Thankful

Thanksgiving Day is almost over

And I have soooo much to be thankful for...

For YOU ALL who follow my cancer journey

And pray and encourage and support

Me in this journey

Thank you again SO MUCH!

And...

For SUCCESS in using the PleurX catheter yesterday!

With the expert guidance of a nurse friend

Cindy and I successfully drained 1 liter out of my lung!

It is pretty weird and very cool

Watching fluid come out of your pleural cavity and fill the glass beaker:)

Hopefully eliminating trips to the ER to have my lung drained.

There is no pain to the procedure

And it is done in under 30 minutes.

Which sure beats waiting in the ER for hours:)

Though, I would also like to express my thanks

For the excellent care

Both at Harrison Medical Center ER

And

Harrison Medical Center Interventional Radiology

Where the PleurX catheter was done.

We plan on draining my lung about every other day

With the hope that the fluid will be completely drained

And my left lung will be able to totally expand

Which is a lot to be thankful for!

Thank you again,

Dave

PleurX Catheter + Somber Reflection

Monday, November 25, is the day!

I will be going in to have a PleurX catheter placed in my left lung pleural cavity

So that I will be able to manually drain the fluid that is accumulating

On a daily basis, if necessary

Hopefully eliminating regular trips to the ER to have a thoracentesis (lung drained)

If you can "look forward" to something

That you really wish you didn't have to do

But know that it is a good thing to do

Then...I'm looking forward to Monday morning.

Cindy and I do have peace about this decision

But continue to covet your prayer for the success of the procedure

On a much more somber note...

Nine days ago a Puget Sound pastor "intentionally took his own life"

The notice said that "he believed he could no longer continue the battle"

His battle included chronic pain, PTSD and depression

There is a whole lot of pain out there

That I've increasingly become aware of and much more sensitive to

Because of my own cancer journey and daily battle

Physically, spiritually and mentally

That I'd never had to face before

But, as I described it to Cindy yesterday,

At times can feel like each second seeming like an hour

Day after day after day!

Which can very easily make life seem very hopeless.

Thank you again so much for praying for me and supporting me in my battle

Which I know God has used

In the midst of the times when I'm asking

How can I keep doing this?

or

Why do I keep doing this?

To keep me fighting and hoping and trusting

In the midst of the battle.

Thank you again,

Dave

Change of Plans!

I am NOT having the surgical procedure done on Monday

Which would have been putting talc in my left lung to try and help it adhere to the pleural cavity

In order to prevent or decrease fluid accumulation in the lung

Cindy and I just did not have any peace about the surgical procedure

And then a friend of ours texted me that her cousin's husband in North Dakota

Had a PleurX catheter placed in his left lung about a month ago because of fluid accumulation

And he would be willing to talk to me about it

Would I like to give him a call?

Yes!!

(Side Note: Isn't it incredible the unique ways that God answers our prayers for wisdom and peace?)

So I called him and we had a great conversation for about 25 minutes

Which is exactly the conversation that I needed to have

In helping us make a decision.

He did not have the talc surgical procedure either

But just the PleurX catheter installed

And for him it has worked wonderful

Eliminating his trips to the ER to have a regular thoracentesis (lung fluid drained)

And over the month that he has been manually draining his lung

Seen a steady decrease in the amount of fluid accumulation!

I like it:)

And need it

Two nights ago I had to go into the ER again to have my left lung drained

(for the third time in less than two months)

Again they took out 2 liters

And the ER doctor said that there probably remained another 2-3 liters!

So, I asked my doctor for a referral to an Interventional Radiologist to install a PleurX catheter

Hopefully soon

Before my breathing again requires that I need to have my lung drained

I do like to breathe:)

So...thank you again for praying for wisdom and peace

God provided it

And we feel good about proceeding with the PleurX catheter as soon as possible

I appreciate you all

Dave

Next Monday

On November 18th I'm scheduled to have a couple of surgical procedures done

And Cindy and I are both pretty unsure and anxious about it

It's not that they are major procedures

But the unknowns

And the risks

Or not doing anything

Are making it difficult to have peace about the right decision to make

To proceed with the surgical procedures

Or just continue to have my left lung drained regularly

Which has become quite regular

The two procedures are:

1. Going in with a scope in order to drain my left lung completely and then powder it with talc with the hope that it will help my lung adhere to the pleural cavity wall and hinder fluid accumulation

2. Inserting a catheter so that I can manually drain my left lung daily or as needed in order to prevent fluid accumulation and subsequent shortness of breath

Right now I'm scheduled for both

But, as mentioned earlier, we are not having peace regarding how to really proceed

The risks seem to be minimal

Though there are the possible risks that we've been warned about

But I will spare you the details:)

If all goes well, I would just be in the hospital one night

And get out the next day

Cindy and I are meeting with a doctor friend on Wednesday to talk through things as we seek both wisdom and peace regarding what to do

So, I'm basically asking for extra prayer as we consider what we should do

Thanks again much

PS I think some of the anxiety comes from the progression of things and wondering if this is an answer or merely another challenge along the way due to the progression of the cancer

Thanks again for your support, prayer and encouragement:)

Dave

Still Fighting

When is it okay to quit fighting?

As I read the many and varied responses from several of you from the question I posed in my last blog, I, in my tiredness, continued to ponder the question myself

My thoughts led me to consider how I would answer the question if I were actually involved in fighting a battle in a war

In the midst of a fierce battle, would I quit if I were tired?

I hope not

I would keep fighting as long as there was a chance for victory in the battle

And so I keep fighting as long as there is still the hope of victory in this cancer battle

And a daily fight it continues to be

On September 25th I had my left lung drained of 1.5 liters of fluid

However, increasingly I could tell that my lung was filling up again

As it became more and more difficult to breathe

So on October 28th I had a chest x-ray which in fact revealed that the fluid had come back and was now filling 2/3 of my left lung cavity!

This led to my left lung being drained again on October 30th

To the tune of 2 liters this time

That is the amount of soda you'd get in a 2-liter bottle!

With my doctor commenting that this still left a good deal of fluid in the lung!

Now 5 days later I can tell that my lung is already quickly filling up again as my breathing becomes little by little more difficult

So...tomorrow, November 5th, I meet with a thoracic surgeon to discuss a couple of options how the fluid returning might be prevented or slowed down

Which I definitely face with mixed emotions

As I certainly would love to not have the fluid filling my lung with the shortness of breath that accompanies such filling

But at the same time don't look forward to a surgical procedure invading my lung:(

So the daily battle continues

Some days feeling okay

Other days feeling lousy

Continuing to fight with the hope of victory though recognizing that this might not end in victory over the cancer

Which is providing me the opportunity to learn to trust and hope in God like I've never had to before

 An opportunity that I never would have chosen

And find incredibly difficult

But I realize deep inside could bring me the deepest joy and peace imaginable

Unable to be rocked by anything or anyone!

And that's good:)

One encouraging piece of information...

I had blood work done in September that showed that I was anemic

And the concern was that the cancer may be affecting my body's ability to produce red blood cells

So I was put on an iron supplement to see if it would help

And it did!

Yay!

Thank you again for caring and praying and sending notes of encouragement

You all are a source of strength in the fight

Dave