The Crossroads

Dear Friends,
This is a letter to all of you who have so faithfully followed our journey thus far. Still and always we thank you with all our hearts and are forever grateful every day of our lives that you are there. Time has been short for writing of late as each new day seemed to bring challenges and surprises for us.
We will try to describe a bit of where our journey has taken us over the past two weeks. We have long ago begun to feel that we should've had more medical expertise to deal with this particular disease and the treacherous decisions which must be made. After the the fourth chemo treatment things seemed to go steadily downhill until the WBC dropped impressively and the infection developed. (They later referred to the infection as a pneumonia and we were given a very powerful antibiotic which seemed to have many pronounced side effects...everything seeming a "swap-off" though this drug was obviously the right one for the job.)
Following the CT that we had spoken to you about earlier it was revealed yet another pleural effusion which needed prompt attention. We were scheduled immediately after release from the Center to go to Coliseum Northside where large amounts of fluid were withdrawn. The chemotherapy treatment had been cancelled, of course. Following the fluid reduction the breathing difficulties still did not diminish as we had anticipated. While the blood levels showed the results were much more positive, (no longer the low WBC,), the lungs this week showed another large pleural effusion. We soon learned there would there be no chemotherapy ... the doctors and nurses came to us with the very unsettling news that perhaps this combination of chemicals was not working for shrinking of the fluid which continued to accumulate around the lung. We were told in some detail which other chemotherapy treatments could be used and what the percentages of success on lung cancer could be expected.
The doctor ordered immediately another procedure for the removal of the fluid ...this time done at the Georgia Heart Center. This was the priority of the day. We returned home last night relieved by the success of the procedure....but heartbroken as we realized we have truly come to The Crossroads of this journey. Our Knight must soon choose which of the roads he should now take.As we face these decisions and wonder which direction to take we know that we are in the flow of things as they must be meant to be. We consider now what we "should have - could have - would have" done had we known the outcome thus far, as we humans do upon such occasions. We trust that this time will be a time of even greater connection to God's healing powers without the chemical intervention....and we pray that this TIME is a "gift" in its' own special way as we know it to be within our hearts.Howard has been advised to rest for a few days and recover from the latest procedure before returning to the Center to visit our new oncologist. ( Another bitter pill to swallow was learning that our Dr. Linda Hendricks is now on a "Health Break" and has an undetermined date of return to practice. She was actually THE REASON we had chosen this group of oncologists. Learning of her departure caused our Knight and his crew great emotional distress, along with the possibility that there may indeed not be as effective a chemotherapy drug for treatment at this time.)
We pray these days of rest will afford our Knight peace and much needed rest for making his future plan....whether to receive more chemotherapy treatments or to choose to rely solely on God's healing powers. And on this night and all those to come PLEASE continue your vigil to see him "though." Our next scheduled visit with our newly assigned oncologist is on April 10....a date that right now seems such a long way away.
Peace...Love to All