are telling her to do—lots of sign language and gestures.

Mark and Sara spent the morning with good friends, the Wilsons, and had a great time playing with their kids. Then around 5:00 Jen Nolan came and watched Mark and Sara while Al and I went to see Andy. We had such a wonderful time in our little entryway cubby-hole. We brought her dinner and then played Mexican Poker for 2 hours—there was lots of laughing and good spirits, so we are so thankful that God is protecting Andrea from feeling sad and gloomy.

Andrea had a bit of a long night—hit with a cold and one of her roomies is a bit of a snorer. The nurses came and woke them up at 5am—she hasn’t quite figured out why, but …oh well. Around 9:30 she had an injection to put in the radioactive mat (the radioactive material would attach itself to any thyroid/cancer cells if there are any remaining in her body and would show up on the scanner when they took the picture)—it was put into the top of her foot which surprised her a bit. Then she had to spend 30 minutes in a full body scanner. She wasn’t allowed to move at all and she said her head hurt because it was in an awkward position and she kept feeling itches all over. I get itchy just thinking about it.

We will have a meeting with the doctor on Thursday morning where he will give us the results of the scan. This will tell us if she needs more treatment or not. Then they said Andrea would be free to go home, so we are thrilled about that. She has been off of her thyroid pills for a couple weeks now, so she is pretty tired these days and will take the next couple days off school to regain her energy (if she feels she needs to) .

We ran into her surgeon in the hospital yesterday, (Prof Betka) who is a different doctor than the one who is administering her treatment, and he asked if we would bring Andrea to see him on Thursday.

We praise God for miracles and that He cares enough to have His hand in each of our lives.

Thank you for all your support and prayers. We are hopeful for good news tomorrow.

Back to Motol

Andrea - in Barcelona (Last week)

On Tuesday morning Andrea will be admitted into the hospital for an anticipated 3-5 day stay. We continue to pray that the tests reveal the miracle we have been praying for! Thank you for your prayers and support.

Doesn't she look great! Home from Barcelona - enjoying the same kind of weather...fantastic.

Spring Break 2008 - England

For our Spring Break in March went to England for the first time. We flew to Luton airport and rented a car. Okay...that was a nightmare! I nearly killed my family at the first round-about we came to. I never imagined it would be so difficult to drive on the left side of the road! I could handle the right-hand drive without too much difficulty, but driving on the left was crazy! Anyway we drove to the World Heritage City of Bath and stayed in the beautiful home of friends of ours that we got to know in Prague.
We then drove to the SW corner of Cornwall to a small village called Sennen. We stayed in a fabulous beach house there! It was awesome to be by the sea - spectacular views!
We then drove to London where Mr T (the kids swimming coach, who is now living in London) showed us the sites. 10 days and 1000 miles...We had a great time.
Feel free to check out the photos on facebook. Click on the following links to access:
Bath
Cornwall
London

Update on Andrea

Andy is currently in Barcelona with a group of students from Riverside. She is feeling very well right now and has had an excellent few months. She returns from Barcelona on the 7th of May. She will be admitted in to the hospital on the 13th of May. She will be taking a small (diagnostic) dose of Radioactive Iodine, be isolated for 3-5 days, and have several tests - including a full body scan. The scan will determine how successful her treatment in October was and/or if the cancer has been eliminated. We continue to pray for complete healing. Please join us in prayer! We will update our blog once we know the results of her tests.